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Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #9:
Accidentally oversteeped this because I was distracted by reheating pizza. (That’s right! Pizza and tea! Tea goes with everything! EVERYTHING.) It came out a little more bitter than I think it’s necessarily meant to.
This is definitely another one of those subtle teas. There is only a very light hint of bergamot, a slight tease of citrus, an am I even there of flavor. I’ve already mentioned my preferences regarding Earl Grey flavors, so I won’t go into it again, but honestly, at this point wouldn’t you be better off just drinking tea flavored tea? If this is the level of Earl Grey that you like, why are you bothering to drink Earl Grey at all? Just drink unflavored black tea, then you never have to worry about the Earl Grey you’re drinking having too much flavor.
Besides that, it is, naturally, quite tasty.

Upton Tea Sample Buying Spree Tea #8:
More than halfway done with the Earl Grey’s – Hurrah! Specifically, all I’ve got left of the Earl Greys is the Premium, Green, and Sacher Blend – which is technically a “flavored Darjeeling,” but, since it was in the Earl Grey section at Upton, I will assume that one of the flavors is, in fact, bergamot or something bergamot-like.
This leaves are quite aromatic, probably on the level of the Blue Flower, although different in nature, of course. It smells properly Earl Greyish with a bit of extra…something thrown in.
It brewed up quite light, and on my first few sips tasted almost creamy, although that faded as I got further into the cup, to be replaced with a general floweriness that I’m not certain I approve of, although the base ceylon is VERY tasty. It leaves a rather weird taste at the back of the throat – possibly the result of too much acidity from the double citrus punch of the lemon and bergamot? I’m not really sure what I think about it, I started out quite enjoying it but that feeling faded the more I drank, until I just wanted some water by the time I was finished.

Upton Tea Sample Buying Spree Tea #7:
I freely admit it, I am a sucker for these “Earl Grey but MORE” type of teas. Name something Earl Greyer? I’m THERE. Name it Earl Greyest? Well you better be able to back it up, is all I’m saying.
The aroma of the leaves themselves wasn’t nearly as strong as some of the others – like the Blue Flower, for example. Even the Lavender was stronger, I’d say. It brewed up a nice reddish-gold, not too dark. Although I use an ingenuiTea, so often times the color kind of accumulates on the bottom which I’m pretty sure was happening here. (I drink most of my tea in pottery mugs, rather than teacups, so I can’t generally make color judgments once it’s been poured.)
This stuff is really tasty. And has no problems cutting through my congestion. Very citrusy, maybe even a bit smoky…well, I got some hints of smoke in the aroma anyway. Very neat. I could see it being too much for those who like their teas to not stray too far from the “tea-flavored” category, but for people like me who can’t get enough Earl Greyness, it’s wonderful.

Upton Tea Sample Buying Spree Tea #6:
Chosen because my brother, with whom I have been jointly doing these tastings, is not here and this is the tea that made him make the most grossed out face. Honestly, his worries were completely baseless since (and I freely admit that this COULD be the result of congestion – although I am at least able to breath through my nose this morning so it’s not THAT bad) I couldn’t get ANYTHING out of this tea.
Seriously, it just tasted like tea. Tea-flavored tea. Perhaps lavender has the magic property of canceling out bergamot! Maybe if you made a tisane that was JUST lavender and bergamot you would get something that tasted like water! Somebody must do this…FOR SCIENCE! (I volunteer someone who is not me)
I did start to get some citrusy hints toward the end of the cup, and it certainly brewed up nice and fragrant – although fairly light colored. Definitely need to do another tasting of this one.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #5:
Next up in my Earl Greyathon, Russian style Earl Grey, chosen because it was on the top of the pile. Brews up lighter colored than the Blue Flower, but the tea taste is quite strong – stronger, I would say than the flavorings in it. The citrus taste is very faint and not really what I associate with bergamot at all. As the description says, it’s definitely a departure from traditional Earl Grey – in fact, I’m not sure it has that much in common with Earl Grey at all. Still tasty though! And this is only my first go at it, perhaps if drunk after a non-Earl Grey tea, it would be more obvious.
I don’t know where the steeping suggestions come from, but my sample packet said 4 minutes instead of 5; I think in later tries i will vary the time to see what happens.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #4:
On to other Earl Greys! This tea was chosen to be next in line on the highly scientific basis of “the name sounds nice.” Just from opening it, it seemed more potent than the Original Earl Grey. I’ve been quite congested lately and could barely smell the latter, but this stuff got through to my nose just fine. It brewed up darker, as well, but the taste, thankfully, was not overwhelming. There’s a fruitiness about it that blends quite well with the bergamot. Makes for a very smooth cup.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #3:
So, among my Upton Sampler Buying Spree items are, I think, something like 8 different Earl Greys. From this you can probably figure out that I’m kind of a fan. Earl Grey is, without a doubt, my favorite kind of tea and you can imagine my glee when I saw that Upton had 18 (EIGHTEEN, people) different kinds. I don’t even know how I chose between them; its all a blur.

The logical place to start when faced with actually tasting these Earl Greys is with the Original Earl Grey. As it says on the tin, the bergamot taste here is quite faint. It’s a tease is what it is. It’s all like, am I an Earl Grey? Or aren’t I? You better take another sip just to make sure. I prefer my Earl Grey more bergamot-y, but if you are interested in something more subtle, this is the Earl Grey for you.

And now, a short break from my Upton Tea Sample (Extremely Slow) Taste’A’Thon for something a little lighter.

Hmm, I’m getting the peach. And the green. But not so much the ginger. Which is weird, since you’d think the ginger would be the strongest. Perhaps they overcompensated? Or perhaps I should have let it steep longer – I’ve been trying out an iPhone tea timer app name of Camellia, and it said 2 minutes for green, so two minutes is what I went with.

Upton Tea Sampler Buying Spree Tea #2:
I am drinking Breakfast Blend in the evening guys. I’m a woman on the edge! There’s no telling what I’ll do!
Seriously though, this tea brews up a really nice amber color and is eminently drinkable. It’s got a bit of astringency, especially towards the end of the cup. But still super tasty!