Premium Taiwanese Assam Upgrade

Steepster ate my note!!!!!!
So I’ll expand on this later. For now, I’ll just say… Stacy, you are a tea guru, and please do not ever stop selling this one!!!!

Ok so from what I can recall… this was exceptional. Malty with a mineral cocao note that danced around. Oh it was glorious.
As others have noted, there was no astringency, and it was super light in texture.
Reminds me of a mineraly oolong, only with black tea flavours. What could be better?!

Phew, just cleaned one part of my kitchen. I hate cleaning! So now I feel I’m entitled to something nice: like Assam + french apple tart. The tea is sweet and fruity which goes so well with the sour notes of the apple tart.

Finally getting around to tasting this one. My exploration of black tea has so far been pretty positive. I didn’t know I could like it, but I’m so glad I’ve been trying them out. I’ve learned a lot about my likes, and I’ve grown to appreciate black tea – not all black tea is bitter tea, and not all astringency is bitterness! This one is another win in the black tea category.

The smell of this one reminds me of sweet potato or yam, with some honey notes, and a slight hint of cacao. This is definitely a savory smelling tea. Bake-y, earthy, and slightly sweet.

I’m definitely getting the bready/baked notes in the taste, as well as some of that sweet potato-y aspect. I’m picking up slight sweet fruit notes throughout- citrus fruits, like lemon. There is also a cacao taste, most present at the back of the sip. A malty taste runs throughout. In the middle somewhere is where the tobacco taste comes through. It’s fresh, earthy, and subtly sweet. Pretty smooth mouthfeel in this cuppa, too!

Other flavors I’m picking up in subtle amounts:
Honey
Brown sugar
Yeast
Astringency (only very slight amounts – adds more of a spice than any bitterness)

I’m really enjoying this one. It’s different from any black tea I’ve had so far. I mean, tobacco notes? That’s pretty unique! I like the savory profile here. Can’t wait to try the regular Premium Taiwanese Assam and see how it compares/differs.

This is my favourite Assam to date – than you Terri for giving me a chance to taste it! Malty, chocolatey, sweet, smooth, strong but not bitter, little to no astringency – fantastic. Did not drink with milk – will try another cup with milk this afternoon. Immediately goes on my shopping list

First tea of the day! This sample came from Blodeuyn. I’ve tried the regular version of Premium Taiwanese Assam, so I was interested to try this one as well. The leaves seem a bit less extreme to me, but they’re still in the creepy tree branch family. Dry scent is caramelized brown sugar, molasses, and dried fruit. I steeped the whole sample (about 2 teaspoons?) for 4 minutes at 200 degrees.

Once steeped, the tea smells of strong dark caramel and apricots with a touch of something mildly vegetal (green beans?). The taste is similar. It’s rich and malty with strong dark caramelized sugar notes along with molasses. I can also taste dried apricots and raisins/prunes. That light vegetal note is still there, adding a savoriness to balance the rich sugar and fruit. It reminds me of slow-cooked green beans. Overall, very deep and delicious with layers of flavor.

This was a sample Stacy included in my recent order. I’ve been wanting to try this one for a while. It occurred to me I probably should’ve steeped this one up with PTA, but alas, I did not.

The steeped scent is very close to PTA, but there is definitely something else there too. Okay initial sip, there is definitely something different, but I can’t nail it down right away. The chocolate is there, but more like dark chocolate. I think the flavour that’s throwing me off is the sweet tobacco. I’ve read through the description over and over, while sipping away, and that is my conclusion. There is a burst of sweetness at the end of the sip, which is lovely. This one is tasty, but I ultimately prefer the original PTA.

Thanks for the sample Stacy!

Another Butiki sample, so out comes the pyrex beaker for accurate measurements! I’m so haphazard with my tea prep sometimes that this is truly the only way for me to guarantee to TASTE the tea samples the way they are meant to be tasted. I have kind of a “buckshot” approach to life, so this is a great exercise in restraint for me! So I went forth and accurately steeped.

Ooooh, this is really nice. At first sniff, I got primarily a sweet tobacco scent…. I was concerned about the tobacco note, as don’t care for it in perfume (BPAL uses lots of strange notes in their fragrances, so I’ve learned what to avoid for me perfume-wise), but apparently the combination of the breadiness and the wee bit of chocolate and astringency with the tobacco works for me, because on first sip, that complex wonder of Butiki teas rose up to meet me and it was gooooooood. I couldn’t quite get to the citrus note, but maybe it becomes more apparent when doing comparisons with the regular PTA. Either way, this tea was great way to start the day!

The more I taste this the more I fall in love with it. It is such a bold strong Assam without being bitter or too astringent.

A cocoa smell on the nose, and then malt, baked bread, and a natural hint of caramel in the mouth. It certainly packs the punch that makes this worthy of the “upgrade” moniker.

If I had to throw away all my other tea and only keep one, this would certainly be it!