Upton Tea Imports

Very astringent, but not bitter. Definitely a tea for milk. Nice beginning to the day but not destined to be a favorite.

Wow, talk about an unusual looking tea. Just look at the picture of the leaves, or in this case, maybe stones is more appropriate. It’s a dull green color, and looks exactly like the foam that florists use to make arrangements. It has a chalky (not shiny) appearance and each stone is the size of a large pea. When you brew it, you expect it to unfurl right? Well it doesn’t! The tea is named Oolong but obviously looks green.

How does it taste? Like a very very light oolong with a hint of ginseng but also some green tea attributes. It has a hint of spiciness (the same way ginger is spicy) that rubs the back of your throat. I normally don’t think tea has much of a smell or at least anything to write about but this one has a nice floral aroma!

A must try!

Not loving it as much today as before. I don’t know if I am just not in the mood or what. Bumping down a bit. I did have this with stir-fry a few nights ago and thought that the food overwhelmed the oolong.

I love this oolong. It’s the kind of oolong that reminds me of sitting in a Chinese restaurant drinking cup after cup of tea. I was worried what it was roasted and thought it would be smoky verging on bbq but it is not all. There might be a little smokiness in the background but it is not a big component. There is a bit of peach and jasmine flavors. There is no grassiness in the taste. The smell is a little smoky and a little vegetal. Really a nice oolong.

I’m gonna save the rest of this sample for stir-fry dinner later in the week (and I’ll pull out the chopsticks too).

I got this as a sample when I ordered some supplies from Upton. I think I will order more of this one.

I didn’t realize I had tasted this about a year ago but here’s a new harvest/batch. The leaves are quite large so it brews exceptionally clean/clear. Color is a light molasses or a dark honey, depending on your experience. Pleasing aroma but it’s very faint. There’s a slight acidity at the back of my tongue. Little to no aftertaste. I am really enjoying how approachable this is. Would be a good tea for people getting into Darjeelings.

4.5 grams for an 8-10 oz cup of boiling water. This is an intense tea. Dark and malty with heavy tanins on the back of the tongue. Medium viscosity, good coating. Definitely a morning wake up tea, that’s why I am having it right now (1030A). The color is dark caramel but almost red in hue. Great Darjeeling.

I love Moroccan mint tea. I can’t deny it. I have to admit I think it’s very suspect of Upton, whose tea I drink almost exclusively, to source their mint tea from Germany. I am sorry but what does Germany know about tea? Anyway, this is actually a good tasting tea. It’s a blend and my feelings about tea blends are similar to my feelings about Scotch blends, though I am easing up on both. This tea brews up very cleanly – little to no residual leaves or “dustings” at the bottom of the mug. The color is a light golden and there’s a hint of acidity on the front of the tongue. There is an underlying tone of tanins but nothing like you’d get in a darker tea. The mint is very subtle but is definitely present. This is an extremely relaxing tea and I wish I could on a comfortable sofa right now instead of my office chair.

Backlog:

There are two listings for this tea here on Steepster, but since I’ve already written about this tea on this listing, I went with this one.

I like this tea quite a bit. Yeah, it’s on the smoky side, but the smoke notes are soft and don’t interfere with the bergamot notes. A slight malty note to the tea as well, with hints of chocolate. Notes of grapefruit are slightly stronger than the bergamot notes. It’s a really nice medley of flavors.

Finishing up the last of this sampling that Doulton sent me. Thank you! You are so kind!

I really like this tea – I think I may even like the smoky quality to it! And that’s not an easy feat. I notice that the smokiness is more in the aroma than in the flavor though. If I smell the tea before I sip (which I normally do) the taste is much smokier than if I sip without a deep inhale. But… I don’t find the smoky flavor here unpleasant – quite the opposite, actually.

I use a little extra leaf and steep a little less time than the brewing parameters suggest… and the tea comes out perfectly for me.

Another gift from Doulton – What a great package she sent me!

I was a little concerned when I first read on this tea, as it is a “Russian” Earl Grey – and that typically communicates to me “smoky.” But, after smelling the tea I could detect no strong smoky scent – a slight smokiness, yes, but, not a strong smoky scent – I decided to go ahead and brew some and give it a try.

I’m glad I did! This is delightful. As the company description reads on this tea – it’s a departure from traditional earl grey. I can taste the grapefruit notes, which are in perfect harmony with the bergamot! The slight smoky scent translates into the brewed liquor as well, but again, it is not a strong, smoky flavor.

Pleasantly robust with a bright, vigorous flavor – this would be an excellent tea for one of those mornings that I’d rather not be awake, but have to be! (Kind of like this morning was! haha) A dry astringency to the tea, but not unpleasantly so.

I did not brew it as long as the steeping suggestions recommend – and I’m glad I didn’t. I feel that at 2 1/2 minutes, this tea is strong and flavorful, but, I fear that at 5 minutes I would have had a bitter tasting cup.

This is one that I would consider buying – but you know what? It’s not one that I would have considered buying before this tasting. I MUST get over my predisposition to automatically dismiss a Russian blend. Russian blends are good!

A white tea with a hint of vanilla in the background. The vanilla is very very subtle. The smell is a little grassy. The aftertaste is a bit sour. I thought I would like this one more. Glad it is only a sample size.

I was worried since there are rose petals in the tea, but those don’t seem to add any flavor and just look pretty in the mix.

A truly black black Chinese tea. According to Upton, less than 40kg of this tea was produced. The price certainly reflects it. It’s a very dark caramel flavor. Not the kind you’d find in a supermarket candy bar, but one you’d make on a stove. Maybe close to the hard crack stage. Very strong initial taste but since it’s a fairly thing tea, it dissipates quickly. Not much lingering around after swallowing. I like this but to be honest, don’t really see why it’s supposed to be so special. It’s high brew temp and thinness intensifies the need to swallow it quickly which does not leave much time for enjoying it. I’d recommend pairing with some sweets (cookies or pastry) and letting it cool down 15 degrees before enjoying.

I ended up with another sample of this.

This time I cold brewed it for more like 36 hours and it made quite a difference. Much more flavorful and round.

It’s also really nice with food. Better, I think, with food than as a stand alone drink. I had it with pasta and marinara sauce and it went very nicely.

Bumping up a few points as I enjoyed it more this time around.

This is Ceylon BOP Item TC50B and it came as “a complimentary sample perfect for Iced Tea” with my last order from Upton. I had never used the refrigerator method before and I tried it with this. Here were the instructions:

Empty the contents of the packet into a clean jug and add a quart of cold water. Refrigerate for 12-48 hours, strain and enjoy.

The margin of 36 hours seemed a bit daunting. I tried it after about 24. It’s a nice, standard black iced tea. I’m not a huge iced tea drinker, but in my view this is better than the usual restaurant fare. That’s mostly where I have iced tea.

My boyfriend, who drinks far more iced tea than I do, though also mostly at restaurants and without a great deal of sophistication (though he does insist that it be brewed and won’t take it if it is from a mix), pronounced it “OK.”

The highest grade of Keemun black tea from China, this does not come cheap. I don’t remember the exact price but I have the label marked with an asterisk which means it was pricey. Dry leaves are brittle and black and look like tiny short sticks. They are not gunpowder fine but not very large either. Brews up nice and dark and reminds me of Lapsang Souchon and while it’s not smoked, it has a very strong smokiness to it. Tanins are present as well as very noticeable acidity, almost like you squeezed a few drops of lemon into your morning tea. Viscosity is on the medium range, and it coats your tongue nicely. If you rub your tongue against the insides of your mouth, you’ll taste the residual tanins/tea which linger for quite a while after you’ve swallowed.

I’m really happy that I’ve tested this tea; it is going to be a full-size order. It’s a great “gateway” tea for those who are contemplating trying a smoky tea. It does not have the taste of a bonfire, a forest fire, or even a Barbie Que, but it does have a touch of smoke. This smoke is presented with a natural sweetness and a definite buttery cocoa taste.

Upton called for a 4-5 minute brew and I had wandered off and allowed it to oversteep by about two minutes. The tea was graciously forgiving and does not taste at all rancid, bitter, overcooked, or unpleasant. What a sweetheart!

In case you wonder about why I’ve been giving so many high marks, it’s because I am only drinking tea that I am pre-disposed to like. I’m also drinking higher up on the financial chain, which probably makes me both more eager to like the tea but also makes the tea worthy of a higher price point.

I didn’t have much left so I split the remainder into two batches so I am brew 2/3’s (2g) of what I normally would use. I may increase brewing time about 15-30 seconds to compensate. I simply love the name of this tea. It invokes so many images and emotions. the leaves are very delicate and initially reminded me of a bird’s nest (tiny twigs) or maybe thinly shredded paper used as packing material.

Ok the tea’s done. Tasting notes: Definitely a Chinese green tea. Very apparent. The color is a very light champagne. Good clarity and very little (to no) residue at bottom of cup. It tastes very slightly grassy, which is a term I generally use for Japanese green teas. Viscosity is thin, not much coating going on here.

This might need to be reclassified as something besides a black tea. The brew is lighter, yellower. I had this this morning and to be honest, don’t remember much about it except that I liked it. 212F brewing temp suggests it’s a darker tea, which it was. Good thing I drank it in the morning. My ritual is always dark in the morning, lighter in the afternoon. I used about 3.3 grams for a 10oz mug.

What an unusual tea. First the leaves are very crispy and big. They take up lots of volume. I always go by weight so for me the recommended 2-3 tsp is the same as saying 6-9 grams which is a boat load of tea! I don’t even have that much in my sample so I used half the sample, so 2.5 G. I picked a brewing time of 9:30 which is between the suggested 8-10 minutes. I might leave it a bit longer since I am using less leaves.

Despite the long brewing time, the tea is still relatively light. No surprise here. The color is very light tinted copper or golden. It’s not as slippery or viscous as I expected. Pretty watery in texture. The taste is very comforting and lingers on the center of your tongue.

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Golden Monkey. This is a fine example. Nice dark brew. Lots of tanins and bitterness (but not in a bad way). I always try to describe smells and flavors in tea but to be honest, unlike wine, I rarely am able to find something descriptive enough. It just tastes like tea.

I let this, my first cup of East Frisian, brew about 30 seconds too long so I might need to revise my review. I have not had this kind of tea before, but have read much about it. Getting it right is an art (or a science?) according to many people. Although I’ve overbrewed it, I can taste the delicious maltiness and can detect the aroma of good solid earth. I think that this tea is stolid and robust and quite strong, which makes it an excellent candidate for early morning and any other time in which more caffeine is essential. It’s not delicate, but it is tasty and it’s doing the trick. I’m sitting up straighter and feeling more alert right now.

I’ll be trying this again and will probably invest in a larger size. Thank you to Upton for providing so many sampler sizes and for speedy shipping.

SECOND STEEP: I can certainly understand why many people are so devoted to this blend. It’s strong and earthy and a great substitute for coffee, providing plenty of caffeine and plenty of flavor. I really like the addition of a bit of sugar and some milk to this tea.

I love chai in the morning, so I’ve been exploring different chai blends as I’ve come across them. This sample from Upton Imports was intriguing—all the usual spice suspects are present with the addition of coconut and licorice root. I prepared it using takgoti’s recipe (it’s easy to find). The chai is a delicious balance of spice with an appearance by coconut and a surprise of licorice at the finish. (I am not a big fan of licorice as a rule but this was really nice!) A pleasant tweak of the typical chai spice line-up.

Basic chamomile- buttery and sweet. And an improvement over the bagged stuff… Drinking this tonight hoping to settle my stomach….