Upton Tea Imports

I wanted to try a West Java tea so I got a sample of this with my last order.

Wow, to me this tea is nothing like the description that Upton gives it. Sweetness? Delicate flavor? Where?? I got a dark orange cup that was extremely tannic to the point where I could not drink it plain. I am not fond of overly tannic astringent teas so I had to dump some soymilk in here, as well as sugar in order to make it palatable. I plan to finish the cup I have but the rest of this sample is going in the dustbin, bleah. I hope my stomach does not revolt.

This is my tea of the morning, one of the assams from the Upton Tea assam sampler. I’m still not used to the time change, I’ve been going to bed early the last couple of days and waking up feeling groggy. Anyway I thought this would help to perk me up.

I may have oversteeped this slightly but my first impressions still stand. A nice, hefty assam, very malty and with some floral notes. It is definitely a good choice for morning time!

1/4 of the Upton tea Assam sampler I got yesterday in the mail. Because I really need MORE tea, right?

Anyway I love drinking assams in the morning which is why I went for this sampler. Normally I would put soymilk and sugar in an assam right away but I wanted to at least try a sip of this plain first.

I like it plain which is a good sign, it’s very smooth, malty and has a touch of chocolate. I only steeped mine for 3 minutes and I noticed a lot of the other tasters went for 4 minutes, still I like it at 3. It’s good with a splash of soymilk and at this point doesn’t need sugar in my opinion, although you could certainly add some.

There is a slight tobacco or something in the finish although nothing bothersome. I am enjoying it, a good basic assam.

Another of my morning teas that i’ve been too busy to log. It appears that this is the second time i’ve done that so this may jsut be one of those teas that is a good average every day tea that doesn’t sneak up on you but isn’t bad either. I’ve got more of this in my sample – have i mentioned lately how crazy awesome upton samples are in terms of size and value?!?!? so i’ll try one more time at least. Mostly i recall this being a little malty, but not overly so and not bitter or anything. so yay!

Not going to rate this one since i know my tastebuds are wonky. i think? This is a relatively tasty “every day black” but i’ll wait until i’m not having issues to be certain :) still, it’s keeping me warm and that’s all that matters to me at this point.

For a anniversary gift, My mother gifted me with some lovely Moroccan Tea Glasses.
They are turquoise and gold and just plain gorgeous.
So, thought I, how can I possibly use these glasses for anything else without first using them as they were originally intended…for tea! (translation: Yah! an excuse to buy tea!)
So, I ordered this from Upton. A proper big tin of it too.
We are real glad I did too.
Because it is over in my gypsy wagon (a camper where we have been living and will be living most of this summer) and after a long morning in a hot field (yes, its hot here already, reaching above 90 degrees) this tea cold-brewed has absolutely hit the spot.
I have also enjoyed it hot.
Hubby even loves this tea, he will be out in the field, and stare up at the sun and say “can’t wait to get back to the camper and have a large, cold glass of that minty tea”
I might have to place another order of it soon, we are flying through the big tin much faster than I expected.
I miss you all! Since living over in a camper most of the time without wifi or anything, I can not write to you all.
But, I am thinking of you each time I have a cuppa.
I bought a little kettle and tea cups from a thrift store and I have a little tea chest over there in the camper.
My hubby makes fun of me.
He says that most people might bring some tea bags, but no, I have teapots and a tea chest of loose tea.
I tell him just because we are living in a camper does not give me the excuse for missing out on a proper cuppa.

i actually brought a pu-erh cake and my small glass gung fu to work today.

it won’t be the classiest steep of all time, but i realized i was never gonna drink my unflavored or traditional teas if i didn’t start putting a little extra effort forth and make some compromises. and i’m pretty excited about this.

i did one 30 second rinse. then one 30 secondish steep. i realized a little too late i should have done both shorter. but this is learning! and it’s still a good tea experience i get to have.

the cake loosened and dissolved into little tea flakes immediately. after the rinse, the fishy pu-erh scent was immediately present, but not strong!! it really wasn’t.
again, i’m not very pu-erh knowledgeable yet, but i can immediately tell that this is much better than the crappy davidstea pu-erhs i’ve tried. (don’t get me wrong, i like davidsteas a lot! and they have a ton of great teas but really they do not do pu-erhs well at all.)
i steeped the next cup at 20 seconds, and then the next one at 30 seconds, etc. and my pu-erh innocence tells me that this is a very very good tea. my other great experience with pu-erh is a blood orange pu-erh from Carytown Teas that i tried once and then couldn’t get it out of my head. (so of course i own 2oz of it now.)
this is a rambley review i realize.
i think i have gained perspective on how a good pu-erh should taste. i’m excited.

i should be drinking this out of porcelain shouldn’t i.
yes definitely porcelain.

i love lapsang. and even more i LOVE lapsang blends.
i will treasure my sample of this until the last cup.

28/01/2013
my first pure pu-erh.

i did a quick steep for just about 5 sec, and then one long one for 5 min.
then i just did more and more steeps for maybe 4 to 5 min each. until the liquid got pale. i was too lazy to look up what the PROPER way to steep this is. also i have 3 more squares to work with.

03/29/2013
this is a good pu-erh. i need to thank davidstea for making such awful pu-erh because it gives me a valuable reference to know what good pu-erh is. i mean heck! this tiny square probably isn’t even near the best. (i actually like the mini cake i had yesterday even more, and i’m glad i accidentally ordered 2 samples of it.) but this tiny square is not without it’s charm.

i had to let it rinse/steep for more than just 10-20 seconds, cuz the square is packed very tight and it took a while to break up in the water. and i know the point of a rinse is a rinse, but i drank the rinse anyways. and then my second steep was 1 minute. which i know is longer than it should be. my third steep was about 45 seconds. and i did a few more short steeps after that. all in my tiny glass gong fu.

i don’t know. i drank 2 cups of this today trying to get to know this tea. but it just wouldn’t open up to me. i’ll try again in a few days. some teas just aren’t quick to trust.

Igor Stravinsky’s “Les Noces”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi-5mugSiX4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiazdmmZF_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ni8XUOqdM

“Nijinska’s Les noces is considered to have feminist elements. Les noces deserts the upbeat nature of a typical wedding, and instead brings to life the restrictive nature of a woman’s duty to marry. The dark and somber set provides the backdrop to the simple costuming and rigid movements. The individuality of the dancer is stripped away in Nijinska’s choreography, therefore displaying actors on a predetermined path, as marriage was regarded as the way to maintain and grow the community. The choreography exudes symbolism as, huddled together, the women repeatedly strike the floor with their pointe shoes with rigid intensity, as if to tell the tale of their struggle and ultimate reverence. The Russian peasant culture and the dutifulness it evokes in its people is represented in Nijinska’s piece.”

i was a dance major for half of my college life. i also was a dance major in high school. basically i danced every day of my life from when i was very young until i was 21. (yes i’m counting all those dance routines to Prince songs i made up when i was 7.)

i know Les Noces is not for everyone, first of all it’s full of the typical Stravinsky dissonance and also choc-full of operatic singing in russian, second of all… it’s weird.
but there are parts in the second act that will ALWAYS make me wanna bound around the room and dance wildly when i hear it.

this tea is dark and no frills and a little dour. but just a little.
point is. i can see it sitting and steaming on the lid of stravinsky’s piano.
and i can see the Russian peasant girls brewing it before their wedding.

The dry leaves of this tea are nicely green, showing low oxidation. They’re quite heavily broken considering the supposed “FTGFOP1” rating. They smell quite good – plenty of floral notes.

They produce a golden liquor right in between what I’d expect of green and black. The color is probably comparable to a medium oolong.

The flavor is ultimately somewhat disappointing. There is little body, and there are not adequate floral notes to compensate for this issue. The aromatics in general are quite muted and unimpressive. On the plus side, there are no defective tastes, but if someone were to serve me this tea and tell me that it’s a decaf, I would believe that person. Keep in mind this is somewhat old 2012 crop Darjeeling, so it is probably slightly stale.

More Upton thunderdomin’. This morning it was TA38 Mangalam Estate Assam GBOP Clonal SPL vs. TA48 Doomni Estate Assam GFBOP.

Both brewed up that deep red characteristic of Assam. Both smell malty and a bit dark chocolate-y. An early whiff of bitterness, also usual.

Compared to the Mangalam assam this is smoother and less bitter, but still a bit bitter without any milk. Sweeter. Also has a subtle pleasant muskiness the other one doesn’t. Needs only a dab of milk; too much overwhelms it. It’s a gentler assam for sure, but I kind of like it…it reminds me of some of the elements I love from darjeelings. I’ve really got to find some way to stop being sexist in these reviews when it comes to categorizing flavors, but it feels like a more “feminine” take on what I tend to think of as a masculine kind of tea.

This is tricky, because it’s still assam-y in that it’s what you reach for in the morning when you just want to wake up and aren’t concentrating too hard on subtle nuance and perfume. And in that regard, as a wake-you-up tea, the Mangalam is much better, and takes much better to morning accoutrements like milk. This one’s softer and more conducive to contemplation and as such feels like an afternoon tea—but with too much of a jolt for that time of day, and always with the fact darjeelings (and Nepali blacks, and smoke-floral blends…) already do the job looming. So I kind of feel for this tea—it doesn’t have a place to go, a time of day to call home, where it belongs better than any other options. Yet it’s a perfectly fine tea. Aw, a misfit tea.

More Upton thunderdomin’. This morning it was TA38 Mangalam Estate Assam GBOP Clonal SPL vs. TA48 Doomni Estate Assam GFBOP.

Both brewed up that deep red characteristic of Assam. Both smell malty and a bit dark chocolate-y. An early whiff of bitterness, also usual.

Very bitter! Even for me. As such it takes very well to a healthy splash of milk and pinch of sugar, which makes it taste more like coffee or chai, very rich and robust. With some of the bitterness tamed, the chocolate (the dark, intense kind) really comes out! I went from thinking this would be promising based on aroma dry and brewing to fearing I hated it because it was way too bitter to finding it a gem with lots of milk added.

This feels like a strong tea both in flavor and caffeine—I’m a bit jittery now!—and as such I think I’d only drink it when in the mood for something like coffee (which these days is rare). But when that mood strikes, it’ll do the job very nicely.

I can not believe that it is almost May.
I feel like I have already lived through a year, with everything that has happened to me so far this year.
Especially, with my health.
More things have occurred, and I keep waiting for my brain to catch up.
I told my Hubby the other day, I guess this is the year of finding out whats wrong and finding solutions.
Part of me is relieved.
I have not felt well for awhile now, and to have someone tell me, that yes, there is something wrong with you.
Well, it meant I was not crazy after all.
Anyway,my days are filled with work, doctor’s appointments and other typical errands.
But, I still make time for tea.
This morning, I decided that I wanted to try this tea.
Chocolate and Earl Grey for a Monday. Sounds perfect.
I was surprised to see all the other items in the tea tin with the dry leaf.
Chocolate chunks and orange peel and flowers.
Smelled tasty though.
The tea is actually quite yummy.
I was afraid the chocolate would over power my beloved bergamot, but it does not, in fact it almost compliments the bergamot.
I am usually not a fan of messing with my earl, I like him strong and a little rough.
But, this Earl is quite nice, and I would not mind indulging in him now and than.
Happy Monday, Folks!

More Upton thunderdome-ing. Today it’s TB70 Finest Russian Caravan (India, China, Formosa) against TB86 Richmond Park Blend (Keemun, Ceylon, Darjeeling).

This one’s greener, grassier smelling dry. Whoa, this is weirdly tart and bitter. A very odd tea, and while I like being open-minded to teas that don’t taste like anything else I’ve had I’m pretty sure I would not seek this one out again. Some milk and sugar helps a little but it’s still weirdly tangy in an unpleasant way. Worse than Finest Russian Caravan (which was merely disappointing), probably worse than anything I’ve had from Upton. This is one of the first loose teas I’ve had where I’m struggling to want to finish the cup. Bummer.

EDIT: Anyanka put it so well when she said it was pickle-y. Yes! That’s a good way of describing the strange planty tanginess it has, which I was struggling to find words for.

More Upton thunderdome-ing. Today it’s TB70 Finest Russian Caravan (India, China, Formosa) against TB86 Richmond Park Blend (Keemun, Ceylon, Darjeeling).

This one isn’t bad really, though it’s a bit tannic and bitter and slightly astringent. There is a hint of smoke but not much, not enough for a smoky tea lover like me. The thing is, it’s so in between two things—basic black tea for breakfast, say, and truly smoky stuff—and not remarkable enough at either that I find myself just wanting a cup of either smooth breakfast tea OR headier, smokier stuff. I would rather drink their Baker Street blend any day.

Tastes smoother and richer with some milk and like 2 grains of raw sugar, but still, disappointing.

Prefer this over Richmond Park, but they’re really not anything alike (have never had anything like the Richmond Park to be honest) and that’s not saying much given I REALLY didn’t care at all for that one.

Been doing Upton Imports sampler thunderdomes, two teas at a time, sometimes with comparison qualities obvious (same flush or estate darjeelings, say), sometimes less so, like here where I compared Upton TB54, Sunday Tea with Vanilla East Frisian Blend, with Upton TB75, Baker Street Blend (keemun, darjeeling, and lapsang).

Love the way both of these smell dry; this one’s kind of forest-y. The vanilla comes out more while brewing. These are both dark, robust cups. Sweet, a little cake-like without becoming something only for dessert—it has a bittersweet, almost coffee-like robustness and the slightest tinge of smoke, or actually maybe that’s roastiness. I can definitely smell the vanilla in the cup initally (and my nose is stuffed up from allergies!), then it recedes a bit. You can smell it more than you can taste it. Something about this reminds me of extremely dark, bitter chocolate.

About halfway through the cup I added milk and sugar which didn’t seem to be an improvement but didn’t ruin it either.

I don’t think I’d make this a regular rotation thing but I also wouldn’t snub my nose at a refill at some point when/if i get sick of other more obvious go-to choices.

Been doing Upton Imports sampler thunderdomes, two teas at a time, sometimes with comparison qualities obvious (same flush or estate darjeelings, say), sometimes less so, like here where I compared Upton TB75, Baker Street Blend (keemun, darjeeling, and lapsang), with Upton TB54, Sunday Tea with Vanilla East Frisian Blend.

Love the way this smells dry, that wonderful smoke. Bacon-y brewing. Sort of like “lapsang lite”—it really does taste like a cross of smoke tea with darjeeling, which is unusual but pretty cool. It’s like masculine meets feminine sort of; there’s the smoke in the fore but also the floral, perfume-y thing in the background.

Doesn’t need sugar or milk. There’s some bitterness at the end of the swallow but it’s not unpleasant; it fits the whole profile.

I could definitely see making this an afternoon tea break choice in the future. Wouldn’t call this an essential restock, but high up there as an option among a few any given afternoon.

Been doing Upton Imports sampler thunderdomes, two teas at a time, sometimes with comparison qualities obvious (same flush or estate darjeelings, say), sometimes less so, like here where I compared Upton TB84, Robert Fortune Blend (darjeeling and yunnan), with Upton TE22, Sacher Blend (scented darjeeling).

This has a more roasted, grassy aroma dry, sort of salad-y. Both teas smell nice in the cup. This one’s slightly paler, less red, bit more gold. Bit tannic and astringent, but still not as much as Sacher, smoother but also a little more bitter. Was a little worried ‘cause normally I am very meh about yunnan—don’t find it bad, just unremarkable in every way—but this isn’t bad. Can take some milk and sugar. Definitely a drinkable blend, but there are so many high quality blends out there (just think of all the earl greys and caravans alone!) that I doubt I’d rebuy.

Been doing Upton Imports sampler thunderdomes, two teas at a time, sometimes with comparison obvious (same flush or estate darjeelings, say), sometimes less so, like here where I compared Upton TE22, Sacher Blend (scented darjeeling) with Upton TB84, Robert Fortune Blend (darjeeling and yunnan).

Pleasant floral darjeeling-y fresh-perfume scent dry. Both smell really good fresh in the cup. Brewed, a nice medium red brown.

Quite tannic/astringent. The floral fragrance is lovely, but I associate it with all nice darjeelings I’ve had, don’t notice that it’s especially extra oomphy with vanilla or bergamot here, just the slightest tinge. Kind of woody somehow both in flavor and texture. Not wet forest but dry timber wood graininess, kind of like licking a wooden block or wood chips, ha. That sounds bad maybe but oddly enough it isn’t unpleasant here, at least I don’t find it so; in fact, the more I drink it the more this weird raspy wood flavor thing grows on me. And it stands up to milk and sugar, which is good as that softens but doesn’t completely remove the astringency I tend to avoid in everyday teas.

The odd woodiness makes me think I’d restock this at some point just to experience something I haven’t elsewhere, but it’s not going to ever be a regular rotation thing.

Have been doing thunderdome rounds between 2 Uptons at a time. Drank this yesterday afternoon when Steepster was down, comparing it to Upton’s other Thurbo 2nd flush (DJ-148/TD73). And I was doing a darjeeling-a-thon the whole day; earlier I’d compared two Thurbo 1st flushes and then moved on to the Margaret’s Hopes.

Dry both of these 2nd flush Thurbos have a greener, grassier aroma than the 1st flushes. Brewed, a darker, pretty reddish brown in the cup. The other 2nd flush’s aroma is stronger than this one’s, which is delicate.

Brewing, this almost has a seaweed thing going on. Definitely like this one more than DJ-148/TD33; it is smoother, has a silkier mouthfeel but also more depth of flavor all-around, with a much headier, lovelier muscatel thing going on. Also much less astringent.

This one, DJ-246/TD73, is the winner all-around for the 4 Thurbos I tried today, followed by the two 1st flushes, and then DJ-148/TD33. I would happily reorder this one, and the 1st flushes are nice so maybe I’d reorder them at some point, maybe not.

Fascinatingly enough, when I go back to look at Upton’s catalog links for these teas I discover my preferences here are exactly in line with price points—my 2 top favorites were $4.50 a sample, my middle favorite was $4, and my least favorite was $2 and described as “a great value”. My 2 top faves were described as some of the finest teas the staff tried those seasons. I guess my tastes aren’t always that unorthodox, ha.

Have been doing thunderdome rounds between 2 Uptons at a time. Drank this yesterday afternoon when Steepster was down, comparing it to Upton’s other Thurbo 2nd flush (DJ-246/TD73). And I was doing a darjeeling-a-thon the whole day; earlier I’d compared two Thurbo 1st flushes and then moved on to the Margaret’s Hopes.

Dry these have a greener, grassier aroma than the 1st flushes. Brewed, a darker, pretty reddish brown in the cup. The aroma of this 2nd flush is stronger than DJ-246/TD73’s, which is delicate. Now there’s that muscatel note, which is to be predicted, though it’s not overpowering at all.

DJ-246/TD73 is the winner all-around for the 4 Thurbos I tried today, followed by the two 1st flushes, and then this one, DJ-148/TD33. I would happily reorder DJ-246/TD73, and the 1st flushes are nice so maybe I’d reorder them at some point, maybe not.

Fascinatingly enough, when I go back to look at Upton’s catalog links for these teas I discover my preferences here are exactly in line with price points—my 2 top favorites were $4.50 a sample, my middle favorite was $4, and my least favorite (this one, alas) was $2 and described as “a great value”. My 2 top faves were described as some of the finest teas the staff tried those seasons. I guess my tastes aren’t always that unorthodox, ha.

Have been doing thunderdome rounds between 2 Uptons at a time. Drank this yesterday afternoon when Steepster was down, comparing it to Upton’s other Thurbo 1st flush. And I was doing a darjeeling-a-thon the whole day; later I also compared two Thurbo 2nd flushes and then moved on to the Margaret’s Hopes.

These are both very light and gentle, yet still with lots of beautiful, feminine, light-as-air flavor (bless darjeelings!). They both brew up a pretty burnt gold/blonde wood hue. Definitely would not drink either of these with milk or sugar.

This one’s rounder, smoother, somehow a bit richer and silkier. But I like the character of the other one better for whatever reason. More interesting somehow, and more aligned with my general tastes.