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My fondness for this tea is growing. There’s nothing showy about it — it’s just an unadorned whole-leaf green — but there’s something vastly comforting about it. I think the caffeine level is just right for making me feel focused and grounded.

I put these two together because the Shou Mei seemed so plain and sharp on its own and the Sweet Almond Green, while a wonderful idea, has some chemically thing going on that lingers in the aftertaste. I hoped they might neutralize each other, and to an extent they do. The flavors don’t merge as much as I expected, and if I’d bought this in a store I’d wonder why the blendmaster had put such a rough base with a sweet flavoring. But for my first blending experiment, it’s not bad.

Third time’s the charm. Finally realized I was using too MUCH tea (the instructions were on the bag the whole time but somehow I didn’t see them?! Even though I looked? A sorry insight into how my brain works before caffeine) and mucking up the flavor. While still not strong, I can taste the vanilla and bergamot; it seems that the base tea flavor was overwhelming them before. Though the cup is more balanced now, there’s something about that base tea I just don’t like. Not sure what Upton is using, but this seems to be an issue for me with all their flavored teas.

The last tea I’ve tried of the oolong sampler, as well as my Upton order. This is a pleasant but unsurprising finish. It tastes very similar to the Formosa Jade Oolong. With repeated drinking I’ll probably be able to pinpoint the differences, but right now it’s what they have in common that really stands out: that wonderful honey flavor.

While all the other teas in the sampler had those lovely rolled leaves, in this one they’re chopped up for some reason. I’m still not sure how chopping/rolling effects tea flavor. So far I’ve only steeped this once, so we’ll see if it holds up as well as the rolled leaves did.

This is the first time I’ve ordered anything from Upton. Though their customer service was very good, in many ways I found the teas unimpressive. Flavored teas, in particular, don’t seem to be their strength — I always felt there was something artificial about them. The unflavored teas were better but (and this may largely be due to my inexperience – I didn’t know what to buy) I didn’t end up with anything that I just loved (though I did try some pretty interesting stuff. I’m looking at you, Moonlight White).

The oolongs were the best of the lot by far. While I’ve had (pricier) oolongs that I’ve liked better, Upton’s were all quite nice and even on my slender budget, are affordable enough to drink everyday, which I quite appreciate.

Upton kindly threw in a free sample of this with my order. While I think I prefer Twinings’ version (it’s smoother and more balanced) this is a solid Irish Breakfast. Has some interesting malty notes and a slightly bitter but not unpleasant undertone.

Dry, this tea smells delicious, lemony and chocolaty, and the cornflower and sunflower petals make it very pretty. Alas, the tea doesn’t really live up to its promise. I vaguely taste chocolate and (even more faintly) lemon, but more than anything I get that licorice sweetener flavor. Licorice is not listed in the ingredients, so I don’t know if it got smuggled in under ‘natural and artificial flavors’ (this seems unlikely) or if it’s just a strange effect of the combined flavors. I’m not getting bergamot at all, and while I prefer my bergamot to be light, I expect SOME sign of its presence. I mean, that’s what makes it Earl Grey. I can’t figure out what Upton is using for their base tea in these blends, but I wish they’d pick something with more personality.

Despite this rather grumbling review, the tea’s not unpleasant. It’s just not the punchy rich tea I was hoping for.

Third tea I’ve tried from the Upton Oolong sampler. It’s quite similar to their Formosa Amber Oolong but with even stronger honey notes and a touch of floral. Not much aroma dry, but once brewed it smells delightfully of raw clover honey. I’m pretty new to oolongs and even I can tell these aren’t high-end teas, but they are very decent and considering the generous size of the sample tins, the price can’t be beat.

The leaves of this tea are quite lovely. They remind me of the Russian olive trees I had around my house growing up, and I don’t know if it’s some weird sense memory playing tricks on me, but it seems to smell a lot like those trees as well. Can a tea taste olivey? Or maybe it’s seaweedy? Despite this description, it’s actually a pretty pleasant tea in an unusual kind of way. I’m just not getting the melon notes other people described; I wonder if I messed it up in the brewing? Maybe the water was hotter than I thought.

An ok tea. This is the last of the teas that I got in the Upton flavored sampler, which overall was drinkable but unimpressive. I think they used the same tea base for this one and their vanilla tea, and it tastes a bit flat in both cases, though the vanilla compensates for it better; this one does have a weakly fruity taste, but it’s not particularly mango.

Very pleased with this one. It’s earthy, with a kind of mushroomy sweetness. I’m having a hard time picking out individual notes, but the overall flavor is robust and comes across as natural and wholesome. So far I’ve steeped it twice and it’s still going strong. As per the instructions, I used a whomping tablespoon, but as the leaves are very large and loose, this wasn’t so much tea after all. This is the third Upton oolong I’ve tried, and my favorite so far.