Thursday, February 23, 2012

Sampling new teas from Upton Tea Imports

Recently I needed to order some new tea filter bags to use at the office, and nobody sells them cheaper or ships them faster than Upton Tea Imports, I find. The other great thing is that Upton will sell you a small sample of tea for just $1 or so, so I like to order a few new teas to try along with my tea filters. Here, some Sacher Blend Scented Darjeeling is steeping (but in a filter, since I was at home and not the office when I sampled this).

Don't you enjoy watching the leaves as they steep? Tea is the perfect symbolic beverage of the "slow food" movement, isn't it?

When the tea was finished steeping, I enjoyed a delicious cup of this very unique blend, a sort of marriage of Darjeeling and Earl Grey, which I think may also appeal to some of you. Here's the description from Upton: "Inspired by the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, this is a traditional blend of Darjeeling with a hint of Ceylon. The blend is then lightly scented with oil of Bergamot and a hint of genuine Bourbon vanilla. The result is a floral Darjeeling surrounded by soft, fruity, citrus notes. A new formula which we find especially pleasing." I do, too!

If you haven't ordered from Upton before, you may be surprised to discover they label all the teas, even samples, with your name and the date they were packaged. I've found this very helpful when I can't remember how old a certain packet of tea is. (Although, I tend to drink up my Uptons, so few of them have ever had time to get old.) Also, your order will include the latest copy of the Upton Tea Quarterly, the delightful publication pictured at back. My other three tea samples this order were: Créme Caramel (tastes and smells divine), Saint Isaac's Blend (a fine Earl Grey) and Maracuja Flavored Tea (flavored with the Brazilian Maracuja fruit, sunflowers and sugar-coated peach bits—quite lovely). Order a free catalog here.

9 comments:

  1. The tea sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Darjeeling tea, and this one sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing the information about Upton, as well - I wasn't familiar with them. I always learn so much from reading your blog! Heidi T.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Sacher blend sounds lovely. I haven't ordered from Upton lately, but they have been kind enough to continue sending their catalog. I'll have to try some sample sizes of new teas. Thanks for the review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. that cup is stunning, I have never heard of Upton - THANKS!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes! I love Upton for that reason - those small samples.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This isn't a tea that I know. Up here we have some wonderful old and new tea companies - old, such as Murchie's and newer such as Silk Road and David's.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks so much for this post Angela. I've never heard of Upton and have ordered a catalog. My husband and I have been looking throught their website and find it very interesting. I'm sure we'll be ordering lots of samples! Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Been thinking I should order some from Upton as I hear good things about them, but then haven't done so. Your post is encouraging me to do so. That tea sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. These teas sound delicious! Thanks for the review, Joanie

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment! It makes my day to hear from readers!