Upton Tea Imports
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I know this isn’t a breakfast tea but it looks like coffee and the taste is very earthy and mellow. It has no bitterness or astringency at all and is very easy to drink. I like the fact that its easy to measure, just one birds nest in 8 oz of water and 6 minutes later you have it. Its also cheap as you can steep it 4-5 times and the taste doesn’t waver much. I like it.
Preparation
Preparation
The liquor sure is dense and black, it looks like coffee. The smell and taste is very earthy. It is very mellow and soothing to sip. It leaves a very clean aftertaste. The directions said to steep for 6-7 minutes but I never follow directions. I actually steeped for 30 seconds and discarded the liquid and then steeped for 4 minutes. I am really enjoying this tea, its making me want to try other pu-erh which is a good thing. I’m not sure how many times I can steep this but I’m going to find out. Excellent tea.
3g/8oz
Preparation
Second steep is going great. There is plenty of earthy taste and aroma still left in this tea. Tea is still dense and black.
Third steep is just as earthy and tasty as the second. Time to stop now. three is enough.
Adding this to my list…
Dan, I have to thank you for saving me time and money — you’ve been trying so many kinds of tea that are on my to-sample list (Himalayan, Java, Pu-Erh, etc.)! You’re giving me a good sense of which ones might capture my fancy and which I can safely pass by.
Usually I don’t like Darjeeling teas. While this is actually not one it still has some of the same nuances. The tea steeps up a golden color and has a slightly vegetal scent. The tea has a mellow clean taste and a dry finish like a wine. A nice tea for sitting and relaxing in the afternoon.
Preparation
Since this is unofficial Ceylon day, I pulled this one out. This is a smooth malty tea with only a touch of bitterness and astringency. It makes a full bodied breakfast tea and has a dry aftertaste. Drinking ceylon teas is new to me and I’m liking them.
Preparation
This tea brews up to a bright copper color. The taste really surprised me. I was expecting a robust tea and what I got was a mellow, brisk tea with floral notes. I would consider this an afternoon tea. I’m not getting any bitterness or astringency from this tea. I do get a dry feeling in the mouth after drinking. A nice relaxing tea.
Preparation
After a 4 minute steep, this tea is really not as powerful as suggested. It is a very nice inexpensive cup of tea. It is a mild mellow afternoon tea with no bitterness or astringency IMHO. It has a light malty smell with a light fruity taste. I prefer stronger teas so while this is a nice cup, it just is not my cup.
Preparation
I had a cup of this earlier this morning as all hell seemed to be breaking loose for at least the 10th time this week…the only thing I can say is that it was a memorable and enjoyable cup and seemed to help me get thru my morning. Please take a look at my previous tasting not for a longer description this one…
Okay…I Googled…so sue me…lol…
Mincing Lane is a street in the City of London, stretching from Fenchurch Street south to Great Tower Street.
Its name is a corruption of Mynchen Lane – so-called from the tenements held there by the Benedictine ‘mynchens’ or nuns of St Helen’s Bishopsgate (from Minicen, Anglo-Saxon for a nun; minchery, a nunnery).1
It was for some years the world’s leading centre for tea and spice trading after the British East India Company successfully took over all trading ports from Dutch East India Company in 1799. It was the center of the British opium business (comprising 90% of all transactions), as well as other drugs in the 1700s. 2 It is mentioned in chapter 16 of Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, where it is briefly described:
“[Bella] arrived in the drug-flavoured region of Mincing Lane, with the sensation of having just opened a drawer in a chemist’s shop.”In 1834, when the East India Company ceased to be a commercial enterprise, and tea became a ‘free trade’ commodity, tea auctions were held in the London Commercial Salerooms on Mincing Lane. Tea merchants established offices in and around Mincing Lane, earning it the nickname Street of Tea.3
A notable building is the Clothworkers’ Hall (the current building, opened in 1958, is the sixth to stand on the site; the fourth was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, while the fifth was destroyed during the London Blitz).4 A modern landmark partly bounded by Mincing Lane is Plantation Place, completed in 2004.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincing_Lane)
Anyhow…
Here’s my review…
This is a gift from LiberTEAs…thanks girl!!!
This smells like a black tea should! Nothing more…nothing less!
It’s dark brown in color – Very deep, very rich in color!
This has a very dark taste as well!
It’s interesting because I can taste BOTH the Assam and Yunnan characteristics separately but at the same time…it’s hard to describe! It’s like they are in a fist fight with each other but end up hugging at the end or something!
PEACE, LOVE, and TEA!!!
I’m really beginning to like Kenyan tea. The CTC tea looks like little grape nuts and infuses quickly. This is a very thick, brisk, robust, and malty tea. Any steeping over 3 minutes and you can stand a spoon up in it. It does have floral rose notes and is a very good cup of tea.
Preparation
This tea is brisk, robust, and malty. I used a 2 1/2 steep this time and got a stronger tea w/o the bitterness which was nice. It has some astringency but not enough to deter from the taste of this very nice tea. This is a great breakfast tea.
Preparation
This is a very good cup of Kenyan tea. The only tea I have to compare this with is Lifeboat tea. This tea is much more refined as I do get notes of fruit and roses. As it is a CTC tea, 2 minutes gets you a good quick cup. This tea is brisk and robust with no bitterness and only slight astringency. This is another tea I will reorder in a larger size. I’m no expert on African teas, but I know what I like. I like this one.
Preparation
I love assam and yunnan teas. This is a mix of the two and yes I love it. This tea is mellow and smooth, no bitterness or astringency that I can find. It has a wine like quality to it. I wish I could find the notes that others have found with this tea, I’m looking, but I can’t. I don’t think my taste buds are that refined as yet. Too much espresso in earlier years I expect. Next time I order this tea it won’t be a sample. I do have assam and yunnan teas and I may try to mix them myself.
Preparation
The moon must be in the proper phase or a week off work has actually rested me enough mentally to actually pay attention … but after bumbling through most of a sample tin, I got it right—-it tastes peachy! Second steep, particularly, after the greenness wore off.
It’s funny how our perception of the same tea can change from day to day.
MsWhatsit, the more I try different teas, the more I have noticed that. I have had teas that I initially I thought were just okay that are some of my favorites now. To complicate matters more, sometimes minor adjustments in steep time, temp and/or quantity of leaf can make a big difference. I usually wait until I’ve had a tea a few times before reviewing it.
Tried this one chilled without having a cup hot first, but it makes a good plain summer cooler… poured into glass bottles, cooled, straight into the fridge. I’m never very precise with my water temps, but I must have accidentally hit the butter zone on this one—no bitterness or strong veggie taste at all.
(Sorry, wombatgirl … this does deserve a limerick, but a have a post-lousy-night’s-sleep headache that’s even making full sentences a stretch. Maybe next steep.)
