Upton Tea Imports

This tea looks quite beautiful. The rooibos looks like standard red rooibos, the flower petals add such bright brilliant colors.

The aroma is quite like most rooibos I’ve tasted, with a little berry aroma (from the hibiscus I believe).

Right after steeping, this tea tasted very bland and plain. But after letting it cool a few degrees, it got sweeter and more berry flavored sip to sip. I really didn’t think I’d get much enjoyment out of this tea after the first few sips, but as it cooled it really impressed me.

I also found out after I brewed the tea that I should have doubled the steeping time, so I’m going to see what happens when I try it that way next time.

Thank you Lori for passing this tea on to me!

Finished off my sample of this for my morning tea . Of course, I say morning but since it was the weekend it was more like eleven or so. Mmmm, weekend. It was pretty much down to this and the blue flower for what I wanted more of and, while this is good and interesting and nice, I think I like the blue flower bette for tasting how I want an Earl Grey to taste.

Nice morning tea though!

I guess I’ve pretty much narrowed down what I like from my Upton sample buying spree and what I am just going to hold in reserve/foist off on other people eventually. Now that that’s settled, it is time to destroy these samples because my tea-buying hand has been restless lately and I need to make space in my cupboard.

I am still not really getting anything in the way of grapefruit from this tea, just a generalized fruity and floral note. I kind of want to drink this and my Czar Nikolas back to back to see how they compare. The Czar also has this sort of light blend with assertive black tea taste and flavors you can’t quite pin down thing going on. Oh wait! I think I got some grapefruit just then, in the aftertaste. Or maybe I’m trying too hard.

The second tasting of this went MUCH better than the lavender Earl Grey debacle. I let this steep for longer this time (especially since it was gonna be my morning cuppa) and I got a lot more out of it. It had an almost creamy texture to it this morning, and it was a lot easier to tell that it was flavored.
Clearly the answer to this tea is to drink it in the morning before you’ve actually tasted anything else.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #5:
Next up in my Earl Greyathon, Russian style Earl Grey, chosen because it was on the top of the pile. Brews up lighter colored than the Blue Flower, but the tea taste is quite strong – stronger, I would say than the flavorings in it. The citrus taste is very faint and not really what I associate with bergamot at all. As the description says, it’s definitely a departure from traditional Earl Grey – in fact, I’m not sure it has that much in common with Earl Grey at all. Still tasty though! And this is only my first go at it, perhaps if drunk after a non-Earl Grey tea, it would be more obvious.
I don’t know where the steeping suggestions come from, but my sample packet said 4 minutes instead of 5; I think in later tries i will vary the time to see what happens.

Upton’s catalogue notes that this tea is also known as “Buddha’s Tea” so I got a 12g. sample in order to see what the jolly wise one drinks. Foucha Imperial strikes me as a green tea without too much attitude. I’ve been sampling some green tea with very high accolades and rave reviews of late. This tea does well without being showy. The tea does have a smooth buttery taste but with some restraint—it’s not enough “butter” to make me think of a “coronary by green tea”. It’s got the typical vegetal taste—-more freshly mown grass than deep fields of spinach, however.

Mae West says “I like restraint, if it doesn’t go too far.” So too with Foucha Imperial. The restraint does not go too far so it’s a very satisfying green experience. I would call it a very sincere green but not a pyrotechnical one. Sometimes less is more.

This tea steeps to a bright amber color. It has an underlying sweetness and a fruity taste. This tea is very mellow and smooth with no astringency or bitterness.

So Tuesdays are pretty much the worst day of the week for me. I start class at 9 and basically have it in some form until 6 (with an hour long break here and there) and the last class is the one where we talk about Foucault ad infinitum. So, rather than go for a strong pick me up tea today, I wanted something tasty and flavored to give me a bit of comfort as I thought about the rest of the day. As an added bonus I was able to finish off my sample of this in anticipation of the arrival of my Harney and Son order!

The more I drink it the more I like this Earl Grey. It seems to have just the right ratio of aroma to tea, and it the floral addition gives it a nice twist on the Earl Grey theme. Think it needs to go on my shopping list!

Now that I have solved the Mystery of Which Breakfast Blend Ewa Likes the Most, it is time for Earl Grey.

Oh Earl Grey, I will dabble in other teas, but I love you best!

Blue Flower Earl Grey continues to be pleasing to me. Will probably buy more of this.

Was in an Earl Grey mood again this morning and since this seems to be the one that has grown on me the most, I reached for it. Unfortunately, I reached a little too late and it had a super short steeping time resulting in a super weak tea that completely failed to wake me up. Bummer!

Not the tea’s fault of course, so the rating stays as is, although this HAS brought home to me that I am going to need to keep some sort of “Insert Name of Country” Breakfast tea on hand all the time since those are the only ones that I can treat that way.

Just HAD to have some earl grey this morning. Do you realize that I haven’t had any earl grey at ALL this week? I am not counting my horrible paper + soap tippy earl grey experience. In fact, I am attempting to block it from my memory altogether. It’s not really working well so far.

It’s interesting coming back to this tea now after having gone through all of my Upton samples, since I think this was only the second Earl Grey I tried. It may just be Earl Grey withdrawal talking, but I am enjoying it a lot more the second time around. I really like the kind of fruity flavor that I suppose the cornflower brings, it accents the bergamot flavor very nicely, and gives it a nice well-rounded taste that’s not just “ohai gaiz we added MOAR bergamot.”

May have to seriously consider getting more of this. But have to try the Extra Bergamot again, first. (Ok, fine, I am totally a fan of the “ohai gaiz we added MOAR bergamot” approach. I feel suitably ashamed of myself)

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #4:
On to other Earl Greys! This tea was chosen to be next in line on the highly scientific basis of “the name sounds nice.” Just from opening it, it seemed more potent than the Original Earl Grey. I’ve been quite congested lately and could barely smell the latter, but this stuff got through to my nose just fine. It brewed up darker, as well, but the taste, thankfully, was not overwhelming. There’s a fruitiness about it that blends quite well with the bergamot. Makes for a very smooth cup.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #3:
So, among my Upton Sampler Buying Spree items are, I think, something like 8 different Earl Greys. From this you can probably figure out that I’m kind of a fan. Earl Grey is, without a doubt, my favorite kind of tea and you can imagine my glee when I saw that Upton had 18 (EIGHTEEN, people) different kinds. I don’t even know how I chose between them; its all a blur.

The logical place to start when faced with actually tasting these Earl Greys is with the Original Earl Grey. As it says on the tin, the bergamot taste here is quite faint. It’s a tease is what it is. It’s all like, am I an Earl Grey? Or aren’t I? You better take another sip just to make sure. I prefer my Earl Grey more bergamot-y, but if you are interested in something more subtle, this is the Earl Grey for you.

The leaves of this tea are beautiful with plenty of tips. It has a slightly nutty smell and is very mild and smooth. It does have a very slight minty note. It steeps up a light amber color and actually reminds me of a roasted green tea in taste. The tea has sweet undertones as it cools.

This is an interesting tea, interesting in the flavor it has. I can’t place it at all. It steeps up a dark brown and does have a little astringency and just slight bitterness. Its gently robust and has a full mouthfeel. Its not my favorite tea from Upton and I more than likely will not order this again. I feel this tea is better for blending which is what I will do as I have a very light Lapsang Souchong which I can add this to.

Well, back to mornings as usual at Chez Ewa. Let this steep for maybe a minute before running out the door. Ah mornings. You suck.

So, I’ve been letting this stuff air out in a shallow container in hopes of getting rid of the chai contamination, and I decided it was time to risk it again. The root beer taste IS gone, thank goodness. But there’s nothing to replace it. It just tastes kind of generic and slightly astringent. Maybe I should just give up on this stuff?

Ok, I actually grabbed the right tin today for trying this out and comparing it to the Irish and Scottish breakfast blends. I kind of wish I hadn’t though because I am totally getting root beer from this. ROOT BEER! Now this is bad for two reasons, 1. it makes no sense, and 2. I don’t like root beer.

The root beerness faded into a general sweet note as I got further into the cup, but I have to say I am still dissatisfied with it. It’s just not smack me in the face enough for my mornings. I think I’ll have to stick to the plebian quick brew blends. Looks like it’s back to the Scottish blend for me!

So I was going to offer the rest of my sample to Morgana since she mentioned she’d like to try it the last time I posted on this, but I have a suspicion that the whole root beer taste might be coming from contamination with what was previously in this tin, so I wonder if this wouldn’t be doing both her and the tea a disservice. Still, if you want to risk it…

Ok, caveat guys: I am not, in fact, sure that this is River Shannon. It is in an Adagio Masala Chai sample tin, but it is definitely not chai. Because I am a giant nubcake, however, I failed to make a note of what it IS. HOWEVER, it is the only one of my Upton Samples that is unaccounted for, so…odds are pretty high!

It’s very weird, because the tea smells totally oversteeped, but I was having one of my “forget to make tea until last minute” mornings instead of my “forgot I made tea and let it steep for like 20 minutes” mornings. (Those are basically the only two kinds of mornings I have. I don’t like mornings) That means that I, in fact, steeped it for about 30 seconds. But it still has a kind of weird burnt, overdone smell to it. Very strange. And not particularly appetizing given that I have a presentation today and my belly is in knots about that already.

The taste is much nicer, though. A nice assertive black tea taste with only a hint of astringency, just to let you know it’s there. No hint of oversteepedness at all. The fact that it was able to have this much personality with even a short steeping time is heartening, but that combined with the smell make me think that this would not be suitable for my other kind of morning. Sadly, I have no way of knowing what kind of morning it is going to be until it is already happening, so no way to plan ahead for that!

There is also a weird underlying piquant note in the aftertaste that makes me think of cola for some reason. I am going to go ahead and attribute that residual chai taste due to being too lazy to clean the sample tin out properly.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #2:
I am drinking Breakfast Blend in the evening guys. I’m a woman on the edge! There’s no telling what I’ll do!
Seriously though, this tea brews up a really nice amber color and is eminently drinkable. It’s got a bit of astringency, especially towards the end of the cup. But still super tasty!

Getting to the end of this…which will put me without smoky teas! (oh noes!) I plan to get the black dragon from Upton on my next order, but that’s not going to be a while because I’m heading out to Japan in a few weeks. (Summer Intensive Language Program) Oh well guess I will have to survive until then.