Upton Tea Imports

It’s a “be brave” day. I’m trying pu-erh again. This time it’s the cute looking little tuo cha nests. I have followed the directions rigorously. I’ve boiled my water to 212 degrees. I rinsed it in boiling water then steeped it for six minutes.

The pu-erh tea is thick and black. It smells of leather and grass with a slight sweetness. I added creamer to it as I do to all of my black teas. It isn’t too bad, which is not to say that it is all that good either. Still, it doesn’t smell or taste like dung, which is my previous pu-erh benchmark. There is a slight saltiness and the leather smell carries through to the taste. It still turns my stomach over, though.

I think this is a pretty definitive test. I am a failure at pu-erh appreciation. Does anyone want the rest of the pu-erh sample?

It has a pretty chartreuse green color with a lot of fine particles of tea floating throughout. The fragrance is sweet and nutty and the taste is pleasantly delicate. The perfect tea for a meditative moment.

The fragrance is marvelous, like mulled wine. However, the tea itself is somewhat weak with more tannin than I like. I probably won’t be getting more of this one.

Fragrance has sweet floral notes. The tea is a bit sharp with a nice sweetness.

It brews up with a red-black liquor that has a complex fragrance of tea, grass, chocolate and toast. It has a nice sharpness that I don’t mind. I’m not sure whether that is because it is not just sharp but that the sharpness is part of a pleasant package of aromas and flavors or whether I am just in the mood for a sharp tea today. I don’t taste the hints of nutmeg, but it is a very rich tea.

I ran out of Silk Creamer last night so I whipped up my own creamer from raw cashew nuts, coconut milk, soy milk, and a drop of honey. It turned out quite nice. It made a thick soothing cream. The overtones of coconut complement the tea nicely.

VERY aromatic, very tasty, good plain or with honey — all the good cooling volatiles remain in the leaves. Wants a full 2 teaspoons to brew a full-tasting cup. Doesn’t get bitter if left to steep too long, as some peppermint teas do.

2tsp/212F/to taste

EXCELLENT. Good for colds, flus, or just cold days, good iced, good with honey and without. Real, spicy ginger flavor. I get two, sometimes three or four brewings out of a couple teaspoons of dried root.

1-2tsp/212F/to taste

Nothing fancy, but a very good decaf green tea.

Good clean and simple Ceylon flavor. Nothing fancy. My go-to breakfast black tea, the only thing I drink enough of to buy yearly.

Excellent. One of the best Earl Grey teas I’ve ever had — the bergamont flavor is present and strong but doesn’t overwhelm the smooth, clean black tea flavor.

1 tsp leaves, 212F water, steeped to taste.

This really isn’t my cup of tea. It is an Earl Grey with vanilla. The vanilla fails to mellow it and it has a sharp, unpleasant taste.

Richly fragranced reddish liquor. Strong tea taste but not bitter. It is nice, but there are black teas I like better.

The brewed tea is a pretty yellow color. This is the first green tea that I’ve actually perfectly followed the directions regarding both time and temperature while brewing. The flavor is mild and sweet. There is a slightly nutty fragrance mixed with something else, something slightly weedy. It smells the way dry flower-filled fields in Colorado smell.

The smell of apricots wafts from the tea lazily like fragrant blossoms on a summer afternoon. It is gently flavored and quite nice. The underlying tea is a good quality tea with no bitterness. It is decaf, but flavorful. Underneath the apricot scent the tea has a slight floweriness, like a Darjeeling. Good for before bed. The sweetness of the tea would be enhanced by adding a small pastry.

Full-bodied, mouth-filling, smooth. A piquant nip at the start quickly gives way to gingery notes over a caramel base. The finish is both sweet and slightly astringent. My second choice to accompany dark chocolate, the first being a Darjeeling.

I tried this as a sample tea, when last I ordered from Upton. Now the sample is almost gone. Time to order in a larger quantity.

This is the last few leaves in this sampler. It has a delightful jasmine scent and flavor, like being surrounded by flowers.

Very nice. The white tea is present and not overpowered by the Jasmine. The jasmine fragrance itself is very fine with subtle floral nuances. I accidentally over-steeped it and it was still lovely.

Rich vegetal flavor. First steep was quite sweet and mouth-watering. Second steep was less sweet, more piquant with floral notes.

Years ago I used to sit in a sushi restaurant, eating small morsels, writing, and drinking mug after mug of bancha tea. This bancha is similar to that long-ago brew. It brews up with a lovely red tan liquor. The roast is not as powerful as the bancha I used to drink, but the flavor and fragrance are more complex. The tea retains a bit of vegetal taste in addition to the comforting roasted flavor. Nice.

There is a strong cherry fragrance that is slightly artificial but it is primarily a fragrance and not a taste. The tea is nice without much vegetal taste.

It is very nice once it has cooled and would make a good iced tea.

A nice tea with a wine-like scent, nice flavor, and very little bitterness. It is a slow-sipper. It would probably go very well with a croissant or toast and pleasant company. It has very little complexity or drama. It is comfortable, like sitting down with an old friend.

Refreshing and clean. The perfect thing to curl up in bed with a book with.

I’m continuing with my tea drinking instead of food to prepare myself for an evening of riotous pleasure. Chai Agni is perfect since it is decaf, which means that I won’t be up all night if I have it late. I wish I could find more decaf teas (not rooibos or honeybush) that tasted as good. It is, of course, delicious and warming with its lovely peppers, spices, and chocolate notes.