Kitty

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. The leaves for the Irish Breakfast were darker in color than the Upton CTC BOP Estate Blend Organic (TA15) and the largest in size of the three I tasted (Halmari CTC is the third tea). The Irish Breakfast leaves/granules also seemed to have the strongest scent. I tasted all three teas with milk.

The Irish Breakfast is a little malty, with good body, not bitter at all. While not as exciting as some of the single estate assams I’ve had lately, it is very good for a CTC tea. Would probably also be good blended with other teas. I tried adding a tiny touch of honey and it went well with the tea. It developed a creamy feel as it cooled.

I did try brewing (with fresh leaves) a second time at 5 minutes but while it was still not bitter, the flavor seemed better at 4 minutes.

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. Compared to the Upton CTC BOP Estate Blend Organic (TA15) and Upton Irish Breakfast CTC teas, the granules were much smaller and finer, and darker than the Organic. I tasted all three teas with milk.

The Halmari CTC BOP was watery tasting on the first sip, but with good body. No bitterness. Also, no malt. The watery flavor remained as I sipped it.

(Between the three teas, the Irish Breakfast was my favorite)

Tasted three Upton CTCs today. This one was my least favorite, and not worth the extra price over the other two. I tasted all three teas with milk.

Compared to the Upton Halmari and Irish Breakfast CTC teas, the leaves on this one looked more golden – a mix of gold and dark. The size of the granules were between that of the other two teas.

The tea seemed bitter at first, but this went away. It was dull compared to the Irish Breakfast. Good body, but no malt, just kind of blah.

Have done a little CTC tasting lately. Have had the Harney for a while, but then today also tasted three different Upton CTC Assams. Have a TeaGschwendner still to try at some point.

The Harney CTC was OK – what I call a “strong black tea” flavor. No malt, no interesting nuances, just “strong black tea”. It is also not bitter. I usually blended it with some other Harney tea such as Tower of London. If you want malt in your assam, this one isn’t it. But if you are looking for a simple strong black tea without bitterness, this might work for you.

(Between the Harney and three Upton CTC teas, my favorite is the Upton Irish Breakfast CTC.)

Third tea in my tasting this morning (Golden Moon & Harney Irish Breakfast, Upton GFOP). While the GFOP is not marketed as an Irish Breakfast it is an Assam blend like the other two. My notes from the Harney tasting pretty much apply here “not much complexity. It has a typical “strong black tea” flavor but no maltiness, not much interest”.

I think I have been spoiled by the single estate assams and am just not finding these blends very interesting.

This has been my Monday morning tea for quite a while now and remains one of my favorite teas. Nice touch of smokiness to awaken my senses and providing some additional interest to the assam. Not sure that hubby appreciates the smoke as much as I do, so I typically add a small amount of Harney’s Tower of London to the mix and it is quite lovely.

Interesting how my tastes have evolved. Although I had tried this in a tea bag quite a while ago and thought it was tasteless, I thought the loose version was pretty good when I first got my Breville. I think I have been spoiled by good single estate assams now, though, and find this one a bit boring.

I have a post-it note stuck to the tin of various adjustments I’ve made to the brewing, each one saying that the tea was a bit bland. Decided to give it one more try today – 2 gently rounded tsp/cup, 212, 5 minutes. More flavor than the Golden Moon Irish Breakfast I just tried, but still not much complexity. It has a typical “strong black tea” flavor but no maltiness, not much interest. There was a little bitterness that went away with the addition of some milk but then the tea tasted a bit blah. Unfortunately I have a 1 lb bag of this that we will never drink :( Lesson learned there…..

Going to try my new Upton GFOP assam blend to see how it compares.

Wow, I’m afraid I didn’t get this one. Decided to give my Breville a little workout this morning. Brewed this tea twice as it was very weak and bland the first time around. My usual starting point for single estate assam’s is roughly 2 gently rounded tsp/cup, 212, 5 minutes so that is what I used for the first brew. This tea has very large leaves so figured that would work as a starting point. The tea was pretty tasteless and even worse after adding milk – just a subtle bitterness at the end. No malt, none of the complex flavors that Golden Moon describes.

Brew number 2 (fresh leaves, not a resteep) using 2 overflowing (as opposed to gently rounded) tsp/cup. Still pretty blah and couldn’t stand up to the addition of milk. I can just hear my husband complaining that the tea is watery. Won’t even try it on him. Again, no malt, and no complex flavors.

Going to move on and pull out my old tin of Harney and see how it compares. Might do some Upton FBOP blend as well.

I will admit I don’t have a whole lot of experience with Darjeeling teas. That having been said, I have had a few very good ones. As for the Singell, I really don’t like this tea. Has a grassy, weedy smell and taste, also a metallic after taste. Harney mentions fruity muscatel flavors and I don’t taste any fruit at all. Does have good body/briskness, but just don’t like the taste of it. Tried three times and throwing away. Might have been better with some sweetener.

I’ve tried both the Upton versions and like the BOP version much better. This one was a bit weak and didn’t have the depth the other version has.

Wow – I can understand why this tea gets high ratings. I’ve tasted three East Frisians recently (the two Uptons and also Harney & Sons). This one is a winner by a long shot. Awesome rich flavor. Added just a touch of honey and “wow”. I even noticed a hint of dusty chocolate.

I recently tried the two Upton East Frisians and this one. For me the Upton BOP blend was a winner by a long shot. I had to reduce the temperature and brew time from the standard recommended by Harney & Sons (they recommend 212/5 min for all black teas) or it was bitter. Once that was taken care of, I just didn’t care for the taste of the tea.