Reviews of Teas & Herbal Teas from Upton Tea Imports
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Panyang Tippy Golden Needles Imperial from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Panyang Congou – Region: Fujian, China87 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
May. 28th, 2011
Aroma toasty and caramely, like the crust of a pastry. This tea is so reminiscent of pastry that if I close my eyes, I almost picture there being a baked good, rather than a cup of tea, in front of me.
Dark, rich, but with a pleasingly smooth flavor. Finish leaves a surprisingly lightness on the palate, and a fain...
Pasir Nangka OP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Banten, Indonesia60 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 25th, 2011
Only my third tea from Java (or anywhere in Indonesia), I was excited to try this one as I have yet to get a real sense of what characterizes teas from this region.
This is a pretty average black tea. Not much about it stands out. It has a slightly more savory quality, almost hinting at smokiness. Very full-bodie...
Kaimosi Estate GFBOP1 from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Kenya70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
May. 23rd, 2011
Dry leaf has a sweet, pleasing aroma.
Brewing as instructed, this tea is very mild, with a smooth flavor and a clear quality. There are mild, dried fruit tones, a bit like a Keemun, but this tea is less earthy than Keemun. Some of the light, rice-like qualities common in some Ceylon teas. Aftertaste is clean. Fl...
Livingstonia Estate GFBOP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Tanzania91 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
May. 16th, 2011
This was an interesting change of pace, and one of the most unusual black teas I've tried to date. But unlike some unusual teas, this tea was not just different, it was different in a way that I especially enjoyed.
There is some wintergreen in the aroma. It reminds me of a Ceylon tea from the Uva region of Sri Lan...
Harmutty Estate STGFOP1S from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Lakhimpur, Assam, India60 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
May. 15th, 2011
A very strong Assam, stronger than Upton's description makes it sound. Very full flavor: fairly bitter, slightly sour, very savory, and even slightly salty. Aroma is spicy, suggesting allspice and black pepper. Also a bit smoky, with some fruity tones as well. Peppery finish.
Interesting, but a bit too strong fo...
Organic Gyokuro from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Gyokuro – Region: China77 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
May. 13th, 2011
I was eager to try this one to see what a better Chinese attempt at gyokuro could produce, and I must say, this tea impressed me a fair amount, and was definitely worth trying.
Dry leaf has a pleasing aroma of a typical, good Japanese green tea. Bold green color.
I brewed this with a lower temperature, 160, typi...
China Congou Panyang (Panyong) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Panyang Congou – Region: China67 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5
May. 2nd, 2011
Clean tasting, mild, with a slightly bitter caramel-like quality. A bit flat, simple tasting, but very pleasant. Has a cooling quality, even when hot, and I think it would make a very classic iced tea.
I was expecting this tea to be similar to Upton's ZP20, Panyang Congou Select, because of the similar name, but i...
Golden Kenya GFBOP/TGFOP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Black Tea – Region: Kenya83 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
May. 2nd, 2011
Surprisingly interesting aroma of the dry leaf....fruity but in a way distinct from any other sort of black tea.
Brewed cup is very complex: initially malty and very fruity, with a strong fennel aroma. Not much bite up-front, but there is a strong but pleasing bitterness, and a very bold peppery finish like a Yunna...
China Green Sencha from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Sencha – Region: China20 / 100 Aroma: 1/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 1/5
Apr. 24th, 2011
I never thought I'd say this, but I encountered the first truly bad tea from Upton. The dry leaf had a stale smell, none of the fresh grassy tones that sencha usually has. I would not recognize this as sencha from the aroma of the dry leaf, nor from the brewed cup. The leaf and the color of the cup looks more like b...
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Panyang Congou Select from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Panyang Congou – Region: Fujian, China87 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 22nd, 2011
A delightful and complex black tea. Very robust and full-bodied, moderate bitterness, but not overly caffeinated. Aroma simultaneously a little smoky, fruity, and malty, with no one quality dominating the others. Very balanced. Very pleasing.
I can see this becoming a favorite everyday black tea for me: it is mu...
Dejoo Estate TGFOP(S) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Assam – Region: Lakhimpur, Assam, India67 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 15th, 2011
Dry leaf's aroma is more suggestive of a Keemun than an Assam. Brewing, I find this tea fits Upton's description very closely:
It's deep and malty, a faint hint of fruitiness (less than the dry leaf suggests), dark, but very smooth, and with some fresh herbaceous tones. Strong but without being overly bitter. Som...
China Pu-Erh Standard from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Pu-erh Tea – Region: Yunnan, China63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Jun. 30th, 2010
I don't particularly like black (ripe) pu-erh, but this is probably the one I've liked most, among loose varieties. It has a fresher taste, with more bite. There are some herbaceous tones in the aroma, although the dominant character is still dust and earth. Much more flavorful than other loose black pu-erh I've tri...
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Organic Ho-ji Cha Kamakura from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Hojicha – Region: Kanagawa, Japan70 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
May. 13th, 2010
Noticeably different from TJ40...more heavily roasted (tending toward the dark side among all hojicha's I've tried)...very dark brown cup. The aroma is not overwhelmingly roasty, however...there are still a few of the fresh green tea tones present.
Flavor is sour...which I don't like, although there's also a hint o...
South African Honeybush, Grade A from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Honeybush – Region: South Africa70 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
May. 6th, 2010
Very fruity, but not in an overwhelmingly sweet way. The aroma has a hint of floral and citrusy qualities, and less of the peppery quality that Upton's BA28 has. Very full-bodied. Interestingly, the color of the liquor is slightly lighter than other honeybushes. Pleasantly sweet aftertaste.
By far the best honey...
South African Rooibos (Red Bush) Super Grade from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Rooibos – Region: South Africa67 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 29th, 2010
At the risk of sounding absolutely ridiculous, I'm going to say that this rooibos smells and tastes more like rooibos than any other rooibos I've tried yet!
Woody, with a hint of fruitiness...but also a quality that is slightly reminiscent of paint or socks. Perhaps rooibos is an acquired taste that I'm still not 1...
Koslanda Estate OP from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Uva, Sri Lanka63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 26th, 2010
Upton suggests that this tea has "raisin like nuances" and I'd go even father and be more direct: it smells and tastes a like raisins, and leaves an aftertaste of raisins! Smooth but without being weak. A fair amount of the rice-like quality that I find in many Ceylon teas, and almost a hint of wintergreen. Medium-b...
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Japanese Ku-Ki Ho-Ji Cha (Roasted Ku-Ki Cha) from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Hojicha – Region: Japan77 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5
Apr. 23rd, 2010
Aroma powerful and enticing like a dark roast coffee. This tea foams when brewed, and the brewed cup is clearer and lighter in color than you'd expect from the aroma and dark color of the twigs. Unlike some kukicha, this tea seems to be made exclusively out of twigs with not even a bit of leaf.
Surprisingly, relat...
Jasmine Mao Feng from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Jasmine Tea – Region: China47 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Apr. 20th, 2010
Very strongly aromatic...aroma is sweet, very floral but less perfumey than some Jasmines. There's almost a hint of wintergreen in the aroma. It's also fairly vegetal and a bit fishy. The aroma strikes me as a bit strange and has some unpleasant characteristics to it.
Very smooth flavor, sweet, with absolutely no...
Hibiscus Flowers, Coarse Cut from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Hibiscus Tea – Region: Nigeria50 / 100 Aroma: 4/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 3/5
Apr. 12th, 2010
I'm not a huge fan of hibiscus, so it's hard for me to rate this. Compared to tea and most herbal teas, I don't like it much, but that doesn't mean this isn't of good quality.
Cup is an intense opaque red like the color of 100% cranberry juice. Aroma is mostly of cooked fruit, like the intermediate stage in making...
'Wu Yi' Water Fairy Oolong from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Shui Hsien Oolong – Region: Fujian, China80 / 100 Aroma: 7/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Apr. 9th, 2010
While I'm not normally a fan of "fake" teas, I'm eager to try ones that are honestly presented as imitating styles originating in other regions.
Aroma is very toasty, more like roasted Yerba Mate than other roasted teas. Nutty and earthy, with a sweet aftertaste that lingers. There is actually a lot of complexity ...
Pai Mu Tan Imperial from Upton Tea Imports
Style: White Peony Tea – Region: China47 / 100 Aroma: 5/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 2/5
Apr. 6th, 2010
A darker white tea. This doesn't even resemble ZW56, Upton's other organic Pai Mu Tan offering. Much darker; if you just gave it to me I'd probably guess incorrectly that it was a Shou Mei.
Aroma is mostly of autumn leaves, with only a hint of peony and a faint suggestion of some other vegetal tones. Also, unusua...
Osmanthus Oolong Se Chung from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Osmanthus Tea – Region: China93 / 100 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5
Mar. 29th, 2010
I love this tea. Se Chung is absolutely my favorite style of oolong, and my favorite Se Chung is Upton's ZO10, so I was eagerly anticipating this one, and I was pleased to find a rich, complex tea that added a completely new element to the mix. I can't say whether I prefer this or the unscented tea more. They're ver...
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Greenfield Estate BOP1 from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Ceylon Black Tea – Region: Uva, Sri Lanka63 / 100 Aroma: 6/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 3/5
Mar. 25th, 2010
A solid, if somewhat generic black tea that is dark and full-bodied but tends on the mellow side of flavor.
The aroma is typical for a Ceylon black tea, and has only mild nuances of dried fruit and nut (like Upton suggests). I'm not really feeling the "citrus notes" but I do notice a sweet aftertaste. There's much...
Huo Shan Yellow Buds from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Huangya – Region: Huoshan, Anhui, China63 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 2/5 Value: 2/5
Mar. 23rd, 2010
This is the first yellow tea I've sampled and in many respects it resembles a green tea.
The aroma is fairly rich; there are some of the grassy tones that characterize many green teas, but these are weak and in the background. A bit peppery like Upton describes, and also a bit perfumey. Subtle, but with a lot of d...
Tie-Guan-Yin Oolong First Grade from Upton Tea Imports
Style: Tie Guan Yin – Region: China67 / 100 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 3/5 Value: 4/5
Mar. 16th, 2010
The tightly curled brown leaves unfurl only partially when brewing...producing a tea that's completely clear and golden in color.
Complex aroma, strongly suggesting apricot, and also having some skunky tones, and a hint of olive. Smooth, mellow flavor, contrasting with the aroma, which suggests a sharper tea. No as...
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