Upton Tea Imports

This Nepali tea sample is courtesy of Meowster’s 2018 cupboard destash. Thanks Meowster!

Steeped 3.5g in 500ml 205F water for 3 minutes. The brewed tea smells of cinnamon raisin bread, warm cherry compote, and a hint of lemon citrus. The smell is more impressive than the taste, but I suspect age hasn’t done this tea any favors. It’s coming off a bit abrasive, with a bit of a malty/bready base with a hint of cinnamon spice and a very strong citrus taste. Near the end of the sip I can just slightly taste a cherry note and a hint of florality, but it fades quickly under the bitter/astringent edge. A bitterness is left on my tongue in the aftertaste.

Probably my least favorite of the Nepali teas I’ve tried this month. I may try playing around with water temperature for my next two cups and see if that doesn’t tame it a little more. But perhaps age has just let the beast out with this one.

I finished all my Nepal Tea samplers, but my “trip” to Nepal this month isn’t quite over yet, as I found a few other samples of Nepali tea in my stash. This one came from Meowster’s cupboard destash many a summer ago. Thanks Meowster!

Steeped 2.5g in 195F water for 3 minutes. The brewed aroma is very floral, with a strong sweet spices scent (like cinnamon) thrown in. Perhaps a hint of toasted bread slathered in marmalade, as well. The flavor hasn’t held up as well in this very old tea as the aroma, as I’m not really tasting any of those things. It mostly tastes of dry autumn leaves, with a hint of cinnamon spice and graham biscuit. There is a subtle apricot note, as well. I can’t help but feel there was probably a lot more notes in this fresh.

But it is servicable morning black tea, despite the age.

My friend Todd has been visiting, so I haven’t had a chance yet to review a few new teas we had over the weekend.

This tea I took down to a small trail/park along Rock Creek with my shiboridashi. I received it in a cupboard destash from Meowster back in the day (thank you!) There was just enough leaf to fill it and we had a lazy afternoon session in the (blistering) heat listening to the birds and the creek. The tea and companionship was nice; the extremely hot weather, not so much!

There was about 4.5g for the 100ml shiboridashi. None of the steeps were timed and poured when it felt sufficient enough. The water thermos I brought got us through seven infusions.

The first steep smelt very malty with a sweeter orange marmalade undertone. The tea tasted malty, fruity (pithy orange), and floral (orange blossom). The second infusion was the only one that stood out to me as a bit bitter/tannic, with less fruity and floral notes and a stronger impression of wheat, rye, and malt. The third and fourth infusions brought forth a stronger florality, this time leaning subtly rosy. The orange reappeared in the flavor, along with that slight rosy flavor, with the malt more of an undertone. The remaining steeps remained more on the malty/bready side, though very smooth now. There were subtle spice notes, notably a touch of cinnamon and, in the very last steep, licorice.

Not a particularly complex darjeeling, but it is also getting on in age at this point. I didn’t get any of the darj muscat from this brew, but still found it faired well enough for an afternoon tea.

Lovely aroma of coconut both in the loose leaves and after brewing, but the coconut taste isn’t overwhelming. The tea tastes like green tea with a lingering aftertaste of coconut. It’s very nice!

Brewed 9 grams of dried tea leaves in 20 ounces of near-boiling natural spring water for 4 minutes.

Dried tea leaves were broken with very little stems. Very light and tippy. More green in tone than I expected.

Resulting liquor is light and golden—much lighter than I expected.

The flavor has strong floral and fruity notes with tropical fruits, cherries, and a slight hint of grapes and raisins most identifiable. Astringent.

This tea is absolutely wonderful! Light, but with a wonderfully full mouthfeel. I am enjoying this on a slow morning, but it would be better as an afternoon or evening tea, I think. I will gladly order more of this in the future.

Brewed 9 grams of dried tea leaves in 20 ounces of near-boiling natural spring water for 4 minutes.

Dried tea leaves were broken and had some stems.

Resulting liquor is a smooth reddish-brown, like copper.

Flavor has a slight astringency, with hints of molasses and raisin. Enjoyable and refreshing, but definitely not a favorite for me.

This cup brews up nice and smooth, I taste mostly the Yunnan in the blend. Maybe there is a hint of metallic caramel aftertaste from the Assam (now called Awesome in my head thanks to a recent tasting note from AJ, lol). The flavors are sweeter and nutty as it cools, this seems like a good candidate for iced tea or an afternoon pick me up. My typical Yunnan/Awesome on the fly mix has more of a bite to it from the Assam so this very smooth tea is a bit bland in comparison.
I enjoyed the cup, but its not something I need in my cupboard.

I got a sample of this Darjeeling BOP Blend in a recent Upton order and this is the closest entry I found so here is my tea note.
This very small leaf expanded a lot in the pot and contributed to the bitterness in the cup. That being said there is a nice nutty flavor at the end of each sip. It is less bitter as it cools, and the last cup from the pot wasn’t bitter at all, it was quite smooth.
Second steep was again bitter and not nutty. Not sure I need a darjeeling that is so finicky to brew.

A sweet fruity blend from Michelle. There are large dried cranberries mixed in with the black tea, I counted two in my one teaspoon alone, and as soon as the water hit the leaves the sweetest aroma came floating up to greet me. It’s as sweet as candy. I expected some tartness from the cranberries but found none. This was really a lovely cup.

Thank you, Michelle, for sharing this one with me! This steeped up dark and strong – I knew it would be a good choice for breakfast. And it is a good tea, but I wouldn’t say it’s a new favorite. There wasn’t any sort of wow factor with that first sip, but I have enjoyed sipping on it throughout the day today.

Got a sample of this and I’m glad I did. Dry leaf smells like chocolate malt. The first steep is roasty, nutty, with a tinge of tobacco and a bit of chocolate malt as it cools. A bit astringent when its hotter, but sweeter and smoother as it cools off. Its interesting enough to be a tea I could reach for when I’m bored of my daily drinkers, but not so fancy that I put it in the back of my cupboard for saving. The second steep seems a bit weaker, but is still quite nutty and malty. My dad quite liked this one and I dare say it rivals the Imperial Lapsang he likes so much from Upton.

A free sample received with a recent order, enough for a full pot. I was a bit leery of the small leaves when brewing for 4 minutes, but its not bitter. A nutty taste with a slight astringent bite to it. The second steeping is rather weak, not sure I’ll have more than one cup from this second brew pot. Life is too short to drink weak tea.
Not a bad tea, not very interesting either, nothing I need in my cupboard.

The first few tries to brew this ended up a bit weak, so I have used plenty of leaf to brew a pot today. There is a bit of astringent bitterness on the first sip, more so when it hasn’t cooled. I typical like piping hot tea, but this one it seems better to let it cool significantly. Dark chocolate and caramel notes linger when sipping a cooler cup. This is a decent example of Yunnan, but it seems a bit finicky to brew, so I won’t be restocking in my cupboard.

An Ode to Tea challenge – K

Had this a few days ago!  Another old tea – no note yet.  Thanks very much Meowster!   I don’t think I’ve ever had this type of tea before, from Korakundah Estate?  At least not knowingly. This is a BOP leaf (broken orange pekoe) so not the best quality of tea leaf.  But I’m not picky!  I agree entirely with Mastress Alita’s recent note (and only note for this tea from anyone so far.)  It’s funny we are both just NOW trying this tea from Meowster, but honestly, without the push of M A’s note, I probably wouldn’t have tried this yet.  It fits for ‘K’ though!  The flavor most reminds me of a Ceylon type of flavor if it was just slightly more complex.    The leaves are very tiny and choppy.  Not too dark, not too weak.  Malty, bready.  But I’m finding it hard to think of descriptors for these flavors!    But that’s a Ceylon type for me anyway. It’s a solid daily drinker.  I thought I let it steep too long on the second cup, but the flavor was fine. 
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for full mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 3 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep

This tea is just ok, the almond and vanilla work well together and there isn’t an artificial taste. I might try it next with a bit of sweetener to see if that brings out flavors. It’s quite smooth, can’t really distinguish the black base underneath the almond and vanilla. The second steep is much weaker than the first, not really worth drinking.

Nice smooth green tea. I’m not the biggest Green tea fan, but this is a nice tea. Not sharp or bitter at all.

A nice smooth example of Yunnan without bitterness. I got a sample size in a recent order and brewed it a bit strong this morning. The second steeping is a bit weaker, but still has a nice dark chocolate aftertaste. Not a bad cup, but not my favorite Yunnan either. Don’t think I need this in my cupboard, but would be interested in blending it with a bit of Assam.

L is for… Lapsang Souchong Imperial.

Another gift from Michelle. I asked Michelle if she could send a bit of this one since I’ve had it on my wishlist to try, no doubt due to a fantastic note I read here on Steepster some time ago. I really enjoy smoked Lapsang Souchong, ever since I tried my very first one. I think it was a bagged Twinings. It tasted like bacon and I loved it.

This one smells very smoky right out of the bag – definitely campfire smoke. After steeping, I get more dirt/earth scent coming from the steeper. The flavor is lighter than I expected, but I followed the online instructions and used less leaf than I would have normally. Next time, I’ll try steeping with more. There is plenty left for me to play around with. Thanks, Michelle!

Pulled this to replace a recent sipdown and serve as my Ode to Tea K entry! This tea was provided to me way back in 2018 from Meowster during a cupboard clearout, thank you!

Brewed 2.8g in 350ml 195F water with a 3 minute steep. Didn’t have any time to drink before work so I had to throw the tea in a thermos and jet off, and it is hard to smell much that far down the container (I didn’t even have time to brew a full thermos…) The only thing I can say for certain is “bready” until I’m able to make this tea at home, in a cup, with the proper time to drink it…

An hour later of my thermos sitting on my desk with the cap off and this is finally cool enough to drink (these Contigos don’t mess around). I’m getting a bit of malt, a wheat/rye baked bread, spices, a hint of smoke, and an indistant citrus note that leaves the tiniest tang at the end of the sip. Some sips are slightly grapey, others aren’t.

I have no idea how old this tea could possibly be by now (it could’ve already been quite old by the time Meowster de-stashed it, and I’ve added another three years onto that…) but this is perfectly servicable as a first-of-the-morning-hot-caffeine-infusion, despite the age.

Medium Bodied tea, Medium broken leaf size, nothing too special to say about this one.

I love coconut. This tea, while perfectly adequate, is insufficiently coconutty for my preferences. (Alas. My quest for the perfect – available! – coconut tea continues.) There is definitely some coconut in there; I could taste it. But it wasn’t sufficiently full-mouth-feel for me.

Like most Upton Teas, I had no problems with this one, and like most Upton Teas, it was sufficiently indistinguishable from other teas that I probably won’t buy it again. Nothing wrong with it, just not right for me. The quest continues.

This is an interesting blend of congou and bohea that tastes most of tobacco. I’m not sure I’ve ever had the two teas separately, but Upton has some congou available that I might try a sample. This blend is definitely smooth, and can be brewed as suggested for a lighter cup, or add another spoonful for a more hearty brew. No bitterness here, but notes of toasty hay and burnt tobacco. Not sure I need more of this in my cupboard but it’s a nice mellow cup to savor.