Upton Tea Imports

After my confounding experience with the yabao I needed something soothing and familiar.

I haven’t had a draught of this tea in… ten months. That’s about nine months and three weeks too long.

If you are at all a fan of smoke in tea, try this tea. It is not one of the “meaty” lapsangs. No bacon, no beef jerky, no barbecue, it tastes like smokey tea.

This is one of my favorite teas in the world. I often stray, but I always come back.

I don’t think I’ve ever steeped it this briefly before, and the result is still fantastic.

Truth be told, right now, I’m drinking this Black Dragon cut about half and half with the Wang Celestial pu-erh.

This is really my favorite way to drink tea, this strong mix of smokey and earthy. Maybe that’s because it comes the closest to replacing the coffee I used to drink so much of, but no longer do.

If I haven’t already gushed about this tea more than anyone cares to read, that’s an oversight.

Over the past year or so I have tried many other lapsangs because I was convinced it couldn’t just be this one which was so utterly perfect.

Well I was wrong. They’re all either too sharp or too smokey or too bitter or just plain crap. This tea is an absolutely shockingly well balanced cup.

ESPECIALLY if you think you don’t like smokey teas, try this one. I’m so glad to have 200 grams of it back in my pantry.

I’m cheating a bit, because I drank this about a week ago, not today, but I realized I never logged it (my brother was still visiting and I was trying not to be a laptop cave troll).

This is, hands down, my favorite tea in the world. I used to drink this tea every single day of my life. The only reason I don’t now is vague concerns about health risks from particulate matter arising from soft wood smoke.

If you like smokey teas, but find many lapsang are too bacon or too house fire, try Black Dragon. A solid, smokey flavor, but still tastes like TEA.

My husband goes through iced tea like crazy and lately he has been enjoying cold brewed green teas. He asked for something different this morning, so on a whim I pulled out the genmaicha. I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out cold, but it is really awesome. Buttery, nutty, and smooth with a slight sweetness – I may use the remainder of my genmaicha for iced tea.

This is a decent genmaicha, but not my perfect one. It is smooth and slightly toasty, but I wish the sencha was a bit more full-bodied. It seems like I have to use more tea than usual to get the flavor that I want. I’m still on the lookout for my perfect genmaicha, but this one is not a bad sub until I find it.

It calls for 2-3 tsp and so for me that was 5 grams for an 8 oz coffee mug. I brewed at 3.5 minutes, 180F. This used up my entire Upton tea sample so if you order don’t expect to get more than one session out of it. Now on to the taste, but first the aroma. It smells ok. I don’t know how to describe it. Kind of musky. That sounds bad, huh? The color is a very light golden. The flavor is sort of bitter with an aftertaste that lingers for a little then disappearing. Overall, I am not a huge fan.

The aroma of the brewed tea is very pleasant… it smells a bit like warm almond cookies!

This is a sweet, tasty green tea. The green tea tastes fresh – not grassy, but there is a delicate vegetative note to it. The almond and cinnamon flavors are balanced well with the green tea taste. Very smooth and delicious. The cinnamon flavor is sweet (not spicy) and the almond flavor gives this a nutty flavor that is somewhat toasty.

YUM YUM YUM!

Finally got a break in week upon week of rain and spent the early morning mowing the front and back. Took two hours and I’m completely nackered.

I have had the Phuguri Estate second flush from TeaG many times while living in Chicago.

It is an eye opener to get to try a second tea from the same garden, as a different flush, to get a real sense of how flushes are truly different.

This tea is much more green than I remember the second flush. It has a fair bit of vegetal bite at the finish in the mouth. But not in a bad way. I just recall the second flush being a lot less volatile and golden.

First flush is not always a short cut to “the best” in spite of what some traditions may insist upon.

1.5 tsp (for me that’s 4.5 grams), and a 4.5 minute brewing time. What does this tell you? This is a dark heavy cup of tea. It smells almost alcoholic, the same sensation you get when taking a whiff of bourbon or scotch. You also get a very strong caramel note, more pronounced than almost anything I’ve had. How does it taste? Good but also bad. I can’t make up my mind. I don’t think I like it. But it’s not bad. It’s like eating venison. Your mind is so confused because it’s gamey but it’s not necessarily bad. Maybe it’ll grow on me.

The description is right to the point.
Lilacs? Check. The aroma might not be strong and doesn’t drift up from a cup of tea but if you bring it to your nose and inhale – there they are – unmistakable lilacs.
Delicate, flowery liquor? Check. The flavor is very smooth, flowery and dry like white wine.
Sweet and refreshing taste? Check. Yes, indeed it is very refreshing and the light sweetness is there as well but hiding behind flower dryness and feels more like an aftertaste than a separate note.

The brew doesn’t have any oiliness or toasty qualities, it is pure, fresh and stands up to 3 infusions, the third still being tasty but lacking in aroma. And I like the name :) Definitely goes on my shopping list as soon as I run out of Adagio’s oolong #18. They have similar characteristics but this one is way better.

Wow, what is going on here? It’s a Darjeeling that thinks it’s a green? This selection from Thurbo Estate look nothing like the Darjeelings you’d expect from northern India. It’s broken very fine and has the hue of woodchips. The steeping time is a done-before-you-know it 1.5 minutes, faster than some green and white teas. The aroma? Smells sort of like a Chinese or Japanese tea to be quite honest. What does this all amount to? How does it taste? Quite good. A strong but quickly passing bitterness; it doesn’t linger. Good viscosity, like a syrup that’s been thinned out. The color is beautiful golden.

Strong, dark brew, amazing rich flavor. It’s the coffee of tea!

Nom Nom Nom – backlogging 2 cups from earlier…

Infusion 2…chocolate is pretty much gone but the orange and lemon flavors are still lovely!

This is going fast! Check out my previous reviews…

Great way to start a Monday Morning! YUMMO! Check out my previous tasting notes!

2 cups/2 infusions…the first was extremely chocolaty probably the most chocolaty I have tasted from this offering since I started drinking it! Excellent!

The 2nd…was still very tasty…not as chocolaty but the orange and black tea came thru nicely!

2 cups
2 infusions

1st infusion…chocolate, orange, EG YUM
2nd infusion…orange YUM

On my 2nd cup so far today! YAY! :)
YUM YUM YUM…see my other notes…

Twiggles was my SweeTEA and she spoiled me with an Upton Valentine’s Sampler! YAY! I wasn’t going to have this one first because this is the only one of the 4 in the sample that I have had before but you know what…I had a hell of a week and I think all rules should be thrown out the window! I know I love this one and it brings me the comfort I need today! Ahhhhhh! So glad to have this one back in my cupboard! Can’t wait to try the other three!

Don’t know what you have until it’s gone!? Perhaps! This is the last of my stash and I am already sad to see it go! I needed the tin for matcha tho! LOL

Check out my other tasting notes for more info on this…as for this time around…it’s bold and dark but I can’t taste the floral or chocolate as much as last time(s). Still a great cup tho!