Premium Taiwanese Assam

TEA & NASCAR, the sequel

Oh, if I keep on disappearing like this, you good Steepster people will just forget about me! Please don’t, I’ve got potential I promise!

This time, I will spare you the details of my recent ordeals and the object of my disappearance, too complicated! Straight to the tea story.

It was Mr.Right’s birthday… and I wanted it to be real special.

Heart coming out of your chest special.

Jaw dropping to the floor special.

You get that.

I’ve had to prepare for a whole year and keep my secret. That was tough! The surprise has to do with Nascar. I wanted to offer the gift in the most unexpected way…

I thought of his last Nascar adventure this summer that also involved my Butiki tea order (read my Butiki Flowery Pineapple Oolong review for details). I thought it would be fun to bring tea and Nascar together again. My big passion meeting his!

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday, that’s when I gave him his “fake” gift in order to keep the real thing for this Sunday’s ordinary moment. (I like him destabilized.)

As I’m preparing breakfast, I ask: «Could you bring my Butiki box please? The black one with the golden trim». (I keep identified metal boxes for each tea stores, Butiki has one of the fancy box cause I consider them fancy teas!!)

He hands me the box. «Honey if you don’t mind, please open it and fetch the Premium Taiwanese Assam sample, I’ve been wanting to try it for awhile».

His reply: «If you don’t mind, I’ll let you do that, Too many pouches to go through».

Sigh. What now, he MUST open the box. Period. How frustrating, you have this beautiful scenario all written in your head, and right from the start, you get no cooperation.

Second attempt: «Can’t you see I’m preparing YOUR breakfast? Enough said, be a darling and get me that tea. please».

I get “the look” for that, but sure enough, he opens the box. He doesn’t even pay attention to the VERY OBVIOUS rolled parchment paper sitting on top. Diligent him, he tosses the parchment aside cause he’s taking his “assignment” seriously. He’s looking for a mini pouch of Assam, no interrest whatsoever in that very intriguing piece of paper… totally CLUELESS!!!

«Got it!» he says, victorious. He hands me the pouch and turns around leaving everything there.

????

«Aren’t you gonna put the box ant its content back to its place?»

Here it comes, I get the Gee whiz, you’re so bossy this morning!» comment.

It’s OK, I’m willingly taking the heat, totally worth it.

He takes the parchment back in his hands, and it finally dawns on him to ask: «What’s this?»

«Well, I don’t know, maybe you should open it and read what is says!»

Now I get the suspicious look and he starts unrolling. About time! I’m not kidding, his mouth literally opens and stays that way for at least 15 seconds! Happy me, that’s what I was aiming for!

«Is this for real?Do not mess with me woman, tell me this is not a joke»

«Happy birthday mon chéri. No joke. You are going to the Daytona 500 opening race in february. Oh, and by the way, it’s VIP. VIP week end, VIP pass, Fan Zone included. And I think it is mentioned somewhere that you are going with your Nascar body. I’m sure you’ll miss me, but I’m sitting this one out, that’s how much I love you».

Yep, I’m sacrificing a couple of days at the beach in order to give him the ultimate experience. I’m not a race chick, what can I say? In order to live the moment to the fullest, I feel he needs someone by his side who can also fully appreciate it… His best Nascar body!

This moment will stay engraved in my mind forever. Can’t underestimate someone’s passion for something. Yes, he’s getting older, but his heart is the one of a 10 year old right now.

Later, I had my Assam. Well deserved I’d say!

I was very curious about how it would compare to Butiki Organic Assam. I followed the recommended steeping of 3 min.

Oh my, wow! What is this? First, I must mention how interesting the wet leaves are. They are much larger than other Assams and are fully opened after first steep. I couldn’t help examining one, it has the texture of tender steamed spinach. They smell divinely of chocolate and cinnamon. They rendered a deep orange amber liquor.

First sip fills my mouth with sweet potato, dark chocolate and cinnamon. Bam! So unexpected from an Assam, so sweet, as if a few drops of maple syrup had landed in my cup. But, no, it’s natural goodness.

Oh my, I could have this all day long. It’s hard to compare to some other teas cause I feel it is totally unique. But if I have to, I’d say it resembles Teavivre Monkey Black for its very chocolaty distinction.

Organic Assam is closer to your regular big bold breakfast tea, which I also adore for these specific reasons. But this is taking me somewhere else!

Oriental exotic sweet and spicy notes, awakening all my senses. I wish I had more, I would brew it a little stronger. As it cools down, it gets a tad astringent, and I can taste the raisins that are being mentioned. I’m not a big fan of hard liquor, but for some reason, I would pair this hot beverage with a splash of rum on a cold winter day!

Looks like this one is making my must have list.

In conclusion, I love surprises, in any shape or form. This tea was a big surprise and was perfect for the occasion, thanks agains Stacy for thinking I would love it, you were spot on!!

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 chocolatey, but there’s quite a fruitiness to it as well. I had this in the Timolino, so I need to write a more detailed tasting note later, but this is definitely a winner for me. And the leaves are crazy huge, thin, wiry, unbroken. Fabulous!

I’m drinking the second infusion right now. It’s heading towards astringent in spite of only a 3-minutes infusion, but it’s still good. I’m sure it would be better re-steeped immediately instead of sitting all day.

Rating tentatively placed, but may increase upon proper evaluation.

The leaves of this tea are stunning! Twisty and wirey with almost a blue tone hue to them.
The steeped cup is a lovely deep golden amber tone and smells of sweet potato and chocolate! OMG yes!
This cup is DELICIOUS! For my facebook friends who may be reading this – as I am going to be posting the review there as well…if you are not used to really high quality amazing tea like this just understand – this is not your mother’s or grandmother’s Lipton tea! Haha, my grandmother, bless her heart would drink that instant powdered tea daily, you know the stuff that came in the glass jar with the green lid. Today it is probably in plastic but regardless – this is a true delight and anyone who is even considering trying a different black tea should give this one a go!
There is a very sweet aspect to the tea, it has notes of sweet potato pie, even a bake-y element to it but it is not that sweet – not like as if someone spooned sugar into the cup – just a very natural sweetness. There are strong notes of chocolate and also notes of honey.
A very rich cup yet the mouthfeel is bright and cheery. It is not too heavy or syrupy.
This may be one of my new favorites! I wish I had tried this one sooner!
As if I do not have enough teas to drink I have added this one to my shopping list!
There is a slight very light note of cinnamon or some kick of spiciness here but nothing that my weenie husband could not handle …(love you babe)… and oddly enough I am even getting a bit of a saffron note!
As the tea cools a bit it does become slightly thicker with a heavier mouthfeel and notes of maple syrup begin to peek through.
I know it sounds like I am talking about a dessert not a tea yet this is not a dessert tea but rather a wonderful black tea that anyone would love!

Thank you Stacy for this Sample!

I’ve received my new tea’s from Butiki (dance, dance, dance)!

As always, Stacy lovingly places just the right little packets of samples in my order (and will in yours also).
It never fails to make me smile with excitement when I discover what she has tucked in my box as my free samples!

I have tasted the previous Butiki Assam, but this is a newer one…
a Premium Taiwanese Assam.

My experience with Assam’s has been average.
The one’s I’ve tasted have been of medium body, slightly smoky and a little malty. Good breakfast Assam’s that can hold up to milk in the morning and have mild astringency. Not overly complex tea’s.

What now?
Stacy is always hunting down the best tea’s she can find. Like a sly fox, she scours the tea markets improving the line-up of tea’s she carries, always looking for unique flavors and blends. This is one of the things I love about her and Butiki Tea!

Flavor

Well, this was not like any Assam I’d ever tasted before!
There was a yam, potato flavor right away though not a lot (if any) malt.
I didn’t pick up any smokiness and the astringency didn’t even arrive until the tea was quite cool.

Speaking of cool…
The spicy heat in this tea was followed by a characteristic that I associate with Taiwanese Tea’s…that menthol/minty cool feeling in the mouth.
This was such a great mouth-feel (if you’ve never experienced it before) but subtle.
I was looking for a raisin chocolate taste (which I found), and along the way got distracted by how soft the finish was.
Like a mist the tea evaporated at the end. All the flavors seemed to be up front with a spice-cool shift in the center and then poof, gone.

This was before I added anything to my tea!
You can’t imagine how sweet and nectar-like my tea was when I added
just a little sweetening. (Stacy would say “Add a little natural raw sugar crystals to bring out the flavor”)

Very tasty and delicious for breakfast or anytime!

Lovely Assam!

I love this tea! It has officially replaced Royal Golden Safari as my morning black tea. Every morning I either have a guayusa or a strong black tea since I am not a morning person at all. I must admit when I normally make this tea, I load in the leaves and let it sit forever. I love my black teas crazy strong. Today I’m sticking to the parameters that we set on our website. I’m not quite used to drinking this tea this way.

As the name suggest, this is an Assam that comes from Taiwan. In the 1920’s, under Japanese rule, Assamica tea bushes were brought to the Sun Moon Lake area of Taiwan. At the time, the Japanese wanted to compete with the British in the black tea market. Since then this Assam has been refined by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station.

The long chocolatey colored leaves smell so amazing. I’m picking up notes of cherries, peaches, and dry earth. The body is rich and velvety and has a lovely malty-ness. I’m getting notes of cherries and apricots almost immediately then some cacao notes. When it settles I’m picking up raisins, clove, and cinnamon. There is some pleasant and balanced astringency to this tea. I would recommend this tea to any fans of black tea and especially to any fans of Assams that have not tried a Taiwanese Assam. This tea will definitely be a staple for a long time, very delicious, very interesting.

I am debating whether I should go to sleep now or not – I’m pretty awake despite the fact that I worked all night..

I figure if anything can keep me going though, it’ll be a strong breakfast tea. I love strong breakfast teas. Bold malty chocolate teas. The leaves look like an oolong, spindly and unbroken. Really they remind me a lot of dan congs but the smell of them is much heavier – very earthy.

Chocolate chocolate chocolate. That’s mostly what I get. Occasionally a breadiness, interspersed with something a little brighter that I can’t quite describe. I think it’s what most are calling fruity and if I’m hard pressed I could say its raisins, but I still feel like there’s something else there that I’m not putting into words. It’s definitely a perfectly chewy, full bodied tea.

It reminds me most strongly of my favorite East Frissy, except with bonus cocoa notes.

I’ll have to resteep this and see how it does….

These long charcoal-colored Taiwanese Assam leaves have a sweet raisin and creamy cinnamon flavor, that adds to the fuller malty texture & fruity, honeycrisp apple-like base. I found no astringency or bitterness during the first couple steepings and discovered the quality is high enough to deliver a delicious cup even after infusions 4-6.

When I asked each of my kids what they thought of the smell of the tea, not allowing them to actually see it but lifting the gaiwan slightly to allow the aroma to waft out, they sad – “Is that an oolong??” and “Very sweet smelling” I love to keep them guessing and not always depend on what they see when trying new teas. Poor children, they are already corrupted with the world of tea obsession.

As previously stated by Stacy at Butiki Teas, “In the 1920’s, under Japanese rule, Assamica tea bushes were brought to the Sun Moon Lake area of Taiwan. At the time, the Japanese wanted to compete with the British in the black tea market. Since then this Assam has been refined by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station.” I’d say they found a huge success! This would rank as one of my favorite black teas,and am now worried my recent purchase will not last nearly long enough!

If you have considered in the past whether or not to try this unique tea, let me urge you to move forward. I can think of no reason to delay any further. Splurge. Treat yourself. :)

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. :)

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.

Here goes nothing :)

I had requested a sample of this with my last order (which included the newly revered Caramel Vanilla Assam) as I have read enough rave reviews of it and it seemed like a good one to try considering I am working on expanding my tastes by venturing into the formerly scary straight black tea land and also because I thought that tasting the base used for the Caramel Vanilla Assam would be good practice for my unrefined tastebuds. That was the longest sentence in the world.

So I sit in front of my computer with a mug of this to my left (I usually write my reviews on my iPad or if I’m at work, on my iPhone (SUPER ANNOYING, we need a mobile site, Steepster!!), and so first of all it’s nice to be on an actual computer and not have to read this seven times looking for stupid autocorrects.

I’m trying to sip this slowly, really taking time to smell it and savour it as per the suggestions of the tea tasting experts who replied to the recent thread about how to train your tastebuds.

It’s hard to sip this slowly, because it’s really good.
Funny, it reminds me of Laoshan Black but when I tried that awhile ago I don’t think I was ready for it. I ordered the sampler recently so I might be ready for it now! Even if I don’t notice any chocolate/cinnamon notes and such.

My (un)educated guess is the reason these are similar is because both of them have a lot going on. I did follow the steeping directions, 212 degrees for about 4 min. It’s dark and rich, and I bet it would have been good at 3 minutes also.

I have my window open because it’s cloudy but relatively mild, with a nice breeze that feels great after the crappy long Canadian winter… and it cooled my tea down fast, so I just downed the rest. As usual I think the flavours have come out even more as the temperature has gone down. I would love to be able to tell you all about raisins and cinnamon and maltiness and chocolate and honey and all of these wonderful things but I have made no bones (what does that even mean!?) about the fact that I’m not quite there yet.

That’s really irrelevant though. It’s tasty, and you don’t need to be a tea expert to notice that. I want more immediately. Probably not good for my caffeine intake as I’d like to have some matcha later. But take it from a non tea expert that this is good stuff. I’d drink this everyday. I’ll order some next time for sure.

When I have my next cuppa Caramel Vanilla Assam I’ll be able to notice the base more, now that I’ve tasted it on its own. The fact that such a delicious, quality tea was used for the base is half of what makes it so yummy, I think.

If you are looking for something helpful to take away from this rambling review, let it be that this tea is…yummy. And that’s my professional opinion.

Thank you for letting me try it, Stacey!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!
I thought for sure that I had posted a note on this one already but I guess I was wrong lol.
Anyways, This Tea is very delicious and smells wonderful and slightly different to me from other Assams that I’ve had.
I’ve drink this tea many times now but the first time I had it was a Sample that Stacy had sent with one of my orders and when I tried it I just had to get more because it was so good. This tea has kinda complex flavor notes from chocolatey and malty to fruity and sweet with a nice astringency to it. I don’t usually follow steeping instructions on teas instead I just tend to steep them My way which is very short steeps in a gaiwan, brewed this way it was nice and malty with a slightly sweet fruity note, slight astringency.
When I steeped this tea a little longer about 2 1/2 minutes It was very nice bold and malty with flavors of cocoa and cinnamon with some awesome sweet fruity notes like raisins and a pleasant astringency.
I enjoy an Assam with a bit of milk and sugar sometimes but I didn’t try this one with milk, I did however add a little sugar and it was really great. A little bit of sweetener makes the cocoa notes more like chocolate while keeping the maltyness and the fruity notes turn to sweet cherries and lots of other hints in there like caramel and apricot and pumpkin pie?? kinda cinnamon, spice?
I’m not sure that I would want to add milk to this tea because it’s really didn’t need the sugar since it perfectly good on it’s own, I think milk and sugar would be just too much.

Thanks to Stacy for this sample!

These leaves are long and beautiful. They open up completely and are huge! It smells really sweet in the mug.

It is nice and smooth, a little malty. I am definitely getting a sweet fruity note here. Stacy describes this as raisin and it is fairly close. In the middle of the sip, I begin to pick up a slight cinnamon note that isn’t too strong, just mildly present. As for the cloves in the description, I am not sure that I am getting that. But maybe it is mixed in with the cinnamon and I can not distinguish the two.

No additions are needed to enjoy this cuppa.

Out of curiosity sake, I brewed up the Organic Assam to compare. The leaves are about half the size. The smell in the bag is much stronger than this premium assam. The premium assam is sweeter and smoother. They are both malty. The Premium Assam can be enjoyed without additions, but I feel that I have to add milk to the Organic Assam to bring out its best qualities. In conclusion, they are both good teas, but the premium is better IMO (I guess that is why she called it premium hey!).

I’m finally trying this! :O After I brewed it, I smelled a dark malty odor with cocoa notes. We’re off to a good start!

The first few sips were very strong and nearly bitter. I think maybe I wasn’t ready for tea yet because after those sips I find this tea to be very smooth and barely astringent. Now that it’s slightly cooled, I am getting a little bit of honey or fruit, as well as lots of malt and cocoa. And is that cinnamon? This is very tasty!

The good news? I think this may be my favourite Assam! The bad? I have about 2oz left of my previous favourite Assam to drink down – (Assam Mangalam Second Flush FTGFOP1 from Zen Tea). Maybe I should sip them side by side one morning to get a better understanding of the difference, but this Butiki Assam has a lot more going on – I wish I was better at reviewing tea so I could describe what I’m tasting better, but it is one to sip slowly and savour.

I will resteep this and drink it later today too, which is saying a lot. (I really should re-steep my teas more and be less wasteful… Not so much for flavored blacks or herbals, but the rest… yeah. Now that I’ve gotten rid of a lot of samples I want to just enjoy what I have and not worry if I don’t sip anything down for days)

I don’t have time to write much but I just had to write a few words. Just because I am seriously amazed at the size and beauty of these leaves. I brewed the tea in the Teavana Perfect Tea Maker and when I came to get the tea I was amazed to see enormous tea leaves all over the inside of the tea maker. I rarely see leaves this perfect.
I couldn’t help myself – I stuck my hand in and took out some leaves to admire. I even showed them to my daughter, who was less impressed (how little she knows…). Me? I just stood there touching the leaves and oohh-ing and ahhh-ing.

Even when still dry the leaves were long and twisty, like dark oolongs, but with the malty Assam smell.

I admit I probably looked a little loony to anyone but other tea fanatics, but I really enjoyed these leaves.

Now I’m usually not a big fan of straight Assam, but this…this is different. It’s gentler, yet still hearty. It’s malty, but not overpowering. There are other flavors there that I have not yet recognized (OK, so yeah, I probably drank it too fast – but it was good!) I need to spend more time with this.

So, as I have said before, I don’t really like assams. Clearly I can be proven wrong about this, but only if they don’t really taste like assams (see: Hattalli Golden Lion Assam also from Butiki). Which is why I ordered this one. For one, it’s an C. s. assamica bush, but it was imported to Taiwan a long time ago and has been cultivated there, so there is a good chance it will taste completely different. After all, just look at how different C. s. sinensis bushes can taste around different areas of the world. There were also enough rave reviews of this one, including ones comparing it to Laoshan Black, that I was willing to give it a try. And Stacy put it on sale when I asked, even.

This tea is one of those long, squiggly-leafed teas that make it impossible to dish out with a teaspoon. As a result I think I underleafed this cup. Nevertheless, I am already impressed. Honestly I have been dealing with a lot of nonsense this morning so I can’t give you a detailed impression of the aroma because I have already drank the entire cup. Flavor-wise, I’d say this reminds me more of a Fujian black than any assam. It is honeyed and malty, with notes of grains and raisins. I don’t think I would say chocolatey, but that’s fine with me. I think I will have to try some of my Fujian blacks and then this again so that I can really get a handle on it, but it is lovely.

Thanks Stacy for including this sample in my order! I’ve only ever had this tea as the base for the caramel vanilla assam. Now that i’ve had it I can totally pick out the flavor from the blend, but it is fantastic on its own as well. Very smooth, no astringency, could totally be an every day tea. Glad I finally tried this one!

Stacy gave me a sample of this tea in my last order. It seems to be the base for the caramel vanilla assam. It reminded me a lot of laoshan black from Verdant, but I think I like this one better. It has malty cocoa notes, and a little raisin sweetness. The second steep included more of a honey note, similar to laoshan black. I think I like this one better because it seemed to be more smooth, especially if you compare the first steeps of each tea. I’m a little surprised that such a bold malty flavor is the base for the caramel vanilla assam, because you’d think that the flavor would overpower the very natural-tasting flavor of the caramel and vanilla. I added a little sugar, but no milk. Really good morning cup!

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!

OMG. THIS…THIS is a wonderful tea! Seriously in contention with my other favourite blacks (Laoshan Black from verdant and Zhen Qu from Butiki). I could not get enough of this this morning…now that it’s gone i just wish there was more. Thankfully I have a bunch to drink through so a new order is not quite yet ready for me and stacy. heh I really need to get through a few more of the tea i recently (and not so recently) purchased from her. but this one…it’s wonderful!

This is a sample from Stacy and it’s tasty. I’ve never had Assam (that I’m aware of) so it was neat trying something new :D