Upton Tea Imports

Dinosara sent me a generous sample of this tea (and several others… can you say TEA KARMA?). It smelled like a delicious sweet almond cookie when I opened the bag. Brewed, it had a mild spiced nutty flavor, slight velvet texture, and a sweet tobacco note that strongly reminds me of flavored cigars. Very interesting! Thanks Dinosara! :D

The description the company gives is pretty accurate on this one; I don’t have much to add. Refreshing, a very good version of what I think of when I think of the classic tea taste. This would also make a great iced tea no doubt.

I’ve been drinking Lapsang Souchong, so this tea is less strong than that. A little smokiness in the back. I think I’ll try steeping for 5 minutes next time to see if that fills out the flavor next time.

mmm another revisit to my upton samples. Today is a good day. Still freaked out with all the things i have to do for the trip – especially if i don’t want my other projects to suffer BUT disney announced the other half of their 2014 itineraries AND i finally have my currency in hand. yeah..simple things satisfy me. This tea however? meh. I’m over it lol. It’s not a bad tea but i don’t feel the need to purchase it again or sing it’s praises :) It’s not a bad tea, and i’d drink it again..but i almost feel like it needs to be blended with something to make it really POP!

Backlog!

The problem with work being busy is that I don’t have time to log things tight away and then forget what the tea was like, especially if it’s a new one. :( From what i recall of this one it was enjoyable but not mind blowing. I’ll leave off rating this one until i have a chance to drink it again and write a log right away.

sipdown!

This is a nice little black tea. It’s smooth while not feeling “wimpy” or light…I could see this being sort of an everyday breakfast kinda tea for me if i do a reorder with upton sometime. There’s almost a sweetness to it that’s hiding in the background but not like some of stacy’s teas. It’s really is like a keemun without the smokey notes, not that i mind those in my keemuns :)

Ugh steepster is fighting being good today. log from this morning since it’s been a crazy week and will likely be an insane week with all the last minute work and prep to do, i foresee some crappy tasting notes this week. BUT i did get my samples today from a tea company out in edmonton so i have those to look forward to tonight!

Backlog

Another one from yesterday that I didn’t get a chance to take notes on. I do recall this being a very mellow tasting tea that didn’t necessarily smack me in the face but was quite tasty. Rating later once i try it again.

Smells like dark chocolate with a little bit of smoke.

Taste is robust, yet pretty smooth, and reminds me somewhat of the UK breakfast blends. The smoked smell comes through on taste quite a bit…this might be the smokiest tasting Keemun I have tried so far. There is a faint note I’m getting in the background that is kind of maple like as well. After it cooled way down it actually kind of tastes like some white teas I’ve tried. Good tea at a good price.

I oversteeped some and made it into a latte using almond milk, really liked it that way.

Attempt 2 at this one. And conclusion? It’s kind of odd. A bit nutty, a bit fruity. Kind of peach-ish, but a bit play-doughy as well. Not one I think I’d really want to drink again, unfortunately! It’s nice and lacking astringency, but as I’m not a big fan of black teas anyhow, this conclusion is less than shocking!

Thanks again Azzrian!

Another sample from Azzrian!

I did a crappy job of trying this one though, so will have to rate it another time, but it was an interesting flavoured black. I couldn’t quite place what I was tasting, kind of a nutty fruitiness. Not bad, but probably not a favourite either. I also don’t recall it being astringent.

“I enjoyed this one with milk and sugar not because it needed it but because I just wanted to because it was really good, I like teas this way sometimes I just don’t like having to bring out the cream and sugar and all cuz I’m picky and that is a whole different setup from my “usual” but this one really just almost taste like a chocolate flavored Tea with milk and sugar, Really I have had “Milk Chocolate” Flavored Teas that just come nowhere near this one"
Please view my blog post here for a longer review and a “rant” about mean peoples on the interweb, Please don’t view my blog on this one if you hate a rant or are a mean peoples or get offend by a few potty words :)
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2013/02/black-snail-from-upton-teas-and-rant.html

The Lapsang blends in nicely with the other teas in the mix, giving a nice earthy, smoked taste that compliments rather than dominates (I usually don’t like anything with Lapsang in it). Rich and robust, I accidentally put too much sugar in the first cup, but the tea wasn’t even phased. I let it steep for a long time, and it wasn’t bitter, which is always a plus. This is perfect tea for a cold rainy day…which just happens to be today. My uncle said it tastes kind of like scotch to him. I just tried it iced on a hot day and I’m on the fence whether it is better hot or cold.
If I’m going to drink Lapsang (or something blended with it), this is the one I prefer thus far.

I don’t think this is the one I got current, mine looks more orangish to mr and the number ZY77 but the same name, Anyways WoW! this one is good very bold and strong not as bold as an Assam or a breakfast tea but it was plenty bold enough stand alone tea with slight hints of chestnut.this tea was begging for sugar and cream and i was in the mood for it, it was like chocolate goodness such a good tea, I want more just to drink with cream and sugar.

Smell in the bag makes me think of cocoa, honey, and caramel.
Steeped: it smells rhubarbish.
Taste: This is really good. Kind of citrusy, with a little bit of natural sweetness. That rhubarb like smell is also there on taste in the background. Clean mouthfeel, goes down easy…I want another cup.

This is my first experience with a Kenyan tea. I like it, but it didn’t knock my socks off. It tastes very much like a standard bagged blend to me. Very similar to some Ceylons I’ve had. At first I didn’t notice the astringency, but it seems to build a bit as you drink it. I get hints of apple as described and a bit of vanilla, but not as flavor forward as I’d like. The leaves brew up a red color and a chestnut colored cup. I used a bit less than the 1+ tsp suggested and it tasted just about right. Its nice enough. The brewed leaves have a wonderful caramel smell, but it doesn’t quite make it into the cup.

I think I figured out the key with this one. It tastes noticeably better with lemon and honey and I think it would be quite good iced. The honey really milds up the astringency quite a bit.

This is the first time I’ve tried Golden Monkey and it was pretty darn good.

It reminds me a bit of the other bold, malty black tea that I love from China: Yunnan Gold. Very interesting and bold flavour, but still mellow and not bitter or in-your-face. A nice combo. Let the experiments in Black Tea continue!!!!!

This really got my attention on first sip in a good way, tastes like clean, fresh hops to me.

This is a really lovely mint tea. You simultaneously get the refreshing mint with the smoky earthy green tea. Its extremely smooth and great hot or cool. I think it would be perfect on a hot summer day. I drank it when I wasn’t feeling too hot and the hint of mint was perfect for an upset tummy. I tsp of turbinado sugar is perfect with this cup. I tried to do a second brewing with the leaves and it turned a bit bitter without as much tea heft . . . I just caught the mint.

This one was pretty good to me, we drank it with milk and sugar because Lance wanted it “breakfast/british” style. I was quite bold and nice and it was actually pretty good to be drank as a “breakfast” tea but to me it was lacking in one area, I would have loved to have some of that yummy Assam Malty notes in this, I was just not malty at all like I like my Assams, but it was still very good tea :) Even better about it was that Lance and I created a memory together by having this tea together this morning and talking about it and comparing notes, we don’t often enough share a cup of the same tea so that was Boss!

Oh Yeah Please follow Lance here he won’t be on much to talk about teas but sometime he does, thanks guys :) he is http://steepster.com/Bluii

I like this one, it was a good breakfast tea to me, i’t was bold and strong
Tommy said it was lacking something but you can read that in his note, We had it like a breakfast tea with milk and sugar and the bold tea taste still came through really strong.

A little pricey, but very tasty, with milk and sugar, and I’m a straight black tea kind of person, but I finished 4.4 oz very quickly and used milk and sugar like never before. I wish tetley taste like this!

Lightly smokey and toasty. Yum! This is a great oolong for people who love genmaicha or hojicha.

Update: Second steep is even better than the first. Loving this tea.