Reviews of Teas & Herbal Teas from Upton Tea Imports
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 of 7 pages with 173 results
River Shannon Breakfast Blend from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Irish Breakfast – Region: Blend88 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 30th, 2015
A classic, yet exemplary Irish Breakfast tea: true to the style, but also top-quality. My favorite Irish Breakfast tea yet.
Dry leaf is dark and smell pleasant, fruity (like dried fruit), malty, and slightly spicy.
The brewed cup is strong and smells surprisingly much of wintergreen, which I love. There are als...
Scottish Breakfast Blend from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Scottish Breakfast – Region: Blend91 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 29th, 2015
This was an absolutely delightful tea that was definitely my favorite blend from Upton and one of my favorites among all black tea blends. The perfect balance of strength and smoothness.
Dry leaf is finely broken but has a very pleasant aroma, and quite complex. There are notes of malt and fruit, especially the fr...
Kandy OP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Kandy, Sri Lanka87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 29th, 2015
The aroma is mild, and very typical for a British-style black tea, on the malty side for a Ceylon, and much more complex than most other Ceylons. I found it is easy to overlook if brewed weakly, but really comes alive if brewed more strongly.
This tea is quite slow to infuse; I like steeping 5 minutes or more, and ...
East Frisian TGFOP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: East Frisian Tea (Ostfriesentee) – Region: Blend87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 14th, 2015
An excellent blend for an excellent price, that I can see pleasing both connoisseurs and lovers of strong black teas. Potent but smooth and also complex.
Dry leaf, which is intact and wiry, has a very pleasing aroma with strong vegetal notes.
Upon brewing, produces a dark, rich, but mellow cup which reminds me a...
Java Blend (Java BOP) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Indonesia60 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 13th, 2015
A somewhat novel tea that I found paired well with bland, fatty foods, but was a little boring otherwise.
The dry leaf of this tea smelled very interesting and subtly different from other black teas. It reminded me a bit of an Assam, but had herbaceous notes and a different sort of spicy quality.
Brews up a cup ...
Bond Street English Breakfast Blend from Upton Tea Imports
Style: English Breakfast – Region: Blend53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 31st, 2015
A classic, prototypical English Breakfast tea of average quality. Goes well with milk and probably better suited to people who (unlike me) drink their tea with milk.
A CTC (broken, mechanically-processed) tea; the dry leaf isn't terribly aromatic, but has a pleasant slightly malty aroma.
Produces a very dark cup...
China Keemun First Grade from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Keemun – Region: China87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 22nd, 2015
If I've ever had a prototypical Keemun, this is it; it would make an excellent standard against which to compare other examples of this tea, although it also had a few ways in which it stood out.
The dry leaf is fine, and very pleasantly aromatic, hinting at notes of dried fruit and light wood smoke, and suggesting ...
Baker Street Afternoon Blend from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Russian Caravan – Region: Blend53 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 19th, 2015
The dry leaf of this just smells like Lapsang Souchong. It also has an ununusual, hetereogeneous shape. One tea, presumably the souchong, has very long, wiry leaves, whereas the others are much shorter. This makes me wonder if the leaves would separate if stored in a large container and shaken around enough.
Brew...
Tippy Orthodox GBOP Assam from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Assam, India77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 19th, 2015
I had the opportunity to try some top-notch Assams lately, top grades of single estate teas, and this was a much lower grade, broken leaf, and blended, but it was surprisingly good for what it is.
The brewed cup isn't quite as malty as I usually expect for an Assam. It has some pleasant fruity notes in the aroma, a...
Halmari Estate FTGFOP Cl. from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Dibrugarh, Assam, India67 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 8th, 2014
The last of four rather old samples that were given to me as a gift by a friend. This one seemed to have lost a bit more of its aroma than the others did.
The dry leaf is beautiful, although slightly more broken than the others (the picture shows this quite accurately) and with a slightly lower portion of golden ti...
Sree Sibbari Estate SGFTGFOP1 Cl. from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Assam, India80 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
May. 7th, 2014
The third of the four rather old Assam samples that I'm reviewing, thanks to one of my friends who gave them to me as she doesn't like Assam.
The dry leaf of this sample is beautiful (the picture Upton provided doesn't do it justice), mostly made of curled golden tips, with little darker leaf. Surprisingly aromatic...
Marangi Estate FTGFOP1 (Formerly TA49) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Golaghat, Assam, India70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 5th, 2014
Another of the old samples my friend Naomi gave to me. The dry leaf of this sample, mostly dark with a few orangish tips, had little aroma left, which made me wonder if it was more stale.
Upon brewing though, a stronger aroma came out. Brews up a bold, dark cup, with just the right amount of tannins to make it edg...
Duflating Estate FTGFOP1 Cl/Spl. from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Jorhat, Assam, India73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 4th, 2014
One of my friends had a rather old set of Assam samplers from Upton that she had received as a gift, and she recently passed them off to me as she's less a fan of Assam. As Assam tends to keep longer than a lot of teas, I gave it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised. All four teas seem to have kept quite well. This...
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Gu Zhang Mao Jian Organic from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Mao Jian Green Tea – Region: Guzhang, Hunan, China77 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jun. 7th, 2013
The dry leaf of this tea had the most intensely pleasing aroma of any green tea I have ever encountered.
Upon drinking the brewed tea, it's a little less amazing but still good. There's a lightness and sweetness in this tea that I've only ever encountered in green teas considerably higher in price.
Second infusi...
Organic Yunnan Select Dao Ming from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Yunnan Red – Region: Yunnan, China77 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 8th, 2012
Complex and smooth, a bit on the weaker side though. Dry leaf has a strong aroma, characteristic of Yunnan red teas.
Aroma is complex. Moderately smoky, resembling tobacco smoke and smoky green teas (like gunpowder) more than most smoky black teas, also moderately fruity, almost like a Keemun. Flavor unusually sm...
Tai Ping Hou Kui from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Taiping Hou Kui – Region: China47 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 10th, 2012
This is the first example of Tai Ping Hou Kui that I've sampled, so I didn't really know what to expect. I was disappointed.
This tea was slow to infuse. I wish I had had more of the sample to experiment with; I only had enough for two western-style brewings, both of which I steeped twice, using Upton's 3-minute r...
ZG44: Organic China Houjicha from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Hojicha – Region: China87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 6th, 2012
I normally think of Chinese versions of Japanese styles of tea as imitations, lower in price and quality than their "original" counterparts. But I liked this one very much, in fact, much more than the considerably pricier TJ41 (which Upton has since discontinued), and TJ40. It immediately became my new favorite hojic...
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New Vithanakande Estate Pekoe from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Ratnapura, Sri Lanka73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Feb. 13th, 2012
This is a Ceylon whose character is somewhat in between the high-grown, lighter Ceylon black teas and the richer, maltier ones. Strong but smooth, with tones of rice, wintergreen, and malt. Very rich red-brown color.
Although this tea is initially quite smooth, the aftertaste is rather tannic: bitter and astringen...
Qianjiang Hubei Jade Organic from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Gunpowder Green Tea – Region: Hubei, China80 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Jan. 21st, 2012
This tea was barely like other gunpowder green tea, and much more like other high-grade Chinese green teas. The loose leaf is only loosely rolled, and looks quite delicate.
Aroma is vegetal and light, and suggests sweetness. There's no overt smokiness but there's a suggestion of camphor in the aroma, which I disli...
Kuwapani Estate Makalu Tippy Spl from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Nepal83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 19th, 2012
Lately I've been on a roll, sampling a variety of black teas that continue to be completely unlike any I have had before, and I never cease to be amazed at how diverse they can be. This is yet another black tea that was vastly different.
Fascinatingly complex...very dark, with an aroma quite unlike anything else. ...
Organic China Ku-ki Cha from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Kukicha – Region: China40 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Jan. 18th, 2012
I was solidly disappointed with this one. Upton's offerings of Japanese styles of tea produced in Japan have been hit-or-miss for me; this and their Sencha were pretty poor, but their Chinese Gyokuro (ZG81) was a pleasant surprise.
Fairly twiggy, mostly stem. Too much astringency and sourness for me. I tried usin...
Golden Nepal 2nd Flush (Kanyam Estate) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Nepal73 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Jan. 14th, 2012
Dry leaf consists of large pieces of broken leaf, mostly light brown, with some greenish and silvery.
Strongly reminiscent of a Darjeeling, and with a typical, middle-of-the-road Darjeeling character. Aroma is bright, fruity, and light, with a lot of the muscatel grape quality. There's also a hint of spruce needle...
Premium Yerba Mate Buds from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Yerba Maté – Region: Paraguay37 / 100 Aroma: 3/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Jan. 11th, 2012
The minute I heard about this new and unusual offering, I was fascinated and wanted to try it. Although I'm glad I did, I found this to be disappointing: I did not enjoy it as much as even a typical black tea, or as much as typical Yerba mate, whether green or roasted. I also found it to be very similar in flavor and...
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Putharjhora Estate FTGFOP1 Tippy/Cl First Flush Organic from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: India93 / 100 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 10th, 2012
Wow! This tea is fascinating, unlike anything else I've ever tried, and very enjoyable.
The dry leaf smells faintly Darjeeling-like, but it has a distinctive hint of an aroma that I can only describe as reminiscent of the forest floor in coastal Maine woods, that sort of mossy, acidic, gravely soil with wintergreen...
TM40: Singalila Estate SFTGFOP1 from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Nepal63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 5/5
Jan. 7th, 2012
One of the strangest teas I have had in some time!
The dry leaf, with lots of of yellowish-gray tips, turns quite dark when brewed. Aroma of the dry leaf is Darjeeling-like, and reminiscent of other Nepal teas, with hints of grape yet an almost smoky, dusty, edgy quality to it. The dry leaf's aroma suggests a more...
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