Premium Taiwanese Assam

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Chocolate, Raisins, Cream, Cocoa, Fruity, Malt, Brown Sugar, Burnt Sugar, Caramel, Dried Fruit, Molasses, Bread, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Honey, Cherry, Pastries, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes, Fig, Grain, Plum, Yams, Strawberry
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Butiki Teas
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec 1 g 13 oz / 370 ml

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285 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Happy Thanksgiving (Gratitude Day) to everyone in the World!! I know Thanksgiving is an American holiday, but I hope everybody everywhere has things to be grateful for everyday. I think it’s...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “Sometimes you just need an old favourite. This morning was one of those days. I had let the wonder of this tea become a mere shadow of its true deliciousness. I’m glad I dug this out...” Read full tasting note
    88
  • “Wowwwww, this is delicious! Definitely glad I ordered some (shoulda got my free ounce of this instead of Strawberry Oolong!) It reminds me quite a bit of Laoshan Black, in that it’s very malty and...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “This week has been pretty busy for us. We just got back from vacation mid week which was really a work vacation and will start prepping for another office closure as we will probably be taking off...” Read full tasting note

From Butiki Teas

Our Premium Taiwanese Assam is sourced from Yuchih Township in Nantou County, Taiwan. Assam bushes were brought to Taiwan in the early twentieth century but have since been refined by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station. The long dark chocolate-colored leaves produce a sweet fruity aroma. This malty tea has rich chocolate notes with notes of cinnamon, clove, and raisins.

Ingredients: Taiwanese Black Tea

Recommended Brew Time: 3 minutes
Recommended Amount: 2 teaspoons of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 212 F (boiling)

For more information, please visit: http://www.butikiteas.com

About Butiki Teas View company

Company description not available.

285 Tasting Notes

2291 tasting notes

So. Delicious. I couldn’t decide between this and the Caramel Vanilla, and now I think I need both.

So malty and fruity and sweet and assam-y.

https://twitter.com/omgsrslyfolks/status/416440728890265600/photo/1

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Lilysmom

I wish I could drink black tea at night and not stay awake all night…..it doesnt affect you?…..craving some sort of black tea caramel concoction now…..

OMGsrsly

Oh it does. But my sleep schedule is completely messed up right now so I don’t care. (Also, I’m not due back at work until the 2nd.)

JustJames

doesn’t bug me either…. i take meds at night, an assam just makes them activate faster, lol. 80P

Butiki Teas

Cute mug!

OMGsrsly

Thanks, Stacy, it’s from Sbux. :) One of their winter/Christmas ones.

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111 tasting notes

I’ve gotten wiser with re-steeping, so I can now get three excellent infusions, and a fourth still worth drinking infusion. I love the third steep. Not as good as the first, but much better than the second. It goes super creamy, and tastes exactly like how I imagine sweet potatoes do in my head. (But I could be way wrong, I’ve never had sweet potatoes before) Whatever that flavor is, it’s delicious :)

Everytime I have this tea, I have this impression of ‘why do I drink other teas?’ haha. I think this is gonna stay my favorite for a long, long time. It’ll take something mighty special to dethrone this. :)

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80
525 tasting notes

Thank you, Sil, for a sample of this!

I can’t say I’m a fan of Indian teas. Maybe I’ve never had a great one, but they do not interest me. But Taiwanese teas, those are amazing. Love those. So let’s see what happens.

Hmmm… dark hint of cocoa. Mineraly. Veeery smooth. A hit of floral sweetness.

The taste is a like a cross between a dark oolong and Chinese black tea. Is this a result of where the tea was cultivated? I don’t think assam from India tastes like this.

Anyways, tasty but not too interesting. I do think my fascination of black tea is slowing down. I’m gonna go back to basics with some green teas. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing. :)

Ysaurella

I feel the same about green, I should take more time to appreciate them now.

Terri HarpLady

I was actually thinking the same, or maybe of doing a green/white tea day once a week…still thinking about it.

Ysaurella

yes, I am picky with green teas, they shouldn’t have any astringency…I can bear some in blacks but none in greens !

Terri HarpLady

Also, if I drink green tea on an empty stomach, I will throw up, but I can usually enjoy a cup of black tea before breakfast without nausea.

Mercuryhime

I really only truly enjoy Japanese greens. And it will be easy to drink them when it gets warm as they make fantastic cold brews. :)

Sil

hmmm i’ll have to pay attention to your tasting notes and see if any of them inspire me to try a green cold brew. I’m pretty sure i’ve never tried a straight green as a bold brew.

Mercuryhime

I might not log it since I’ve had them before, but anything from Den’s is a good bet.

Terri HarpLady

Hmmm…I’ve never done a green cold brew, or really even tried green tea over ice

Mercuryhime

It’s good! All smooth and sweet without the astringency people fear from greens. :)

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97
300 tasting notes

I’ll say it again “Oh myyy!” This is… swoons recovers. Okay so I admit I am a total whimp when it comes to Assam and other hearty (in my opinion harsh) breakfast teas. But this was raved about and I’m always curious about traditional tea varieties grown in other places, especially Taiwan. So I had to order it.

When I opened the bag I was greeted with a familiar smell yet it was different, smoother, sweeter, more refined? Still I chickened out and used water at 205 not boiling, set the timer to two minutes, left the room and sat down so it probably steeped for 2 and half minutes. Beautiful dark copper liquor poured out and the the steam brought the aroma of chocolate to my nose.

Chocolate! Oh goodness! This reminds me of my favorite black teas: Verdant’s Laoshan Black and Zhu Rong Yunnan Black, Teavirve’s Bailin Gongfu Black and Fong Mong’s Sun Moon Lake Black tea. They all have something in common: sweet, smooth, malty, chocolate notes! And yet it retains its Assam nature, it’s full and stout and has big malt, but none of the harshness and metallic taste I associate with Assam. I am getting cinnamon and a bit of plum as well in this first infusion!

Thank you Stacy for bringing us this wonderful find! Off to rebrew for the full 3 mins. This is one I can share with the husband who doesn’t like my “rock water” (read: mineral) gongfu brewed black teas and wants to like British teas but still finds them harsh at times. Win!

Sil

YAY!!!! I’m SOOOO happy you enjoyed this one :)

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96
172 tasting notes

This is one of my favorites out of the many teas I ordered from Butiki. It makes a smooth morning cup or a great afternoon pick me up.

It’s a fairly malty tea, and that’s the biggest thing that jumps out and me, but there are other subtleties that make this a great tea. After the malt, I notice something that reminds me very strongly of cherry. And along with that, there are slight notes of raisin and cinnamon.

This is a very comforting, smooth cup. Delicious.

Bonnie

Yes, I can see that…raisin, cherry

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1440 tasting notes

Now this is what I’m talking about. I just got settled in for a day full of studying for my one last exam tomorrow, and this tea is perfection. The chocolate notes never cease to amaze me. I’m so happy to have a cupboard full of Butiki teas again (note to self: never go so long between orders again).

Also, I just placed an AE order and I ended up saving just as much as I spent. Best.

ohfancythat

Is AE a tea company I’ve never heard of or is American Eagle having a sale? Haha

Yes, nothing like that satisfying cup of a tea you’ve already established you love!

Courtney

Haha, American Eagle. Sorry, perhaps I should’ve clarified. They are having a sale and I had a discount code in my email. Do you ever just have things in your online cart for ages – adding more and taking off a few things, until finally the discounts are good enough?

This tea is such a delight.

ohfancythat

Oh yes, been there!!

I can’t remember if I tried this tea or not, I get two of them mixed up all the time

Courtney

I checked the notes and it looks as though you did haha. This one is amazing! And Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black is to die for. I saw someone described the TWMB as waffle-like a few months back and that is bang on.

ohfancythat

Oh I think the TWMB is the one I always get it mixed up with, lol
I might order both and just do a huge order when the time comes!

Courtney

That sounds best haha. I always try to hit the free shipping threshold. :)

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92
417 tasting notes

This is a really excellent black tea. I would have given it a higher rating except that I didn’t like it that much when I brewed it in my usual gongfu style. I recommend following the directions and steeping it for 3 minutes in boiling water. Even brewed western style, this tea was also lacking a little bit of- I’m not sure if I’m describing it correctly- weight in the mouth?

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
ToiToi

I haven’t really tried drinking assam straight – somehow I always ended up drinking it with milk. I meant to try drinking assam straight but haven’t had a chance. Taiwanese Assam sounds unique!

Butiki Teas

Hmmm, for you I would recommend 1 tablespoon of tea for 8oz of water and steeping for 4 minutes. I think you might enjoy the tea a little more and the body will be a little heavier, though this is not a really weighty tea. I personally learn towards 1 1/2 tablespoons at 4 minutes but I like a really strong cup.

Kasumi no Chajin

A light Assam? I will have to try this! Thanks for the detailed discussion!

CharlotteZero

Thank you, Butiki Teas, for the brewing advice. I will try using your instructions next time.

Butiki Teas

Good luck CharlotteZero!

Kasumi no Chajin-This is definitely on the lighter side for an Assam. This one has rich chocolatey notes. Our upgraded version of this tea is much stronger but also has a silkiness.

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95
1113 tasting notes

Oh wow! Thank you for the sample of this with my order, Stacy. Now I know what I’ve been misssing!

No wonder everyone goes gaga over this one. So much going on here. It was love at first sip! :)

This also explains why the Caramel Vanilla Assam and Hello Sweetie are so popular as well! I might have to do a side by side some day of this and Laoshan black so I can pick a favorite black tea. SO GOOD! :D

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96
652 tasting notes

Sipdown!

Oh yeah I really like this. It’s very flavorful, honey, malt, raisins…yum.

Definitely on my “must have” list, though I’m swimming in so much tea right now that it will be awhile before I can justify my huge Butiki order. Though a sale would sway me, obviously. I’ve heard rumors.

Thanks for sharing this, Cavocorax, and reminding me why it’s been on my wishlist forever!

I do wish it brewed up a little darker, like my mind expects an Assam to be, but it’s so delicious that I can’t really complain. It made for a good two cups this morning with breakfast/lunch!

TheTeaFairy

Yep, there are rumours, lol.

Courtney

Butiki sale, what?! I have a growing list here. I’ll be Butiki ready soon enough.

ohfancythat

Apparently a birthday thing has happened before in July? I wait with bated breath!

Butiki Teas

Well, we typically have sale on my birthday every year….

ohfancythat

That’s the rumour I heard :)

Butiki Teas

This year’s sale won’t be quite as good as last year’s since we have yet to adjust our shipping prices to the new (awful) shipping rates and have been losing money shipping to the west coast (prices have nearly doubled). Still trying to hold out and not raise rates.

TeaLady441

Awww. Sorry to hear that! I appreciate your not wanting to raise the shipping rates, but if you do, I understand. You’re not allowed to go out of of business because where else will I get Hello Sweetie, etc?

Butiki Teas

Shipping is just dipping into a bit of our profits, nothing serious but it does sting a little. :) I try not to raise prices, even with the teas. Almost every year the prices go up, this year the prices are a tad more significant with some of our Chinese and Taiwanese teas but we have been pretty good about keeping consistent prices. Some of our teas have had the same prices since 2008.

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97
871 tasting notes

Thank you TerriHarpLady for this sample!!

I had first tried Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam and it was super delicious. So I wanted to try the Premium Taiwanese Assam, which was the base tea.

This one is super delicious, as expected. To me it tastes so similar to the Caramel Vanilla Assam blend. It is sweet, thick, creamy, caramelly. I feel like there is a very slight hint of vanilla in there. Maybe I am just dreaming. It is bold but not astringent, silky smooth. It is malty but not as malty as some other assams I have tried.

CTC assam is one of my favourite teas, but it is bold and has quite a bite. This whole leaf assam is much more smooth, although it does taste bold it doesn’t have that huge bite that the CTC versions have.

Thanks Terri for letting me try this one. It is definitely staying on the shopping list.

Edit: second steep for 2 minutes. Definitely maltier in the second steep. There are hints of cinnamon. This steep is much less sweet and much more spicier, but it is still on the sweet side of spicey. I feel like I am getting more vanilla and cream in this steep.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Terri HarpLady

Soglad you liked this one!

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