Upton Tea Imports

I am back to review this tea for a second time, after initially disliking it and giving it a meager 15 rating. I learned some things about Darjeeling tea which I wish I’d have known the first time around and now that I’ve learned how to brew it properly, this has bumped my rating up to around a 55. That’s probably still a meager score to some, but I try to use the full range of the scale in my reviews, so that to me is fairly neutral, erring a bit on the higher side. In other words… it was enjoyable to drink, but I wouldn’t buy more of it.

But I do want to stress that it WAS enjoyable to drink. Brew this tea around 194F/90C and you are in for a treat! The flavor is rich and warm. There is an apricot-like taste up front, especially in the second steeping. It is backed by some darker bittersweet tones underneath. I brewed this tea many ways trying to find a good combination, and I can say that brewing it at any temperature above 194 made it have a very dry finish and a good deal of astringency. At 194 these are for the most part not present, though still there a bit.

This is a good tea if you treat it right! Don’t scorch it! Really, try it at a lower temp than the typical “black tea gets boiling water” and you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Another dark flavored oolong. Not my favorite style.

Much blacker tasting than I like in an oolong. I will try it as an ice tea when the weather warms up enough for drinking cold beverages.

I tasted no lemon or apricot.
It does have what I perceive to be a muscatel quality, but admit I am enough
of a newbie to state I am still very much learning about teas,
especially darjeelings, I was believing that I hated them all (darjeelings)until I tried this one.
By Far the best Darjeeling I have ever tried.
Very pleasant (muscatel? ) aroma…slightly dry, astringent tea…In a good way.
I could be persuaded to try additional darjeelings based on this tea.

Another one to try from MissB! thanks so much! I was confused as to which tea this was, since there are two from Upton that have the same name but different ingredients. I guess it’s this one? I don’t see roses but this also doesn’t taste like chocolate. I don’t think this one can decide whether it wants to be a chai or a black tea. There are spices here, but not many. (One big green cardamom floating in the infuser looks a little weird.) There is plenty of sweet cinnamon though. It’s like it’s trying to be spicy, but not really. I like the black tea flavor itself, there just wasn’t much of it. Not outstanding, but I enjoyed the cup anyway.

Tea of the morning here. I notice I am sleeping a bit better through the night. Yesterday I was trying to prop myself up with various pillows and notice I am more comfortable with my teddy bear propping my elbow up, lol. I’m sure it looks quite silly. ;-)

So I finally decided I like this one, 3 minutes is plenty of steeping time for it. Yes it has a bold malt note with chocolate and I do think “stout” is an appropriate adjective. I’m not altogether crazy about the finishing note which is a bit too brisk and winey for me, but it is tempered a lot with soymilk and a pinch of sugar.

Probably not a replacement for the resident assam, which I no longer have, but I’ve enjoyed the sample.

I’ve tried this a couple of times now and am still trying to figure out what I make of it. I wonder if I over leafed it this morning by accident because it seems really brisk and wine-y, more so than the first time I tried it. I think a few more experiments are needed…

Tea of the afternoon here and another small sample from Upton.

I wasn’t sure about their suggested steeping parameters since 4-5 minutes seems like a long time for a Chinese tea. I settled on 2 minutes for mine and this seems to have been a good choice. This is a little darker than some Golden Monkeys I’ve had in the past. It has some gentle malt and cocoa notes along with a bit of winey-ness but there’s not bitterness or astringency anywhere, just a nice flavorful cup! My favorite Golden Monkey is Red Blossom’s version but this is good too. I decided to steep the leaves for a 2nd time at 4 minutes and that was good as well. Equally good neat or with a splash of soymilk.

I got a few samples from Upton to try recently. Being alone at home all day with my credit card and the internet is dangerous for tea buying! I’ve been trying to focus mostly on small purchases until I make more progress getting my cabinet decupboarded.

This is a VERY strong blend, the keemun and assam combo are extremely winey and brisk. This is a little too bitter and pungent for me to drink it plain. Adding soymilk did help some, but I’m afraid I’m not a super big fan of this. Even adding sugar didn’t help it out too much. Well at least I only got the sample size :)

I thought I had some kind of allergic type reaction to hibiscus But I’ve been drinking teas with it here lately and it hasn’t seemed to bother me, weird, Anyways……This one is not very tasty, Don’t taste much Vanilla and it’s way too tangy and tart and kinda sour, this just tastes like a really strange fruit tea, It don’t even taste like a specific fruit just some weird tangy sour fruit. Not very enjoyable as a warm tea to me, Maybe it would be better cold but I’ll never know that cuz i’m done with it after just half a cup.
Not My Cup Of Tea :)

I’ve never had anything quite like this before. It feels very heavy, if that makes sense, but in a very good way. I liked this a lot.. I definitely notice a grape flavor and a bit of astringency. I loved this even more with some milk (per the packaging’s recommendation).. And I usually do not add milk to my tea.

I didn’t love this. It was kind of lemony and tart. I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t really be interested in buying something like this for myself…

This black tea has a nice red orange liquor and a very full flavor. The mouthfeel is incredibly thick, almost like half and half, and I’ve added only water to the leaves! The initial taste is quite fruity. I’m getting more of an orange zest flavor than anything, but there’s a red fruit flavor underneath like grapes or a tart strawberry. The finish is somewhat astringent and dry with a slight woodiness. This is definitely a robust tea, leaning on the tangy and tart side.

Another pick from the Steepster Select box.

Pretty standard. Was expecting more of a coffee/bitter brew, but was pleasantly surprised by what seems as a normal breakfast tea. A little astringent, but not too overbearing. I’m getting more of a note of wood than any fruit. The after taste at the back of my tongue is slightly reminiscent of grape skin…a little tart/bitter, but not too fruity. I’m not picking up on the grapes though. Doesn’t need milk or sugar, as it is pleasant on its own, but I will try a little sweetener to see if any more notes come out…

1 sugar in the raw packet seems to make it taste of sweetened wood (huh?) with the slightest note of chocolate toward the tail end. But that might just be the natural molasses in the sugar cane.

First sample from the Steepster Select box I won! Woohoo!

I chose this as a sample because I was at a nice folksy-hipster restaurant the other day and they had a wide assortment of loose leaf tea. I always try to get a pot to finish my meal with, and I wanted to try their Organic Darjeeling FTGFOP from the Makaibari Estate. It was TREMENDOUSLY delicious, and so I bought some…don’t know what it is, but it tastes like low quality tea…I’ve been messing with the temperature and duration, but have yet to find a combo that yields as good a result as I had in the restaurant. I went back the next day and ordered another pot, and it was just as delicious as the first, so I don’t know what I’m doing wrong….but I digress….

Anyways, this brewed up a beautiful red. Initial scent was of pine nuts or chestnuts? I’m not sure, but something a little nutty. Since this is my first actual Darjeeling (well, second I guess…), I don’t know what to expect or look for. Tastes like black tea to me! Haha. But in all seriousness, I’m not really picking up the muscatel notes. The Darjeeling I had in the restaurant was almost malty and grapey…it was fruity, with the mouth-feel of eating grapes. I swear, I understood the whole “muscat grape” description. I’m not really getting that with this one. It’s a little astringent towards the back end, but that might also just be because I was eating cinnamon Life cereal earlier (whoops!). Definitely will have to edit and give this one another chance with the 2nd packet they supplied. Decent tea, but still unknowing of what to expect.

EDIT: After nearing the end of the cup, I definitely notice the strong aroma of grapes and wine, but I am not picking up the flavor

I really like this tea. A nice smooth but complex fruit flavor.

Very good flavored tea. You must respect the steep time. 3 minutes is the limit. More time will give you a bitter cup. Produces a red-ish liquor and scent of honey. I believe this will be one of my go to teas when I want just a straight up black tea flavored tea.

Enjoying the last of this February 2014 Steepster Select tea as I sit and wait for the race start. Tea, time to read,and my morning run in before 9 am. It is one way to rock a Saturday morning.

I am enjoying this one a bit more than last time. I still get tannins and a dry finish, but this time I get a bit of citrus/fruit in the middle. Not one I need to keep in my stash, but I wouldn’t turn down another cup.

This is from the February 2014 Steepster box.

This is a nice dark cup of black tea. The first cup was astringent, but a good kind of astringent. It seems very breakfast tea like. I am not sure what to say about this one, but it is a nice cup of strong black tea.

I am just now digging into my second Steepster select box. I actually cancelled for the time being because I am a bit tealogged at the moment, and I don’t want the tea I have to get old and stale. The tasting notes for this tea mentioned a grape flavor, so I was initially a bit apprehensive. I love grapes, I like wine, but I have never been a fan of grape flavor. However, it is such a natural and subtle note in this tea that I actually enjoy it quite a bit. This tea is a lot of different from other black teas that I usually drink, but not in a bad way. It’s a bit more mellow, with a nice mouthfeel. It’s not too weak or too strong, and the grape keeps it interesting. I am glad this was one of the Steepster choices!