Upton Tea Imports

Backlog: A great tasting Earl Grey. I usually loathe vanilla flavouring but this had just the right scent and touch. I think it being a creme earl grey is what did it. I ordered this in the sampler set of earl greys and had to restrain myself from drinking pot after pot of it. I was sad to use it up (on guests even! when I should have hogged it for myself!) and definitely can see myself ordering some again if I could only get over the shipping costing more than the tea itself. Darn Canadian postal prices.

This is for a cold brew…..

I used about 10 tsp in a 60 oz pitcher. Brewed for about 16 hours. Very good.

I do prefer this one cold brewed, and with the bargain basement price, it is a great option. The rose comes out slightly, and I did decide to lightly sweeten this, even though I rarely do with iced. It brought the rose out a little. I will consider buying this once my stores of other teas to cold brew is a bit more depleted.

A free sample from a recent Upton order. Is it funny that I ordered one, too?

The base is light and smooth, and the rose is light, too. I can see how this would be perfect for iced tea, which is what it is intended for according to Upton. Since it is a Season’s Pick, the price is in the bargain basement…$4 for 250grams (about 8.8 oz). It is a perfect candidate for cold brewing. I will try that next.

For comparing to Rose Congou, the base in Rose Congou is richer and has those coveted cocoa notes, where this one does not. I prefer the Rose Congou over this one hot, and since they are both a pretty good value, I would probably just stick with the richer and more complex of the two-Rose Congou.

Cold brewed for about 27 hours.

I wanted to try this hot, but it was recommended to be iced – so much so that hot steeping directions weren’t even on the package. I took that as a sign, since I like cold tea anyway, put in the requisite 1 tsp. per cup, stuck it in the fridge and left it alone for a day.

The scent of the tea steeped is purely floral – you definitely have to taste it to know there’s even tea in there. And it brews up a lot lighter brown than most black teas I drink, but then most teas that I drink are in mugs, not tumblers, so that could have something to do with it too.

Taste-wise, this particular steeping was very heavy on the rose – but there was still a good balance of black tea underneath. It was quite smooth, which is normal with a cold brew, but I really noticed just how polished it tasted. I think that Upton was right – I can’t imagine a hot brew of this blending as well with the rose. I drank this down with no additives very easily.

Floral teas really aren’t my first pick when it comes to a flavored blend, so I probably won’t order it once I run out of the sample. It was really very good; I just can’t seem to shake the idea that flowers are for perfume, not food. However if flowers are your thing, I would definitely give this a shot.

I received this as a complimentary sample from my Upton Tea order. It fit in well with the other teas of my order- black teas that I was going to try iced. And it was also a tea that I wouldn’t have tried on my own – I’ve not had good experiences with floral teas and it’s hard for me to imagine drinking something you cannot also eat (I mean, you could eat a rose, I guess, but it’s not going to fill you up like, say, a cheesecake :) ).

Anyway, so as I’ve been doing with all my teas, I cold brewed this one for a little less than a day (21 hours seems to be the magic point for me with black teas) and added 3 tsp. of leaf to 3 cups of water in my thinksport bottle.

This is wonderful iced. It’s quite smooth and mild, and the rose presence is just perfect – literally a hint, and nothing more. It accentuates the tea base nicely and makes the tea seem more delicate and less bold than I normally consider black teas to be.

As with all my Upton teas so far, this is great unsweetened. Finally, a floral tea that I like!

One of my favorite teas. Very rich and bold, but at the same time really smooth – no bitterness. The flavors are strong enough to stand up to milk. The aroma is earthy (but not to the point of "soil"y like some Pu-Erhs), a little spicy, with berry or wine-like undertones; and the price is an absolute bargain: I got 125 grams for $8.40 and I’d be happy paying twice that!

One of my favorite teas. Very rich and bold, but at the same time really smooth – no bitterness. The flavors are strong enough to stand up to milk. The aroma is earthy (but not to the point of "soil"y like some Pu-Erhs), a little spicy, with berry or wine-like undertones; and the price is an absolute bargain: I got 125 grams for $8.40 and I’d be happy paying twice that!

This tea is wonderful for the price! It’s just as Upton describes it. It has a clean, crisp, vegetal flavor, and I would go as far as to say that it’s an excellent daily cup of tea. At $54.60 per kilo, this tea is a steal. I routinely get 3 steepings out of this tea (once at 25 seconds – once at 5 seconds – once at 30 seconds, and each one is beautiful.

Cold brewed 3 cups with 1 tbsp. leaves, and let sit for 21+ hours.

This also pours a lighter color than I expected it too – darker than the darjeeling from this same sample collection, but not as dark as I have always seen black teas to be.

The steeped smell and a large part of the steeped taste that I’m getting is cocoa, though I do sense a little tiny bit of (the idea of, really) smoke in the front of the sip. Writing that out it sounds like a bad combination – smoky chocolate – but it really just tastes like a super super dark chocolate flavor in the tea. It has a stronger taste than the darjeeling – and even though it’s not drying on my tongue it still seems more tannic than the darjeeling as well.

It’s still really good unsweetened, though – I assume sugar wouldn’t hurt it but I like how bold and unadulterated it tastes without additives for right now.

ETA: Well, that smokiness that was only an idea when I sipped slowly got SUPER smoky when I started drinking faster. Weird. I’m not a fan of the smoke, though, so I have to bump it down some – this is not something I can drink fast (like with meals), but if I want to sit and savor it it’s okay.

Using up the last of my Upton sample this morning with breakfast – 3 tsp. (a little over) to 500 (-ish, this was also a little over) ml. water at below parameters.

The last time I tried this I used boiling water and a longer steep time and got…black tea. Kind of flat in the sense that there was nothing else there – none of the typical darjeeling extras, so to speak. Several people offered steeping recommendations so I thought I may as well try them to see if the tea could be improved upon.

The tea this time is significantly more complex. There is astringency in the taste (mildly pleasant) and a more layered scent and taste (there’s the muscatel/grape-ish note!). It’s quite earthy and that is the most dominant feature of the tea by far, but it’s not the only thing I’m getting, like last time.

The only thing I would change now is to back off even a little more on steep time – 2:30 would likely ease off on the astringency that much more. I don’t know that there will be a next time, however – there are plenty more darjeelings to try.

I’m open to suggestions if anyone has them!

2 heaping tsp. leaf to 500ml. in my Breville.

Last time I had this I steeped it at 3:30 and thought that the taste could be developed a bit more. So tonight I went with an extra 30 seconds, taking it up to 4 minutes, which is my usual steep time for black teas.

I think that this time the flavor of the tea came through even when hot – with the trade-off being that there was more astringency too.

Bottom line: I think it’s a more of an everyday black tea – the taste and smell are wonderful but there’s nothing overly complex about it.

2.5 tsp. to 20 oz. (-ish) water in my Breville.

I am always a little gun shy around black teas for some reason – I love them so much but I don’t want to make them bitter so I tend to be overcautious with my steep times, especially if it’s my first time trying it hot. All that is to say that 4 minutes (an extra 30 seconds) might make the flavor just a bit stronger next time.

Well, at 3:30, I successfully managed to avoid that dreaded bitterness/astringency. This tea is palatable with no additives, and the smell – that comforting earthy smell – adds even more to the experience. Plus, as it cools I get more of a ‘tea’ taste. I haven’t really had much experience with Darjeelings before but this leads me to think I may like them.

In any case, I know I like this one enough to keep it around when I’m in the mood for a lighter black tea.

So, I’ve decided that I am familiar with my green teas, and I really like my dessert teas. But I don’t know very much about black teas – like at all. I mean, I know I like the flavor, but I don’t know much about specific regions and that just cannot stand.

So I placed an Upton order and am working through my black tea samples, cold brewed for right now because it’s STILL August (I mean, really? Where the heck are you November?) and therefore still too hot to think about hot tea.

After one day of brewing 3 tsp. leaf in 3 cups of water, this was the first tea I tried. I was surprised at how light the color of the steeped liquid was – but then I read that Darjeelings are technically oolongs because they don’t get fully oxidized and that lighter color made sense. Still, the aroma of the tea definitely smells like a black tea should – earthy and strong. Despite the fact that cold brews seem able to smooth out most teas, this one is still somewhat astringent – not unpleasantly so, but I’m sure that I’ll have to be careful not to oversteep when I finally do try it hot.

Also, I think I get the muscatel note – something in it does remind me of grapes toward the end of the sip, but it also seems kind of perfumey too. I am drinking this unsweetened and it is fabulous – I’ve gone through all three cups with dinner. I’m super glad to know this one works as a cold brew though – I think this will be something I bring along with me to class this semester…

This is one solid tea. It’s hard to describe what it is but what it isn’t is: smokey, harsh, needing sugar or milk, or weak. Just straight, this tea has a good “black tea” flavor and is easy on the tongue.

Surprisingly great tasting tea, especially for the price. Yes, the leaf is broken but it doesn’t seem to affect the flavor at all. The brew is full-bodied and slightly fruity with sweet peachy notes. No smokiness, very little astringency. All in all, the best non-Chinese green tea I’ve tried so far. A keeper.

There is a good amount of strength coming from this Ceylon, much more than I had expected. Generally, I consider a Ceylon to be fairly even toned and somewhat on the mild side, but this one is much bolder. This one has “muchness.”

I’m off to write a review of this for the Tea Review Blog.

Here’s another tea from Upton Tea I ordered just 13 days short of its sixth anniversary debut….yes, it was August 2005 when I placed the order. I remember ordering tea with a friend who lives nearby, and just before placing the order, I checked the White teas one more time and purchased it. It was like making an impulse buy at the checkout isle at the grocery store.

At the time I brewed all my white teas in a small teapot (from Bombay Company), I got as a Christmas gift from my sister, bro in-law, and nephews. I prepared this tea Gong Fu style adding more leaf, using short steep times, and steeping it several times (3 to 6). The second and third cups were always the best. This year I started using my Bon Jour tea press alot more, because I like to watch the tea leaves unfurl, and smell the tea brewing. So currently I would use it for almost all White, Green, Oolong, and some Black teas.

Here’s my review from Upton’s website:

(7/20/2008)

Dry Leaf: Good, Infused Leaf: Good,
Liquor: Very Good, Value: Very Good

“Dry leaf is downy, uniform with varigated color. Definite dry/infused fresh, nutty aroma. Liquor is smooth with pronounced nuttiness, & melon undertones. My appreciation of this tea grows with each cup, but SNOW BUDS remains my favorite everyday white tea”

By varigated I mean green and white leaves, two leaves and a bud-a very beautiful leaf! By melon undertones I mean cantaloupe or honeydew (perhaps more accurate), and not watermelon.

This was not my first White tea experience; but I sure am glad I made this impulse buy, because Wang Fu Jing Hao was a really good, memorable tea. It was also the only time I was able to order it, because it sold out & may never be available again. {SIGH!} I HATE when that happens!!

Reviewed: Sat, 08-13-2011.

I added a new entry for this as the older entry looked to be for a different year. This is the second tea in my current tour of Upton Ceylon teas. It has some similarities to Upton’s 2011 TC27: New Vithanakande Estate FBOPF Ex. Spl. Some nice chocolate notes that deepen as it cools in the cup. The initial taste also includes a hint of the bright tea flavor I usually associate with Ceylon tea. There might be a hint of spice that Upton mentioned – I’ll have to think about that more.

I made enough for a 16 oz cup, adding a splash of milk but no sweetener. Will be interested to see how it does when I brew a whole pot for our regular breakfast tea. Very nice for my initial tasting.

Mistakenly over-poured two full teaspoons, hence the “rabbit blood” (as they say in Turkish) red of the steeped tea. Anyways, this smells like wafery chocolate-ish when steeped, which is not overly sweet smelling. Smell mixes nice with the astringent quality of the Ceylon. Will try with a smaller spoon next time.

One of my favorite blends from Upton Teas, it’s flavor is a bit more complex than a plain Assam, with no loss in the “wake-up” quality I need in the morning. I’ll also drink it other times of the day, too. I drink it plain, without milk or sweetener.