Upton Tea Imports

My second infusion of these leaves was a different cup entirely! I now taste more of the citrus-y flavors. And the bergamot! The chocolate has developed into a savory cacao flavor rather than the sweet chocolate flavor that I experienced with the first infusion.

Both infusions are very delicious… and I think the fact that the two infusions are so different from one another makes this tea even more enchanting, so I am therefore raising the numeric rating just a bit!

This is one of the most unusual Earl Grey teas I’ve ever encountered, and yep… that’s just why I ordered the sample of it – I simply had to try a Chocolate flavored Earl Grey tea.

The chocolate in this blend is surprisingly strong, while the bergamot is a bit more subdued… I really expected it to be the other way around. A very pleasant blend! I may have to actually order more of this one. A very good chocolate blend.

The second in the British Blend Sampler. The web site’s description for the plain Russian Caravan says it has teas from India, China, and Formosa, so this must as well. There is some tippiness to the leaves. Also some twigginess. I wish my senses were sophisticated enough to be able to tell what’s what from the sight and smell of the leaves. I looked up Russian Caravan and Wikipedia says it is a blend of Oolong, Keemun and Lapsang Souchong.

Which is fascinating because after it steeps, it smells like Darjeeling to me. Doesn’t taste so much like it, though. There could well be oolong in this. The mouth feel is soft and silky, and there’s a nutty/stone fruit butteriness to the flavor. I don’t taste smoke except maybe barely in the finish, so if there is lapsang in this it’s a very small amount. I am thinking that what I smelled as Darjeeling is probably Keemun. It has a sort of grapey fruitiness.

The aftertaste is sweet and slightly buttery. I’m in yumsville, liking this one quite a bit.

Sipdown no. 15 of 2018 (no. 371 total). Sample tin.

We did end up going away for the weekend. I put the last of this in the fridge to steep cold before we left, and I worried that it would be a mess when we got back — it wasn’t ready to strain when we hit the road. I was too tired to mess with it last night, which compounded the problem. Plus, I didn’t put as much tea in the pitcher as I normally do, because there wasn’t enough left to get a full 8 spoons. I hoped for the best because the leaves are so tiny and balled up, I thought the density might make up for the lack of spoons.

Still, I expected the worst.

But. This morning I strained it and tasted it and it’s a perfectly fine cold tea. The ceylon gives it a typical iced tea flavor which is a nice change since most of my iced teas lately have been chais.

This is the first in the Upton British Blend sampler, and I was having a feeling of deja vu when I read what’s in it. River Shannon Breakfast Blend, also an Upton tea, though not part of the British Blend sampler, is also a mix of Ceylon and Assam. I was wondering how they’d be different. Proportions? Estates? Both? Neither?

When I looked at the Bond Street, I discovered one difference. It must be CTC, as the leaves look like coffee grounds. Or very tiny pebbles. River Shannon is Orthodox, so one part of the mystery solved. I can smell the Assam in the Bond Street’s dry leaves, but it doesn’t have that bakey smell I don’t like, fortunately.

It’s has a fairly dark orange-brown liquor with some red in there as well. It smells and tastes like a brisk black breakfast blend tea. Like a pretty standard brisk black breakfast blend tea, though with more depth of flavor and a fuller body than a restaurant grade tea, and certainly better than any teabag black tea I’ve tried.

I must remember to do a side by side tasting of this with River Shannon and see how they compare.

It is amazing what a little roasting can do to yerba mate. Green, mate tastes like a strong green tea; Roasted, it is like a mellow, chocolaty black tea.

I’ve yet to try this tea iced, but I’m skeptical if the flavors will transfer over cold. I think it will probably work in a tea latte, though.

This is a good choice if you like oolongs with a toasty and sweet taste. It does not have an “earthy” taste. I am experimenting with Yxing teapots and I used 10 grams to make about 48 ozs of tea. I did this with a rather large teapot that holds 10.5 oz. This might seem a bit large, but the leaves did eventually expand and take up most of the volume. I started out with a 15 second steep (using water at 212) and added about 10 seconds to each succeeding steep. I got 48 oz after about 8 steeps, and the leaves would have yielded more. So this tea isn’t quite as pricey as it seems. The flavor was rich and delicious.

I ordered several samples from Upton a while ago, and the package arrived as I was sick so I had to put off trying them… and I’m just getting around to trying the first of them now…

Hmm… Breakfast Blend at 7:20 in the evening. OK!

I tried it first without any sweetener or milk… and it’s really good like that, but, I think I prefer it with a little milk and honey. Without the milk and honey: wine-like quality to it, hints of black currant. Also a woodsy note as well as a deep, yet subtle spicy tone.

With milk and honey: much nicer! the spicy notes come out to play a little more, the woodsy note seems to have been replaced with a molasses-y, honey-ish sort of characteristic. The wine note is less discernible but still present in the finish. It has a very tannic quality to it.

Nice! Now, I’m off to the TRB to submit a review of it!

Sipdown no. 3 of May 2019 (no. 65 of 2019 total, no. 553 grand total). Sample tin.

I have been drinking the Harney Viennese Earl Grey fairly regularly also given its rating, and I prefer this one. It’s mellower, and the bergamot isn’t quite as strong.

In fact, I think it needs a bit of a bump in the rating as I say goodbye.

In other news, I am seeing the light at the end of the chamomile tunnel! (At least for the pure chamomile, which is among the lowest rated items in my cupboard.) I need to learn that I am not a straight chamomile fan, try as I might. I kept thinking it would be nice to have around to round out my collection, but the truth is it just takes up space.

Also, I am down to 19 cupboard pages as of this sipdown! Huzzah!

The fourth and last of the Upton Earl Grey sampler samples. This one has more bergamot smell in the can than the others; it smells the most like an Earl Grey in its dry state. Steeped, the bergamot aroma lessens but is still obvious and easily identifiable.

The description seems to indicate that the flowers are just for decoration, so that must mean this is the Earl Greyest of the Earl Greys in the sample. No other flavors added.

Indeed, that is my impression of the taste. In this, there’s a very discernible bergamot aroma and flavor, moreso than in the other three samples. It’s not too strong, nor is it too mild for me. It’s just right, said Goldilocks. The bergamot is citrusy, not perfumey. It doesn’t do a number on my stomach.

I’d like to taste it next to the Harney & Son’s, but it seems to me to be in the running for my staple Earl Grey.

Still trying to decide if I really like Earl Grey tea. At first, I did not care for the black tea base, but as this cools it is better. Would I buy this tea again, the jury is still out on that note. The bergamont is not too much, but it is there. I can taste the grapefruit notes and can’t decide if I really like it…

Sipdown no. 45 of 2018 (no. 401 total). Sample tin.

In the time between when I first tried this and now (an amazing number of years) I still haven’t had occasion to try another chocolate Earl Grey. So I still have nothing to compare this to.

And really, I’m not sure I need to try another one or to have this as a staple. It was an intriguing idea, but it I think I’m good with a solid, no frills chocolate flavored black.

But knowing me, if I was ordering from a new place and they had a chocolate Earl Grey, I’d probably just try it anyway. LOL.

Tea no. 3 in the Upton Earl Grey sampler. It’s called Earl Grey Chocolate on the sampler label but has the same catalog number as Chocolate Earl Grey.

I’ve been looking forward to this, as I am at least a 200 on a scale of 1-10 in terms of chocolate fanaticism.

I must admit to being somewhat baffled by the all the variations on the Earl Grey theme. Seems to me at some point it ceases to be Earl Grey and starts being something else, but perhaps I’m just old school. Of all the variations, this is the most puzzling to me so far. But that’s probably only because I haven’t come across marzipan-halvah-cookies-’n-cream-melba-toast-pineapple-lime-spaghetti-mutton flavored Earl Grey yet.

This is a very colorful, pretty blend: yellow, green, blue, tan and brown/black. I love anything with cornflowers in it as that shade of blue is so calming and beautiful. It smells strongly of cocoa, and the cocoa has a mint-like lilt to it which defies explanation by the ingredients. The undercurrent of the tea, by contrast, smells almost coffee-like. I am getting nothing in the bergamot or lemon department.

But after steeping, there is both lemon and bergamot in the aroma, along with unsweetened cocoa (that still has that interesting minty-upswing). The taste is very strongly of the cocoa. As with the creme vanilla variety, the bergamot’s role seems mostly to be to corral the cocoa to some extent. The lemon actually seems to be the stronger citrus note here, and seems to be helping the bergamot with the task of keeping the cocoa from turning this into a single note tea. Interestingly, the bergamot hopped onto my tongue a few minutes after my last sip and sat there for about a minute before scurrying away.

Fortunately I have more of this so I can play with it some. Right now I’m in that place where I like the idea of this tea more than I probably like the tea itself. But the idea is so interesting, I really want it to knock my socks off. Right now it’s not doing that; it’s not striking me as that much different from a pretty standard chocolate flavored tea. I’m wondering if steeping 4 minutes would make a difference. Perhaps milk and sweetener would as well.

That said, I haven’t tried any other Chocolate Earl Greys, so there isn’t one I’d choose instead of this. Nor can I say this is signficantly better than any others. It’s either this one or nothing for me right now, and for that reason I’m giving it a default very good rating.

One of my tea traditions includes always buying one Darjeeling first flush from Upton’s every year. This year I tried the Sungma, but I also got a sample of this Castleton Estate.

It’s hard to make a choice to buy a tea when the description is only 1-2 sentences long, and there are 10+ first flushes to choose from! I wonder how other people make their choices. For me, I usually look at price (not too cheap, not too expensive), leaf size, and keywords like “fruity” or “sweet” :)

I love the smell of a fresh Darjeelings. That unique biscuity smell is worth the ticket price alone! And this tea is both fruity and sweet. I would’t say “pineapple” like the description indicates, but it has a nice sweet/savory balance, like plum or peach cobbler, or shortbread cookies with plum jam. Yum!

Well, I can proceed with the month of May, now that I’ve had a taste of first-flush DJ. This is a tea tradition I’d highly recommend!

Sipdown no. 8 of September 2019 (no. 99 of 2019 total, no. 587 grand total). A sample.

The last of my backlogged sipdowns from September. Alas, I missed the mark again, but only by two this month. Now that it is getting cooler, we’ll see what happens.

It really is quite nice for a flavored earl grey, but it isn’t my favorite creme version. Hence the rating. I can’t really improve on the original note except to say that while it remains a solid earl grey creme, I have had others since the original note that I liked better.

Ah. There we go. This is the first in the series of Earl Greys in the Upton sampler. In my zeal to taste the lavender one, I didn’t see the little number that indicates this is the first in the group.

In the can, this smells like vanilla, then tea. The vanilla isn’t a pure, beany vanilla smell. It’s more the ice creamy/cream soda variety of vanilla, which makes sense given the word “creme” in the name. It does make me wonder whether anyone has done a pure vanilla Earl. (Note to self to be on the lookout.) Thinking back on it, I’ve mostly seen Earl Grey cremes, with or without the word vanilla included. I can smell a citrus note toward the end, which is where the bergamot seems to be hiding.

The tea’s aroma is very pleasing, creamy and citrusy, with an undercurrent of sweet black tea. I think I’m already noticing a trend here in the Upton Earls, which is that the bergamot and whatever else is flavoring the tea sit above the tea base as a foundation more than interacting with it.

V. nice flavor. Much better than the only other Earl Grey Creme I have had, which was by The Necessiteas. The bergamot is not strong at all, perhaps not even strong enough, though it does give a citrus accent to the creme that keeps the creme from running away with the tea completely. The primary flavor is the creme vanilla sitting on top of the tea.

I think I will try this at four minutes next time and see what that does to the flavor.

Sipdown no. 5 of April 2019 (no. 54 of 2019 total, no. 542 grand total).

A surprise sipdown, courtesy of the BF’s sore throat which caused me to make a bigger pot than usual.

Nothing really to add to the original note on this. I did think about whether its rating should stay the same and decided it should.

Updated to add the number of this tea in Upton’s catalog as I was confused initially. In the Upton Earl Grey sampler it is named “Organic Earl Grey Lavender” but it has the same catalog number as Lavender Earl Grey (which also has a mark showing it is organic). So mystery solved, at least to my satisfaction.

This blend smells great dry. I love the smell of lavender, and that is the main thing I smell. It’s a deep, full lavender smell, which may be somewhat intensified by citrus. But I don’t smell bergamot here, or tea, really, for that matter. The addition of water tones down the lavender in the aroma, and seems to bring out a mild citrus note and a sweet black tea one.

The flavor is very nice, not too strong on the bergamot (which is how I like it) and the lavender is nicely balanced. The tea base is mild and unobtrusive.

It’s something I’d definitely drink again, though given the choice of a single Lavender Earl Grey, I’d pick the Samovar. The main reason is the tea base. The Samovar’s is delicious with a lot of character and depth. It’s far more present, but not in a distracting way; the lavender and bergamot are still clearly there. The Samovar is built more like a three-legged stool, where each of the three main components is equally important to the flavor. In the Upton the tea plays more of a foundation role, and the stars are two non-tea flavorings.

I just noticed that this was labeled no. 2 in the Upton Earl Grey sampler. Eeek, I’d better backtrack and taste no. 1!

Yesterday was River Shannon’s first trial (Assam + Ceylon), today this (Assam + Ceylon +Yunnan).

All I have time for now is a pretty rushed note, as I have to get to the office, but I wanted to put at least something down before I forgot what I was thinking. ;-)

That depth I remarked was missing from the River Shannon? The +Yunnan changes that. There’s a balance, too, that tones down the Assam a bit at the same time it gives the tea some heft. There’s more sweetness, more maltiness, more yum. It has a fuller body. It’s closer to what I’d consider an appropriate coffee substitute.

Pretty sure I prefer this one for most mornings. Pretty sure I’m a Yunnan fan, not so sure about Assam yet. I don’t have a firm reference point in my mind for it yet as I’ve mostly had blends so far. (I’ll have to try Thomas Sampson soon!)

One thing I have to figure out about this one is whether I need to add milk to it. It is pretty strong even when brewed at 3 minutes. If I’m not careful, it can grab me in the back of the throat when I’m not looking.

Although not particularly pleased, at least I was kind of entertained with this tea. Its long, thin and wiry leaves smelled surprisingly of milk chocolate and it was a pretty strong aroma like the one coming from a freshly unwrapped milk chocolate bar. Not exactly what I would expect from a Darjeeling, even a green one, but it smelled tasty nevertheless so intrigued, I brewed some right away.

The brew is disappointing, the chocolaty goodness is mostly gone and what is left is lightly sweet aroma without any distinguishing characteristics. The taste again has nothing in common with Darjeelings and is mellow and vegetal instead, with sweet buttery notes. Overall it reminds me more of Chinese greens, without smokiness.

Photo-report: http://tiny.cc/vgd8j

Sipdown no. 52 of 2018 (no. 408 total).

Drank much of this tin as cold brew, since this tea managed to be the lowest rated plain black tea in my cupboard. Which makes me think I’m pretty much a softy when it comes to ratings.

It’s not a bad tea. It’s a good tea. It’s even a very good tea. It just doesn’t make me do cartwheels and back flips, and given that there are teas out there that do, I don’t see a reason to put this on the must have list.

My first taste of this, made in the Breville.

The dry leaves have a rich, dark smell and I’m thinking “coffee substitute.” Good. Pretty, clear, red-tinged liquor, reminds me of the color of the GM Sinharaja. I definitely get the Assam in the aroma, but it’s fairly mild under the influence of the Ceylon. Once you get past the strength and pungency of the Assam, there’s a malty sweetness.

It tastes pretty much like it smells, with one pretty significant difference. It’s smoother than I would have expected based on the aroma. There’s some briskness and bite right at the beginning and again at the end, but in between it has no sharp edges. It sweetens up on the tongue in the minute or so after sipping leaving a mildly sweet aftertaste. It’s not sugary, but it is tasty. I’d call it medium-bodied.

There’s not a lot of what I think of as depth to the flavor, but I’m not sure it’s necessary that every breakfast blend be deep. Sometimes you’re having an omlette or a Belgian waffle, and sometimes you’re having cold cereal or toast. Seems like having the ability to mix and match is a good thing.

Although I’ve been resisting additives I am tempted to try this with milk, or maybe milk and sweetener next time.