Upton Tea Imports

Wow! Out of the bag, this smells so strongly of cream cheese icing sugared cinnamon buns, I did a double take. I could just inhale it constantly, it’s THAT good. Steeped, it also smells amazing, even cooled. I found this much better hot though — a lovely, sweet chai with more cinnamon roll flavor than anything else. Very tasty!

Cool looking leaves – very long. This is pretty good. I followed package directions, though, and this length of steep is giving it a dryness that I don’t care for a whole lot (at least I’m guessing that is what is making it dry). I don’t notice any other notes than tea flavor tea. :) I have enough left in the sample to try again though!

Had a few sips of this tonight, and it was so spicy, I thought it was (perhaps) the hideous spray I had to use in my room for… gasp!… bed bugs. So, I dumped it. Sadly. Because now I’m thinking it was better than I gave it credit for.

I think I need to try this again when I know for sure this is the tea I’m drinking… although this tastes so roooibos-y, that I have to assume this is the right tea. Regardless, this is a bit too much rooibos and something a bit off, and not enough chai for me.

Caffeine Free Tea Box

Meh, it’s alright. Though I can’t blame upton that I’m not a big fan of plain teas. This one is going under my “better iced” section.

Oooo… now this is more like it. Golden tipped leaves make a malty, deep brew. I like this better than the Basmatia Estate. Still gets the increasing bitterness as it cools, however. And that could be my steeping error as well. Dunno. I like it. And with half-and-half it reminds me of how much I loved the Assams this winter with cream… a habit I don’t need to fall back into! :)

Now I need to follow this with Harney’s Nahorhabi, though I don’t know what flush theirs is.

Since I had two more people at work wanting to try out teas, I figured I’d grab some samples to do some comparisons while I was doing ordering. Not like I can place a tea order without getting something myself!

This is an okay Assam. Nothing too special, but definitely drinkable. A bit toasty. As it cools, it seems to get stronger and maybe tends a bit to the bitter side. This was only at 1:30. I think at 4-5 min as recommended it would be near undrinkable, at least for me. On to the next!

:/ I had a nice pretty review written, and then my computer crashed. So sorry that I can’t be bothered writing up as nice of one.

No aroma when I opened the pouch, leaves were a lower quality than I would normally like, but as I had been given this sample, I don’t know where this degradation happened.

As it brews. no distinct aroma, maybe some faint wet cardboard. brews dark for such a surprising little amount of tea, but I guess that is from it being crushed.

The tea itself is pretty awful. If I had more of this tea than the sample, it would be reserved for ice-tea grade only. No muscatel, bitter and astringent, I see no “good” taste in this tea.

although i don’t like it much, this is an ok tea :) tastes like fruit and flowers

A nice tea! tastes like “Lemon Candies”

A really mellow and smooth black tea :) tastes like a roasted black tea

This is one I stole from the MTTB because it looked good, only had one cup, and had a fair bit of packaging. C’mon box: close!

This is a nice bready Assam, with notes of honey, and only a little bit of astringency. Just by the smell of it, I felt it would be better with a little milk to tone it down, but I’m doing ok without it. It’s a nice brisk cup to start the morning with!

Thanks!

This is a sample from Boychik’s Darjeeling Sampler. Thank you!

I finally got the opportunity to try compare and try all 4 Upton Darjeelings together. This was the lightest of the 4 and the only 1st flush. I wrote notes of slightly muscky, smooth, not much astringency and I used the word dandelion to describe the taste. I think of the 4 this was my least favorite, but I am finding, at least with this sample set that the more astringent the more I seemed to like the Darljeeling. I am also finding that I tend to enjoy Darjeelings more in the afternoon, as a lighter fruitier tea.

I received a sample pack of this from boychik. Thank you for allowing me to try this one!

From reading the tasting notes I think I am going to try this one again in the morning with a lower water temperature. This was a light fruity tea, but I didn’t taste many of the other notes mentioned in the description. I will come back to this one.

a decent green tea. the first Korean one i have tried. tastes like china green tea with hints of dragon-well tea

still the best ive ever had :) so i ordered a bunch of Pu-ehr from Yunnan sourcing and i thought, “maybe i might have some left.” :) and i had one square left!

The BEST pu-ehr i have ever tried! Really pure and tasty. although it made me feel a little light headed after drinking the first cup. but it was quite relaxing :) its best to steep for at least 5 minutes to get a strong flavor :P little to no Fishy taste!

an excellent tea too! however, the regular Gen-mai cha by Upton’s tea imports is better.

not too good of a tea. :(

Edit: I forgot to put that it was not a roasted oolong :( I don’t really like un-roasted oolongs

An Excellent tea! I love the popcorn/rice like taste :)

I seriously loved this tea. It made my morning! When I first smelled it, I noticed the grapefruit, and then when I steeped it, I noticed the slight smokiness. Really smooth and balanced to taste. Earls are my favorite, and this was a special one. I always can tell if I love something when I cradle the cup in my hands and savor it, even if it’s a styrofoam cup at work. I didn’t want to drink the last of this, because we don’t have any more, but I’ve added it to my wish list. Thanks, Cavo!