Upton Tea Imports

Not bad, I usually have a cup of Assam to start the morning, this has a slight malt taste, not as heavy as some. I detect no coco at all. Probably would not purchase again.

I think Ceylon teas might be the MUTs (Most Underated Teas) of the tea world. Like the classic design of a Corvette Stingray or a Schott leather jacket, the crisp, lemony flavor of this Kirkoswald Estate offering will never go out of style.

This might be my favorite Ceylon tea from Upton so far and a true bargain. The tea is light, lemony, minty and very refreshing—one of those do-it-all teas that is great at any time of the day and should satisfy a wide range of tea drinkers.

Backlog:

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. It was delicious.

It is a very flavorful, smooth tea. Not heavy … it has a medium body but even so, it is very flavorful. And there is a certain robustness to it, even though it’s not a particularly heavy tea. I like the balance.

A distant smoky note to this tea. Hints of wood and earth. No bitterness, and next to no astringency. A really enjoyable cuppa.

Backlog:

Trying to get caught up again … it’s been a while since I’ve worked on my backlogs and the teas keep piling up! Ack!

This is a very finely chopped CTC from Upton. My tip for smaller cut tea like this one is to brew it for a shorter time. If you’d normally brew a black Ceylon for 2 1/2 minutes, go for just 2 minutes with a CTC like this.

This is a delightfully malty tea: rich and surprisingly hearty for a Ceylon. It is very reminiscent of an Assam. I wrote that this is like a Ceylon in Assam’s clothing, and I think that had I tasted this blindly, I would have thought it was an Assam rather than a Ceylon.

After a few sips, more Ceylon-esque qualities emerge, this is definitely more even tempered than an Assam, and it has that classic citrus-y finish. Woody and earthy … this has a very complex character. A really nice tea.

I forgot what was in this, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened my sample packet and got that auto-soothing heady scent of bergamot. Figured it’d be a standard kinda heavy, smoky caravan-type blend. But no! There is a bitter smell though, made me worry it’d continue onto the sip and make the tea sharp, but so long as it stays pretty hot it’s not there. This tea is surprisingly light (I tend to associate Russian-labeled stuff as strong and relatively bitter, meant to take tons of sugar). The smokiness is not the ashy, musty kind many lapsangs have; it’s more like scorched firewood, barbecue smoke. Kind of a “wet”, fresh burn, if that makes any sense. I would drink this again! I often feel a tad self-conscious preferring so many of Upton’s blends that admit to having artificial flavors over their natural ones, but them’s the breaks.

Ah, this time of year always leaves me in an emotional funk. I have been trying to cure it this year with copious amounts of Minecraft (because of course) reorganizing my stuff, and planning craft projects. I can see the light at the end of the proverbial cloud bank and my annual ‘Beginning of November Funk’ seems to be ended early. I am especially excited because my Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands seems to be better so I can go back to Origami again, woohoo! Speaking of hands, today I am going to review a hand themed tea that has been in my notebook for a bit.

Upton Tea Imports has a fancy named Oolong named Buddha’s Palm that I wanted to try because it have Buddha in the name and is an Oolong (I am easy to please) but sadly their website does not have much info on the tea other than it is from Fujian and it has superior aroma, flavor and leaf style. You know me, I want more info so I went researching! Buddha’s Palm is not named after Buddha exactly but after the (kinda horrifying looking) Buddha’s Hand Fruit, a kind of citrus. It is a Se Chung variety and also goes by the name Yong Chun Fo Shou. The aroma of this tea is very rich and heady to the point of making me dizzy. I notice intense malt and a bit of nuttiness and campfire smoke, but mainly there is the intense floral aroma. The floral is sickly sweet like flowers that are old and have been blooming for days, or like some of varieties of orchid. I admit the aroma is not too my liking, it is a little too intense and makes me feel a bit queasy.

Adding the tea to some nice warm water I notice the leaves start taking on a strong Tobacco aroma mixing with pine smoke and loam. It reminds me of a Gentleman’s library in the Victorian era, complete with pipe smoke and polished wood bookshelves. The aroma is not entirely unpleasant but it certainly is a little too strong on the Tobacco front. The steeped liquid sans leaves is very rich, pine wood and campfire mixed with an undertone of honey.

The taste is crazy intense, and not in a good way. The taste is like pine fire mixed with cigar smoke, I kid you not it tastes like a cigar that has been stored in a pine box. It is a touch bitter, like the bitterness of oak wood, not astringency. There is a roasted aftertaste that is somewhat pleasant but the cigar taste is giving me a nasty headache!

I am going to try a second steep, sometimes I have noticed the unpleasantness of the first steep can make for a really delicious second steep, wish me luck. The taste is still a bit too much like a humidor for my liking, but it is better than the first steep. The bitterness is gone entirely and the taste (other than cigar) is piney and sweet. I am not going to say this tea is bad but it does have qualities that I am entirely not fond of. I think if I want a smokey Oolong I will stick with the significantly less expensive Shui Hsien and pass on the Buddha’s Palm in the future.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/upton-tea-imports-china-oolong-buddhas.html

Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #7
Mmmmmmmmm! I am not a red rooibos kind of girl, but green roibos? Sign me up! Yummy! This tea is very appealing to the eye with the sunflower petals. I actually bought some sunflowers the other day so I had to share! Not only my flowers but my cute cup I picked up at TJ MAXX today :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/20741867@N05/10635363724/
This tea was very pleasant. The pear and cream paired well together. I sweetened it a little and it brought the juiciness of the pear out! Perfect for bedtime!

This is a nice, gentle Darjeeling with a sweet finish and not too much astringency. I like it almost as much as I like Kenilworth, which is saying a lot!

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Glenburn (FTGFOP) and Goomtee (FTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Glenburn (FTGFOP) and Singbulli (SFTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Goomtee (FTGFOP) and Singbulli (SFTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Tea #45 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Floral with lingering notes of apricot, with a clean finish. There is a little more astringency than I was expecting, and definitely leaves a dry mouth feeling.

If I were going to make this again, I might even lower my temperature further to the 180-185 range.

I’d come over hoping to see others having rated this. To me, it tastes basically nothing like Upton’s description and I wanted to compare to other people’s tasting notes.

Ooop, just took a moment to do some googling and it turns out I’m not alone after all! :)

To me, this tea is quite green, a mix of dark and bright grass colors in flavor… tart almost… the lighter green is along the sides and underneath the tongue, the dark is on the top and back of the tongue with that bitter edge dark greens so often have.

It has a long finish, still of that vegetal taste and feeling along the upper back of the throat and down in it a little. An almost dusky tone comes to the green taste.

It’s satisfying, something I can (and am) drinking a couple big pots of over the past couple of days.

A very good throughout-the-day hot tea but this really doesn’t taste like a white to me as the vegetal flavor is so complete and overwhelming. I actually had to go out and double-check the bag to make sure I hadn’t made the wrong tea!

But pretty yummy, yes.

Tea #43 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Mmm, muscatel.

Rich, with notes of sweet fruit and (obviously) muscatel grapes at the end of the sip. A really nice Darjeeling. Smooth and satisfying.

Dangit, I oversteeped this one too! I started the cup, and then my mom pointed out that my little girl’s diaper needed changing, so I went to do that, and before I knew it, five minutes had passed. DX I was so looking forward to this one, too! And there isn’t any left… T_T

Well, I added some water, some sugar, and a dash of milk and drank it anyway. It wasn’t bad… but those aromas coming from the dry leaf had promised so much more! The cardamom was the strongest note, with the cinnamon and the orange peel right on its heels. So sad… I’m not even going to rate this one, because I don’t feel I experienced it properly. I will probably have to order this at some point, because I think my husband would really like it (and if he doesn’t, then I will probably like it enough for both of us). :)

Tea #40 from Another Traveling Tea Box

This is another rich, black tea. The cocoa notes in this are the most prominent. It made me realise that the previous cup had some honey notes that this one is lacking. There’s also some slight bitterness going on; it’s the same bitterness that dark baking chocolate has, so it’s not offensive, but I’m wondering if a shorter steep time or a drop in temp would help it.

It’s another really nice black tea, but I’m partial to the Black Monkey.

Tea #39 from Another Traveling Tea Box

This is actually more evocative of Black Dragon Pearls than a Golden Monkey. It has fantastic dark cocoa notes and a warming maltiness.

Definitely a toasty tea and perfect for the weather. I’m definitely taking the last cup of this out of the box.

I think I liked this one better than EGSs I’ve had from Harney and, IIRC, American Tea Room (actually I think I’m remembering ATR Earl Grey Sterling, which was bizarrely gross tasting…not sure if that was a bad sample though or what). It was good! But I’ve never had one I liked markedly more than “normal” ones, so it never seems to merit actually stocking. I liked the Original Whole Leaf EG from Upton I had earlier today about as much, case in point.

Surprised how much I like this one. The last bunch of Earls I’ve tried I haven’t been as into, Upton and other companies included. And I’ve pretty much made my peace with the fact two of the very first I ever tried (Upton Imports Lavender and Creme Vanilla) are just going to be go-to and I probably won’t find others that clear that bar (Teajo Teas Silky Earl Grey also made me go “uh that’s it, shut it down, we have a winner folks” regarding the great Earl Gey Tea-Off I had going on), especially from Upton, that comfort me as much. But this one’s nice and basic, no bells and whistles but it delivers that tea flavor and clean element I want when I reach without thinking for an EG. No distractions or weird “bottled orange blossom essence” funk (and I do love bergamot, just not that specific manifestation of it). I could see picking a bit of this up whenever I’m restocking Lavender and Creme from Upton, as nice “don’t think about it” basic tea padding (you know, for mornings your tastebuds are impaired, or for going out of town and just wanting to bring SOMETHING).

Sometimes I wonder about how much mood/context plays a role in tea experience and appreciation. At times I can sort of tell no tea is going to get through to me because I’m in a foul mood or for some reason nothing, food included, tastes good for a couple days, and other times I feel like I’m so receptive and cheerful anything that isn’t dishwater is going to sit right with me. Hm. Feels like I may be having one of those days of the latter; it is Friday after all, no more trips for a few months so things are back to normal (I’m like an introvert about routine and homey plainness, if that makes sense…when I go too long without a nice stretch of time with that, I get squirrely, no matter how much I love traveling and doing new things), and tonight we’re meeting up with friends for Vietnamese food and then touring one of the haunted houses in the Victorian Village. Fun!

This cold…allergies…bronchitis…thing is really knocking me off my feet. I think I spent the majority of yesterday as an amorphous blob on the sofa trying to play Minecraft. And when it became too hard to focus on Minecraft I downed some PM Cold & Flu medicine and became an amorphous blob in my bed. I think I have spent the past month in one constant state of physical misery and would like to go on the record to say I would like a vacation from my body now. Good news though, we had our first freeze last night so if it is allergies that means they will calm down soon. Today I am reviewing a tea from my notebook because I cannot do a new tea justice with this sore of a throat.

Today’s tea is a Japanese tea from Upton Tea Imports, one Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha, a hojicha that is made from kukicha (or as some might know better, twigs) and predictably roasted. I love hojicha (or houjicha) it is probably one of my favorite Japanese teas because it has a huge comforting effect for me. I first discovered it in the form of tea bags when I was recovering from gallbladder surgery and it was so soothing. It has become a go-to tea when I am under the weather or just in need of some liquid comforting. Holy Roasted Sticks, Batman! The aroma of this tea is intense, almost too intense. All I can smell is the intense roast aroma and no real nuances of the leaves (err, actually twigs) it is one of those kick in the face sort of aromas. I should point out it is pleasant, just make sure you sniff it from a distance. Consider yourself warned!

As to be expected introducing the twiglets to some hot water mellowed their aroma out a bit. There is still a strong roasted aroma but it is now joined by notes of earthiness and malt. There is also a very tiny hint of caramelized sugar that sneaks in as an afterthought and following it is a touch of astringency. The stick-less liquid is much the same as the steeped leaves, milder with an added sweetness to the aroma.

Points to Upton for having one of the strongest hojicha I have yet tried! I should point out that the flavor that is so strong is a sweet roast with only a tiny tiny hint of smoke. There is also an underlying taste of pine needles that leaves a lingering sweetness on the tongue. Imagine the distinctive taste of roasted marshmallows with only a quarter of the sweetness and a hint of pine needles and you have this tea. As the tea cools it takes on a slightly vegetal aftertaste similar to green beans. How does this compare to other hojicha? Well for one it is made from roasted twigs which seems to make it a touch sweeter and less vegetal than the typical roasted bancha leaves. I like it, I will keep it on my hojicha arsenal and certainly say it is among my favorites.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/upton-tea-imports-japanese-ku-ki-ho-ji.html

Tea #16 from Another Traveling Tea Box

This one wasn’t what I was expecting, but in a good way.

There’s a very subtle, very slight marine quality to this one. Like breathing ocean air. Otherwise it’s a delicately earthy, slightly mossy cup with an aftertaste of what is basically Riesling wine.

If I didn’t have so much Darjeeling here already, this one would be staying.

Traveling Tea Box C #12
I don’t know what happened with this one. The dry leaf didn’t smell too much like vanilla and the taste was a very very faint vanilla Taste. I love vanilla teas but this one just isn’t for me. On to the next one! I need to get through this box but enjoy it at the same time:)

Thanks, Sil? I think? I mean, you didn’t like it and I certainly am not enjoying it.

I only steeped for 2 minutes and it’s ridiculously overly strong. I do like the cloves, but can’t taste anything over the bitterness of the CTC base tea.

Next time I’ll put some into warm almond milk. If I keep it. I might give it away before I have a chance, though.

(I added 1/3 cup almond milk and almost 1 tbsp sugar to help. Not helping. Still doesn’t taste sweet – just bitter.)