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This tea was recommended to my by the TeaFriends Chatroom folk. So I went out and got some. Smell upon first steep is very reminiscent of fresh buttered popcorn. Not the fake movie theater kind, but good homemade buttered popcorn. Flavor is… Indescribable. This is heaven in a cup. I am getting cream, I am getting butter, I am getting nutty. As it cools I’m starting to get ever so slight floral, but nothing too strong. And this is just the first 40 second steep! This is almost my new favorite tea. It’s just maybe one point less than the Golden Monkey, but definitely going in my top 3. I hate that this is so pricey but I will 100% be re-ordering this. Like I said. Heaven in a cup.

Another black tea for meeee!

This is my first NON-Adagio Loose Leaf I believe. I’m starting to expand my horizons. This one smells delightful. A bread like woodsy scent. Flavor is similar. I’m getting bread and honey with definite malt and chocolate tones as well. It’s a complex cup and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s almost, how should I put this, like a dark chocolate sandwich? That description is both completely wrong and yet somehow right. Also getting some woodsy notes to it as it cools. All in all a very enjoyable cuppa and I’m glad I ordered a decent amount of this. It’s not quite as yummy as my Golden Monkey, but a comparable and delicious cup nonetheless.

OKAY! New Rule. All chai teas will be reviewed using the same prep method- With Almond Milk and two splendas. That being said, time for the review.
WOW! This is certainly a… DIFFERENT tea. I don’t think I have ever had tea with coconut in it before and it shows. I really don’t know if I like this at all or not. The Coconut is pinging in my mouth along with the chai spice and it is really a weird combo. It’s almost like combining sweet with spice and getting sour. I don’t what to do with this. It is kinda tasty, but just really too odd a flavor combo for me. The flavor is very strong even with the almond milk and sweetener. Nope, don’t think I can recommend this one. It’s different in a bad way.

Another tea I misplaced, and found again. My first cup of this, I had to look up recommended steeping instructions as I am not yet skilled enough yet in tea identification to eyeball this stuff. So 2:30 at 180F it was. The aroma is very lovely. Fruity and sweet. The flavor, however, eh- not so much. I taste a faint sweetness to it, but not enough for my diabetic mouth. I’m definitely getting some vegetal notes from the green tea and a SLIGHT fruitiness. The flavor overall is very mild. I just don’t think it is for me. I almost want to add sweetener to this to see if it will bring out the peachy fruity notes. Really not my cup of tea. I will likely finish the free sample but probably not till there is nothing else to drink again. I mean, it’s better than Grocery Store, but not by much I feel.

SIPDOWN #4

So this is the last of my Jasmine Yin Hao. I steeped this cup slightly longer than usual, at 2min30sec. Getting a very strong floral flavor with the vegetal green tea flavor sitting more in the background. At 2.5 minutes it is ever so slightly bitter, but not so much that it ruins the cup. I am not sure if I will get this again, or if I will try another Jasmine. I have decided I do like Jasmine tea, but I don’t think this is the exact one for me. More experimentation will have to be done.

Just a real quick update. I am trying this one again, but lengthened the steep time to the full 10 minutes it recommends on the package. (The package says 7-10 minutes.) Great improvement. I’m getting a ton more of that yummy spice flavor. It isn’t bitter at all which is always a concern when oversteeping. Then again I did put two splendas in it like last time (along with almond milk) so as to be consistant. Bottom line is steeped for 10 minutes this is a much better tea than at 8 minutes.

Welp, apparently I misplaced this tea and just found it. It wasn’t even opened. So I figured I’d brew a cup. For starters, I wanted to say that in my past experiences, vanilla rooibos needs to be brewed for 3 minutes not 5 unless you want to drink vanilla body spray (or something that tastes like I imagine it would). So 3 minute brew. Tasted without sweetener, and it was lacking. I could definitely taste the vanilla, but it tasted more like vanilla extract (super bitter) than actual sweet vanilla. So one splenda later and it’s pretty good. It has a strong vanilla bean flavor to it. Actually, it tastes a bit like this of I would say aged vanilla. Like the stuff they put in really good cream soda. Some Malt flavor as well. Yep, I would say that this fixed this way kinda tastes like the tea equivalent of craft brew cream soda. Yummy and bold, rich and flavorful. Its a pity you have to add sweetener to it to truly bring out the richness of the vanilla but some things can’t be helped.

So, time for an old favorite that I simply haven’t reviewed yet. I am a big fan of Masala Chais in general, so I was excited to see how Adagios held up. First off, I steeped this for eight minutes. Then I added Almond Milk and Sweetener. I tried just adding almond milk but it tasted bland. So after two spendas I sipped again. It’s… fine. It’s not nearly as spicy as some of the instant chais I have had and that is sad. It is however very complex flavored. I taste cinnamon, I taste ginger, I taste cloves, I taste nutmeg (I think), it is definitely spicy. However, the spice isn’t as strong as I would like. I like a good strong spicy chai. Maybe if I steeped more leaf for longer it would make a stronger cuppa. As it stands with 1.5 teaspoons for 12 oz it just isn’t strong enough for my liking. It’s tasty, but not the best. I can see why some people might like it though so I won’t recommend/not recommend. All in all, it’s ok, but not the best. Will try again fiddling with prep later.

Sipdown #3

Well, this is the end of the Gingerbread, the last loose leaf black tea I have right now. I suppose it’s fitting that I finish it as the Holiday season comes to a close.

First off, I would like to say I tried something different this time. Rather than just use sweetener, I used a small amount of almond milk along with two splendas. I must say… WHY was I not doing this before. I almost want to give this a whole new rating based on the tea’s flavor when both milk and sweetener are added. It’s like eating a cookie. I’m guessing a gingerbread cookie, but since I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a gingerbread cookie, I’m not sure. But with the milk this tea suddenly takes on a richness that it did not have in any previous steeping. It’s so wonderful. Slight malt flavor, along with a definite ginger sweetness. The bitterness is no longer prominent. You know, I think I will bump the rating a smidgen. This is just too good not to. I really wish I had been doing this all along. Oh well, maybe next time I can get some more and use this prep method each cup. Until then… (Muffled Another One Bites The Dust playing in background)

Ok, trying this one again. Prep was with boiled stove water for 5 minutes. Flavors I’m getting are definitely orange zest, some peach, a sweet/tart flavor and some amount of floral. The aftersip is somewhat like a lemon candy/citric acid feeling and it kinda tickles my throat. It reminds me tonight of those little fruit candies you get out of the quarter machines. Very tasty.