Adagio Teas

Cold Brew!

Another that came well recommended to me from Instagram tea friends, but unfortunately this was a bit more of a disappointment. While it does steep a beautiful, deep azure blue the taste just wasn’t enjoyable. Very, very lemongrass forward with the strong and unpleasant floral taste of chamomile bringing up the tail end. I knew this one was a gamble for me, as I don’t like chamomile and I’m iffy with lemongrass, but I honestly didn’t expect them to be this level of intense. I didn’t really taste any mango or lychee at all, and so there was nothing to counterbalance those flavours for me…

In the end, I ended up mixing it about 50/50 with lemonade and that produced something drinkable – but not great.

Weird tea. I like it, but not for lemon nor lavender. Thank you derk, or White Antlers.

It is pretty nice, but lemon — I would expect more sour taste. But okay, at least it’s not terribly strong note. I don’t have sour face after drinking. It’s rather on sweet side. And lavender? Well, I don’t note that much. I notice way more lemongrass as of herbals, and apples as of fruits.

While it don’t have bad notes, I am rather sad about this tea. Adding fresh lavender would help for sure (gladly we still have some in the garden); but maybe few drops of lemon would be helpful as well. Certainly lots to improve!

I was so curious about this tea when it originally released this year but Adagio is not the cheapest company to order from when you’re only curious about one tea – if I’m going to order I want to make it a BIG order with lots of new things or restocks of my favourites. So, finally, I had the excuse to do that – I picked up a ton of new Halloween and fandom samples but also tossed in some of their main assortment that I had been interested in trying…

I’ve heard great things about this tea from Instagram friends, and so my expectations were pretty high. I wanted to get this as LLT but the small LLT sample was sold out and I wasn’t willing to blind buy the large bag of it, so I went with the tea sachet options instead. So that’s not my ideal format, but I’m willing to roll with it!

And… this was good.

I cracked open the bag and was just flood with intense boozy bourbon aroma – it was VERY strong/concentrated. However, steeped up the edge is taken off a bit but the flavour is still excellent. Looking at the ingredients list may have been a bad idea for me because I see that, among other things, it has “candy apple” flavour in it and that unfortunately pulled me out of the cup a little bit because I feel like I can actually taste that in the composition of the blend. However, that aside (and trying not to think about it) the flavour is a really excellent bourbon. I’m struggling to explain it as anything else other than “bourbon” because, well, well the flavour is nailed the flavour is nailed.

I’m impressed.

Finishing the last of this one. It’s really just an unmemorable vanilla black tea, in my opinion.

This is BUTTERSCOTCH. The scent and flavor are both so strong, and I’ve really been enjoying it. Not any nuance, and no surprises while drinking this one-just a cupful of warm butterscotch.

Received this tea in swap year ago! From Izzy who haven’t wrote here since she received mine teas and commented only one from them. I miss her a bit, but anyway THANK YOU!.

It is evening, after elections to region local government (no big powers, but at least someone between people and country government). It has ended as I have hoped; same as last 4, ehm… 8 years. We went to cider making in morning as well — we had lots of apples which won’t stay good even in cellar (Wealthy varietal), so we made non-alcoholic cider (not sure about translation, but my dictionary says so). We had around 75 litres of it! Can’t sent abroad, it won’t survive the trip.

ANYWAY, YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE TEA, RIGHT?
The tea was quite smoky when brewed, but taste is rather on sweet side, hard to recognize something but honeybush and hints of smoke. Something is there sweet like licorice. But is does not have the cloying effect. It is has got some generic fruit notes too, maybe mostly apple skins, not even the fruit pieces taste.

Overall, I am rather sad. I expected some smoky, maybe baked apple, taste or something what would remind me a bonfire, but none of them.

But I remembered Finnish joke:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b4/b0/9e/b4b09e446017ddec34fd20c73cd1dc76.jpg

I used 2.5ish tsp for what I’m guessing is a 16 oz mug, with 4 adagio rock sugar crystals brewed for exactly 3 minutes. I tried this tea yesterday as well with fewer leaves (following the package recommendation of 1 heaping tsp) and no sugar, and both times I didn’t really enjoy it. It tastes pretty boring and I didn’t get a single hint of pear (or any fruit, really). I love white teas because of their delicate flavor, but this one was just kind of smothering and left a weird film in my mouth. 3/10, would not buy again.

A friend brought some of this by today. I didn’t expect much out of it and was happily surprised by a great cup. The berg is a little on the sharp side, but not by much and the lavender is pretty apparent. If I wasn’t so in love with Zhi tea’s Violet Femme, I’d probably pick some of this up.

Grandpa Style!

I’m going to have to revisit this one Gongfu because I just don’t think this brewing style did this tea any favours. It wasn’t really unpleasant, and it had some roastier and nutty notes, like walnut, but more than anything else it was deeply mineral and almost metallic tasting and I just didn’t love the way those flavours lingered on my tongue after each sip. I don’t know for sure, but I just have a gut feeling a different style of brewing would mitigate that quality.

A good everyday green tea that’s a nice balance between vegetal and floral. Slightly astringent and good for multiple infusions.

A very nice Oolong thats deep, toasted/smoky, earthy and lightly honeyed. Lightly floral noted appear as the smokiness lessens in subsequent infusions. Not as toasted/smoky as a lapsang souchong or a genmai cha. Great for multiple steeps. Adagio version is actually very good. One of their better teas.

Good slightly above average Ti Kuan Yin. Heavily floral with a 3 minute second steep actually being the tastiest cup. Great value as its good for many steeps, increasing the steep time with each cup.

Woke up feeling achy and puffy today. Sleepy too. Caffeine required.

This is a basic blend, but it’s nice. The vanilla flavor is present and I’m really enjoying it. A solid tea for me.

The Great Un-Steepstering of 2020 Review #3 (08/05/20)

Some days are multi-cup, black-as-black tea days… my sleep has been “where the hell is it?” lately, and today is one of those days for me. Pulled out this bag which came from Meowster’s cupboard de-stash a few summers ago… thank you, Meowster!

I was a big fan of Keemun Concerto (I do like me Chinese blacks) and have to say, I’m really enjoying this one as well. It tastes a bit like barbecue, but in the best way… there is a hint of smokiness, but not too much, and a sort of tangerine citrus note that reminds me of an Asian sauce, a bit of aged leather that brings out the librarian in me, with the backing of a deep, malty/bread black tea flavor. And it’s really, really smooth. Nice first thing in the morning, but also as my mid-day kick-in-the-pants cuppa, too.

Sipdown (257)

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing! I paired this with a strawberry cheesecake cupcake which ended up being a nice pairing.

The cupcake was dense and rich and sweet and delicious. This tea, on the other hand, was light and floral. I was hesitant because I don’t usually like jasmine but I do like silver needles. Ultimately this is pretty good though.

Mostly lemongrass and lemon flavor. Very little lavender. I may be too harsh on this one because I’m a sucker for a tart lavender lemonade and maybe that tartness is what I had in mind when sipping on this. It definitely has the flatter mouthfeel of herbal teas. Next round will include a small pinch of my own lavender flowers and gasp, maybe some hibiscus for pucker.

This was sent to me as a free sample from Adagio in my last order and I only recently realized I haven’t tried it yet. The reviews on Steepster are somewhat mixed but leaning toward poor. I actually do like the flavor of this one. I can smell and taste Adagio’s chocolate chip which I love, and I get the vanilla the creator was going for. I don’t really taste the mango but maybe it’s a lightly flavored tea. That one doesn’t get high marks on Steepster either. Even without the mango, this is a nice chocolate-vanilla tea. I think the rooibos actually gives it a nice body as a foundation.

There is maybe a bit of fruitiness as I continue sipping. Maybe it’s the mango. Maybe I’m convincing myself it’s the mango because I know it’s supposed to be there. Either way, it works.

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #40

Like Shae had said, this basically just tastes the same as Clotted Cream, which she also included in the TTB for me to try. Although, since Clotted Cream is the fandom blend it’s probably more accurate to say that Clotted Cream tastes like this blend instead of the other way around…

Anyway, I’m glad I know – probably would have bugged me if I hadn’t tried both and got that question out of my mind.

One of my old Adagio samples that I’m working on sipping down, now that I’ve finished all my old Tealyra stuff off. The leaves are very long, twisty, and dark, and smell almost chocolately in the bag. Brewed western, 2.8g in 350ml @ 205F for 3 min.

The tea smells like malt, honey, caramel, and strongly of roasted nuts. It has a pleasant roasted flavor; I’m getting notes of malt, toasted bread, roasted nuts (particularly a more earthy walnut flavor), honey, and a bittersweet cocoa that settles toward the end of the sip. There is a hint of a cherry note, as well, but it is subtle. There is some earthiness and minerality as well, but the tea is quite smooth. I’m really enjoying this one.

Cold Brew!

My manager’s girlfriend organized a surprise birthday party for him in the park (socially distanced) and that’s where I drank this tea – yesterday. It was really nice; aside from celebrating his birthday it was really nice to see a bunch of coworkers in person that I’ve not seen for months because everyone outside the lab team has been working remotely…

However, the park that the party was in was almost an hour and half commute from my house, in the middle of a heat wave! So, by the time I finally got there I was practically dripping sweat (sorry, gross image) and totally overheated – so I cracked open one of several bottles of tea I’d brought with me (this one) and just chugged. Was it tasty? Yeah, sure – I like strawberry and basil together and white tea is nice and refreshing, but more than anything else it was something COLD on a stupid hot afternoon. It was relief above being tasty…

I have been really into the smokey teas lately. The smell of the dry tea is very smokey , reminds me of tobacco. It is a smokey tea with hints of chocolate. I could not pick up the cherry notes in this cup. It is so smooth and just hits the spots.