Upton Tea Imports

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

98

Love this tea for winter! Well-balanced chocolate and spice notes. I received this as part of a holiday sampler from Upton Tea Imports but will definitely reorder.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91

A wonderful tasting tea, that just gets better with each infusion. In the first infusion the tea has a slightly earthy mild smooth taste, but after an additional infusion the tea took on a slightly sweeter flavor. I was able to infuse this tea 3 times without losing any of the beauty of the flavor.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Not even a cup of this bold, delicious, malty, full flavored tea rounded out with a splash of milk and a dash of sugar could keep me awake for a complete viewing of the film Che!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
milkfirst

I was just noticing this in Upton’s catalog and thinking I wanted to try it—thanks, J!

JacquelineM

They have so many delicious well priced Assams! I love Upton!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Delicious! Super flavorful and not a hint of bitterness or astringency. Very nice with milk and sugar. It’s pretty perfect, but I’m curious to see what 30 more seconds might add to the flavor.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

70

I’m kinda torn on this tea.

Both the dry leaf and the brew seriously lack in the aroma department. I can catch very light Darjeeling notes but they are hardly prominent. Also the leaf is very fluffy and I have to use a lot of it to extract the flavor.

On the other hand the tea tastes great. It is very pleasant and easy to drink, it would make a perfect everyday tea. The flavor is very mellow and light, fruity with Darjeeling background. I’m not sure if it’s close to the first flush or the second, if i had to make a call I’d say it’s something in-between.

Second infusion – 5 mins @ 190F. Less enjoyable. The initial sweetness is gone and the flavor is definitely drier and more astringent now.

Photo-report: http://tiny.cc/Sn2i0

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec
takgoti

Lovely picture!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92

A tasty, fruity rooibos. Almost like drinking hot juice.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86

Happy last-day-of-2009! It took me a couple pots to realize that this actually tastes closer to a keemun than what I’m used to from other golden monkeys. As such, it becomes a late-morning/early-afternoon tea for me. The liquid is bright reddish-orange and I can smell hints of cocoa. It’s really smooth too—I find myself wanting to lick the front of my teeth every time I take a sip.

Upton is 2 for 2 so far and quickly winning me over.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
takgoti

Happy almost New Year to you too!

LENA

Mmm, sounds good to me! Happy New Year!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

We have decided that we don’t like to go out to movies anymore. First, there are no cuddly dogs and cats at the theater. Second, too many people talk in the theater! And third, they do not serve stovetop chai at the concession stand!

Even though this is not my favorite chai by itself, it’s very good mixed half and half with Golden Moon’s Kashmiri chai. The resulting chai has a bit more oomph, and that little bit of chocolate is delightful. This tea can have flavor and astringency issues on its own, but the mixture helps tone them down. I don’t think I’ll repurchase this when it’s gone, but mixing it is a tasty way to use it up :)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 8 min or more
Rabs

I will go occasionally to a “hoity toity artsy fartsy” movie theater (generally there are respectful audiences). It’s extremely rare for me to go to the movies nowadays for many of the reasons that you’ve given. I morph into a grumpy old lady and mutter “I won’t pay $10 to listen to other people talk or use their cell phones to either talk, text, or take video clips/pictures during the film.” I loves me some Netflix.

JacquelineM

We had probably our worst “talker” ever at an art house when we saw Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies. He pontificated about Tarr and the Hungarian cinema for a good third of the film – glares didn’t work, excuse me didn’t work, finally my husband had to say something to him! He was such a jerk that after the movie he came up to us and almost started a fist fight! Astonishing! We think we are “talker” magnets – they always sit near us!!!

We love Netflix too!

Dan

Doesn’t everyone have Netflix? My wife says that the more people I meet, the more I love my dogs.

JacquelineM

Dan, you wife is a very wise woman!! (and dogs are a lot for us humans to live up to with their sweetness, cuddly lil cuteness, unconditional love, funny antics, and complete excitement when you get home!!!)!

SoccerMom

I love watching movies with my dog he doesn’t talk and he’s too old to get up and down too much. Sometimes he does snore a little too loudly though!

AmazonV

we usually go to the firs showing, weeks after release, to a huge theater, and get the place mostly to ourselves

i don’t think we go too often though, once a month or less?

JacquelineM

SoccerMom – my dog is an old snorer too!!!

AmazonV – we try and go to the first showing too – so much less $$!! We are talker magnets tho – even in an almost empty theater we get talkers!!!! We are also uncanny about getting in the slowest line at the market – ALWAYS the slowest line even if we get into it when there is only one person before us and the other lines have a bunch of people. Aaaaaahhh!!!

AmazonV

remind me not o go out to the grocery store with you! :) that is bad luck, perhaps the universe is telling you your home grown food is much yummier and it’s silly to go out to the market? :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

I made 3 teaspoons of this tea with a cup of milk, a cup of water, a teaspoon of Scharffen Berger cocoa powder…

…simmer 7 minutes…

…put a teaspoon of Tupelo honey in each cup…and strain into 2 cups.

It didn’t come close to Golden Moon’s Kashmiri Chai! It was very good but not nearly as good as that Magic Elixir!!! Gotta lower the rating on this one. Husband agreed.

Lori

I had this one this morning and it was good. But I think your preparation was much better…

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

We’re having a cold snap here on the East Coast. Tonight, I wanted something warm and spicy. I’m not getting any cocoa notes this evening! I used pure maple syrup instead of sugar for a bit of sweetness – could that be the reason why? Maybe honey would have been a better choice? I want my cocoa notes back!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

Tonight’s dinner didn’t turn out as well as I hoped :( so I wanted our evening tea to be something special. Mélange de Chamonix to the rescue! This cocoa and spice tea made our palates very happy once again!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

Spiced grownup hot cocoa tea :) I taste the cardamom strongly, then a bit of cinnamon, all enveloped in cocoa with a medium bodied black tea. I kinda want to drink it every single day until Spring!!!! Delicious!!!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Upton’s description of this tea talks about “Burgandy nuances” and “hints of oak.” Mmm, no, not tasting any of that.

I knew I was going to like this Keemun better than some of my recent tastings of this genre just by looking at the leaves. While they were dark, they didn’t look like they were covered in creosote, which at least showed promise that this tea wouldn’t taste tarry like some other Keemuns I’ve had recently.

The liquor is dark and the taste has hints of dark chocolate, obscured somewhat by that incessant smoky thing so many Keemuns seem to have. Is there a perpetual forest fire in An Hui Province? What’s with the damn smoky overtones? And if you oversteep this stuff, it taste like tobacco, which isn’t something I necessarily seek in my teas or in any other aspect of my life. Overall, this tea isn’t bad, but I’d love to taste more of the chocolate thing and less of the smoldering fire.

From what I understand, most of the black tea made (if “made” is the right verb to describe tea) in China is for Western consumption since the Chinese themselves prefer greens and oolongs. So, if that’s the case, I’m wondering if there are really that many westerners who are really into these smoky teas. Keemun grades like Mao Feng, which I think of as being less smoky, command a higher price. Is there a correlation there?

I’ve got two more Keemun samples in the pantry, an organic OP and an organic FOP. But I’m kinda Keemuned out at the moment. Plus I just got a shipment in from Rishi that has a Yunnan bud tea in it (Ancient Tree Golden Needles) that seems to be calling my name — in some strange Midwestern accent, no less. “Rahb. Rahb.” I think I’ll leave the Keemuns alone for a while.

Keemun Dao Ming available for purchase at…

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=ZK24&begin=0&parent=Teas%3EBlack%3EChina&category=Keemun&sortMethod=0&categoryID=11

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Ricky

Actually, Chinese do not prefer Green tea. Pu-erh (watered down) is generally the main choice of tea served in Chinese restaurants. I’ve never been to a restaurant where they’ve served green tea. It’s either that or sweetened chrysanthemum tea. For Oolong, Ti Kuan Yin, is very popular, but if I recall you know that already.

Green tea adheres to westerns for the health benefits, the same goes for tea blends. Chinese is more about keeping the tradition. As for smokey tea, Golden Monkey is popular among Chinese, but it’s considered high end. Err, there as another tea that was pretty popular that I can’t recall at the moment. Oh, yeah Jasmine flavored teas are pretty popular too.

Carolyn

I have wondered myself if the Keemun growing area is excessively smoky from wood-burning stoves. I had not thought that there was a perpetual forest fire but now that you suggest it…

Nice review.

East Side Rob

Carolyn, you know I was kidding about the forest fire, right? I suspect that the tea masters who make this stuff are using smoky fires in the cooking process. I’d prefer, however, to taste more of the leaf and less of the chef, if you know what I mean. More like the teas from India, Sri Lanka, and some areas of Yunnan (although some Yunnans can be smokey, too).

Carolyn

Hi East Side Rob, Yes, I got the humor and enjoyed it quite a bit. I thought I was responding with light humor myself (thus the elipsis) but it is often difficult for me to know when normal prose style will do fine and when one must use an emoticon. (There should be a Strunk & White specifically for the Internet.)

I agree with your expression of exasperation about the smokiness. It often seems to me that there are wonderful notes covered up by that smokiness in Keemun blacks.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

99

This is the most expensive tea I’ve ever bought and came in such a tiny amount (only enough for one cup) that I’ve been reluctant to try it in the course of my normal days. Today is the day I break open this excessively expensive packet of tea and see what the fuss is about.

The dry leaves are very similar to my favorite Upton tea, Bohea Select, which is not surprising since this is Bohea Select’s bigger and more elaborately hyped sister tea. The smell is similar to keemuns I’ve tasted with that slightly book-dry, slightly caramel smell. Upton says that there is a floral note there as well and I can barely smell it. As the tea develops in the cup it takes on greater sweetness. It brews into a paler color than my Bohea, but that just may be because I normally use a lot more tea than I received in this sample.

The taste is complex with the same keemun-like book dry and caramel notes as well as as a sweetness. There is no bitterness or astringency. It is a very enjoyable tea with a great deal of complexity that would be fun to explore. But is it worth $988 a pound to me? Probably not.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec
Angrboda

Sounds like me and the uber-special Pu Ti Cha a while ago. I’ve still got the other half of that lying around and can’t make myself use it.

LENA

wow…that’s not a cheap one! at least it scored a 99 in your book!

Carolyn

@Angrboda think it is exactly the same situation.

@LENA Yes, because of the price it will never score a 100 sadly. But it is a very tasty and complex tea. Wouldn’t be wonderful to have all the money you needed to buy any tea you wanted over and over?

takgoti

When I win the lottery, I’ll buy you a couple of pounds.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

54

I am not a big fan of this tea, its OK, but I cant help thinking about how much more I enjoy some other white teas I have had in the past. I find it to be a little bitter and it leaves a bit of a funky coating in my mouth.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83
drank Gyokura by Upton Tea Imports
236 tasting notes

I woke last night with an anxiety attack and during my nocturnal research (with heart pounding) I came across the information that gyokura has the highest quantity of theanine (a calming component of tea). First thing this morning I fixed a cup of Gyokura (and ordered more). It has a nice nutty vegetal taste and it worked. I do feel calmer. Now on to something sterner.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 0 min, 30 sec
Cofftea

Thanks for the info!:) This is one Japanese green I haven’t tried yet but am definitely looking forward to it.

Carolyn

This was from a sample from Upton. When I ordered more this morning though, I ordered from Den’s because I’m really impressed by the quality of their Japanese green teas. I also used Den’s instructions (15 seconds at 160 degrees) instead of Upton’s.

I think you would like this and, if nothing else, it would give you the calmness to face those bad days you’ve been having. I certainly needed it this morning after yesterday and last night.

Andrea in New Mexico

(What an endorsement! This sounds like something everyone should have on hand!)

Andrea in New Mexico

Did you add anything to it?

Carolyn

No, I didn’t add anything to it. It really doesn’t call for anything. The taste is vegetal and wouldn’t match either honey or milk and it’s a fairly mild tea.

I agree, it is something good to have on hand, especially if one is prone to stress or anxiety. (Which I unfortunately am. I should probably meditate more.)

takgoti

Wow. I’m going to have to keep this in mind. You are just a fountain of information. I mean, seriously.

Carolyn

During a panic attack it’s pretty much a choice of run to the hospital, leave state, or frantically do research on the Internet. I’ve found that running in a panic to the hospital is expensive. My beloved is not amused to be called in the morning from two states away with my explanation that it just seemed like a good idea to drive to Florida at 2 in the morning. So I do the frantic research. Maybe next time I’ll go downstairs and make the gyokura during the panic attack. (Though it may prove to be a bad idea to be that close to the car keys.)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

78

This tasted full of honey notes. Really pleasant to drink.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

32 oz water + 4 tbs River Shannon +1 Tazo Passion full leaf tea sachet + 24 hours + 4 tbs simple syrup = YUM!

This equation brought to you by the fact that I just paid my bills (bill + bill + bill + bill +bill + bill = no money to buy tea until April!)

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

First iced tea of the season! I used 4 cups of filtered water and 4 tablespoons of River Shannon into my pitcher, and put it in the refrigerator for 8 hours. I then made simple syrup (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, put on low to medium heat on stove til combined into clear liquid) and chilled it. When 8 hours elapsed, I strained the tea into a carafe and added 4 tablespoons of simple syrup to sweeten it.

It was really good! I love the cold brew method – no bitterness at all and the tea, which is normally a “puts hair on your chest” strong tea, was mild and delicious. I once made hot brewed iced tea out of a Golden Monkey tea for company (only once because it’s too expensive to use doubled like that!!) and this cold brewed tea reminds me a lot of that!

We have almost drank all 4 cups! I think I’m going to do this again tomorrow and also throw in a bag of the Passion tisane for a fruity variation.

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more
Dan

I’ll try this tomorrow, sounds good.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.