I may be one odd character to do tea reviews, but I have done it quite a bit and so I've decided to blog my reviews. This first time though I will reprint some early reviews from Upton Tea and Special Teas(just to get things rolling). Keep in mind these are short reviews and very dated, so they are just here to show what I usually like and dislike. Aside from reviewing online tea, I will be offering reviews of some 'lesser' tea available in the OKC area for anyone looking for a cup while on the go.
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Upton Tea
ZK20: China Organic Keemun 4 stars
Dry Leaf: Good, Infused Leaf: Good,
Liquor: Very Good, Value: Very Good
"The leaves are not tightly rolled like a high grade keemun, but it tastes like a decent keemun. It has a clean flavor, and slightly lighter body that usual for this type of tea. I drink a whole lotta keemun, and this is a good value tea."
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Upton Tea
TA40: Tippy Orthodox GFOP Assam 3 stars
Dry Leaf: Good, Infused Leaf: Very Good,
Liquor: Good, Value: Good
"Clean taste but lacks depth."
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Upton Tea
ZG71: Long-Jing (Lung-Ching) Green (Superfine) 5 stars
Dry Leaf: Excellent, Infused Leaf: Excellent,
Liquor: Excellent, Value: Excellent
"My favorite green tea."
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Special Teas
319 Ceylon Vithanakande FBOPF (EX) 5 stars
This is about the prettiest tea Ive ever seen. Has qualities of nice, brisk Ceylon; boldness of Assam; and, a little hint of chocolate like China black. Great value!!
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Upton Tea
ZY42: Yunnan Harvest Time Golden 4 stars
Dry Leaf: Good, Infused Leaf: Very Good,
Liquor: Very Good, Value: Excellent
"This is a good typical Yunnan tea. Not as complex as some, but great for the price."
See you as soon as my next order arrives!!
-Sean
Upton's catalog is so huge...I haven't tried any of these, and I've ordered a ton of samples three times now, including a lot of black teas. One of my favorites so far is Hong Tao #1 (ZK14). I just finished drinking TC87: Greenfield Estate BOP1, not my favorite tea. My favorite China green from Upton is chun mee dao ming (ZG42).
ReplyDeleteHave you tried and do you like any of Upton's Darjeelings? Do you like any other of their China greens? Again they have such a huge selection...always curious to hear about ones that I have or haven't tried though.
oops, my first link is broken, sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a big fan of Darjeelings, but now I am not so much. I think the one I favored most was the Castleton. I am in complete agreement with you about the Chun Mee, although I am not sure I have had that one before. I also liked their Lung Ching quite a bit too.
ReplyDeleteI mainly like black China tea, but I'm pretty flexible.