Staff Favorites

We're passionate about tea and love every opportunity to share that passion with our customers. Below is a list of our favorite teas, along with our cupping notes and a little bit about ourselves and our tea experiences. Enjoy! Since the early 70s, I have always loved to drink breakfast style teas with milk, no sugar. When I first came to Upton Tea in 1995 and started to discover the depth and variety of fine loose leaf tea, I found myself drawn to the teas I could drink plain - the refined Darjeelings, the spicy Oolongs, the clean greens and the delicate whites. I still enjoy a rich black tea for breakfast most of the time and then move on to lighter bodied teas for the rest of the day. I do love the taste of tea but it is the aroma that I find uplifting and inspiring! I confess to starting out with strong coffee from the time I was old enough to drink it. The occasional cuppa served well as a comfort beverage. It was not until 2002 and at the insistence of converted family members that I began to make the transition to loose tea. Made easier, I suspect, by the aid of some good Pu-Ehr and Assam teas. Today I still favor the strong cups but have vastly expanded my range thanks to the education I've received over the years from fellow staff members and Upton customers.

My introduction into the world of tea started in my thirties as an interest in drinking green tea for its health benefits. This meant drinking plain tasting grocery store tea. After receiving a mug infuser as a present from my mother and doing research online, I started to learn about loose leaf tea and discovered Upton Tea Imports (I was a customer of Upton Tea long before I became an employee). My early tea favorites were the vegetal Japanese Sencha and the Chinese gunpowder teas, which I still enjoy. After a few years of sampling many different teas, I discovered how much I enjoy very robust, dark, earthy, or toasty teas, which for me means Pu-Erh, Oolongs and Lapsang Souchong. My favorite tea experience is sitting down on a cold autumn or winter Saturday afternoon and enjoying multiple cups of Pu-Erh or Oolong teas while reading. Working at Upton Tea Imports for the past 18 years has given me the opportunity to explore and learn about the many different teas from around the world. Being that I like an occasional cup of coffee, the teas I am drawn to are the darker, full-bodied teas. Tea was a beverage not frequently offered in my household growing up. I knew tea to be crushed particles in a bag attached to a string and staple, which was quite often passed up for something more culturally acceptable, such as a cappuccino. It wasn't until many years later, after a long day of hustle and bustle, that I had my first tea-mind experience. After a delicious Moroccan feast, my guests and I had the privilege of witnessing and enjoying a traditional Moroccan tea ceremony. The ornate teapot poured at notable height, and alas, in my cup was a warm, foamy cup of green tea. Intrigued by the deliberate technique, I sipped this intoxicating beverage and suddenly felt centered and at peace. Little did I know that it was the start of a tea journey that would soon take me all around the world.