Upton Tea Imports

Backlog:

I enjoyed this tea. Lovely notes of fruit … the sweet notes of a plum and of currants, but without the sour tones that usually accompany these fruits. Hints of caramel in the background. Astringency develops as I sip.

The tea is reminiscent of a fine, dry red wine. Robust, full flavored, but also with a mellowness that is quite nice.

I would swear this was a white if I didn’t know better. Incredibly smooth and subtle base with a mild/moderate level of jasmine that wouldn’t stand out quite so much with a heavier base. This is just as pleasant to drink as jasmine silver needle, without the pricetag or heavyhandedness. There’s no aftertaste, which I see as a downside (I like that lingering mouthfeel a good jasmine can give) but this is a strong contender for my go-to jasmine.

This produced a pleasant cup. I didn’t really pay it much attention. it was by no means extraordinary, but very smooth, subtle, and gentle. If you stop to think about it, it’s a nice enough green base, with a moderate level of jasmine aroma, but doesn’t leave you much aftertaste. Very easy to finish a cup, but not exactly eye-popping either.

This has a moderate jasmine scent which fights against a very “green” aroma from the base. It’s a very strong base for a jasmine tea, but has an excellent aftertaste.

Very slight jasmine scent, but none of the lingering jasmine mouth experience I like. Tasted like a faded, bitter green. Not a fan.

Taste was very dull, and there was barely any jasmine aroma. I wonder if maybe the canister this was kept in was left open. Not unpleasant, but also has no real mentionable qualities.

Odd texture, kind of floury. Unpleasant mouthfeel. Very weak on the jasmine. Tasted like a low quality green base. I didn’t finish my cup.

Tea #42 from Another Traveling Tea Box
This darjeeling is much less floral than the 1st flush darjeeling I had last night. The flavor comes across much stronger and it has a subtle sweetness that is somewhat fruity that I notice at the end of each sip.

This was another enjoyable darjeeling, although not one I would likely order for myself.

Tea of the afternoon……

I love a snail tea. This is a tea I like to have at least one version in my cupboard. I just checked and Upton does not have this any more, so when I finish up my 100+g of this, I will be looking for a new vendor. I don’t need a top of the line black snail tea, and I could be talked into just getting a new black pearl tea. Do I need both? Probably!

I just took an inventory of my black teas. 1700g just in stash that does not include the tins I am working from. Wow, I am in shock. I get about 14ish pots from 100g, and I drink about 1.5 (sometimes one, sometimes 2) pots a day. That is almost 160 days of tea. Not counting the 1000 or so grams in use. Clearly, I don’t need to buy any for a while. Yikes. Flavored teas are much lower in abundance here, and I am to the point where I drink most of them iced.

This is good, and I love it. A few more pots before opening the last 100g. Sheesh!

Usual method.

Tea of the morning……

February has been super busy. Usually, this time of the year goes by so slowly. It is good to be able to sit and enjoy my tea for a moment. What a nice break from the craziness going on right now. I only wish it were longer, so I will have to savor the short moment.

Notes of honey, chocolate, and just yum.

Tea of the morning…..

I am loving this. Of course, like most black snail teas, the leaves expanded so much during steeping. This one has cocoa notes, is sweet and has maybe just a little spice. I will definitely enjoy this one while I have it because Upton is out of this one since my last purchase. Bummer. I love the funny shaped teas. It is like a little side adventure added to your tea experience.

I am thankful for many things. Family, Friends, Health. The big ones. But also small things like the time to slow down a bit and to catch a breath after Thanksgiving and before the craziness that is most of December for me. And also tea, because I feel it is something that helps bring moments of peace in a hectic world.

Usual teapot method.

Tea of the morning…..

Yes, I have a thing for black teas of funny shapes. I have loved black snail teas ever since Harney offered one years ago. This one is very good! I have had the sample in my to try pile for a while, and for some reason, yesterday and today were the right time to try them.

Notes of light cocoa, a little spice, and it is very sweet with a thick mouthfeel. There are quite a few golden tips….it reminds me of the Harney version quite a bit, except that I think this one is sweeter and a little less earthy/malty. I know they are running out of this one, so I had to buy some! Upton’s Season’s Pick version of black snail is not as sweet or spicy, and it is heavier on the malt/earthiness than the Harney.

Usual teapot method.

Tea #41 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Darjeeling and I just have not managed to become friends yet, but I keep trying to find one that I really enjoy and this one may be it. This had a much more gentle flavor that I currently associate with darjeelings, the last several I have tried have been a bit harsh and almost bitter. I suspect it may have been a much lower quality than this particular tea. I found this to be much more floral than I expected, it reminded me of some of the oolongs that I really enjoy.

Thanks for including this one in the TTB Dr Jim, this tea may just change my mind about darjeelings. I was giving up hope of finding one I enjoyed.

Tea #40 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Two straight black teas in a row, that is rare for me since I lean towards oolong as my straight tea of choice.

There is a subtle hint of cocoa that balances the deep malt flavors in this tea. It is much more malty than the previous tea, so it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that my husband would pick this as his iced tea replacement. I think we may have an arguement on our hands when it comes time to switch, our tastes in tea just do not line up at all so it is always hard to come to an agreement.

Tea #39 from Another Traveling Tea Box

I’ve been looking for a replacement everyday black tea because Rishi has raised prices more than $10/lb in the last year and my current favorite is quickly being pushed out of my price-range. I could see this becoming an everyday tea for me, I’ll have to do a price comparison between this and what I am currently using for iced tea and see if it is more affordable.

Darn, my husband just said he didn’t like the chocolate flavor, so I’ll have to keep looking. He has to approve the change since he drinks the majority of the black tea, not me.

The tea itself has some wonderful cocoa notes that I really liked (even if my husband didn’t) and there is a subtle malty flavor to keep things interesting. I think I liked this so much because the cocoa notes really stood out above everything else. I’m a huge chocoholic so anything that tastes like it without all the sugar and added calories is going to be a hit with me.

Drinking this a bit mindlessly/tiredly (s’been a busy yet boring Monday!) after watching part 1 of Victoria Wood’s tea series thing. I was so disappointed she didn’t go into darjeeling, all the (imperialist-ugliness-glossed-over, granted) Empire-y romance of the estates. Also doesn’t look like she’s going to do Taiwan, alas (could be wrong though, only halfway through the whole program). Curious if she talks about how the internet has changed the premium tea market globally in the last 10 years (something I’m personally fascinated by). Hum. Who knew Morrissey likes weak bagged Ceylon! Ha.

I should probably like this more, but it has that thing standard orange blossom essence often has, a…I don’t know how to put it really, a specific strange element in the fragrance I don’t care for at all (it’s one of the reasons I was uber brand loyal to A. Montaux Orange Blossom Water and panicked when he recently closed shop—his never had that smell while just about every cheap bottle in Indian and Mediterranean grocery shops has it in spades). Even if it’s not, it makes me think “synthetic”. Not plastic quite, but kind of like those old ‘70s spraycoated braided and coiled rope-like fibrous trivets? Like fake glossy straw or something. Anyway. Aside from that part, I like this tea; it’s better than many in the vast array of EG offerings from Upton. Not my favorite from them—Lavender EG and Vanilla Creme all the way—but perfectly decent, again aside from that one smell component I just never like.

Ordered this at the beginning of September and here it is a month later that I get around to drinking it. I brewed two cups for the recommended three minutes, transferred the tea to a warmed pot with some milk already in it, topped up with cold milk until it was the proper tawny milky color, and took it to a morning meeting. On the first sip I was immediately reminded of the tea served to me when I was bumped up to first class on British Air in the late ‘80s on a flight from London to Edinburgh. I was tired from the trans-Atlantic part of my journey and the tea was so tasty, so nourishing and calming at the same time, and, barely out of my teenagerdom, I felt so sophisticated enjoying a proper cup of morning tea in a real china cup along with my complimentary wee packet of Twix bars, as we looked down on grey clouds and smidges of England below. It wasn’t fancy but it was gooood. Made the difference in my morning then, just as this tea did on a dull Thursday morning meeting these many years later. Just for laughs I brewed a second pot from the spent tea, using only one cup of water and brewing it for five minutes. It tasted dusty — just like a cup of tea made with an okay teabag.

As some might know, I have a love-hate relationship with Rooibos, or more honestly some of the common things blended with Rooibos (I am looking at you, lemongrass,) so I was very excited to try this Green Rooibos by Upton Tea Imports. Since it is green that means that it has not been oxidized (just like Green Tea) and has even more antioxidants, which is apparently really good for one’s health. The first thing I noticed about the aroma of these little leaves is how much like nature they smell like, just imagine standing in a field and you have it, I think I can even smell a slight breeze. There is a mild sweetness like honey and beeswax followed by a note of strawberries, it is very faint though. The main aroma is very reminiscent of fresh hay.

Time to steep! The leaves take on more of a floral aroma, like aster or chrysanthemum. It also has that very distinct Rooibos aroma but sweeter. The liquid takes on notes of pear and still has a delightfully floral aroma as well.

The taste is sweet, though not as sweet as the oxidized ‘red’ Rooibos that I am used to. It also lacks the floral chrysanthemum like taste that the other Rooibos has, which is probably my favorite thing about this tea. I do not dislike chrysanthemum, I just find that it tastes a little odd. It is very mild with subtle hints of pears and apples blending with an earthiness that I do recognize from its oxidized variety. How does it compare? Well I certainly like it, possibly more than just a straight Rooibos. I am not sure it would make such spectacular blends as red Rooibos though since it is not as sweet. I say give it a try if you only kinda like Rooibos and want to explore further with this plant.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/upton-tea-imports-green-rooibos-tea.html

Very subtle jasmine fragrance on the dry leaf, which is quite broken, but this produces a very hearty cup of tea, with just enough jasmine fragrance to satisfy that my undying craving. Despite a long steep, this cup was not at all bitter, and almost more like a white than a green. This is a serious contender for my jasmine daily drinker. The aftertaste is just my taste too.

Just ordered this from Upton (TC78) as a trial size (12g), for $1.50. I am new to Ceylons but of the six I’ve tried from Upton so far this October (others were TC85: Kenilworth Estate OP, TC45: Court Lodge Estate FBOP, TC40: Nuwara Eliya BOP, TC32: Kandy OP, and TC20: Dimbula BOP), I found this the easiest to like. So many interesting notes and flavors! After brewing two cups, I strained the tea with a high pour (about 18" from spout of brewing pot to top of serving pot; I read somewhere that in the regions where they’re grown, ceylons and darjeelings are poured this way to “oxidize” the tea, and this is supposed to improve the flavor). The scent of the brewed leaves, once all the water was poured off, was complex but not too intense, and mouthwateringly perfumey. I got notes of cured hay, homemade white bread toasted (but no malty heft), a warm-edged (vanilla-ish?) citrus, and also a touch of fresh light lush green, like the mist rising from a rainforest. It was very nice to sip neat, smooth and just bright, not tannic – no dusty feeling left on my tongue. But I did add milk for my second cup, and liked it “tamed” that way too — the flavors of the tea interlaced with the sweetness of the milk and made that cup a smooth-drinking experience. Somehow I picked up a few spicy notes — muted — in the milky cup. I had this for breakfast (it was a great companion to a toasted “everything” bagel with cream cheese) but I think it’s interesting enough for an afternoon cup too, with perhaps a lightly vanilla-flavored or lemon sugar cookie alongside.

i don’t usually find first flush darjeelings interesting, so take my notes with a grain of salt…also, i accidentally used 205 degree water instead of 195, because i had it lined up with other black teas and forgot it was a darjeeling, so all credibility is gone, but….. this is a really subtle black tea, REALLY subtle, like, sit on a yoga mat and meditate while you sip it. the floral springtime aroma, buttery feel, crisp aftertaste — all very nice, but it’s just not my thing. if i’m drinking black tea, i want to taste something in it. so there you go.

Backlog:

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

A really pleasing Vietnamese tea. This is smooth and rich, with a finish that reminds me of coffee. You know that deep roasted taste that you get toward the finish when you take a sip of coffee … yeah, that. I taste that warm, roasted flavor at the finish with this tea.

Sweet and earthy transcends into a coffee-like finish. It’s a very satisfying cuppa.

Backlog:

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. A really good Nigiri. Sweet, malty and rich. Very flavorful. Too much leaf = an astringent tea with this one, so measure carefully. Don’t eyeball it. I learned the hard way!

But, a rounded teaspoon per cup produces a very flavorful cup that is more woodsy than it is floral or fruity. I like this one.

We keep a big bag of this around as a daily drinker. I find this is about as good as many of the more expensive, fancy greens I’ve tried. I get the traditional gunpowder green tea flavor, plus I get some mineral-like notes, and a very subtle toasty taste. Even when other people in my house steep this for way too long, it still remains pretty smooth drinking, unlike some other types of green tea that are out there. This is a straight forward, great bang-for-the-buck (especially for organic) green tea.