Uva Highlands

This tea is strong, with a bitterness and astringency that grows with every sip. I took it in my tumbler to do errands on Saturday morning and I could handle it unadulterated, but just barely. It might be quite good with milk and sugar; I have enough in my sample to try it that way next time. That said, I won’t mind if it isn’t; there’s a plethora of excellent Harney breakfast teas (that New Vithanakande was so good!) so not immediately loving another is in a way a blessing and relief, ha.

another tea in my fall cupboard cleaning bunch…gotta make room for new ones as the weather gets colder. This Ceylon became one of my go-to teas for the occasion that I just wanted a nice, plain cuppa. Its brisk and can be easily overbrewed, but takes to watering (down) like a duck! Hot or cold.

Tried this today from a coworker’s new stash. First off – tiny, tiny, tiny leaves! It reminds me of a Pakistani tea someone brought me – almost looks like instant coffee. Harney site suggests brewing 5 minutes. Coworker said it about knocked his socks off at 5 minutes so I went with 1 1/2. A nice, simple tea for daily use is what I’d say this is. Nothing fancy, just good ol’ tea flavor. Good hot, good cold. I got no hints of mint at all though.

Haven’t had this one in a long time. I asked my random tea generator (my twelve year old daughter) what I should drink today and she said, “Uva Highlands!” So here we are.

This is a rotovaned tea, so I figured it could only withstand a short steeping. I pulled the leaves out at three minutes and I think that was just right for me. It is described by Harney and Sons as a bright, brisk tea, and I would have to say that is accurate. This is a pick me up tea, not like a bold and well-muscled breakfast tea, but it is NOT a sit-and-sip-and-meditate soothing cup…to me. It is an eye-opener. My tongue is tingling. I thought I wasn’t getting the wintergreen aspect, but it really came on as a long-lasting aftertaste. A fun cup for this morning, but not a favorite. I like teas that wrestle me out of bed and into my day, or that pat me on the hand and say, “There, there” when I need it.

UVA Highlands is a brisk Ceylon tea with hints of Wintergreen and background notes of Ceylon tea flavors

My tin of this Uva Highlands tea is now over five years old, and I find today that I like it more than I did previously. Either it has gotten stale, or improved with age… You decide! Or perhaps this reflects my switch to using alpine spring water instead of murky tapwater. So I’m boosting my rating by ten points. The leaf is deep chocolatey-brown in color, and composed of broken particles a few mm in diameter, and swelling to about twice that post-steep. They do not appear to have been rolled as a typical CTC product. I used a rounded teaspoonful of tea in a stainless steel infusion basket and 10 ounces of boiling spring water, steeping for four minutes in my mug, western style.

The result was a medium brown, clear liquor. I still detect the characteristic wintergreen aroma on the nose and on the tongue at the start of each sip. But the tea is very strong, astringent, and slightly bitter. Overall, I am enjoying it, but have decided I just don’t like the wintergreen notes. Beyond that, I find a long cedar-wood finish, consisting primarily of what I call the characteristic Ceylon flavor, distinct from the Assamic flavor and others that you might assign to tea types and cultivars, such as China Black, Long Jing, etc. I think it may be interesting to try a steeping at reduced temperature to see if I can knock-down the astringency and bitter notes, allowing the other traits to emerge.

Very astringent when brewed for 3:30, I’m still looking for the right temperature. There’s a definite fruitiness/sweetness lurking in the background that I’m excited to find.

When I want to get hashtag #WOKE in the afternoons, this is one of my go-to teas. It really packs a wallop and makes itself felt in minutes. Tingly astringent, and easy to over-steep, so watch your weights and times, but done correctly and you’ll be rewarded with a naturally minty, citrusy, vegetal cup that will soothe the soul while simultaneously unleashing your inner beast. (*NOTE: as always, I drink my teas straight, sans milk & sugar. Maybe sometimes I’ll have a biscuit with a cup; more often, not. YMMV with those things added; they’re outside the scope of my notes.)

I have liked teas from this region of Ceylon. This just didn’t do it for me. Way too astringent for my liking. Was similar to a CTC cut for the tea…I am wondering if that is why it’s so bitter. I am sure this tea would be great with cream and sugar, but to me that’s a sign of a poor tea. I will probably use the rest to make chai with.

I realized I recommended this Ceylon tea to someone on Steepster without having ever posted an official review of it, so here we go!

I brewed 9 grams of dried leaves this morning in 20 ounces of near-boiling water for four minutes. The dried leaves themselves are small, broken pieces (not fannings, though), so I probably could’ve gone with a shorter steep time.

The brewed liquor comes out dark and quite full-bodied—like coffee. I didn’t pick up on any specific aromas from the liquor or the dried leaves.

The flavor is definitely unique—astringent almost to the point of bitterness (but some of that would definitely be relieved with a shorter steep time). I am picking up on what others have described as the wintergreen flavor in the tea, but it seems more menthol to me than wintergreen. After sipping and swallowing the tea, there is a lingering coolness in my mouth that is similar to menthol. This is definitely a unique tea experience for me—not unpleasant, but I don’t think I’d want to drink this every day.

Overall, it is a good tea that I’ll continue to enjoy having. It is an excellent replacement for the fullness of coffee, if that is what you’re looking for, but with a pleasant cool finish.