Upton Tea Imports - Online Edit

My first orders of quality tea came from Upton. Have ordered from them multiple times without issue. Their customer service emailed me to offer to combine two orders I placed on the same day to save on shipping (nice). They are still my go-to for Indian Assams & Darjeelings and Sri Lankan Ceylons. They ship fast (most times same-day), have a reasonable flat-rate option, and can get a package to Florida in two days (except around Christmas, which isn’t their fault).

I agree that their web site interface seems clunky at first, but I got used to it without much trouble. They have a running series, “Reversals of Fortune in the Tea Industry”, which makes for fascinating reading and past issues are available on their site.

Worth a look if you’ve never visited.

Upton was my first love, my gateway into the world of loose teas 10 years ago, and holds up beyond any nostalgia factor to this day. A lot of people diplomatically allude to the very Web 1.0 design of the site, but I’m weird maybe and find it charming and appropriate given the classic/old school nature of the company (I used to read the paper catalog on my lunch break and daydream about all those faraway estates back in the day!). I really appreciate that their descriptions are light on the vague subjective poetics and more matter-of-fact “this is the estate, this is the process used, this is the quality grade”—how very gruff New Englander of them!—even if that’s probably just as much a matter of logistics (it’d be hard to come up with new flowery descriptions for their 10 different Thurbos alone, say) as an aesthetic choice. Some of their blends (Earl Grey!) and basics (their darjeelings and Nepalese teas in particular are excellent) are still my go-to pantry/daily essentials. They are like comfort food to me, but with such a wonderfully in-depth detailed menu (again, 5-10 varieties for a single estate alone sometimes!) it’s a kind of comfort that will never get old.

This was my first order/purchase of loose tea of any kind. I saw Upton teas mentioned several times in the discussion threads, so I decided to try them. My experience was top notch. The pricing is very good and the product I purchased is quite tasty (rooibos chai & masala chai). The delivery was from the east coast to CA was very fast. The shipping cost on the box was over $9, yet the shipping I paid on my order was under $5. Both teas are really good. I would have to say that the red chai is the best i have tasted so far. I’m sure I will be purchasing from Upton on a regular basis:).

Upton is fantastic! Fast and secure packaging, fast shipping, and extremely awesome customer service. I’ve never been let down by the company. They go above and beyond for their customers, and it shows! For example, one day I had ordered a bunch of tea, realized I missed one I was going to buy, and figured I had to place another order and pay for another box to be shipped. About an hour later I get an e-mail from Upton saying that they had combined my order to save me money on shipping! Needless to say, I was impressed. It was something that I hadn’t had happen with other vendors, and a huge reason why I recommend them to everyone. The tea selection and quality is fantastic as well. So many choices, all fresh and delicious. Makes me wish my wallet was a bit bigger!

Upton Teas has a fabulous collection and excellent information about all of its teas. I’ve had the best luck with its Indian teas (assams and chai in particular), although I should caution everybody against their scented teas. In particular, beware of the vanilla Earl Grey!

So much to choose from! So many Darjeelings alone! That’s what drew me to order from Upton in the first place. I was able to try eight different ones for under $20 with shipping.

Once you are able to even narrow down what you want and place the order, everything feels very personalized for you, from the emails about the order to opening up the box and seeing the packaging dates on the pouches.

The website does feel a bit hard to navigate, but now that there’s a wish list option, it has felt much easier to access for me. When I need more things to try from a variety of estates, I’ll be ordering again.

Shipping is a flat $4.40 and the box is even very nice.

In setting this up as a place, I did not realize how many reviews were on Yelp. It might be a good idea to check those out as well. I did see a pretty good photo of the general packaging there.

I have been a customer of this company for quite some time. I have to admit that I was initially a bit apprehensive because their website seems a little harder to use than some. However, once I started clicking around, it made sense and it works. Their offerings are extensive, and they offer samples of everything, the cost of which is dependent on the cost of the actual tea. Samples are packaged in a foil pouch without a seal, but they are big enough that you can easily fold them over and clip (paper clip, binder clip, chip clip, etc.) for later use. Their normal packaging is a heavy foil zipper pouch, but for around $2 to $3 (depending on the size) for most things you can choose to order your selection in a tin. The tins are a square based prism with a circular plug top. The labels are personalized with the name of your choice and the date of your order. They also offer the tins for sale as well as extra labels for those of you who buy in bulk and transfer to a smaller tin. There are also many other packaging options that you can purchase from bags to the smaller tins they use in samplers, and caddies. They also have quite a selection of teaware.

The hardest thing about shopping here is deciding what to try first. I have ordered many things from herbals and chais to Golden Monkey. My experience has been mostly with their Chinese Black teas, but there is something in every price range. Their Season’s Pick items are usually their bargain teas, but usually you do have to purchase a minimum of 250grams of them. I have heard their Indian teas are where they really shine, due to the huge range of offerings.

Their shipping is incredibly prompt. It takes one business day to go out. Their shipping is flat rate, but they do have more premium options. They don’t really make sense for me as I get my packages from them in Ohio in 2 days with their flat rate. I have ordered well over 10 times, and they are incredibly consistent. I have not seen any coupon codes or specials of that nature, but they do send an occasional free sample. Most of their samples are around a buck (except for the more premium teas), so it is nice that you can try exactly what you want for just a little money.

As for customer service, they answer their emails quickly. I did have an issue once where a tea bag clip I purchased was defective, but I had a replacement as quickly as the mail could get it to me. They also respond very quickly with answers to general questions and will make recommendations when looking for a certain flavor profile. They are very good about forewarning short shutdowns for certain holidays.