I finally got off my lazy ... and boiled my jute and wicked it a few nights ago. It's actually pretty great. It's not the best at soaking up liquid, but it's decent. It has a little earthy sweet taste that isn't terrible. It also fades pretty quickly. The thing that I love about it is it doesn't burn easily at all--but because of this, when it does, it's harsh. I still like it much more than cotton or silica though, honestly. Just thought I'd put that out there as a possible wick.