Tea Notes

Table of Contents

Upton Tea

Superior Bold Leaf Formosa Keemun (Taiwan)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • Pretty good tea, but I don't see how it's any different from the China Keemun

Yunnan TGFOP (Yunnan, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 4 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • This is just a solid go-to tea for all occasions

Russian Caravan (Blend)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • Brews to a very mild flavor

Season's Pick Himalayan Bliss (Nepal)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • A blend of teas from Nepal
  • Decent flavor - definitely stronger than the Russian Caravan but not too harsh
  • Good all-rounder tea, but I'm not sure I like it as much as the Yunnan

Season's Pick Singtom Estate First Flush Darjeeling 2021 (Darjeeling, India)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 4 minutes
  • 1x sweetener
  • Beautiful golden color
  • Mild, almost floral flavor
  • Don't use as much sweetener as you would for Keemun
  • I like this tea, but it's a Season's Pick tea, which means that availability is limited and it's expensive

Fujian Minhong Gongfu Congou (Fujian, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • Brews very dark, with a nice orange color
  • A more classic tea like flavor than the Singtom Darjeeling, but not as strong as I was expecting
  • Smells wonderful

Lumbini Estate OP 1 (Sri Lanka)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • This is an okay tea
  • Not the best, not the worst
  • I think I prefer Keemun or Yunnan, though

Hao Ya "B" Superfine Keemun (Keemun, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 4 minutes
  • Brews really strong — recommendation is for 5 minutes but I don't go for more than 4
  • I'm not sure I like it as much as the Formosa Keemun

Yunnan FOP Select (Yunnan, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • A pretty solid tea
  • Smells vaguely floral

Margaret's Hope Second Flush FTGFOP1 (Darjeeling, India)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • Has a "spicier" smell than the Yunnan FOP select
  • Smells good, but has a weaker flavor than other teas
  • Use less sweetener

Tie Guan Yin Oolong Special Grade (Fujian, China)

  • 190 °F (87 °C)
  • 5 minutes
  • Brews a very pale yellow
  • Weak flavor, don't use much sweetener
  • Don't really like it

Balasun Estate First Flush FTGFOP (2023 DJ-7) (Darjeeling, India)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • Also brews golden, just like the Singtom Estate Darjeeling
  • Another relatively mild tea, but a bit stronger than the Singtom Estate
  • Has a bitter aftertaste that I'm not especially fond of

Champs De Lavande White Tea

  • 180 °F (82 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • 1x sweetener
  • White tea is weird
  • When it brews, there's barely any color at all — looks like water
  • Yet it still tastes like tea
  • That said, I'm not really a fan of the flavor of white tea

Chocolate Mint Chip Keemun (Keemun, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 10 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • Tastes mostly of mint, barely of chocolate, and hardly any of tea
  • Even though it contains tea, it tastes more like an herbal tisane
  • Has a ridiculously long brew time — 10 minutes is the minimum, can brew for up to 12 minutes

Victoria's Peak Estate First Flush SFTGFOP1 Darjeeling (Darjeeling, India)

  • 200 °F (93 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • This tea needs to be brewed in slightly below boiling water, otherwise it becomes bitter
  • Brews to a golden yellow, instead of the orange-brown of most teas
  • Floral smell
  • Mild, slightly astringent flavor

Yunnan Golden Tips Supreme (Yunnan, China)

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 4 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • Very light Yunnan flavor
  • It's good, but I'm not sure it's worth the price — it's not that much better than the Yunnan TGFOP

Adagio Tea

Chestnut Blend

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • Ceylon black tea flavored with chestnuts
  • Very strong chestnut flavor, tastes almost like chocolate
  • Definitely what it says on the label

Brigadoon black tea

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • 3x sweetener
  • Very strong
  • Requires additional sweetener compared to other black teas
  • Even though this is supposed to be a really special tea, offered only once every four years, I'm not really enthused by it

Other Tea

Trader Joe's Mango Black Tea

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 3 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • It's good, but it doesn't really taste like tea
  • It tastes like a warm mango drink
  • It's not awful, but I don't think I'll be coming back to this one

Organic India Chamong Finest Darjeeling Black Tea

  • 212 °F (100 °C)
  • 4 minutes
  • 2x sweetener
  • Brews orange, unlike the Victoria's Peak tea
  • Doesn't taste like other Darjeeling tea — mild flavor