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Alex Zorach

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Member since Sep. 1st, 2009. Reviewed 1448 teas.

Reviews of Teas & Herbal Teas from Upton Tea Imports

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Picture of Floral Tie-Guan-Yin Superior Grade

Floral Tie-Guan-Yin Superior Grade from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Tie Guan Yin – Region: China

73 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 15th, 2010

Aroma very much like a Dong Ding Jade Oolong, very floral, but with a faint hint of a woody quality absent from those teas; this tea tastes very slightly more oxidized. Very smooth, but leaving a tingling sensation in the mouth. The aroma is very pleasing, but not terribly complex.

Using Upton's instructions I bre...

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Picture of Formosa Oolong Extra Fancy

Formosa Oolong Extra Fancy from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

67 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 12th, 2010

When I bought this tea it was the second-highest-priced grade of the standard "Formosa oolongs" in Upton's catalogue. They've since switched things around and discontinued this tea.

I found this tea, moving up from the lowest grades (TT11-TT17), to be the first one that offered an appreciable difference, the first ...

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Picture of Tie-Guan-Yin Oolong 2nd Grade

Tie-Guan-Yin Oolong 2nd Grade from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Tie Guan Yin – Region: China

67 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 11th, 2010

Aroma is subtle and complex, but on the weak side: mostly of peach, with some weaker earthy tones. Flavor is tangy, with little bitterness. The aftertaste has a mild astringency. Thin-bodied.

Following Upton's recommendations I found worked alright--for a first cup. However, I tried to brew a second cup and ther...

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Picture of Oolong Choicest Grade

Oolong Choicest Grade from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

50 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 10th, 2010

Upton offers a number of different grades of Formosa oolong with only moderate differences in price...this one, by weight, costs less than 50% more than TT11, the "standard grade". Again, the leaf is broken, but in larger pieces than some of the lower grades. The dry leaf has a weak, earthy aroma.

The brewed tea i...

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Picture of Shan Tuyet Snow Green

Shan Tuyet Snow Green from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Green Tea – Region: Vietnam

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 9th, 2010

Brews a rich golden color. The aroma of this tea is more similar to a dragonwell tea than any other green tea I've tried, but the overall experience of drinking it is very different. Very aromatic, with a slightly toasty aroma. The flavor is muted and the tea has a cooler quality than dragonwell, with a hint of smok...

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Picture of Organic Wuyuan Ruikang Hairpoint

Organic Wuyuan Ruikang Hairpoint from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Green Tea – Region: Wuyuan, Jiangxi, China

83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 7th, 2010

Upton seems to excel at inexpensive, organic Chinese green teas, and this one is no exception. The thin, wiry leaves have an interesting appearance both before and after brewing.

Aroma is very grassy and a little bit vegetal, with some dark floral tones almost more suggestive of a black tea. Grassier, sweeter, and...

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Picture of Organic Imperial Bai Hao Oolong

Organic Imperial Bai Hao Oolong from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oriental Beauty – Region: China

47 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 4th, 2010

I found this tea to be weak in aroma and flavor. The aroma is slightly earthy but lighter than typical for a bai hao oolong, with light floral and vegetal tones, a hint of spice, and a suggestion of fruitiness. I think it's a stretch to call the aroma "complex" because it's so weak. The color of the cup is surprisin...

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Picture of Chun Mee (Moon Palace)

Chun Mee (Moon Palace) from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Chun Mee – Region: China

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 2nd, 2010

This tea got my attention with the first sip--another chun mee of unusual quality, like rodents of unusual size. Similar to ZG42 (Chun mee dao ming) in how inexpensive it is relative to its quality, but very different in character.

The aroma is very complex: significantly grassier than any other Chun Mee I've tried...

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Picture of Green Pu-Erh Tuo Cha

Green Pu-Erh Tuo Cha from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Raw (Sheng) Pu-erh – Region: Yunnan, China

80 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 1st, 2010

Very smoky, but in an exceedingly mellow way, totally unlike gunpowder or lapsang souchong. This tea has a remarkable smoothness to it, unlike any other green tea I've tried, and if it weren't for the smokiness I'd be tempted to describe it as creamy. Cool and clean tasting, yet without bitterness. Full-bodied, and ...

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Picture of Formosa Jade Oolong

Formosa Jade Oolong from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Jade Oolong – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

57 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 1st, 2010

Extremely mellow...the aroma is more like that of a floral honey than other teas. Light in color. Sweet, with almost no bitterness, sourness, or astringency. Compared to other Tung Tings I've tried, this tea is less like other oolongs and more like a Pouchong. In my opinion, it's too thin, and it has a bit of a fis...

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Picture of Oolong Fine Grade

Oolong Fine Grade from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

57 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 28th, 2010

This tea is one step up (in price and presumably quality) from TT11. It lives up to my expectations. Surprisingly, however, the leaves are more finely broken in this tea. Visually, I'd expect this to be the lower grade tea, but actually brewing the two teas demonstrates otherwise.

I find this tea to have signific...

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Picture of Oolong Standard Grade

Oolong Standard Grade from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 26th, 2010

Upton has renamed their teas or changed their item codes between TT10 and TT11, which makes discussing them confusing. The old TT10, Season's Pick Formosa Fannings, was discontinued. This is the same tea that used to be called TT11 but it's now TT10. (Update, they now renamed it back to TT11. lol.)

This is a radi...

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Picture of Roasted Oolong

Roasted Oolong from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Tie Guan Yin – Region: China

77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 25th, 2010

Aroma is mellow and smooth, with a pleasant woody quality. Stronger in flavor than Upton's similarly-priced non-roasted Tie Guan Yin's. I found this tea to be subtle; it grew on me, and I enjoyed the last cup I made from the sample significantly more than the first. Oddly, I find that much of the flavor sinks to the...

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Picture of Season's Pick Organic White Fannings

Season's Pick Organic White Fannings from Upton Tea Imports

Style: White Tea – Region: China

57 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 25th, 2010

I find Upton's description of this tea to be very accurate, and I like their brewing instructions.

On the dark end for a white tea, but lighter than some shou mei's. Surprisingly aromatic for fannings! The aroma is bold and earthy, slightly crisp and fresh, and, as Upton describes, there are some nutty tones in th...

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Picture of Season's Pick Formosa Fannings

Season's Pick Formosa Fannings from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Oolong Tea – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

50 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Feb. 22nd, 2010

The leaf of this tea is significantly coarser than many grades I have also seen called fannings.

The brewed tea is deep reddish brown. The aroma isn't terribly strong, and is mostly earthy with some nutty tones. Little bitterness, but also, little complexity.

I find that this tea is too mellow for my tastes if ...

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Picture of Organic Pai Mu Tan

Organic Pai Mu Tan from Upton Tea Imports

Style: White Peony Tea – Region: China

50 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 1/5 Value: 2/5
Feb. 16th, 2010

This particular pai mu tan smells more like an actual peony than any others I've tried.. The aroma is actually fairly powerful, although when you sip the cup it is a bit bland...this tea doesn't have much flavor. There is a very mild, unpleasant sourness to this tea too. Smooth, but I don't notice any sweetness at a...

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Picture of Australian Lemon Myrtle Organic

Australian Lemon Myrtle Organic from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Lemon Myrtle – Region: Australia

87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 15th, 2010

The aroma of both the tea and the dried leaf are intensely lemony, much more so than the other lemon herbs I've tried, including lemongrass, lemon balm, and lemon verbena. More like lemongrass than the others, and least like lemon balm. The lemon quality is so overpowering that it's hard to notice other aspects of th...

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Picture of Formosa Oolong Spring Dragon

Formosa Oolong Spring Dragon from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Flavored Oolong – Region: Taiwan / Formosa

80 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 12th, 2010

Aroma is light and floral; it's almost impossible to tell where the tea ends and the lilac begins: the two fragrances blend seamlessly. This tea does have a hint of the soapy quality that I find plagues some Tung Tings, in contrast to TT86, which wasn't my favorite tea, but lacked this soapiness.

I was disappointed...

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Picture of Organic KuKi Cha Green Kamakura

Organic KuKi Cha Green Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Kukicha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan

73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 10th, 2010

The aroma of the dry tea is straw-like, but the brewed tea is a lot more like sencha, including a hint of the characteristic seaweed-like quality. In many ways it's typical for a Japanese green tea. There are a few woody tones in the aroma but they have a very different character from the woody qualities present in s...

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Picture of Nuwara Eliya BOP

Nuwara Eliya BOP from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 3rd, 2010

This is the first broken-leaf Ceylon from Upton that has been drinkable to me, and I'm surprised to find it completely lacking in the harshness that the other ones I've tried have had.

The aroma is totally unlike any black tea I have tried...it reminds me of rice and rice pastries. I like Upton's description "brigh...

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Picture of Yunnan Green Supreme Organic

Yunnan Green Supreme Organic from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Green Tea – Region: Yunnan, China

73 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 3/5
Feb. 2nd, 2010

This tea has a pungent aroma unlike any other green tea I've sampled before. It reminds me of a hoppy beer like an India Pale Ale, and the bitterness in the tea is similar to that of a strong IPA. The aroma is more like a typical black tea than a green tea to me--I would probably guess incorrectly that it was black t...

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Picture of Oliphant Estate OPA Green

Oliphant Estate OPA Green from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Green Tea – Region: Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

89 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Feb. 1st, 2010

I have started to see enough of a pattern that I can at least suspect that I tend to like green teas from Sri Lanka.

The dry leaves of this tea are whole and very full, slightly curled, and dark green, and a few of the leaves have a reddish tinge. The dry leaves have a tobacco-like smell.

The cup is richly aroma...

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Picture of East Frisian BOP

East Frisian BOP from Upton Tea Imports

Style: East Frisian Tea (Ostfriesentee) – Region: Blend

67 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Jan. 29th, 2010

Strong but without an edge; malty, full-bodied, but not overly tannic. The dry leaf has a pleasantly strong vegetal aroma, unusual for a black tea, but I was disappointed to find little of this characteristic come through in the brewed cup.

Not the most interesting tea, perhaps, but a very enjoyable tea to drink, m...

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Picture of Roasted Yerba Maté

Roasted Yerba Maté from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Yerba Maté – Region: Brazil

77 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 29th, 2010

Naturally very sweet. The roast is mellow and does not seem to impart any bitterness or burnt qualities. A creamy, vanilla-like quality is dominant in the aroma. A hint of smokiness is present, especially in the aftertaste. The flavor and aroma of this drink are very pleasant and complex.

I have tried brewing th...

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Picture of Vietnam Black Pekoe

Vietnam Black Pekoe from Upton Tea Imports

Style: Black Tea – Region: Vietnam

63 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 28th, 2010

A pleasantly mellow tea, unlike anything else I've tried before. Definitely noticeable as a Vietnamese tea; it's interesting how both their black and green teas share certain characteristics in common.

Very smooth, little bitterness, even when steeped for a long time. I find a hint of lemon in the aroma, which is ...

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