Upton Tea Imports

My morning tea while reading historical mysteries. It has a malty and slightly smoky scent. The flavour is more on the smoky side. Overall, pretty good.

I feel like this would be nice on a snowy day.

One of my new samples. I’m on a quest to try all Upton (and Harney) earl grey blends. There is a very nice scent of cocoa. The flavour is chocolate and bergamot, with mild lemon notes. It is nicely cream, and a good morning tea.

Thanks for the sample, Sil, but yeah, this is definitely another nope from Upton. It actually smelled more lemon cleaner-y than it tasted, but… just not a profile I have interest in drinking. I can handle rooibos/honeybush if the flavours are yummy, but the flavour is not yummy here, and neither is the rooibos. I’m sure someone, somewhere might like this tea, but I’d much rather have Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon, which was delightful.

This is a lovely tea, I think. A sample where I, after first taste the other day, made a full teapot for my morning.

There’s a floral taste on the back of the tongue. I wouldn’t call the tea sweet at all but there is something there that is close. A dark flavor similar to a simple Assam is everywhere in the mouth but especially on the sides of the tongue… it’s not strong, but it is there in a noticeable point; The Darjeeling taate doesnt wholly cover that aspect.

A vegetal strength is on the middle of the tongue mixed with a yellow tone and touches of a light blue.

It has an overall varied and shifting and complex flavor. It has a Very long finish, also rich and with a stronger floral tone. As the finish fades – over a Very long time – it becomes more and more floral and shifts to the tip of the tongue. By the end it shifts further to include the front of the gums.

I really like this. Am so happy I bought the sample. Can completely see myself buying a normal order of it.

My earl grey of the day. There is a nice bergamot scent, with some floral notes. The flavour is slightly sweet, and citrus. It is nice morning tea.

Had while listening to the new Tyr album.

One of my new samples. There is a nice cocoa and fruit scent. The flavour mildly sweet with chocolate notes. I get some honey as it cools.

Just got this with many samples I ordered. So far I’m not impressed. I’m making my first tries to the directions on the packet, will later see what some fiddling does.

First cup, even though I over steeped a little, has a light mouth feel but has a very watery taste. The flavor has to be actively searched for. That said, afterwards there is a long finish that almost has more flavor that the actual drinking. Watery is a good description of the taste, unfortunately.

Apparently I acquired this via Sil, thanks!

This tea is… meh. Not much vanilla, and the honeybush, though palatable, wasn’t really to my liking. May give it another shot before trying to rehome the remainder, we shall see.

Lunch tea, as selected by tea chat. There is a bit of smoky scent, with plum notes. It has a more nutty aroma when brewed. The flavour is sorta roasted nuts.

Pretty good with fried rice.

My tea while playing Harvest Moon- The Tale of Two Towns. (This game always makes me want tea. As my favourite town has a nice little tea house.) There is a nice floral scent. The flavour is a bit sweet and lightly floral. It is a nice relaxing oolong.

The tea of my Star Trek re-watch. There is a nice citrus scent. Mostly bergamot, with some lemon notes. It has a sweet citrus flavour. A good tea for winter mornings.

The creamy vanilla scent is lovely. There is a good cream and bergamot flavour. While the citrus notes are a bit lighter, it is still a nice cozy blend.

(Earl Grey is the unofficial tea of winter.)

My tea while watching Stargate Atlantis, and Star Trek. There is a very nice bergamot scent. It is a bit light on bergamot flavour, but still quite good. The base tea is pleasantly sweet. Overall, a nice lighter Earl Grey.

The citrus aroma is very nice. There is mainly bergamot with some lemon notes. It has a really good citrus flavour too. This is a new favourite afternoon tea.

Certainly a good tea on snowy winter days.

In my quest to drink more green tea, I decided to have an old favourite. There is a nice toasty scent. The flavour is mainly roasted rice, with some wakame notes.

One of my recent samples. The scent is earthy, and there is a more vegetal aroma when brewed. It has a mild vegetal flavour.

Overall, pretty good and I liked it with my green tea mochi.

This tea smells sweet and grassy, exactly how I expect Korean green tea to smell. The taste is delicate and smooth, a refreshing and easy to drink cup. This is currently my second-favorite green tea. Good for at least two infusions. I’m almost to the end of my sample, and Upton doesn’t have this in stock, so I have more Sejak coming from Harney and Sons. We shall see how it compares.

Well, I wanted a new tea I had never had before. And, as I’m running out of those, here we are.
Bought this as part of a quasi-sampler of green teas from Upton. I’ve had varying results so far so we shall see.
Western style prep, 2tsp for 12oz, 180F water at 3 minutes.
Taste is… holy crap does that taste like sweet peas. No really, it’s exactly what I would imagine sweet pea to taste like. It’s green pea flavored, but sweeter. I guess you could chalk that up to a yummy green tea flavor. I’m also getting a hay aftersip, which is different but not bad. This is one of the greener greens I’ve had. It’s actually really good. I know I’ve said I don’t like grassy flavors, but the natural sweetness in this one overrides the negativity I might feel about the grass flavor. Yummy yummy. I’d call this green tea experiment a rousing success. Absolutely delicious.

Ok, another added tea. This time, it is the “Naturally flavored Vanilla black tea” from Upton. Smell in bag is, well, not good. It smells like the vanilla has gone straight past body spray and into licorice territory. Some people might like that, but I don’t. This tea already has me concerned. But, onward for SCIENCE!
Western prep. 2tsp for 12oz cup, 4min at boiling water.
Taste is… blech that’s bad. Unfortunately that offputting licorice smell makes it into the tea. The vanilla, while supposedly natural, is like drinking vanilla extract. It’s so dominant, I really can’t even taste the black tea base. This is awful. I wonder if sweetener would help, but honestly I think I am just going to call this one a loss. The only remotely decent thing about this tea is it’s crisp mouthfeel. Only any goodness from that is taken to a negative level.
It’s a very sharp, dry tea- if you like that sort of thing. It leaves me personally feeling like I have dry mouth. I’ve never been one for dry wines, I suppose that would explain why I don’t like dry teas. There’s a word people use: Astringency. I think that applies here. I really am not completely sure what astringency is in a cup of tea. All I know is I feel like I just ate a mouthfull of dry coffee creamer. Horrible. Do not recommend at all. Go back, Upton, and try again.

Another green tea. I know I’m testing the limits here drinking this at 5am but oh well.
This one has long curled green and white leaves that, in bag, smell somewhat fruity and sweet. It’s a wonderful smell that compelled me to drink some despite the odd hour.
Prepared western style, 180F water at 3 min. Smell while brewing is very grassy, which has me slightly concerned. The brewing smell is completely different from dry leaf smell.
Taste once brewed is… oddly familiar. It reminds me of the green tea that Adagio uses in its Jasmine scented teas. Actually I’m pretty sure it is the same tea. The flavor is slightly vegetal, while also floral and mildly sweet. I’m getting a dry grass flavor predominately, but not so much as to be offputting. Unfortunately those sweet fruity scents that the dry leaf has do not really translate over except in a aftersip taste. Basically after you drink this, if you wait a few minutes, the lingering flavor turns from one of hay, to mouth full o’berries. Its a bit odd and I really wish that fruity flavor translated into the actual tea itself. In the end, this is 100% drinkable and I do enjoy it. This I would consider a successful green tea experience. Bring on more like it.

Well, I rebought this. Big bag this time. This is my current Go-To nighttime tea. I want to try and cut off my caffeine at a certain point of evening, so I’ve been drinking this and a couple other rooibos at night instead of actual tea.

Also, I did what I said I would do. I tried it with a single splenda. It really does complement the flavor well. The tartness isn’t overwhelmed by the sweetness, but the added sweetness very much brings out the natural vanilla of the rooibos. So in the end the result is sort of a ‘blueberries and cream’ flavor, without actually using any milk. It’s very tasty. AND, since splenda is not sugar, I don’t have to worry about it keeping me awake! Double win!

Sipdown #7

Back again with the Bluberry Rooibos, I really like this one. It’s slightly tart, but not so much as to be sour. It has a really good flavor. I almost want to try it with a single splenda, to see how that would complement the flavor. It’s slightly woody, although I can tolerate it. Ever so mild vanilla flavor. All in all good stuff.

Huzzah. Another adventure into the world of rooibos. This time, we are trying a more fruity variety, instead of the traditional vanilla overkill.
Smell in bag is very distinctly blueberry. Strong fruity smell.
Prepared western style, far more conservatively than package suggests, with boiling water and only a 4 min steep rather than 8 minutes.
Taste of tea is… pleasing. I am definitely getting that blueberry tartness, but not so tart as to be sour or unpleasant. It’s a mild tartness. There’s supposedly grapes in this as well and I’m getting a bit of either that or the black currant. I’m not good enough at this yet to say which. There is a background woody flavor here, that while consistently present, doesn’t overtake the rest of the tea. It’s a very balanced tea, and one of the first rooibos teas I’ve tried that I thoroughly enjoy. I may actually get this one again. It’s not my favorite tea ever, but by far my favorite rooibos I’ve tried. Thumbs up to this one. Good job.