Upton Tea Imports

Steeped up a whole pot of this to watch the world cup this morning, and then did a second steep for extra time. Was a good tea to drink for a serious and competitive game with hints of copper and malt, with just a little astringency at the end to let you know this is an Awesome tea. My favorite Upton assam is their ctc which brews up super quick without being bitter. This one comes in as a close second and I’d add this to a purchase.

My dad got this sample in his latest Upton order so he brewed us up a whole pot of this tea. This might be too sweet honey taste for me. In my head I’m comparing this to a favorite Maya Apricot tea and it comes up lacking. It smells more woodsy and rooibos but it tastes very sweet and apricot. My dad who puts honey in all his cups of tea liked this cup.

I believe this is the last of the tea I received from Meowster’s cupboard de-stash back in 2018 (the tea itself is likely much older than that). For the sipdown prompt, “a Chinese tea.”

The smell of my warm cuppa is delightful. I get a cocoa-esqe backdrop with a sweet floral rose note, underneath a much stronger brisk smokiness. All my favorite things in a Chinese tea, and I’m surprised it still has such a distinct aroma for such an old tea.

The brew is rich with an umami quality I often taste in Chinese blacks but can’t describe well… something about the brassy malt, deep smokiness, and slight honeyed tones read as a sort of “barbecue sauce” or “steak marinade” flavor. The cocoa and rose mostly appear late in the sip or as an aftertaste that lingers on my tongue.

Super satisfying. I wasn’t expecting such good results from such an old tea. It will make for an easy sipdown!

I had a small sampler of this acquired back in 2018 from Meowster’s cupboard de-stash (Thanks, Meowster!) and I imagine the age of the tea is older than that. I decided to coldbrew the entire 6g sampler overnight.

I don’t think I’ve ever coldbrewed a silver needle tea, but this is delicious! It has a strong citrus flavor, like lemon in mineral water, as well as a florality that reads a bit like the peppery-floral taste of crysanthemum and a sweeter pollen-floral taste. Very refreshing!

My son broke the bottom part of my gong fu set. I’ve torn a paper cup in half in order to steep this tea. Not ideal but it works. And this tea is just the kick in the pants I need in order to “It is what it is” and get on with this day. A bold and hearty breakfast blend this one is. As it should be. It’s always weird when I encounter a weak breakfast blend. A bit astringent but not overly so. Though if I let it sit longer it definitely could be. A clear orange-amber in liquor color. Slight varnish but more woodsy. Wet decaying wood and wet forest floor. Also slightly volcanic. This is Travel Tea: Kalahari Resort addition.

For the sipdown prompt, “an Indian tea.” I received this from Meowster’s cupboard de-stash back in 2018 (thanks, Meowster!), and suspect the tea is a lot older than that, so well past it’s prime.

We are finally getting some respite from the constant heat with a rare rainy day, so I’m taking this small window of opportunity to actually enjoy a hot cup of tea rather than the cold brew I’ve been sucking on for months now. No doubt I’ll be cold brewing the remainder of this when the temperatures jump back up to mid-90s after the weekend…

The aroma off the too-hot-to-drink cup smells grainy, like a hay/wheat/oats aroma, with a subtle florality in the background. I’m a bit unimpressed by the taste, and I’m not sure if that’s just me not vibing with this tea, or if the age is bringing out less than favorable qualities… It has a strong dry hay flavor, with a more subtle oatiness, and a bit of a citrus quality, though it leans very dry and herbaceous (the best I can use to describe it is “stale lemongrass.”) There is a sort of bitter aftertaste that has a sharp pollen taste to it… makes me think I’m chewing on dandelion heads.

Perhaps cold brewing will mellow out some of the sharper edges a bit. If not, I’m sure a little lemon juice and honey will make it easy enough to clear out the bag.

This was a sample from an order. The first steep wasn’t bad, a fair example of a golden Yunnan with some chocolatey notes, but the second steep is rather weak so I don’t think I’d seek this out for purchase.

One of my daily-drivers. I probably drink it once a week. If you’ve never tried the smokey campfire goodness that is Lapsang, you really owe yourself to try a few cups. An acquired taste definitely worth the effort.

While fruit flavored teas often make for make for a beautiful British-style cup, my problem has always been staying power. The first cup is amazing, but as we reach cup 5, 10, 20, I simply lose interest. This tea broke records, 200g and many months later I’m only just now noticing the last of my tin sitting unused over time.

The lemon flavor in this pops like nothing I’ve seen before. The name is the perfect description: It really is like a lemon candy. It’s absolutely worth a try if you’ve any interest in fruit flavored teas or a british style cup!

This has that red jello flavor that I’ve found in some fruity teas before, especially from Teavivre. It works pretty well here. The flavor isn’t too tart at all. Sweetener helps the flavors shine. I can definitely see this flavor as being cranberry. It’s not complex or amazing, but it’s good enough cold. I’ve been making big pitchers of this and filling my tumbler when I leave the house.

Nice earthy, not quite as rich as kenum snail, but pretty good.

This one is a bit finicky to brew just right, I somehow remember more chocolate notes in the previous pot. Today’s brew was slightly chocolate and astringent to finish. The second steep is just ok. I would purchase this again, but its not in my list of top keemuns.

This blend is pretty simple. The flavor is mostly ginger, but the lemongrass breaks up that flavor slightly to make it not as sharp and earthy. I prefer this one warm, as it gets a little weird cold. The resteep tastes strange, so I skip it. I ended up with a 4 oz bag of this, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. It’s just too savory for me to want to drink all the time. I don’t know if I love the inclusion of licorice and mint in here.

My dad seems to like this tea, but its not what I would normally choose. A cross between lapsang and keemun – a hint of smoke and a hint of sweet. The aftertaste reminds me of a congou. This one from Upton is a bit finicky to brew, easy to get too much leaf and some bitterness. I wouldn’t purchase, but I don’t mind drinking it .

Sample from a TTB. You know, I really like how Upton does EGs. The black tea is nice and hearty. The bergamot is clear and delicious. It goes perfectly with milk. I have no complaints!

I grabbed this sample from a TTB, and I have to say it’s a pretty great EG! Nice strong bergamot flavor, as the name suggests, on top of a smooth black tea. I’m drinking this cold with milk and sugar, and it’s everything I could want from an EG. The resteep is strong and flavorful too.

I’ve been working on this tea and Myrtle’s Tea House since last month and am really ready to move on, so I decided to go with some iced and latte preparations (which use more leaf) to speed up the process. So I used the remainder of my packet of this for a latte with Vanilla Almond Milk. Using it as the February sipdown prompt “Drink a tea that starts with a Periodic Table abbreviation” (O for Oxygen!)

I found in the latte it was still quite malty and bready, but I didn’t really taste any floral or muscatel notes. Rather, a sort of lemon citrusy flavor came forward, which was quite pleasant with the very sweet milk.

Not a bad send-off.

Pulled this old tea I was gifted from Meowster during a cupboard de-stash. Thank you!

Brewed 3.5g in 500ml 190F water for 3 minutes. I managed to get in a few wiffs before it was emptied into the work thermos for the day, and found it surprisingly flowery in aroma for such an old tea. The thermos is now drinkable, and the flavor definitely tastes a little stale/muted from age, but notes of malt, baked bread, raisins, honey, and flowers are still present. It’s also very smooth, with just a bit of a drying quality after the sip — at least with this preparation, I’m not getting the sort of astrigency I come to expect from broken leaf tea.

A Very nice roobios. Rounded, mellow, very finely chopped. Don’t try and steep this in your old tea filter with 1/16" holes – it’ll go right thru. Steeps a medium reddish-brown.

Medium Dark, a Little Tannin, general-purpose Assam. Nothing too special.
Fairly fine cut, a mix of dark and golden tea leaves.

If I had to choose just one black tea to drink forever, this would be it. I actually steep it in a 24oz bottle and drink from that all day. It never gets bitter. Just a lovely tea.

I think I chose this one for a christmas gift tea due to the good reviews on the Upton site. My dad seems to like this one but it took a few times to get a good brew time and leaf ratio (less leaf and less time is best). This certainly does brew up strong and quick. It has a nice metallic and amber twang to it without bitterness. Of course I compare this Awesome tea to my favorite S&V CTC tea in my head and this comes up up short in the complexity department. I’d like to do a head to head taste test but I need to restock the Assam Beesakopie to compare. I would add this to an Upton order if I was low on Assam.

The only thing I have to add to my previous note is that this is not a delicate tea, it is in your face copper and bite. If you like an amber ipa beer you will like this tea. I’ll certainly enjoy this change of pace from the smooth Yunnans I normally drink.