Upton Tea Imports

This is really good. Nice toasty flavor profile. I can see this becoming my everyday afternoon tea:)

Smoooooth this morning. This Ceylon is from the Kenilworth Estate. It hit me this morning as I was sipping, that this tea is veeeeerrrrry similar to GM French Breakfast tea. According to GM, their french breakfast comes from a single estate in Sri Lanka. I would be willing to bet they get it from the Kenilworth estate! If it is not the same estate, it is pretty darn close according to my taste buds. AND, Upton is way cheaper than GM in case you were wondering:)

OMG, I thought I have had good Ceylons…hold the phone! This one is better than anything I have tasted to date.
Nice tea smell to the leaves. 3 minute infusion, dark amber (almost reddish) brew. SMOOOOOOTH taste. I was going to make this into iced tea, but thought I will taste it hot before I add the ice, I may not ever get ice into my cup. Really nice, bright Ceylon that stands up all by itself. No need for milk and sugar here.

I tried my sample this morning and confirmed my impression that the “way into” Yunnan for me is drinking it blended with other varieties (in this case, Assam). The peaty, fuel-source quality was subdued, and gave the blend a warming effect that I appreciated on this unseasonably cold, wet and windy morning … sort of like pouring a half-shot of Laphroaig into a pot of tea.:)

I’ve just discovered another excellent quality of this tea: Thanks to its natural sweetness, it tastes perfectly delicious “naked,” without any added sweetener or milk. That makes it ideal for the office, where I’m trying to keep my tea drinking as simple and non-time-consuming as possible without sacrificing quality.

I couldn’t resist breaking into my just-delivered (to my office) Upton order and making a cup of this one with my new Finum brewing basket. The first impression I got was honey, loud and clear, even though I had not added honey or any other sweetener. That honeyed note is staying with me as I drink it, and being joined by a tobacco-y quality that I’m finding quite seductive. I was hoping this might fill the “tasty, affordable everyday tea” niche, and I think it will do so nicely!

Time to show some love for one of the workhorses of my current cupboard. I drink it often for breakfast and usually blend it with a bolder, maltier Assam. But yesterday I had an upset stomach and drank only ginger tea, so this morning as I warily re-entered the world of normal food and drink, I steeped the Banaspaty solo and let its fruity mellowness soothe me.

I must thank LORI for sending me this delightful tea. Rose is an aroma and a flavor that I really enjoy when it is executed properly and does not seem synthetic. Upton Tea Imports, always reliable, always steady, always dependable, does a fantastic job with this blend.

If you like rose teas, I am confident that you will like this one. The aroma and taste are strong and steady and a tiny bit spicy, but the sweetness is never overbearing or cloying. I will order a full size next time I place an order with Uptons. It’s a great afternoon tea.

Deep copper, a slight fruitiness, mild astringency. Ho hum—

Sigh. I’m out of this tea now. I seem to be finishing up a lot of samples recently, but I have WAY too much tea, so even with finishing things up I still can’t get any more. Sigh.

Anyway, this tea is still lovely. I got this sample from the lovely JacquelineM a long time ago, and I’ve been savoring it ever since. Dark, nutty, almost a little woody.

Goodbye fair tea, I will miss you.

I’m surprised I haven’t logged this before. I’ve been drinking this for a while – and it’s good warm and great iced. (I’m getting really into this iced oolong thing lately).

Nutty overtones, beautiful leaves, and just a lovely tea. Yum.

One of my favorite breakfast teas. It’s a robust blend of Assam and Ceylon. I have been alternating it with Upton CTC Irish Breakfast and I prefer the latter, being pure Assam. That said, it makes an excellent cup.

One of my favorite Irish Breakfast teas – strong and malty and consistent in quality. It’s CTC processed, so quick brewing and strong. My morning cup more often than not, with a fair bit of milk.

Fairly dark (colored) brew. To be expected since it’s an Assam but this one is quite dark almost a red rust color. Very little sediment at the bottom of the cup. Brewing it at the recommended time and temp resulted in quite a bitter cup. Luckily, like most teas it doesn’t linger much but this would not be good for an afternoon tea where I prefer something more subtle and less jolting. This is a good pick me up tea (and definitely higher on the caffeine scale). I wish I had something sweet to enjoy with this.

This tea mostly had a non-distinct sweet flavor that was pleasing….

This is a very satisfying afternoon tea. The wisp of smoke is very restrained and I am certain that this tea would be perfectly acceptable to those who do not like smoky teas.
Upton offers good teas at decent prices. I think that I’ve tried much more costly Keemuns which have spoiled me a bit for their more pedestrian siblings. This smooth tea is really a delight. After drinking some Hao Ya Keemuns this tea certainly seems like a step down, but I feel a bit churlish writing this.

It might be analogous to eating a lobster dish after you’ve sampled caviar (not that I’ve had a lot of experience there). What might have seemed like a wonderful tea a couple of weeks ago seems a little simple-minded compared with more brilliant teas.

What am I getting at? If I were grading papers I would give this one an “A” even if there were another paper that went miles and miles beyond the outer reaches of what I know to be an A+. Excellent tea, Upton!

This is still my favoritest-favorite black tea. I’m finally drinking it quasi-regularly in the morning – and not being such a dragon-like tea hoarder. Life’s too short to skimp on tea.

With my newly filtered water, and cutting out sugars in my diet, the sweetness of this tea almost sings from the very first cup (and gets progressively sweeter the number of steeps I have, with three being the peak). TG

I’m back to drinking tea on a regular basis: yay!

I went immediately for one of my all-time faves to mark the occasion (hint: it’s this one). And my cat immediately came up to try and get some for himself (jerk).

Even being a few years old (eep!) it still is smoky-tasty to me. Huzzah! But it’s definitely not as good as a fresh tin.

But with my renewed tea-drinking (and shunning of diet sodas), I have made myself a promise: I shall no longer hoard my favorite or limited-edition teas. I need to drink them uninhibitedly. So drink I shall! NE

I just had to stop by Steepster and say “HI!!!” to everyone, and apologize for my prolonged absence. I’m getting ready for a major move sometime in June and am still adjusting to the new job. And let’s not even get into the grad school fail (I need to re-apply for next year). But at least I’ll be within a mile of my work and will no longer have the 2 hour round-trip commutes to contend with anymore — huzzah!

I haven’t had a spot of tea in months :( With the hectic schedule I’ve been relying on coffee (gasp!) and diet soda (double-gasp!) to get through. However, my poor system is begging for tea — so I hope to turn it around after the move. I hope.

I miss you all and hope that all is going well!

Warmest Wishes,

Rabs

Had this this morning using the ForLife mug I’d bought my mom as a gift (since replacement teapot has yet to arrive). I think that my tea mojo is slowly making a comeback. There’s still a ton of stress in my life (job interview tomorrow and the GRE looming), but I think that I’m starting to handle it a bit better. I think. NE

Had to have my Dragon to start off my week. I’ve been mostly MIA on Steepster since I had family visiting (my little niece and nephew keep me a-runnin’), and I’m trying to make my lifestyle healthier. Blech. ;) So this weekend was a blur. But now I can sit for a few minutes and enjoy one of my most favoritest teas in the universe. TG

Dear Black Dragon,

Thank you for bein’ in my cupboard. You’re great at curbing my anti-morning homicidal tendencies. Good job!

Yours Truly,

Rabs