Truculence

This is a really excellent tea. The Upton description is right that it’s mildly smoky—oddly, I am usually not too wild about Darjeeling or Lapsang Souchong teas, but somehow this mix balances the smokiness of Lapsang Souchong perfectly to my taste. Darjeelings often taste very floral to me, but I don’t get that with this blend — not sure if it’s because of a low amount of Darjeeling, or it’s a nuttier one. A hint of smoke, a hint of nuttiness, and a nice full Keemun background tying it all together. I definitely recommend it.

Man, huge disappointment. I used to drink pu’erh very regularly, and tried a few of Upton Tea Import’s versions, all of which I enjoy very much. If I hadn’t double-checked the name on the bag, I would never have known this was pu’erh. It has none of the smokey peatiness/earthiness that I like in Upton’s pu’erhs. It really doesn’t have much tea flavor at all, actually. Just a dull muddiness. Blech. I bought this with a gift certificate at least, and I may throw the rest of it away. Not good at all.

I blew through this stuff—just drank my last this morning. They aren’t kidding about it taking milk well, it’s a really nice morning cuppa.

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I love this tea — I got it to try a different Chinese tea than my normal types and went for the generic Keemun (figured I’d start at the bottom), and I am very pleasantly surprised. It’s a perfect morning cup for me; plenty of flavor but not overly astringent.

A fine Irish breakfast, but nothing special.