Upton Tea Imports

I really love all things mint flavored. So just from that point of view this tea is great for me. It’s a strong peppermint without much of an earthy flavor to it. It just tastes like clean, pure peppermint to me. Id’ definitely recommend this to any peppermint tea lovers out there.

This was a tea that the wonderful MissB added to my BF shared order package.

I’m always hunting for my perfect chai. This isn’t it, but this is really good. I really like the spice blend in this one. The spices are really well balanced for me. This is really good. What it’s not is caffeinated – I LIKE caffeine – I drink it from the time I get up in the morning, until I go to bed at night. This also has a really thin mouth feel, for me chai should be thick and rich.
Really good chai, but not perfect…..

From The Traveling Tea Box

A very nice Breakfast Blend. I wouldn’t mind it if it was a bit more malty but its still very nice and soon to be come a staple.

I’m not a fan of OPs generally, and this did nothing to change my mind. I took it with me as a travel tea though and admit I was grateful to have tea that tasted like tea at all, since you just never know what you’ll get.

The taste reminds me of a green tea, like an oolong. But the color is white. Fruity strawberry notes at the end.

In some ways it’s funny that I prefer Upton Russian Caravan to Baker Street Blend. Since I much prefer darjeeling to oolong, and Baker Street switches out the latter for the former, it should be a blend made in heaven for me: lapsang souchong, darjeeling, and keemun.

It’s good, no doubt, but the grassiness of the darjeeling makes the unadulterated liquor of the brewed Baker Street (dark amber colored—a bit lighter than the Russian Caravan) just a bit less smooth and pleasant than the unadulterated Russian Caravan.

With cream, however, this is also very nice. I’d recommend Baker Street for those who like lapsang souchong straight, since it is more marked in this blend than in Russian Caravan. For those who find lapsang souchong too smoky, this Baker Street Blend might be as well.

There is one problem with my comparison, however. The Russian Caravan in my tea cupboard is Upton’s higher grade (T70 not T60), which they own is prepared using higher quality teas (presumably in the same proportions). So in some ways I may be comparing apple and oranges, except that Upton does not seem to have a higher-grade Baker Street Blend, which would be the fair comparison.

Anyway, this is still a fine afternoon tea—but much more of lapsang than keemun or darjeeling. I’d be interested to find out the proportions used of the three in this blend.

First steep reminds me of a very smooth English breakfast, with a slight bitter aftertaste that goes well with the tea. Second steep is a bit more complex with cinnamon and clove undertones. A very nice cup of black tea.

With scents of warm, comforting toasted kasha and a bright, woody flavor, I’m really enjoying this tea. It’s more astringent than some of my other favorites, and that seems to really work with its bright, lemon note. Unfortunately, this is the sort of tea that can dull my tastebuds for a couple of days, so I’ll have to lay off of it for a while.

Ahhhhh this is the type of black tea that is my happy zone. The kind that makes me take smaller sips just so that the cup will last longer.
Malty and rich, with just a hint of astringency. Not flowery, but perhaps hinting towards that edge.
It makes me sad that I’ve only got a sample, especially since none of my other black teas hit the bulls-eye of my preference so accurately. If I was to break my buying ban, it would be for this, or at the very least something that I hope could fill in the gap!
There is atleast one more cup’s worth, maybe two. Can I manage with just that until mid March??? I must…

Not my usual morning tea, just wanted something more robust and brisk to go with my oatmeal. Light aroma, but good flavor and pleasant color. Enough kick to get me going this Monday morning…

Upton Tea Imports Russian Caravan offers a kinder, gentler Lapsang Souchong experience. Well, that’s my impression anyway. My understanding is that Russian Caravan is a blend of Lapsang Souchong with others teas, usually keemun and oolong, but some renditions seem more black than others. In all cases, this one included, the smoky campfire aspect of intense single origin Lapsang Souchong is considerably tamed, since it is offset by the presence of the counterbalancing teas.

This is a very good blend, as evidenced by the fact that it tastes smooth and not at all scratchy or bitter even au naturel. The liquor is a rich red brown, but there is no malty flavor (as in Assam) whatsoever. I find that though it is perfectly potable plain, this Russian Caravan is enhanced with cream, which is how I am drinking it right now.

Another fine offering from Upton Tea Imports, my first “real tea” company. I am happy still to have a can of this yummy stuff around, and glad to find today that its flavor has not suffered from old age in the least.

I should perhaps add that my lot is from TB70, which appears to be the “superior” grade of Upton Russian Caravan.

Sipdown. This last bit has been languishing at the bottom of the tin for a while, so it’s not at it’s best, but still drinkable. By now I’ve learned that there are oolongs I like much better than this chopped-up Formosa stuff, so it’s not something I need to keep in my personal collection. But if you ARE into Formosa, this is a solid example. It is decidedly better than the H&S version.

Catching up on all the tea I forgot to log earlier. This tea bores me and for that reason I always forget that it’s actually, well, good? Not interesting, not entertaining, but a solid cup when you want an almost-but-not-quite-black tea.

The last tea I’ve tried of the oolong sampler, as well as my Upton order. This is a pleasant but unsurprising finish. It tastes very similar to the Formosa Jade Oolong. With repeated drinking I’ll probably be able to pinpoint the differences, but right now it’s what they have in common that really stands out: that wonderful honey flavor.

While all the other teas in the sampler had those lovely rolled leaves, in this one they’re chopped up for some reason. I’m still not sure how chopping/rolling effects tea flavor. So far I’ve only steeped this once, so we’ll see if it holds up as well as the rolled leaves did.

This is the first time I’ve ordered anything from Upton. Though their customer service was very good, in many ways I found the teas unimpressive. Flavored teas, in particular, don’t seem to be their strength — I always felt there was something artificial about them. The unflavored teas were better but (and this may largely be due to my inexperience – I didn’t know what to buy) I didn’t end up with anything that I just loved (though I did try some pretty interesting stuff. I’m looking at you, Moonlight White).

The oolongs were the best of the lot by far. While I’ve had (pricier) oolongs that I’ve liked better, Upton’s were all quite nice and even on my slender budget, are affordable enough to drink everyday, which I quite appreciate.

This is just as described on the package,,,,grape and mahogany notes with a dry finish. I taste a hint of orange peel in there as well.
I am a novice to quality black teas but the two I have tried now have been from Upton
Teas and I have been very impressed. Very delicious!!!

From the Steepster Select Box, February 2014

The dry leaf does smell like grape! In a good, earthy way, not like a fake flavoring. This is a very fruity black tea, distinct and ejoyable. Quite tasty, but not one I’d feel compelled to buy any more of, mostly because I can’t make up my mind about how to prepare it. Straight? With milk? With sugar? Any works, but none seems quite right.

My tastes seem to be in flux, because now I think I prefer this to Twinings’ version.

Perfect cup for a gray morning.

Upton kindly threw in a free sample of this with my order. While I think I prefer Twinings’ version (it’s smoother and more balanced) this is a solid Irish Breakfast. Has some interesting malty notes and a slightly bitter but not unpleasant undertone.