Upton Tea Imports

Tea #4 From Another TTB

With the help of this tea box and a swap from Moraiwe I was able to compare 5 different darjeelings together.

I’ve had one darjeeling before this (Makaibari Darjeeling from Della Terra) as well as the oolong variant “Oooh Darjeeling” from Butiki. I did not particularly care for either of those, but I wanted to give Darjeelings a fair chance. I think I can safely say now, that I am not a darjeeling person. Makes sense though as Im not much of a wine person, so why should I like the “fine wine” of teas? :p

This particular darjeeling is the most similar of the five to the one I’ve had before. It’s a heavy, overwhelming flavor, muscatel, apparently. I think of it like the same heavy honey flavor in some dark oolongs. Why this flavor becomes “muscatel” in a darjeeling is beyond me. I can’t tell the difference. It hits my stomach like a brick and leaves me feeling momentarily unwell. Fortunately, the feeling doesn’t last long after I stop drinking.

I tried. I really did. More/less tea, hotter/cooler water, longer/shorter steep times. Okay, so I didn’t try all 24 combinations of those variables — I had a sample pack after all — but I think by now I’m competent at making a good cup. Nevertheless, this tea turned out weak or bitter for me. On the weaker side, I thought it was a very nice weak tea, with hay notes. I hope others have better success with this one.

Sipdown #33

I’ve had this in my cupboard for over 2 years and never written a note about it. Shame on me! Well, it’s time to turn this poor overlooked tea into a sipdown! I originally received this from Camiah who was my first swap partner on Steepster. Thank you, Camiah!!!

The brewed tea aroma is very strong! The base is Chinese, but that’s all I could find about it. It reminds me of a cross between Assam and Keemun. That is to say, this has an odd, pungent, almost smokey aroma that calms as the cup cools.

Upon sipping it, the initial flavor is the base. Again, it’s a bit strange. I can’t figure out what it is. I guess that’s because I just haven’t had it before! The aftertaste is a lovely, sweet lychee flavor. It’s a tad astringent but tolerably so. No bitterness. The lychee here is delicious! It’s not the best I’ve had but that could easily be attributable to age.

Overall, this is a lovely tea. I’m sorry I neglected it for so long. But I am happy to move on to new tea adventures! I never tire of trying new things. After all, isn’t that what life’s about? And now that my husband enjoys tea too, we can share in the exploration and discovery together. :D

Backlog:

A really pleasant Ceylon. Medium bodied with sweet fruit notes, reminiscent of a sweet, crisp apple. Low astringency level. Very smooth, even-tempered, and enjoyable. Pretty much what one might expect from a Ceylon. A really pleasant tea.

Very good iced.

For the life of me, I’m blanking out why I bought so much of this. Somewhere, someone must have told me this was the end-all, be-all of chocolate teas.

Smells carob-like and fresh out of the bag, but more cocoa-like as it steeps. Sweetened, this is an excellent fix for my love of hot cocoa, even though it’s got zero of the creaminess that cocoa with milk does. It’s more.. thick. A teensy bit of cinnamon in the aftertaste. Mostly lightly flavored, dark cocoa nibs. It’s a strong like, but not a love. I think this would really sparkle with some orange in it, or as Sil said in another tealog, mixed with something else.

A very nice medium roasted organic oolong from Japan. I steeped this Western style. Leaves have a very nice, grassy and spicy smell. Taste of this tea is very clean and refreshing.

I have been cycling through a bunch of Upton samples. This is a medium roasted organic oolong from Japan. Very nice! I steeped this one western method (which is the only way Upton recommends), leaves smell very nice. I’m getting hints of grass and some spice. Taste is very clean and refreshing.

When it comes to green tea, I’m pretty much a meat and potatoes guy. Other than first-flush senchas, I don’t really search out anything too refined. I’m satisfied with a good basic tea on those occasions when I want something with less caffeine; still I favor robust greens, and I remember drinking this gunpowder and liking it.

Well, it’s even better than I remember it and quite a bargain (a little leaf goes a long way). I love the wood-fire smokiness and the thick broth. It really is the lapsang suchong of green teas. A perfect winter green.

Not bad, I usually have a cup of Assam to start the morning, this has a slight malt taste, not as heavy as some. I detect no coco at all. Probably would not purchase again.

I think Ceylon teas might be the MUTs (Most Underated Teas) of the tea world. Like the classic design of a Corvette Stingray or a Schott leather jacket, the crisp, lemony flavor of this Kirkoswald Estate offering will never go out of style.

This might be my favorite Ceylon tea from Upton so far and a true bargain. The tea is light, lemony, minty and very refreshing—one of those do-it-all teas that is great at any time of the day and should satisfy a wide range of tea drinkers.

Backlog:

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea. It was delicious.

It is a very flavorful, smooth tea. Not heavy … it has a medium body but even so, it is very flavorful. And there is a certain robustness to it, even though it’s not a particularly heavy tea. I like the balance.

A distant smoky note to this tea. Hints of wood and earth. No bitterness, and next to no astringency. A really enjoyable cuppa.

Backlog:

Trying to get caught up again … it’s been a while since I’ve worked on my backlogs and the teas keep piling up! Ack!

This is a very finely chopped CTC from Upton. My tip for smaller cut tea like this one is to brew it for a shorter time. If you’d normally brew a black Ceylon for 2 1/2 minutes, go for just 2 minutes with a CTC like this.

This is a delightfully malty tea: rich and surprisingly hearty for a Ceylon. It is very reminiscent of an Assam. I wrote that this is like a Ceylon in Assam’s clothing, and I think that had I tasted this blindly, I would have thought it was an Assam rather than a Ceylon.

After a few sips, more Ceylon-esque qualities emerge, this is definitely more even tempered than an Assam, and it has that classic citrus-y finish. Woody and earthy … this has a very complex character. A really nice tea.

I forgot what was in this, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened my sample packet and got that auto-soothing heady scent of bergamot. Figured it’d be a standard kinda heavy, smoky caravan-type blend. But no! There is a bitter smell though, made me worry it’d continue onto the sip and make the tea sharp, but so long as it stays pretty hot it’s not there. This tea is surprisingly light (I tend to associate Russian-labeled stuff as strong and relatively bitter, meant to take tons of sugar). The smokiness is not the ashy, musty kind many lapsangs have; it’s more like scorched firewood, barbecue smoke. Kind of a “wet”, fresh burn, if that makes any sense. I would drink this again! I often feel a tad self-conscious preferring so many of Upton’s blends that admit to having artificial flavors over their natural ones, but them’s the breaks.

Ah, this time of year always leaves me in an emotional funk. I have been trying to cure it this year with copious amounts of Minecraft (because of course) reorganizing my stuff, and planning craft projects. I can see the light at the end of the proverbial cloud bank and my annual ‘Beginning of November Funk’ seems to be ended early. I am especially excited because my Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands seems to be better so I can go back to Origami again, woohoo! Speaking of hands, today I am going to review a hand themed tea that has been in my notebook for a bit.

Upton Tea Imports has a fancy named Oolong named Buddha’s Palm that I wanted to try because it have Buddha in the name and is an Oolong (I am easy to please) but sadly their website does not have much info on the tea other than it is from Fujian and it has superior aroma, flavor and leaf style. You know me, I want more info so I went researching! Buddha’s Palm is not named after Buddha exactly but after the (kinda horrifying looking) Buddha’s Hand Fruit, a kind of citrus. It is a Se Chung variety and also goes by the name Yong Chun Fo Shou. The aroma of this tea is very rich and heady to the point of making me dizzy. I notice intense malt and a bit of nuttiness and campfire smoke, but mainly there is the intense floral aroma. The floral is sickly sweet like flowers that are old and have been blooming for days, or like some of varieties of orchid. I admit the aroma is not too my liking, it is a little too intense and makes me feel a bit queasy.

Adding the tea to some nice warm water I notice the leaves start taking on a strong Tobacco aroma mixing with pine smoke and loam. It reminds me of a Gentleman’s library in the Victorian era, complete with pipe smoke and polished wood bookshelves. The aroma is not entirely unpleasant but it certainly is a little too strong on the Tobacco front. The steeped liquid sans leaves is very rich, pine wood and campfire mixed with an undertone of honey.

The taste is crazy intense, and not in a good way. The taste is like pine fire mixed with cigar smoke, I kid you not it tastes like a cigar that has been stored in a pine box. It is a touch bitter, like the bitterness of oak wood, not astringency. There is a roasted aftertaste that is somewhat pleasant but the cigar taste is giving me a nasty headache!

I am going to try a second steep, sometimes I have noticed the unpleasantness of the first steep can make for a really delicious second steep, wish me luck. The taste is still a bit too much like a humidor for my liking, but it is better than the first steep. The bitterness is gone entirely and the taste (other than cigar) is piney and sweet. I am not going to say this tea is bad but it does have qualities that I am entirely not fond of. I think if I want a smokey Oolong I will stick with the significantly less expensive Shui Hsien and pass on the Buddha’s Palm in the future.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/11/upton-tea-imports-china-oolong-buddhas.html

Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box #7
Mmmmmmmmm! I am not a red rooibos kind of girl, but green roibos? Sign me up! Yummy! This tea is very appealing to the eye with the sunflower petals. I actually bought some sunflowers the other day so I had to share! Not only my flowers but my cute cup I picked up at TJ MAXX today :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/20741867@N05/10635363724/
This tea was very pleasant. The pear and cream paired well together. I sweetened it a little and it brought the juiciness of the pear out! Perfect for bedtime!

This is a nice, gentle Darjeeling with a sweet finish and not too much astringency. I like it almost as much as I like Kenilworth, which is saying a lot!

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Glenburn (FTGFOP) and Goomtee (FTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Glenburn (FTGFOP) and Singbulli (SFTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Having this in side by sides with two other Upton Import first flush darjeelings, Goomtee (FTGFOP) and Singbulli (SFTGFOP), while I scan documents from over 5 years ago, goofy drawings from coworkers and notes from my blossoming romance with my now-husband. Memory lane time calls for a tea type that induces nostalgia, and for me that’s darjeeling!

The liquor of these is pretty much identical looking (so glad I have my alphabet cups!). The Goomtee smells the best to me; it has a sweet, fresh, corn-like aroma. For aroma the Singbulli comes second; it has a super clean, almost soapy fresh scent. The Glenburn has the darkest scent, almost like a roasted oolong.

Funny enough, my scent preferences don’t match my taste ones at all. I think I like the Glenburn best, the Singbulli second (the soapiness carries into the flavor, but it’s not bad, refreshing and sweet), and Goomtee last! The Goomtee is surprisingly bitter given its sweet clean smell. But as the teas cool, I like the Goomtee best after all—a fruitiness comes out that’s really lovely, though there’s still a sharpness that lingers in the aftertaste. The Glenburn gets this weird powdered sugar/talc aftertaste I don’t care for, and the Singbulli’s soapiness becomes too much.

Tea #45 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Floral with lingering notes of apricot, with a clean finish. There is a little more astringency than I was expecting, and definitely leaves a dry mouth feeling.

If I were going to make this again, I might even lower my temperature further to the 180-185 range.

I’d come over hoping to see others having rated this. To me, it tastes basically nothing like Upton’s description and I wanted to compare to other people’s tasting notes.

Ooop, just took a moment to do some googling and it turns out I’m not alone after all! :)

To me, this tea is quite green, a mix of dark and bright grass colors in flavor… tart almost… the lighter green is along the sides and underneath the tongue, the dark is on the top and back of the tongue with that bitter edge dark greens so often have.

It has a long finish, still of that vegetal taste and feeling along the upper back of the throat and down in it a little. An almost dusky tone comes to the green taste.

It’s satisfying, something I can (and am) drinking a couple big pots of over the past couple of days.

A very good throughout-the-day hot tea but this really doesn’t taste like a white to me as the vegetal flavor is so complete and overwhelming. I actually had to go out and double-check the bag to make sure I hadn’t made the wrong tea!

But pretty yummy, yes.