Uva Highlands

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Ceylon Black Tea
Flavors
Citrusy, Dark Wood, Honey, Malt, Mint, Bitter, Sour, Astringent, Menthol
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec 6 g 12 oz / 366 ml

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16 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This tea is strong, with a bitterness and astringency that grows with every sip. I took it in my tumbler to do errands on Saturday morning and I could handle it unadulterated, but just barely. It...” Read full tasting note
  • “another tea in my fall cupboard cleaning bunch…gotta make room for new ones as the weather gets colder. This Ceylon became one of my go-to teas for the occasion that I just wanted a nice, plain...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “Tried this today from a coworker’s new stash. First off – tiny, tiny, tiny leaves! It reminds me of a Pakistani tea someone brought me – almost looks like instant coffee. Harney site suggests...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “Haven’t had this one in a long time. I asked my random tea generator (my twelve year old daughter) what I should drink today and she said, “Uva Highlands!” So here we are. This is a rotovaned...” Read full tasting note
    73

From Harney & Sons

Uva Highlands is a lovely high-grown Ceylon Pekoe from Uva, with small leaves that produce an intense tea. It is bright and brisk, with a minty spice note – guaranteed to pick you up on dull afternoons. It can handle milk and sugar with aplomb.

Details: Located on the eastern slopes of Sri Lanka, the Uva section makes tea that gets your attention, because they are brisk. They are one of the few known for having wintergreen flavors. This comes from methyl salicylate that is used in the plant’s self-defense system.
Dry Leaves: Dark brown leaves cut into small pieces.
Liquor: Red brown.
Aroma: A good tea from Uva has the wintergreen aromas found in mints. This happens because of the plant cultivar and winds that dry the plant, concentrating the aromas.
Caffeine Level: Caffeinated
Body: This is a medium bodied tea that welcomes milk. The tea is quite brisk, filling your mouth with tingles.
Flavors: It is a blend of honey and citrus, with a strong note of wintergreen.

About Harney & Sons View company

Since 1983 Harney & Sons has been the source for fine teas. We travel the globe to find the best teas and accept only the exceptional. We put our years of experience to work to bring you the best Single-Estate teas, and blends beyond compare.

16 Tasting Notes

612 tasting notes

This tea is strong, with a bitterness and astringency that grows with every sip. I took it in my tumbler to do errands on Saturday morning and I could handle it unadulterated, but just barely. It might be quite good with milk and sugar; I have enough in my sample to try it that way next time. That said, I won’t mind if it isn’t; there’s a plethora of excellent Harney breakfast teas (that New Vithanakande was so good!) so not immediately loving another is in a way a blessing and relief, ha.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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90
257 tasting notes

another tea in my fall cupboard cleaning bunch…gotta make room for new ones as the weather gets colder. This Ceylon became one of my go-to teas for the occasion that I just wanted a nice, plain cuppa. Its brisk and can be easily overbrewed, but takes to watering (down) like a duck! Hot or cold.

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92
790 tasting notes

Tried this today from a coworker’s new stash. First off – tiny, tiny, tiny leaves! It reminds me of a Pakistani tea someone brought me – almost looks like instant coffee. Harney site suggests brewing 5 minutes. Coworker said it about knocked his socks off at 5 minutes so I went with 1 1/2. A nice, simple tea for daily use is what I’d say this is. Nothing fancy, just good ol’ tea flavor. Good hot, good cold. I got no hints of mint at all though.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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73
3226 tasting notes

Haven’t had this one in a long time. I asked my random tea generator (my twelve year old daughter) what I should drink today and she said, “Uva Highlands!” So here we are.

This is a rotovaned tea, so I figured it could only withstand a short steeping. I pulled the leaves out at three minutes and I think that was just right for me. It is described by Harney and Sons as a bright, brisk tea, and I would have to say that is accurate. This is a pick me up tea, not like a bold and well-muscled breakfast tea, but it is NOT a sit-and-sip-and-meditate soothing cup…to me. It is an eye-opener. My tongue is tingling. I thought I wasn’t getting the wintergreen aspect, but it really came on as a long-lasting aftertaste. A fun cup for this morning, but not a favorite. I like teas that wrestle me out of bed and into my day, or that pat me on the hand and say, “There, there” when I need it.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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67
168 tasting notes

UVA Highlands is a brisk Ceylon tea with hints of Wintergreen and background notes of Ceylon tea flavors

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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45
66 tasting notes

The dry leaves had a faint wintergreen aroma, and I was so eager to get into this brew! I used a mere 1.5g in an 8-oz cup of boiling water for 2 min. Got a lovely gold-brown liquor, but with a very off-putting aroma! Only after I kept reminding myself that this was a wintergreen smell did it become more pleasant. And that same flavor dominated the entire session. The leaves were fairly well spent, and a second steeping of seven minutes produced a week tea with cardboard box flavor. I dumped it. Ultimately, I have decided the tea tastes more mediciney—think BenGay—and not something I care to drink for a while. On the upside, it might be perfect for times when sitting at home recovering from a cold. I would try adding some lemon, honey, and milk. Totally changing the flavor profile! We shall see… . For now, not well-appreciated. (But still much better than Rooibos.) At least it was an inexpensive experiment!

Postscript I’ve updated the Harney description by adding their “details” section, which is more comprehensive. Especially in that they’ve don’t say just “mint” but now explain it as a wintergreen flavor, which is technically more accurate. Some of the older reviews note not tasting the claimed mint, and this may be why.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 8 OZ / 236 ML
White Antlers

Wintergreen is not in the mint family. It’s an aromatic shrub. You were spot on with the BenGay reference, as wintergreen oil is one of the components of that smelly analgesic. Wintergreen oil contains methyl salicylate. The primary metabolite of that is salicylic acid, used in aspirin, making this, as TEGH said, a good sipper for colds.

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16 tasting notes

Very astringent when brewed for 3:30, I’m still looking for the right temperature. There’s a definite fruitiness/sweetness lurking in the background that I’m excited to find.

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95
2 tasting notes

When I want to get hashtag #WOKE in the afternoons, this is one of my go-to teas. It really packs a wallop and makes itself felt in minutes. Tingly astringent, and easy to over-steep, so watch your weights and times, but done correctly and you’ll be rewarded with a naturally minty, citrusy, vegetal cup that will soothe the soul while simultaneously unleashing your inner beast. (*NOTE: as always, I drink my teas straight, sans milk & sugar. Maybe sometimes I’ll have a biscuit with a cup; more often, not. YMMV with those things added; they’re outside the scope of my notes.)

Flavors: Citrusy, Dark Wood, Honey, Malt, Mint

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 20 OZ / 591 ML

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55
335 tasting notes

I have liked teas from this region of Ceylon. This just didn’t do it for me. Way too astringent for my liking. Was similar to a CTC cut for the tea…I am wondering if that is why it’s so bitter. I am sure this tea would be great with cream and sugar, but to me that’s a sign of a poor tea. I will probably use the rest to make chai with.

Flavors: Bitter, Sour

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
105 tasting notes

I realized I recommended this Ceylon tea to someone on Steepster without having ever posted an official review of it, so here we go!

I brewed 9 grams of dried leaves this morning in 20 ounces of near-boiling water for four minutes. The dried leaves themselves are small, broken pieces (not fannings, though), so I probably could’ve gone with a shorter steep time.

The brewed liquor comes out dark and quite full-bodied—like coffee. I didn’t pick up on any specific aromas from the liquor or the dried leaves.

The flavor is definitely unique—astringent almost to the point of bitterness (but some of that would definitely be relieved with a shorter steep time). I am picking up on what others have described as the wintergreen flavor in the tea, but it seems more menthol to me than wintergreen. After sipping and swallowing the tea, there is a lingering coolness in my mouth that is similar to menthol. This is definitely a unique tea experience for me—not unpleasant, but I don’t think I’d want to drink this every day.

Overall, it is a good tea that I’ll continue to enjoy having. It is an excellent replacement for the fullness of coffee, if that is what you’re looking for, but with a pleasant cool finish.

Flavors: Astringent, Menthol

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 9 g 20 OZ / 591 ML

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