Upton Tea Imports

Hello,All!
I hope you lovely folks are having a lovely Spring so far.
I am still on a liquid restriction, but this morning I wanted this tea.
Awhile ago (before the great dry period of 2013) I ordered from Upton.
I ordered a bunch of their sample packs, which most are sitting untouched.
But, Hubby and I have tried this tea and really enjoyed it, and today I awoke thinking of it, so I muttered “Screw you, Doctor Mark” and made myself a cup.
And not my tiny amount of tea, an actual mug of this tea.
Its malty, chocolately and some slight figgy fruityness
No milk or sugar in it for me, but I certainly think it would stand up well to some.
This is a tea that seems quite manly to me.(My hubby enjoys it)
It is robust, and full flavored but it also does not have tart tannins.
Just lots of eyelid opening flavor.
Perfect for a brisk spring morning:)

I drank this on Sunday, because I am a dork.

I was hoping for more from this tea than it delivered. Trusting in Upton, I bought a 100ish gram tin and now I wish I’d been a bit more conservative. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. It is rather unexceptional.

The tea isn’t deep and malty and the vanilla isn’t particularly present. I have a decaf vanilla from Adagio that is fine, but thought this one would be a big upgrade. While the tea is an improvement because the dullness of decaf isn’t happening, it isn’t anything to gush over. And the vanilla, while not cloyingly artificial, also isn’t very aromatic. I don’t know that someone given this would know it is vanilla tea.

I’ll finish without too much trouble because it isn’t a bad cup but I had hoped either the base or the flavoring or both had been exceptional.

I said “isn’t” 8 times in this review. Hmm.

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on March 25th here are the snippits:

The bergamot is extremely light, barely noticeable, but the vanilla is what shines in this cup.

I tasted absolutely no bitterness nor astringency even after a rather long steep.

It may lack some of the promise the description eludes to especially if you are expecting much from the Bergamot notes, but if you have a sensitive palate you will taste it.

I think it is rather nice, and I personally love it because I prefer my Earl Grey to be light on the bergamot. I like bergamot but I too often find that bergamot is all I can taste in most Earl Grey. I think this blend is unique for those of us who only want a light EG flavor, and let us remember, this is not being sold as an EG.

The flavors pop more as the tea cools. Would be excellent iced.

Not bad for a rooibos earl. Strong on the bergamot. Very fresh and lemony. I really want to smell a real bergamot one day so I have a better feel for what realistic bergamot is like. Anyway, rooibos behaves in here. Good hot cup before bed. :)

Had this a few nights ago. I had ordered a sample since I really need more non-caf teas in my life and this one sounded pretty tasty.
The taste was weird at first. Tasted like dirty water. But then it cooled and it tasted a lot like Forever Nuts but with rooibos. And less apple. So mostly walnutty. Pretty meh. And the texture was all oily and filmy. Not a fan.

Tried this one again last night and it is just not happening. Into the swap box it goes in case there are other folks who want to give this a try eventually.

I picked this up on a whim since we were placing an order with upton for brew baskets anyway. Man are their baskets cheap at the moment! I mostly just wanted to see if this managed to taste even remotely close to della terra’s lemon blends.

Well folks? not even sort of. lol Talk about rooibos flavoured lemon lol. While i don’t mind the taste of rooibos 95% of the time, there are certain teas that just taste like rooibos….with a dash of other flavours. this is one of those teas. While not totally gross, it’s certainly nothing that is terribly appealing.

Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on March 24th but here are the snipptis:

I am not normally a big fan of Ceylon teas but this one has some elements that remind me of Darjeeling, and I like that a lot!

This is one of the smoothes teas with absolutely not one bit of astringency or bitterness I have ever had!

This is a very light tea. Which, after waaaaay oversteeping some Yunnan Royal this morning, was exactly what was called for.

A pretty leaf that unfurls nicely and steeps a light golden color. Mild dryness as I expect from most darjeelings. Not really astringency, just a little dry. One of the tea club guys said he tasted something smokey. I didn’t get any smokiness at all, but everyone is different.

Very interesting.

It is much lighter in taste. A thin liquor. Refreshing.

Pretty steeped leaves – several different colors of greens and browns. I’m not sure I’ve had much experience with Ceylons so I can’t really compare or vouch for the description as being like a Ceylon.

I like this a lot better than the other African teas I’ve had. Though it doesn’t resteep well.

I forgot all about this sample. It’s one of the half-dozen Claire sent me six months ago when I was first learning about tea. It hardly seems like six months could have passed since then, but here we are.

The first time I tried this, I was very discouraged by how temperamental I thought it was. Now I’m a little more careful about brewing temperatures, and I never ever ever let a green tea get cold if I can help it. This cup brewed up nice and brothy with an olive-amber color and sweet, slightly vegetal aroma.

First steep:
The sip is dainty and sweet, with mild vegetal flavor and a light grainy note. My sinuses are giving me hell this morning so I don’t completely trust my nose, but sinus issues for me usually mean that unpleasant tastes and smells are enhanced. I get none of that from this tea. A tiny bit of smoke as it cools and a wee bit of bitterness on the last sip.

Second steep: More of the same. Great cup!

I was really excited about this tea. It brewed up strong and vegetal which tasted nice and bracing for the first few sips, when it was very hot. Then I helped make dinner (sopas! So good) and sort of forgot it was sitting there on the counter. By the time I got back to it, it was lukewarm and almost knocked me over with a nearly undrinkable bitterness. I’m not going to rate it based on this cup, though. I was somewhat distracted during the process of brewing so there’s a chance it was up to 10 degrees too hot or brewed up to a minute or two too long.

This is growing on me. The more of it I drink, the less overwhelming the smoke. I chose it this evening because I was watching Elementary.

This was my first time ever drinking a tea containing Lapsang Souchong. I wasn’t sure if I liked it, my girlfriend was sure she didn’t, and we didn’t finish the pot.

But, I keep thinking about it. I think this is a slow-simmering affair and LS and I are going to wind up together in the end.

I was really slogging my way through this sample. This tea is mostly boring until suddenly it tastes a bit like kelp. Is that vegetal? Sea vegetal?

I’ve tried it a few times now and it only gets worse. Musty and pickley and undelicious. I tossed out the rest so I wouldn’t do this to myself again.

If anyone can tell me what tea in this blend imparts the undercurrent of seaweed nastiness so I can avoid it in the future, I’d really appreciate it.

Drinking this on day two now, a second steep from yesterday’s brewing, chilled and slightly diluted. It’s mellow, deep, and oddly toasty. Like toasted bread. I like this tea a lot.

Wow, this is some tea. If it were a beer, it’d be Guinness stout. If it were a coffee, it’d be sumatra. It’s one strong dark note. I really enjoy it. It’s not sharp like some equally potent teas I’ve tried. It doesn’t taste of coffee at all, but somehow it seems more like having a cup of coffee than of tea. Maybe it’s partially because it looks like coffee in the cup- a deep mahogany that’s black once the cup is full.

I’ve tried it plain and with milk and raw sugar and it is good both ways and really holds its own against milk.

I’m only just learning about tea so I don’t yet know how to describe things with correct tea vocabulary. This tea is dark, smooth, rich, deep, and delicious.

Backlog!!

Fannings? More like ctc! phew, that is what I was hoping for.
My cup was nice and dark. Inky black. And full of depth! Wouldn’t wanna go swimming in that… (what dark creatures lie beneath?!)
It tasted very earthy, mossy, and a little like soil… err, in a good way. Trust me, it was pleasant even if it doesn’t sound as if it was! Next time, I’ll do a fast rinse. I didn’t this time because I was worried about losing the tiny little particles but there was a teeny tiny bit of fishiness so I’ll see if there is a big difference in quality between my rinse vs non-rinse experiences.
Second steep was more like a light coffee. Oh how I miss coffee. Could this be a suitable alternative? I think so.
Third steep edged more into the bready/vanilla zone. I didn’t have time for more but I can see where it was going anyhow.

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tea. It’s a nice Golden Nepal … it has a very bright flavor … nice wine-like finish. Sweet. I didn’t get the chocolate notes that my Sister experienced, but, I’m enjoying it nonetheless. This tastes more like a Darjeeling to me than a tea that would offer chocolate-y notes, although it has a richer taste and a thicker body than I’m used to from a Darjeeling.

Overall, a pleasant cuppa, but probably not one I’d stock up on.

This is a household favorite. There’s nothing glaringly special about this tea, but we go back to it again and again. It smells lovely and has a mild, unobtrusive taste. The flavor is lost under sugar or milk and best enjoyed on its own. I drink it by the pot. But, pressed to say what it tastes like, I can’t say. A nice blend that tastes like tea? It’s not sharp or acidic or smokey. It doesn’t need doctoring. I’ve yet to oversteep it. It’s nothing ‘special’ but yet we drink it all the time, even hot with dinner. This is one I’ll always keep around.

Very grassy smell and taste. When I got to the bottom of the cup, the taste was bitter, maybe because small particles had leaked out of my tea ball and settled to the bottom. Either way, not a big fan of this tea.

I picked up a sample of this awhile back, as I fell in love with the Jun Chiyabari estate tea from David’s. This is a superb black, with robust toasty notes while being reminiscent of a darjeeling. It had just enough slight bite and fruity flavor to it. This actually reminded quite a bit of the Laoshan black, if the laoshan didn’t have as much of a malty base (I still like laoshan black better). Excellent tea.

I don’t normally go for flavored teas but this was an exception that I hope to revisit next winter.

As others have indicated, its sort of like a chai with the cardamom and the cinnamon, but with the addition of a dusting of chocolate, this is really delightful and you don’t have to mix it up with milk to be be yummmy.

I can’t divine what sort of tea is used for the base, clearly something inexpensive as whatever tea is used is going to be overwhelmed by the additional spices. You can steep this one forever and it just keeps getting better and better. I got busy and forgot about it in for more than 10- minutes- it was still very good. Great for kids too.

Will buy again certainly!

One of many samples I recently purchased from Upton. Its mostly whole leaf, with some broken pieces- and the aroma- what is that? sweet gherkin pickle juice? Bizarre….

Three minutes of steeping got very little flavor out of this, four got a bit more, so I went with 5. At bit better at that point but really just a meh sort of tea. I don’t get much darjeeling from it, and I don’t get much Earl Grey either.

Mostly this comes off as a weak earl grey, and if I wanted that, there are plenty of those to choose from .

Sorry Upton, this just isn’t worth drinking….