Upton Tea Imports

Yum! I liked this tea the instant I opened the sample pack. Lovely smell. Fruity, maybe? Brews clean, tastes good.

Hmm, interesting. I think I’ve had a tea like this before, a long time ago. It’s nice. Reminds me of happy memories. Amusingly enough, they’re mellow memories. Light cinnamon aftertaste. Neat.

It’s a nice white tea. I’m learning that I don’t like light flowery teas. So this really isn’t my style. But I don’t have any technical complaints about it – good flavor, complex, etc. Better than the average random tea. Brewed twice.

I’ve had a pretty hectic week and didn’t have quality time to spend with my Oolong sampler until now. This is the third in the sampler, and it is quite lovely. The dry leaves are the greenest of the four Oolong samples (not surprising given the reference to jade in the name) and are in fact a color that isn’t far from jade green (the “darker” jade green). It’s less toasty smelling than the fine grade or the amber. Though that note is still present, there’s a greener, earthier smell to it that makes the toasty note regress some.

The color is a pretty, clear light golden yellow with the smallest touch of green. The infused aroma, too, has a greener smell to it than the others. It deepened and became more “tawny” and floral on the second and third infusion, and by the third it was downright buttery with a twinge of something that seemed almost vanilla.

The flavor is delicate and sweet, and it changes fairly obviously from infusion to infusion, getting creamier through at least the third (steeped five minutes) and fourth (steeped six minutes). These were my favorites, though I went for five. The leaves had expanded in the filter so much by the fifth that I moved to a larger cup, and that likely made a difference, or perhaps the flavor was just naturally tapering off by then.

Had this tea in the AM again. I just love the bold, smoky notes in the background. With a little cream and sugar, a great way to start the day!

Yumm- perfect in the morning and again like the smokiness… think I may try lapsang souchong next

Nice in the AM w/a little bit of milk and sugar. Has a light smoky flavor , Very nice and smooth.

Very light rose flavor but not overwhelming…it even had a subtle vanilla flavor. I would definitely recommend this tea

Doing this one up today using my heretical multiple steepings into a single pot method. I have found that this is an especially effective way to create very complex pots of shou. Somehow the lighter notes of the very early and very late steepings remain distinct from the black tar of the middle steepings.

Think of it as breakfast blend, Yunnan style.

Old school, lazy Western style, today.

Enough leaf for 4 cups of water, three minute steep. I’ll probably only get two, maybe three steeps this way, but that’s still anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon from two tablespoons.

This tea is the precise opposite of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

I am at the end of an emotionally taxing week and I needed an uncomplicated hug.

For me, that’s what shou is all about.

I love that it is good for me, I love that there is so much pedantry and history to learn about pu-erh, but at the end of it all, what I really love about shou is that it is strong, mellow, welcoming and quiet.

I haven’t had this tea in a long time, having long ago “upgraded” from this to Upton’s slightly pricier “Wang” offering.

But I’ve learned a lot about pu-erh since then, and I wanted to circle back around and see how this struck me differently, now.

First and formost, gongfu steeping brings out a much broader and brighter access to the “dusty, damp cave” flavor profile of this tea. I’m going to enjoy these leaves.

I had intended to do a light steeping this morning, but got distracted and ended up with my usual pu-erh black tar. Yummy.

In trying to listen to fellow Steepsters, I prepared this today using a smaller pot, more leaf, rinsed the leaves for about 10 seconds, and then only steeped for one minute instead of my usual 15-30.

Certainly nothing wrong with the results, but nothing came out here that blew me away or made me feel like I’ve been misguided all along. I think these elaborate preparations may have value with real, true, aged, single garden type pu-erh, but I doubt very many of us are drinking such things very often.

This is my everyday, all day tea on week days when I am working. You basically cannot over steep this tea, and the resulting brew even from a single tablespoon of leaf is so strong that you can stretch it with hot water for several hours. I set up a pot each morning and enjoy it all day long. For me, this tea is as ubiquitous as most people’s daily coffee, but lacks the harsh bitterness, acerbic notes and cloying aroma that can fill even a large space with an overwhelming odor. Pu-erh is a tea no one will know you are drinking except your dentist (stains the teeth pretty badly, unfortunately).

This particular pu-erh is very, very smooth without being flat or boring. As I said, I’ve had this nearly every day, all day, for years now, and continue to enjoy drinking it each and every day. You’d pay about as much for a good coffee, but I’m using a single table spoon a day to drink this tea all day. If you took coffee as seriously, you’d be going through a pound a day. Which means at $16 and change for 125 grams, this is an unbelievably cheap tea, per cup considering how good it tastes.

Someday soon, pu-erh will become the new “it” tea for diet fads, health benefits and all the rest. Until that happens, enjoy these cheap, flavorful, mellow, rich teas while you can for pennies a day.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teaspoons
Additives: none
Water: 20 ounces (4 oz more than suggested for 2 teaspoons)
Steep Time: a little over 4 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet (caramel-like) black tea
Steeped Tea Smell: bold black tea
Flavor: smooth and creamy, bold, black tea with a bit of astringency
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: nothing, clean
Liquor: nice translucent dark brown

Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea

It’s a nice clean bold black. I don’t quite understand what makes it so special? I mean it is a very delicious tea, and I am enjoying drinking it, but with all those abbreviations I expected something WOW.

Post-Steep Additives: lactose-free fat-free milk

No more astringency, just a nice creamy smooth bold black.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/upton-tea-imports-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

very strong fruity flavor- almost tarty like cranberry juice and just as red…

Hmmm- brought about 24 oz of this tea to work.. the vanilla flavor is very distinct in this tea and the black tea flavor profile is bold but not astringent. I will definitely re-order this tea.

Sweet and creamy. like a desert….

Along the great Path of Tea, we sometimes have the opportunity to taste a tea that is essentially perfect, at least for us. Such was my experience with Arya Estate’s autumnal flush from 2008. So when I realized a couple weeks ago that I was about to run out of Darjeeling and die, I ordered some of the current tea from Upton’s to tide me over until the first flush.

First of all, this is a gorgeous tea in its dried form—one of the prettiest I’ve seen. A nice mix of chocolate, olive, and silver in big, open, curly leaves. The tea brews up to produce a classic amber-colored liquor with a light rosy aroma. The taste is delicate, with the characteristic muscatel and rose, and maybe a hint of caramel. Not sure I’m getting the raisins that are mentioned in the vendor description, though. In fact, the tea is a little too delicate. The line between “delicate” and “weak” is such a fine one. Even brewed strong, I find myself wanting just a little more out of this one.

It’s a very good tea, but, knowing that the Arya Estate has produced some GREAT teas, I find myself a little disappointed. It costs more than my last batch of Castleton Moonlight (considered by some as the gold standard for second flush Darjeelings) and I’m afraid it isn’t as good.

Nevertheless, if you prefer your second flush teas on the light side, this may be just the tea for you.

I really enjoy this tea as a breakfast tea with a bit of sugar. I also take it to class with me in a thermal mug and the vanilla and cream elements really help make it feel like there’s more to the tea to keep me going when the class seems to be dragging on and on without a break. (Many of my classes are 3 hours long and fall over lunch.) It would also be a very relaxing evening cup on a cold night – sweet and rich.

I wanted to like this, but the tea and rose flavors don’t blend particularly well and I end up tasting something bitter and almost soapy. It smells lovely, it just doesn’t follow it up on taste. I’ll probably put the rest of my sample to use making some kind of face mask or toner with the cooled tea.

Hmmm..a light, smooth tea w/a mild rose flavor… great in the afternoon…