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Cheryl drank Christmas Tea - Mélange Noël (TE90) by Upton Tea Imports

136 tasting notes

Waking up this morning to snow reminded me that this is still winter. This is one of only a few Upton samples left to sample, so good as time as any.

The dry aroma threw me at first. I can smell the spices, but I think the (unnamed “citrus” threw me). Potpourri? Maybe. After brewing, the tea became less fragrant.

Black tea, citrus peels, rose petals, chopped almonds, cloves, vanilla bits, cardamom, artificial flavor:
The black tea base is not obvious nor bitter (yay). The cloves and cardamom are well behaved and not overpowering. I can taste the almonds in the background, along with the vanilla … which makes this a very calming blend for my tastes. This is no where near being a “chai” (which cloves/cardamom conjur up). Having added a tbs. of honey, this is very sweet… might get by with less (almost too sweet). I do sense the rose in the aftertaste, which is ok (not something I’d seek out). Overall I’m really liking this tea (fears an Upton order in my future, since this is seasonal). Very mild yet flavorful.

Preparation

Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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Originally started testing teas, to replace a lifelong Coke (Coca-Cola) habit. Now I’m just amazed at all the choices. Still in beginner stage of tea education. Until I get really good at iced/cold tea, the Coke habit remains, but is down to a minimum.

My cupboard here on Steepster was ridiculous, containing each and every sample size that I have been accumulating. It now only contains non-sample size teas. Loose leaf outweighs the bagged teas, but it doesn’t look that way by the list (over 100 samples).

I started my tea journey testing flavored teas. My favorites are chai and mint flavored teas, along with Earl Grey. Also like chocolate, caramel, coconut, almond, vanilla, cinnamon, clove and some others. Most flavors are better with a nice black tea base. The mint ones seem best paired with greens. I’m branching out now to unflavored teas and it is way more overwhelming then the flavored category. Phew.

My (grown) son has decided that he wants to try to find tea that he likes too, so I’ll be passing along the ones I don’t care for to him (with instructions to then pass them on to his sister…evil plot? yes!). So I’ve removed my shopping list from Steepster and moved it to a spreadsheet (swaps are out for now). My shopping list had grown to 197! By going through each one, I was able to split that in half (since many were added in beginning, before I knew what I like/don’t like).

While not swapping, if there’s something in my cupboard that you’d like a sample of, please feel free to ask : )

Ratings (for now):
90s: Must have in personal rotation. Crave it.
80s: Makes me a happy tea drinker. Very good. Unsure of long term relationship.
70s: Like this. Will drink what I have (sample/tin/box), but unsure of whether I’d buy again.
60s: Probably a good tea for what it is. Just not to my personal liking.
50s and below: Do not like…at all. Either poor quality, yuck flavor or … (see tealog).

Old (and still current) obsessions: books, music and fragrances. Hopefully my tea collection stays much more “normal” then those. (too late)