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Recently tried this when I went to Seven Cups of Tea. They were out of the Keemun I wanted to try, so on the suggestion of the lovely lady at the store I tried this one. I really loved this one and bought some to bring home. This tea stands up to many many brews. I brewed three tiny pots and then two large to go cups and there is still flavor; I just give slightly more brew time each time. Their is a lovely round umami feel to this one despite being a black tea. I catch bits of sweet potato, apricot, malt and fig with just a bit of nice tannin astringency. The smell of the brewed leaves is sweet and just a tad fruity with some maltiness. The woman mentioned that this is the perfect tea in between the fruit and spice and I believe her! The label mentions you can brew it six times.

This is an interesting blend. Its a basic black with a whisp of acidity and the fruit comes through a bit in the smell and aftertaste. I taste and smell peach, mango, apricot and almonds. It is not however overwhelmingly sweet; just a bit refreshing and tart. Almost like the jammy notes you’d find in a big red wine. I would definitely drink again as the fruit notes are light handed which is hard to find in the fruit flavored teas.

This is the first genmaicha I’ve ever tried. One of my favorite authors @neilhimself had mentioned this is his favorite tea and I wanted to try it ever since. I happily got this as a free sample from Upton. I really though this tea was outstanding! The idea of rice in the tea blend was very strange to me, but as soon as I tasted it, I understood. The counterpoint of the greenness of the tea with the nutty toastiness of the rice is very balanced. Its almost like taking a whiff of a bucket of popcorn and drinking tea or smelling your morning cereal. It sounds strange, but it works. Its a very smooth and relaxing cup and I would most definitely buy a tin of it.

This tea tastes a bit sweet to me. The first time I tried it I though it was too punchy and sweet. I am typically a black tea drinker and not a fan of fruit teas, so maybe this isn’t for me. I didn’t find anything offensive about it. Its just not my cup of tea. I preferred it far more blended with a Ceylon or Keemun, which milded up the fruitiness just a little bit.

This is the first Lapsang Souchong I’ve ever had and I’m not sure how it compares to non-organic Upton version. Its so interesting for me. I can’t smell this and not think of my grandpa’s cabin in the pines on the Olympic peninsula. My grandpa’s cabin had a wood burning stove for heat year round and during the summers we would help him split wood to get ready for winter. I can just remember sitting on his log splitter and splitting wood with the crisp damp Pacific Northwest air wrought with the smell of pine and smoke from his fire. He smoked a pipe and a bit of tobacco smell is also woven through this cup The tea is extremely smoky in the leaves with slightly less in the brewed cup. It is wrought with bits of mint and menthol and a touch of toasty sweetness. I don’t think I could drink this every day, but I want to drink it every time I want to remember my grandpa and the wonderful summers at his cabin.

This is an interesting one for me. I don’t typically drink herbal teas, so this is unusual for me. It has a lovely cinnamon aroma and a pale yellow green brew. The taste is obviously very herbal, but dominated by the cinnamon with a touch of spiciness and almost menthol like notes. I like it for every once in a while, but I don’t love it.

This is the third Ceylon I’ve ever tried and two out of three have been great. This is one of the wonderful ones. Like most Ceylon the leaves are twisted wiry tendrils that are a bit dark. This one has chestnut colored leaves interspersed. The smell of the leaves is dark like dried currants and raisins with a touch of aged leather smell. The tea is an explosion of flavor with vanilla, spice and fruit and wisp of smoke. Tastes great sweetened or unsweetened. There is a lovely orange spice to the smell of the brewed leaves. I am not sure whether I like it more or less than the Malikkanda that I have a tin of . . . very close. I’m starting to swing away from Darjeelings toward the lovely Ceylons.

This is the nicest Jasmine I’ve had in a long time. It has the beautiful scent in the cup and leaves, but it doesn’t follow into the taste. You know how with a bad Jasmine you feel a bit like you’re swallowing perfume; good news is this is the opposite of that. A good clean, smooth green flavor that is light and not overpowering. The leaves are rolled snail style and unfurl into little yellow ribbons.

Perhaps Pu-erh is not for me. The fannings are finely ground and look a lot like coffee grounds. The smell is very rich and dark with sort of an earthy twist. Brewed the leaves smell faintly fishy and fermented with a sort of loamy, mossy aftertaste. It doesn’t taste strong in the generic Assam tea sense, but brewed it is a dark chocolate that looks more like coffee. I can’t quite put my finger on the taste as its somewhere between a fermented peat and a malt. The smell is remarkably soy sauce like. It doesn’t quite taste like tea to be honest. Almost like coffee with none of the bitterness or caramel sweetness. I think what I don’t like is that it tastes almost savory to me though the addition of sugar helped. I have heard pu-erh is an acquired taste and I’m not sure right now if it’ll grown on me or grate on my nerves.

Foremost this is a very smooth black tea. There is no acidity or bitterness and only this lovely bright black tea flavor. That sounds very generic I know, but I really can’t think of any adjectives that I usually use for tea. No fruit or spices that I notice. The mouth feel is similar to a mild less smoky Keemun or a less complex and fruit forward Golden Monkey. The leaves are quite large and twisted and expand to a deep chestnut on brewing. I admire the quality of this tea, and I will definitely drink up my sample, I’m just not tempted to buy it. I get a hint of apple skin and dried fruit in the aroma of the leaves. A very mild and nice afternoon or morning cup.