Premium Taiwanese Assam

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

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. :)

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. :)

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!

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.

Thanks Kittena for parting with some of this :) I think perhaps there was more than a cups worth by a wee bit, but I just told myself it was one cups worth and used it all. Possible overleaf.

I can see why the cinnamon, cloves, and raisins are mentioned in the description. This is a truly tasty tea. It is malty and definitely a smooth sip. Overleaf or not, I’m quite happy with this one. I find Caramel Vanilla Assam is hit or miss with me. Some days I absolutely love it and other days I’m not so crazy about it – I haven’t figured out what I’m doing to make it amazing or not amazing, but this one is definitely on the amazing scale.

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?

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

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!

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.