Upton Tea Imports

Tea of the morning….

Another sample from my last tea adventure from Upton. Originally, I was not going to take the time to add it to the database, but then I got further into the cup. Rich and complex taste. Deep. Kind of a coffee drinker’s tea. It does remind me quite a bit of Black Dragon Pearl tea. But with a hint of chocolate and roses. Yes, this one might need to make a home in my stash for a while. More data needed!

Usual mug method.

And the last of the comparisons. The smell is odd – I think that just means that I can now cross off bourbon vanilla from my list of things I might like. I have tried it in several teas now and not really cared for it. The flavor of this is slightly chemical and off to me. Adding sugar and half-and-half to this makes it very desserty and covers the chemical taste, bringing more vanilla to the forefront. But sugar and half-and-half would likely make just about any vanilla tea more desserty. :) Good with the additions but nothing to make me keep this on hand over any other vanilla tea.

The second of the EF samples, this one is definitely maltier but again, not overly so to my taste. It’s certainly smoother and with less bitterness than the BOP version.

Got this sample to try next to two other EFs. This is malty but not overly so, fairly smooth but with a bit of bitterness to the cooling cup. I added some half-and-half to the last portion of the cup and it was good but nothing exceptional.

This is a very nice blend of teas, perfect balance of the keemun. The fresh almost green taste of the darjeeling and the classic honeyness of the ceylon tea. This is a most try for all those that enjoy black tea!

Well, a second tea from the Steepster Select that I haven’t been impressed with. I love the idea of Select, but I think I’m going to wait a little longer until it gets teas more to my taste.

Now on to this tea, I got the mahogany taste, but that was about it, smokey, paprika, leather, almost like the burnt ends from BBQ. Really not what I think of for a single estate tea. I haven’t really had many Indonesian teas that ‘wow’ me, and this is no exception.

Caffeine Free Tea Box

Mmmm this one is like a warm cup of vanilla milk. Very tasty :)

I received this tea in the Tea and Yarn swap over on Ravelry, and I’m so glad I did. This is delicious!

The tea is light with a sweet hay and wood note – I want to say it’s cedar wood, but I don’t think that’s it. The muscatel notes are present from start to finish but are also light. Everything seems to float and blend together with no rough notes or sharp astringency. This is a great afternoon tea.

I’m so glad I can add this one to my cupboard. Good stuff.

Bad MissB, oversteeping a perfectly good chai! This was lovely and wonderful, however 4 minutes is too long – it gets a touch bitter.

Wow! Out of the bag, this smells so strongly of cream cheese icing sugared cinnamon buns, I did a double take. I could just inhale it constantly, it’s THAT good. Steeped, it also smells amazing, even cooled. I found this much better hot though — a lovely, sweet chai with more cinnamon roll flavor than anything else. Very tasty!

Cool looking leaves – very long. This is pretty good. I followed package directions, though, and this length of steep is giving it a dryness that I don’t care for a whole lot (at least I’m guessing that is what is making it dry). I don’t notice any other notes than tea flavor tea. :) I have enough left in the sample to try again though!

Had a few sips of this tonight, and it was so spicy, I thought it was (perhaps) the hideous spray I had to use in my room for… gasp!… bed bugs. So, I dumped it. Sadly. Because now I’m thinking it was better than I gave it credit for.

I think I need to try this again when I know for sure this is the tea I’m drinking… although this tastes so roooibos-y, that I have to assume this is the right tea. Regardless, this is a bit too much rooibos and something a bit off, and not enough chai for me.

Caffeine Free Tea Box

Meh, it’s alright. Though I can’t blame upton that I’m not a big fan of plain teas. This one is going under my “better iced” section.

Oooo… now this is more like it. Golden tipped leaves make a malty, deep brew. I like this better than the Basmatia Estate. Still gets the increasing bitterness as it cools, however. And that could be my steeping error as well. Dunno. I like it. And with half-and-half it reminds me of how much I loved the Assams this winter with cream… a habit I don’t need to fall back into! :)

Now I need to follow this with Harney’s Nahorhabi, though I don’t know what flush theirs is.

Since I had two more people at work wanting to try out teas, I figured I’d grab some samples to do some comparisons while I was doing ordering. Not like I can place a tea order without getting something myself!

This is an okay Assam. Nothing too special, but definitely drinkable. A bit toasty. As it cools, it seems to get stronger and maybe tends a bit to the bitter side. This was only at 1:30. I think at 4-5 min as recommended it would be near undrinkable, at least for me. On to the next!

:/ I had a nice pretty review written, and then my computer crashed. So sorry that I can’t be bothered writing up as nice of one.

No aroma when I opened the pouch, leaves were a lower quality than I would normally like, but as I had been given this sample, I don’t know where this degradation happened.

As it brews. no distinct aroma, maybe some faint wet cardboard. brews dark for such a surprising little amount of tea, but I guess that is from it being crushed.

The tea itself is pretty awful. If I had more of this tea than the sample, it would be reserved for ice-tea grade only. No muscatel, bitter and astringent, I see no “good” taste in this tea.

although i don’t like it much, this is an ok tea :) tastes like fruit and flowers

A nice tea! tastes like “Lemon Candies”

A really mellow and smooth black tea :) tastes like a roasted black tea

This is one I stole from the MTTB because it looked good, only had one cup, and had a fair bit of packaging. C’mon box: close!

This is a nice bready Assam, with notes of honey, and only a little bit of astringency. Just by the smell of it, I felt it would be better with a little milk to tone it down, but I’m doing ok without it. It’s a nice brisk cup to start the morning with!

Thanks!