Upton Tea Imports

Tart. A bit juicy in feeling and taste. The only traces of the green tea is a bit of light bitterness and a medium spring green color taste.

Sort of like asparagus without the heavy dark parts to the taste. Light thin body, bit of bitterness in the upper back throat. Medium finish.

Not bad but nothing special either.

Rather pleasant. No astringency, the green tea is soft and a light pale green flavor, the mango sweetness isn’t sweetness… It tastes very lovely balanced with a tiny flowery touch. There is yellow, pink, and a light golden green.

I’m not huge on fruit flavored teas, but this is almost refreshing. Not something I’d have often but nice to get to have tried.

Backlog:

One of the teas from February’s Steepster Select box.

Sweet with caramel undertones. Malty. Strong, robust … makes a great pick-me-up sort of tea. Fruit notes (grape) with a dry tail. At mid-sip, I noticed an orange peel sort of flavor, and a very subtle hint of cinnamon.

I think this is the tea I’m drinking. Thank you to whoever sent it to me! It’s a nice tea. Light spice flavor with a touch of sweetness. There really isn’t anything about this tea that stands out to me. It’s good but I don’t think I’d ever order it.

Backlog:

I enjoyed this tea this afternoon while catching up with one of my favorite TV shows. The rose is nice in this one – not overpowering, just a lovely touch of sweet rose.

Having briefly read some of the other notes about this tea, I took care not to oversteep and I didn’t experience any bitterness. The black tea is smooth and pleasant.

And pleasant is the word for this tea … it’s a really nice, pleasant rose tea.

a nice moderate sencha :) with medium grassy/veggie taste :P

Another one from MissB! Thanks yet again! I was craving a wintery tea since you know… it was snowing today. Gah, almost April. It ended up being a perfect choice, even though at the first scent of the dry leaves it tasted a little like potpourri. The taste is much better. I really like the ingredients in this one: apple, cinnamon, vanilla and almond. Sounds delicious! I didn’t really see many apple pieces, and it may just be flavoring mostly. But the cinnamon was both spicy and sweet (I think the cinnamon was making it smell like potpourri.) The black tea wasn’t super strong… which is fine since I’d rather enjoy the ingredients in this. I liked the hints of vanilla and almond. The apple would just be in wispy sips halfway down the mug for some reason. This blend just screams autumn and winter and apple desserts. I will savor the last couple of teaspoons!

Tea #33 from Considering a new TTB
I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would, it had a bit of a bite to it. Perhaps my water hadn’t cooled off as much as I thought it had, or maybe it’s just the tea itself. I enjoyed the second steep more, a subtle sweet note came out to play and it didn’t have the bitterness I noticed in the first steep.

a nice green tea with a sweet grassy/veggie taste :)

I had the last package of this tea this afternoon at work. After exploring other Darjeelings this one stands out as pretty flavorful. I really enjoyed this for an afternoon tea! I am upping my rating of this tea.

This is one of the teas from the February 2014 Steepster Box.

This is one of my first Darjeelings. I am not sure what to write about this one. It is hard for me to pick out flavors in this tea. It has a very dry finish. It makes my tongue think it is a tad bit bitter at the finish of the sip, and there is a woody/fruity mouth full.

From tasting this tea I am tempted to purchase a sample set of darjeelings to see how they compare and if there are any that I would like. This one is enjoyable, but does not stand out as a tea I would purchase again.

Sample sipdown of the day from Upton….

I’ve had this tea for a few months now so it’s good that I’m finishing off the package. This is very flavorful with tangy and smoke notes in the finish. A bit like a baby lapsang but a little rough around the edges for me. If I had more of this, I would probably try steeping it for less time but I followed the instructions on the bag. It’s a good thing there are so many teas in the world so we can all find the ones we really love :)

Another day, another keemun sample, but I believe this is the last of the lot. I’ve been trying to train my palette but I would not say I am a keemun lover yet. The dry leaf smells slightly “tangy” with a hint of smoke.

Brewed the tea for 3 minutes via regular teapot method. It might have needed a bit more time but this keemun is nice. It’s a little more gentle than some I’ve tried. I’m getting a lot of winey/fruity notes with a slight hint of smoke. There’s a bit of bitterness in the finish which I am not altogether enjoying but it isn’t unbearable. I suppose it’s a testament to how I feel about keemuns in general that I thought this was better with some vanilla soymilk.

Not bad at all, but also not something I would bother to stock on a regular basis. I might try blending it too.

(1st Steep – 2.5 min) This tea has the softer aroma and flavor that you would expect from a Darjeeling. The muscatel flavor mentioned in the description is present but not overpowering. It is more of a slight sweetness followed by a slight woody flavor. It finishes clean and has a slight drying sensation. All in all I would say a great late afternoon tea. However, I could see myself drinking it all day.

(2nd Steep – 3 min) I noticed very little change between the first and second steeping of this tea. Possibly a little less of the drying sensation at the end, but it was minimal.

(3rd Steep – 3.5 min) The third steeping produced more of the cut-wood notes with the sweeter flavors more subtle. However, it is still a great drinking tea that has proved enjoyable all day.

I will probably continue drinking this tea in the afternoon, and probably up the initial steep time to 3 minutes.

4.15g in 4.5oz of water.

Malty and mellow with sweet, almost fruity notes.

Backlog:

A very hearty flavor to this tea. It’s one of those teas that I’d like to have in my teacup first thing in the morning … something with a little bit of gusto.

A strong roasted flavor to this: a nice, rich, roasty-toasty flavor that I enjoy. Hints of smoke and earth. There is a backdrop of spice to it too. I like the way the spiced notes meld with the roasted notes. This is one you want to keep an eye on when you’re steeping it because I could taste a subtle bitter tone that suggests to me that it could become quite bitter if oversteeped.

A bit too much muscatel for my taste, with coppery aftertones and bitterness on the tip of my tongue. Not my favorite tea from this box, but it was better than the jasmine.

Sample sipdown of the day. I love being able to get these samples from Upton Tea. It’s a great way to try new things, without spending a lot of time or storage space on teas you may not necessarily want. It’s one reason I’ll always be a customer of theirs. I just got the spring catalog and there are so many things tempting me but I really need to focus sipping down what I have while I’m not working.

I’m really not a big keemun person but I like this better than many I’ve tried. It has gentle winey notes as well as a bit of tobacco and smells like buckwheat bread baking. It is definitely very flavorful and is easy to sip on plain but also takes additions ok. If I had one keemun to keep around, this might be a contender. I raised the rating a few points today…

I must be a glutton for punishment but I keep trying keemun samples to find a few that I like. :)

I steeped this for 3 minutes and am finding this is one of the most gentle keemuns I have tried. I definitely get the cocoa/roasted notes but not much tobacco/smoke that you find in some keemuns. There’s a few interesting fruity notes in here that are reminiscent of wine. I’d recommend drinking this straight in order to appreciate the delicate flavor. it is lighter in body than most other keemuns I’ve had. In fact, I might try steeping this a little longer next time.

Not destined to be a personal favorite, but I have enjoyed the cup. This morning I’m thinking about going back to bed after I’ve had my tea and breakfast!

Bready, tea-like, and sweet: that’s how I’d describe this tea. I can’t remember why I grabbed this (the description probably attracted me in some way), and I have to say it’s a solid straight tea, with lots of lovely qualities to it. Do I love it so much that I’d order it again? Nah. Still, something really nice to enjoy this evening.

I have decided to start a new craft project that will take an eternity to complete: I am going to make perler bead sprites of all the Pokemon. Yes, I want to create all 718 (for now, I am sure there will be more before I get close to the end) of them, I started last night and not counting all the Eeveelutions I made months ago I have created the first six. I predict I will get the first 50-60 done before I run out of beads! Also, in the art department, I have taken up sketching and created a flash diffuser for my camera.

Today’s tea is Rose Congou from Upton Tea Imports, a Chinese Black Tea scented with rose blossoms. Interesting tea fact of the day, Congou is more of a description of tea rather than a specific type, coined in the 19th century from a translation error, specifically from the Hokkien dialect pronunciation of Gongfu. So basically the Chinese exporters were saying that it was tea made with great skill, and the American and English importers thought it was a type of tea. To be fair there are black teas that have Gongfu (or Congou) in its name, Keemun, Chaozhu Gongfu Cha, and Panyang Congou, and conviently all three of these have been identified as Congou at some point in tea’s history, so at least the misunderstanding is understandable. The aroma is sweet and heavily rosy, reminiscent of an English rose garden during high summer. Perfumed and heady with a hint of muscatel and earthiness, so it is like having tea in said rose garden.

Once the leaves have been steeped the aroma becomes a bit more earthy and muscatel, but with hints of oak wood and cocoa. There is a subtle sweetness, and of course roses, however the roses are no where near as potent as their dry leaf counterparts. The liquid smells both rosy and a bit malty with a creamy after quality. It has a subtle sweetness as well and is quite delicious smelling.

The taste of the tea is heady and heavily rosy. There is a very faint sweetness, not much of one until the aftertaste. This tea is quite bright and really wakes up the mouth, it also does not become overpowered by the roses, so it is a good balance of base tea and added flavors. I really love this tea with a splash of cream and sugar, making a tea version of one of my favorite drinks, Rose Milk. Adding the cream and sugar makes for a floral and decadent tea, and it brings out some mild muscatel quality. Delicious.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/upton-tea-imports-rose-congou-tea-review.html