Upton Tea Imports
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Biscuits and (this) tea are becoming my Sunday ritual breakfast.
Made with: 1000 ml. water, 4 tsp. tea in the Breville (boyfriend told me not to be stingy and make 4 cups), milk and sugar for me, plain for him. Our little 4 oz. tin of this never strays far from the countertop next to the teamaker.
Preparation
After having this a few days ago, it was all I could think about. It’s late to be drinking such a strong black tea, but I’m dragging after a few days of sleep deprivation so I need this to get me through to at least 10:30-11:00 PM so I don’t end up going to sleep NOW and waking up at 2 or 3 AM.
I prepped this the same way I did originally (no sense in changing what works) and the results are consistent with last time. That nice earthy smell, and that lovely tea taste that melds so perfectly with milk and sugar. The way it is strong without being astringent. Sigh This is definitely on my re-order list.
Preparation
2 tsp. to 16 oz. water in the Breville.
The boyfriend actually had tea this morning with me instead of coffee. I should have expected that he would once I told him this one’s origins. He really enjoys German culture in general, so anything from Germany tends to pique his interest. I armed myself with some statistics (East Frisians drink 2500 g. of tea per year) and traditional prep methods (cream and rock sugar), and suddenly he was following behind me to the Breville, mug in hand. What can I say, I’m persuasive. :)
This is a marvelously stout morning tea. Up close the tea smells dark and earthy, the way black teas should. I tasted a sip of it unadulterated at first and my tastebuds were promptly overwhelmed by black tea flavor. This stuff is STRONG, though it manages to be so without being astringent – my kind of tea!
I didn’t have cream so I couldn’t go all traditional, but a splash of milk and a good tsp. of sugar accented it nicely. Boyfriend drank it straight and loved it, too. He actually drank it instead of coffee (which was shocking) and asked that I make sure to keep it around.
Yup, I think we like it!
Preparation
Tea shared with a friend is all the more sweet….. Thank you to ashmanra for sending me this sample. Once again, it goes to show there are Lapsang Souchong blends out there that I like.
The tea is more smokey than I am used to. I know some comes from the Lapsang, but I think some comes from the Keemun, too. I do think this one is a little more tobacco-ey and a little less sweet than the Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon that I really enjoy. Since I am not usually one to add milk to tea, this is probably about my limit on smoke. I may have to do some experimenting with milk again. I am finding that things that did not appeal to me at one point in my tea journey work quite nicely for me at a later date. If anything, this has taught me to keep an open mind…
Preparation
This sounds awesome just by name (and possible Sherlock Holmes reference alone). I might have to add this to the ‘Teas to Order from Upton’ list.
Wifey Woman, send me your snail mail and I can pop a packet in the post tomorrow!
I can’t send you a message. I think you have to be following me too in order to do that. Thank you for the offer as I’d really like to try it!
I thought I WAS following you! Sorry! Situation amended now! :)
I’ve had a similar experience of shifting taste bud allegiance as well. Would you say this is your favorite Lapsang Souchong that you’ve tried? I generally don’t like smokey teas (especially Keemun, gross!), but so many people have been posting about Lapsang Souchongs that now I just have to try one.
@CHAroma- I prefer Upton’s Lapsang Souchong Black Dragon.
Thanks, I’ll try that one!
Reading about this tea never fails to start Gerry Rafferty (or more specifically, Raphael Ravenscroft) playing in my head!
Made one gallon of this iced and [lightly] sweetened the traditional way (that is, boiling and then refrigerating). That was gone in a few days (just me drinking it) so I made up another gallon last night. This is fabulous iced. A little too expensive to use for that all the time, but a nice treat to experiment with. I may try Upton’s darjeeling-ceylon blend this way too, since I go through iced tea like a fiend no matter the season. :)
Preparation
These past few days have made me so glad there is tea in my life – being stressed and sick is a terrible combination. I’m fully recovered as of yesterday, but the boyfriend told me before he left for work that his throat felt “like sandpaper”.
It’s a party over here, let me tell you.
I needed something to wake me up but not make me crazy energized, so I went with this tea. I love the way it is both light and heavy at the same time – a true fall/summer black tea. This brightened my morning considerably.
Preparation
Do you know what the temperature outside is? Why, it would be 63 degrees. Practically fall weather. I’m not kidding myself, I know it’s because we just had a ton of rain from the tropical storm, and I’ll be seeing mid 80s days again sooner rather than later – but I am ecstatic nonetheless, because I got to fire up my Breville today! (It’s been so long since I’ve done anything but cold brews!)
Since it’s now 2:00 PM and my brain and body are tired from all this studying I decided to go with a black tea to help wake me back up. The leaves smelled so earthy and rich when dry, and now the steeped tea does as well. Between this mug of warm tea and the occasional wind moving through the trees right outside (again, tropical storm, not fall) I can almost pretend seasons are changing. For today.
The tea itself is a touch thinner than I’d like, though I can remedy this by using more leaf next time. I used 1 tsp. per 8 oz. this time around, so an extra .5 tsp. per cup will probably thicken the tea nicely. As for the taste – I love it. It’s a good fall tea, actually – still a bright summery tinge to it, but it’s also got some maltiness, which hints at winter, too. It’s not as heavy as an Assam, but I didn’t want that right now anyway – Assams are much more of a winter tea. I actually think this would be a great tea to make my sweet tea out of, and since I drink tea cold year round I will probably make it and report back on that soon.
I think 3 minutes was a good brewing time, as it is starting to become somewhat astringent as it cools, but it isn’t detrimental to the taste. Any more steeping and it might have been. I am so excited for fall this year- it will be my first as a full fledged loose leaf addict so I’m sure this will be the first of many new teas I try!
Preparation
Yet another Backlog from late August 2005. Three things in the description sold me on this tea—early spring, exclusively for us, and “spider leg” style. Early spring meant fresh and new, plus I liked the exclusivity of the tea, and I really enjoy “spider leg” style teas. Here’s my review from Upton’s:
(5/8/2006)
Dry Leaf: Very Good, Infused Leaf: Very Good,
Liquor: Very Good, Value: Very Good
“I brew this tea around 160-170 degrees for 1.5 min for a sweet, aromatic cup with that sencha bite. Dry & infused leaf smells great! Leaves are soo tender and a wonderful green color. A definite reorder for me in the future.”
Dry leaf aroma was fantastic, with a very green leaf. Green color in the cup, with a very nice aroma. Love the brothy nature of the cup and the flavor was so full and fresh. The sencha bite I describe is typical of many senchas, and to me not bitter. You do have to watch steep time carefully as it can become bitter. Once in a while, I would add more leaf and resteep with wet leaves for a second cup. Usually the second cup was a little bitter, but still a good cup ( 1 min 45 sec at 175-180 degrees).
I always thought I’d reorder this tea, and would….again it sold out! :( Waiting for a restock…….and waiting…….and waiting…….
Reviewed: Sun., 09-04-2011.
Preparation
Backlogging this Ceylon Tea from my late October 2002 order. I really enjoyed the tea from this estate. A broken leaf style wth a nice dry aroma. Cup color was truly medium gold. What I remember most is a full mouth feel with a definite minty flavor. This struck me as unique, because I had no idea a Ceylon tea could exhibit this quality! Cup aroma was less minty than the actual flavor.
If oversteeped, this tea could get bitter, and occasionally I added a bit of sugar. What a fine, memorable tea from a good estate. I wish Upton’s would restock this tea! Since it is such a memorable tea, I remember thinking of rating it at 4.5 stars, or an 88.
I ordered this tea from Upton’s again in early May 2006. This new lot was not as good as the previous lot. Here’s my review from their site:
(12/8/2006)
Dry Leaf: Good, Infused Leaf: Good,
Liquor: Good, Value: Good
“This tea is a good tea…although I remember the previous lot to be more flavorful. Still after a recent cup I find a full, slightly lemon-like taste. Good with a bit of sugar. Tasty & good when you just need a change of pace.”
As you can see the 2006 lot was lemony, and lacked the minty characteristics of the previous lot. I gave the 2006 lot 3 stars, and probably would actually rate it between 68 to 73.
If I combined ratings of the two lots that would mean a rating of 80; but, I want the rating to reflect the first lot! Hey, it’s my review and my perogative…….so let it be written!
Steep on steepin’ on……. :)~
Reviewed: Sat, 09-03-2011
Preparation
After over two weeks absense, I’m back for a review. My niece was here for two weeks visiting, so my tea time was limited, but it was nice spending time with her! I haven’t been drinking really top shelf loose leaf tea lately, because the tap water sucks chunks this time of year & I can’t find my filters. So I’m entering my time machine, reviewing this tea ordered late October 2002!
I think my first Tuo Cha was ordered from Specialteas, but they were very similar. I love the bowl like shape of each Tuo Cha and did use multiple steeps (as many as seven). The first three steeps were always the best, and I always increased water temp, and steep time with each cup.
What I remember was a very dark, silky cup color, with an earthy aroma. I was surprised to notice a purple hue around the edges of the liqour. The wet leaf had more earthy aromas than in the cup. Every cup I tasted was silky smooth, with a natural sweetness, and definite earthy notes, reminding me of Autumn. Once I left a Teabowl in my cup for about eight minutes, and still got a decent second cup. At eight minutes the liqour was darker, with more sweetness and earthiness, and so silky smooth! This tea was NEVER bitter, yet full of flavor. I really like this tea, but have not reordered it. I’ll have to reorder it, so I can refine the review and reacquaint myself with an old friend.Reviewed: Thu, 09-01-2011.
Preparation
Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tisane! It’s really good!
Normally, I enjoy a rooibos blend that sort of masks the sometimes odd sweet, nutty taste of the rooibos. This blend … instead of masking the nutty flavor of the rooibos, seems to celebrate it with the flavor of candied almonds. And it works!
This is really quite good.
I actually love this tea. I enjoy Earl Grey, but this is a softer version of it. The bergamot isn’t overpowering and the vanilla is a delightful accent to the flavor of the ceylon and green teas. I drink it with a local autumnal wildflower honey and sometimes mix it with Upton’s Rose Congou.
I usually like to stick to the strong points of a country’s tea offerings. For me, that means I get greens from Japan, Oolongs from China/Taiwan, etc. i decided to give this Japanese black tea a shot because of the great description and cool sounding name. The leaves are a dark gray, not quite black, hue. they are medium sized with some long (3/4") brown sticks in there. It smells, honestly, like green tea, not black. In contrast, the brew smells decidedly black, very much like Chinese black tea, in fact. The color is that of a dark reddish brown stained wood. It brews very clean with little sediment at the bottom of the cup, when using my Bodum mesh steel basket.
There’s a strong tanin (bitterness) in the tea but nothing out of the ordinary for a black. It is a fairly thin brew, with not much viscosity. I am drinking this as a morning tea but I can see it working as a late afternoon one as well.
Preparation
I had to lower the rating dramatically because it turns out (like I suspected) when hot brewed it is really very smoky in the nose. I abhor the smell of smoke in any form (fireplaces, campfires, cigarettes, all of it) and so I just. can’t. do. it.
The sad part is the smokiness isn’t really in the taste at all – I get a nice black tea with honey undertones that isn’t bad…but then I breathe it in and it’s all ruined. :(
Not the tea for me.
Preparation
Try it at a lower temperature. I’ve noticed that yunnan tends to only get smoky if the water is too hot. It might work better around 185 degrees.
Thanks for the recommendation, I will certainly do that. In your experience, do all Yunnans tend to have that smoky note in them?
Not all of them, but some. Seems like the more tips there are, the less smoky they turn out to be.
I may be a bad measuring stick, because I love lapsang souchong tea (which is extremely smoky), but in my experience, Yunnan golds are not smoky at all. Very round, very soft, molasses and old leather rather than smoke, so don’t let this turn you away from Yunnan’s.
Or Upton, for that matter, if this is your first Upton tea. They have a shockingly huge selection of teas and are very price competitive.
From Upton I’d recommend this one:
http://steepster.com/teas/upton-tea-imports/15305-yunnan-golden-tips-imperial-zy85
but I actually liked this other golden much better, although it is from Panyang, not Yunnan.
http://steepster.com/teas/upton-tea-imports/11729-panyang-tippy-golden-needles-imperial-zp77
Hi Jim – I think the main problem with the Yunnan was the temperature I steeped it at, as Tabby suggested. Boiling water does not seem to be a recommendation with Yunnans from other tea companies, so I’m not sure why Upton’s suggested temp was so high. If it’s a more fragile tea then I’ve no doubt the reason it was smoky was because I burned the heck out of it. Smoke is just not my thing, unfortunately – I find the smell and taste of all things smoky to be very unpalatable, hence why I dropped the rating so low.
I love Upton as a company – they’ve become my go-to for trying new teas since they’re so budget friendly, and usually I’ll branch out from there. I checked into both of the teas you recommended too, but sadly I think the Yunnan Imperial is discontinued – maybe it’s just been rebranded, but I’ll have to do some digging and find out. If you have any inkling or another similar suggestion I would be very interested – this tea was so promising except for the carcinogenic smell!
Cold brewed for 28 hours, 3 tsp in 3 cups water. The third of 4 samples from a Black Tea sampler from Upton.
As a cold brew this is quite refreshing. There is a very clear, strong honey note in the tea, and a hint of a thicker honeyed texture to the liquid as well. When I drink it a little too quickly, there’s some after taste that I can’t really describe other than to say it’s not very pleasant (it almost is a very subtle smoky note, but that’s still not a 100% accurate description).
The astringency of the tea is there, but it is really mild when prepared this way and again, not something I notice unless I drink a lot really fast. I assume sugar would be a good addition, but it tastes just fine to me without, too. So far I prefer this to the Keemun, but the Darjeeling has been my favorite of all the black teas I’ve tried- I have a few left and it will be interesting to see where they’ll fall…
