Upton Tea Imports

I am breaking out of my usual black tea variety. I think this is my first straight up Nilgiri. While it is not as honeyed or cocoa-noted as what I normally drink, this really is a good tea. It is nearly a perfect balance between the tea I usually drink and coffee. No real bitterness or astringency, just good, basic black tea. This one also comes in at a bargain. It is $5.20 for 200 grams or about 75 cents an ounce.

Note to self……pass on this one. I am thinking it was some version of passionfruit tea, but not one I would consider owning. Brewed to specifications on tag. As far as a rating goes, I am not qualified to rank this one as it did not appeal to me at all.

Edit to add…..It was too much fruit flavor and not nearly enough tea flavor. It was kind of like drinking dried fruit except wetter?

I had a sample of this from several months ago that I never opened. It is amazing what you find when you are trying to downsize a little.

The apricot is pretty pronounced in this tea, and the base is light. I think it requires at least one more taste…. ;)

I’m trying to restrain myself from placing a Harney order (new Chinese tea available! free shipping code! Discount code! I have a $5 points thingum! wait – that’s encouraging me – slap my hand!) so I am having another Keemun which Lady Londonderry gave me a very generous sample of (so sheesh! I can certainly hold out a little longer because you KNOW what is going to happen. The minute I place my order some more Harney Chinese teas are going to come out and I’m going to to be mad at myself).

Ahem! You’ve had enough of my internal monologue – let me talk about the tea!

I went heavy on the leaf, and got a really nice cocoa-y, satisfying cup. Rich and delicious.

THEN I gilded the lily! I took Harney’s Chocolate Mint which Ashmanra sent to me into work because I wanted to taste it sans additions. I added a scant teaspoon to the Keemun Mao Feng leaves and had two more steeps of such a treat! The cocoa notes from the Keemun paired with the chocolate and mint was exhilarating! I definitely prefer the Chocolate Mint sans additions. This is so refreshing and chocolatey and Mmmmmm!

Thank you so much Lady Londonderry & Ashmanra! You both helped me keep a sound mind and pocketbook today, whilst having a delicious and decadent tea day!

Many thanks to Lady Londonderry for this tea!!!

It’s sweet, roasty, chocolatey – all the things I loved about Harney’s KMF. Delicious! but!!! it’s like they took the remote control and put the volume to, say, 5 or 6. Harney’s KMF goes to 11 ;)

I am totally going to enjoy every drop of this sample, but most likely will order Harney’s despite the fact that the price goes to 11 too. If Harney runs out, I would order this in a heartbeat, and be very pleased. It’s good stuff!

As soon as I tasted this, I said “Wait?! This is a Keemun? It tastes like an oolong!” Lo and behold, it’s supposed to :) Formosa – I see! Once I wrapped my head around the fact that I’d be enjoying an oolong, and not a roasty chocolatey Keemun, I relaxed into it.

This one is pleasantly woody, with a rich, complex, sort of tangy flavor. Second steep sweeter and less woody. I bet it would be great with food. We are actually out of water here at work (we get spring water delivered because our faucet water is so vile) but I am going to save my leaves in hope that we get a delivery some time today so I can have another steep!

Thank you Michelle, my SweeTea, for this tea!!!

Cup #10 in my tour of Upton’s China blacks. I have about two more to go, and I am sure I could find several more there to try. This one is what I would consider a mid range for price at a little over $3 per ounce.

This one is interesting. I think this is the first tea I have noticed to have a bite at the beginning, but a completely smooth finish. The needles are very fine and dark, like a Keemun. There is the slightest bit of smoke in the finish, but I am still trying to sort out the front notes….to my sissy sweet loving palate, it is kind of bitter, but it goes away. While this is not a tea I would purchase for anything other than sampling, it definitely has made a difference, because I never would have thought this combo of beginning and end existed. I have such a long way to go……

Today at tea party we compared Rose Congou and Harney’s Rose Scented Black side by side. My guest preferred Rose Scented Black, I think because she never adds sugar or milk and likes a naturally sweet and smooth tea. Rose Congou has a peppery aroma, so I am guessing the base is Yunnan tea. You get more tea flavor from this one, less rose.

This tea came to me courtesy of JacquelineM! Thank you!

I had this today in a side by side tasting with Harney’s Rose Scented. The results were unexpected for me as I thought I would prefer one over the other. I didn’t anticipate the bases of these teas being so different.

First, the rose scent and flavor is lighter in this one, though it isn’t overly heavy in the Harney offering. The tea base is a bit stronger, and I think that made this one take milk and sugar better than the Harney one, which I liked best plain. I expect that the Tuesday tea party attendees, who always add both milk and sugar to their tea, will like this one best, and the Wednesday guest who never ever adds sugar and only very rarely milk will like the Harney one best! As the Upton cup cools I can taste the rose a little more and it seems to get sweeter. Very good tea!

Back to palate training with Chinese blacks…..

This is cup #7 in my taste testing. This cup is nice and smooth with cocoa notes. It has a nice full taste, and is easy to drink. It really goes to prove that you don’t need to spend a ton of money to get good tea. It runs a little over $6 for 80 grams of tea (just under 3 oz.) That works out to a little over $2 per oz. and is in the low priced range for some of the teas I have been testing.

The leaves really are needle like, but not as long as the Imperial Black Golden Needles I sampled a few weeks ago. There is some golden, but it seems to be on the lower side at around 30%. Some of the others have been higher. Really this is a great tea for the money.

Cup #6 in SimplyJenW’s Tour of China blacks:
This one is kind of a side trip. I have been primarily focusing on Fujian black tea because the cocoa notes of tea from that region have me always wanting more. But this is a Keemun. I have only had a few of these, but the cup is generally more astringent, bolder, and smokey. It is more of a ‘wake me up’ tea than a ‘relax me out’ tea. I am not super versed in English Breakfast teas of all makes, but there are many that have Keemun as some portion of the blend, or they are a straight Keemun. Me personally, I can’t drink Keemun without additions. After the first several sips of this one, I had to sweeten. This one is in the mid range as far as price for a Keemun at Upton at a little over $7 for 125 grams. Now I am wondering how this compares to a more expensive one, but since it is not my black tea of choice, I may never know.

Day 2 of SimplyJenW’s China black tea palate training course.

This one is malty, and really kind of flat, in my opinion. What I find interesting is that this one gets stellar reviews on Upton’s site, where not many other teas do. It makes me wonder if I did something wrong in the brewing. For me it is kind of bitter on the finish. I could not continue tasting the tea without adding something. I know that all teas are not supposed to be smooth, cocoa-ey, and wonderful for my taste. We all have our preferences, but I find this one a little harsh, even lightly sweetened. It reminds me of the days when I liked Beck’s beer….which is bitter to me now, but when you are used to the bitterness, it is pretty good. Perhaps that is the same with tea….. This one would appeal to those who like bolder tastes in their tea. And I am at the sweet and subtle stage. Sorry, but I have to dump this one….

Woe is me. Why is it that when you find something unique and interesting, it is sold out. But then I wonder, is it the fact that it is sold out that makes it so desirable?

I had enough left in my sample of this for a pot and a cup. It is definitely somewhere between a black and oolong in taste, but leaning black. It is definitely large in the leaf like an oolong, and oh so mellow. Ah well. I will just enjoy it, feed a little more tea into the pot in subsequent steeps, and drink this for today. So long. I think we could have been very good friends.

I purchased several samples from Upton in the China black category as kind of a training course for my palate. I am just trying to train it to taste differences, and we will see how it goes from there.

This is a lovely black. The leaves do look pretty much unlike any other black I have tried. They are largish, thick and wavy. I am drinking this one straight. Yes, very weird for me, but it is good this way. It smells sweeter than it tastes, but that is probably because I normally take sweetener in my tea. As for tasting any notes in this one? It tastes lightly of red wine (which is probably why I like it!) Toward the end of the cup, I detect the slightest bitter edge. Not enough to get me to stop drinking it. Ooops. I am out of observations because I am out of tea!

I’ve had a Rough Tea Week. I’ve been so busy at work, and my good perfect reliable tea brewer is broken! I brought to work my lil Beehouse tea pot and one of my new glass cups to make tea. It seemed silly to buy a new tea brewer when I have this lovely little pot from Doulton which I don’t get to use nearly enough because I make large pots at home.

First day, I hated it. Fussy, wrong amount of water, wrong amount of tea, wrong wrong wrong (god forbid I stop a second and do a little math to figure out the ratios)! Each day, it got a little better. I’m still learning the quirks of my new set up, but FINALLY on Friday I made a delicious pot of Rose Congou. P-H-E-W. It was pastry-ish, rosy, and I swear it was sweeter than usual. I am really digging my glass cup, and seeing all the gorgeous, varied shades of each tea I brew. Rose Congou has a particularly beautiful reddish hue.

Look at me – I am embracing change :)

Oh my friend! Long time no drink!!!

Why, I do not know, because Rose Congou is one of the most delightful teas in my stash! Whilst I do of course taste a lovely, musky rose, the most prominent impressions are Sweet, and Pastry. (How to describe Pastry? Bready and merest hint of vanilla and cinnamon. Maybe nutmeg. Like eating a croissant that was sitting next to a cinnamon bun in the pastry case.).

:)

I’ve managed to come down with a cold. I’ve moved on from experiencing no taste to everything tastes like fish. Flounder to be specific, and I’m not really a fan of flounder. Even my teas tasted like flounder!

Finally I started noticing sweet things were tasting good, so I brought this out after a floundery tasting steep of Gong Fu Black. Mmmmmmm, that’s better. The rose and pastry flavors did some magic so my tea tasted like tea and roses, and not flounder!! I have to remember this for future colds.

I had a serviceable cup of my China Black blend before running to a meeting, with the idea in my head that I would run back to my office afterward and add a teaspoon of Rose Congou leaves to my brewing basket. And horray! I am back and enjoying my lovely, lovely Rose Congou. Sweet but not too, rosy but not too, and what a great tea base. This tea is always a source of delight for me. <3

I had one steep of my Chinese Blend – Black so I could have my breakfast then get on to the good stuff – some Rose Congou!

Mmmmm. Musky true rose that perfectly compliments the faintly pastry-esque Congou. Slightly sweet but never sickening or too much. I think of it as pearls and a chignon rose tea (vs some of those… hair extension and fake tan rose teas!)! Money certainly does not equal elegance (this tea is one of the most reasonably priced teas!)! Love!

Today is a very, very, very wonderful day, because I have finally found a black rose tea that I’m INSANE over! THANK YOU SimplyJenW for sending me this tea to try! I owe you forever!

I had an inkling that I would like a black rose tea that had a Chinese base since I loathe rose teas with milk, and am not crazy about Indian teas without milk. I am ever so happy to say that my hypothesis is correct! OH this tea is afternoon perfection! The rose is present but subtle, the tea medium bodied but the slightest bit smoky/savory. They combine in exactly the way I think a floral tea should. Not super sweet and cloying. You taste TEA first, and then some rose flavor washes over you like a sigh! Ahhhhhhhhh. You also taste a…complexity. Not vanilla bean, not wine, not fruit, but suggestions of each from the Congou. This is so, so good. This is exactly what I was looking for!!!! I am so excited!!! As soon as I have two pennies to rub together (almost literally, because this tea is very reasonably priced!) I am going to get a tin!!!!!

Thank you once again, SimplyJenW! You made my – month!