Hello group,

I've lurked around a bit in order to find a good tea vendor online,
and, after reading this group for some time I settled on Upton. So
thank you group for everyone who has responded and posted, there are
those around who read and don't talk. Enough butt kissing onto my
question, but, first a bit of tea drinking history....

Hello rec.food.drink.tea, my name is Justin and i'm a tea addict.

I began back in high school brewing cheap tea bagged green tea with
milk and honey. I remeber distinctly the bubble gum flavor that
sometimes came across with even this cheap green tea. Of course I used
so much milk and honey that I called it knockout tea. Once a friend of
mine came over and asked me to brew him a bottle. I remeber warning
him "okay man, but this stuff will knock you out if your not used to
it." 5 minutes later he was flat on his back on my bed and I,
shrugging and chuckling to myself, went back to programming.

After I caught fire to the electric tea kettle I gave up on teas for a bit.

Recently though because of a problem with my stomach I had to stop
drinking coffee and switched over to tea. I started like most people
do buying the cheapest crap a person can find in the local stores
packaged in a bag. Eventually after a few cups of tea that tasted like
the sweet off the balls of Earl Grey's horse I stumbled across Twinings
stuff.

Of course I started into Twinings like any other novice drinking it
from tea bags. I did eventually discover that by keeping it in a
ziplock bag it tended to keep longer and didn't lose it's flavor. Over
time I decided to try infusing with a tea ball and bought some of the
loose leaf Earl Grey blend. That was the beginning of the end for me.
My wife and sister in law put up with my tea habbits while we lived on
the boat because so many of the people who where fellow liveaboard in
the harbor where English and enjoyed a decent cup of tea. However,
when we moved back into the interior of Alaska and i began to drink
more and more loose leaf tea they lost all patience for me. "You and
your stupid tea" one would say as I dragged them from store to store
looking for decent tea. Over time I discovered that the local Safeway
stocked Twinnings loose in 100g tins. However there was a problem,
they never had any! I remeber going to the manager in a red eye crazed
state of mind demanding to know when they would recieve more Twinnings.
She looked at me fearfully and expressed some solidarity and sympathy
by saying "I know, the company that stocks it never refills it like
they should." I gave up and started looking around online.

That is how I stumbled across your group and all the faq's associated
with it. Kuro5hin had a good article on it and I began to look deeper
into the world of finer teas. I settled on Upton and ordered up a
sampler and a 500g tin of their regular Earl Grey. I haven't had a
single problem with any of their teas. In fact I would agree with the
posters in the Upton reviews thread. It takes more than a sample
sometimes to figure out if you really like a tea or not. A bit like my
Pu-erh experience...

I ordered Pu-erh from upton because I thought it sounded like a good
tea for a student with a thermos on the run half of the time. Finally
a tea that wasn't so sensitive to steeping time. Ripping open the box
from upton when I first got it I brewed up a cup of Pu-Erh. PHEW!
Tasted like the bottom of a rabbit cage on a moist morning! But, being
a good consumer I drank the cup and resolved never to try again. The
next morning I grabbed the Pu-Erh by mistake and was halfway through my
cup before my brain woke up and I said "Dammit! the Cat took a dump in
my cup!" Over time though an extroadarny thing happend, I began to
enjoy it. The guy that did the Kuro5hin article was right, it really
is a very organic nice tea and I have become hooked. Now Pu-Erh
enjoyes second fiddle to my beloved Earl Grey in the cabinet.

anyway, if your still with me here are my question....

-Has anyone found a good caffeinated keep you awake for hours tea?
With the Pu-Erh i've discovered the caffeine content can be be pretty
good but I usually have to drink quite a bit before I really gets me
going. I'm looking for a tea that I can brew a mug of and work like
crazy through the rest of the night. This might be a bit much to ask
of a single mug buut I know there are teas out there that will keep you
going better than cowboy coffee...

-What about a good green tea? My wife remebers going to Japan and
drinking green tea all the time. She says she just can't drink green
tea here in the Us because it tastes like crud. Any suggestions on a
good powered green tea that will produce a slightly sweet frothy thick
cup?

Iv'e been very happy with Upton both in their shipping and
responsiveness so if you have any suggestions that upton would stock I
would be greatful. Although i've been interested in trying Adigo teas
as well.

Thanks again,
Justin KL1RL
Fairbanks, AK