Upton Tea Imports

Yum. Now that I figured out the right quantity and brewing time, this tea is heavenly. A perfect breakfast tea – very rich with nice chocolate flavor. Great with just a touch of honey and a splash of milk.

Of course, after figuring out how to brew it, I have just a tiny amount left! Hummmmm – will I purchase more? I have a few other Ceylons to try first, but maybe!

This one has been very interesting. We like our tea strong. For assams, that is usually 2 lightly rounded teaspoons per cup, brewing time either 4.5 or 5 minutes. I started at that with this tea, brewing for 5 minutes, initially just making a single 16 oz cup for me. That was my initial tasting note, and I was very impressed. But then I tried making a pot for my hubby and I to share, using the same time and measurements. It was not very good. Second time tried it again, still 2 gently rounded tsp/cup to the pot, but this time 4.5 minutes. Yuck – bitter chocolate :( I like chocolate in my tea, but this was not the bittersweet chocolate in some assams – just bitter. Blah. Yuck. Tried adding a little honey, but that seemed to make it worse. Was thinking maybe I didn’t like this tea as much after all. But gave it one more try, this time reducing the tea just slightly – and wow. It was excellent!! Rich chocolate – even better with that touch of honey. Oh, and I use milk as well.

OK….So perhaps I do like Ceylon!! All the richness I was missing in my two tastings of Golden Moon Sinharaja is there with this tea. I believe both are from the same region, although the leaf style is very different. And the Upton selection is much more expensive. From the New Vithanakande web page it appears that this is their top grade tea.

There is definitely a rich. toasty, dusty cocoa flavor. Perhaps a touch of molasses. I’m drinking it with milk and it handles it quite well. This one has lots of yum factor. Excellent!!

This tea is a lot more mellow than the previous Kenyan tea I had. The astringency is fairly mild in comparison. It’s medium bodied with a notes of spice and wood, but not a whole lot stands out about this tea. The more I drink it, I actually pick up some underlying sweetness that makes it a nice finish.

This poor tea has been pushed to the back of my tea cupboard for far too long. I had forgotten how great and soothing this tea is! What a great tea for a Friday night cuddled up on the couch with my cat and reading The Princess Bride.

Seriously. This is the BEST ICED TEA EVER! I love this tea hot, but it really sings when chilled and mixed with a bit of simple syrup.

Now that my Rose Congou has been properly chilled it is even better than it was last night. Honestly, I think that this tea is better chilled than hot, but I like it a lot at both temps. I think I could have used a bit less simple syrup, but it isn’t overpowering as it is. I think the rose would pop a bit more with less syrup though.

I actually made this for tomorrow’s iced tea drinking, but I couldn’t resist trying a glass filled with ice tonight! It is delightful iced! I put 7 tsp into my 24 oz pot, steeped for 5 minutes, then resteeped for 8 minutes, topped off the pitcher with about 6 cups of filtered water and 3/4 cup of simple syrup. So good!!! I think this tea is made to be iced!

When I resteeped this tea earlier, I added a scant teaspoon of Elyse’s Blend in an effort to up the black tea flavor. It worked, but I wasn’t really as much in a rose mood today as I thought.

Just finished a nice mug of this! I used a shorter steep time today and it resulted in a very rosy cup, but I found myself wanting more of a black tea kick that I usually get when steeping this tea for a longer time. Still a nice cup, but I didn’t love the tea as much steeped this way. Longer steep times from now on!

I really like to drink this tea in the afternoon or early evening. I am finding it VERY relaxing tonight. I added a bit of sweetener and it was quite enjoyable.The second infusion of this tea is like rose candy! It is a pretty weak brew but I don’t think I gave it enough time – still tasty though.

Although the scent of this tea is overwhelmingly rose, I am finding this tea to be a smooth black with a nice rosy sweetness So glad I purchased 125g!

I’m trying to enjoy this tea while being sick >.< I’m probably the one of the few people that can get sick in summer! Oh, well. This seems like a pretty basic Assam. Well balanced with moderate astringency that builds up the more sips you have. A tad bit malty, but not overly so. There’s nothing that’s a huge wow factor here, but sometimes a simple tea like this is the best tea to drink while you’re sick. Enjoying the next cup with a little bit of honey, hoping it will coat my throat nicely.

Brewed this up tonight. It was spot on with the perfect amount of earl to chocolate notes.
delish. I will miss this one in my cupboard.

I have certainly drank this tea more than 2 times as I am almost out!
This tea is earl greyey, it pairs well with chocolate and I generally like it. Do I like enough to reorder, I think not. There is just something about this one that leaves wanting more…more of what I do not know.