So, a little while back Adagio reached out and offered to send me some samples to review. Who doesn’t love trying new tea!? So, of course I said yes. They completely surprised me with a $100 gift card to select my samples though, so I got to really thoroughly examine their permanent tea assortment and grab myself a range of new flavours to try!
In almost record time, the teas actually arrived today! I didn’t steep myself anything at work because we were pretty busy, but I made a few different cups tonight when I got home. This was what I started with because I was coming off a few back to back mugs of more caffeinated teas, and I’m trying to be a bit better about pacing my caffeine intake throughout the day…
The dry leaf aroma of this tea is pretty impressive – sweet and distinctly watermelon, it reminds me a lot of watermelon flavoured Jolly Ranches but with just a bit less sweetness or that underlying sour quality. It also makes me think a little bit of an older DAVIDsTEA blend, Luscious Watermelon. It’s interesting to me that it’s that specific DT blend that springs to mind, because I admit that this feels like it’s trying to replicate a much newer DT herbal melon tea – Melon Cooler. It could be a total coincidence, but I would be interested in knowing the timeline of when this tea was released versus Melon Cooler.
The dry leaf is also very much majority soft, cut apple pieces – so that tells me that really all of the heavy lifting in this blend in terms of flavour is being done by the added flavourings, and not any of the actual fruit in the blend itself. Apple, especially these softer and more spongy apple pieces, are often used in tea blends as more of a cheap filler because they carry flavouring really well (they’re like little sponges for it) and have a bit of a more neutral but lightly sweet fruity note. I don’t love apple dominant blends, though it’s not because I mind the flavour of a tea coming primarily from flavouring – and I do prefer apple as filler over hibiscus which is another popular ingredient in herbal teas…
Steeped up, this continues to smell amazing – very similar to the dry leaf aroma but slightly less intense. I did make this hot, but I know that it would probably be even better iced or cold brewed. The taste is good! It’s a solid, clear and identifiable watermelon flavour that doesn’t taste too sweet or candy like, but has more “oomph” that the weak/watered down melon blends you sometimes get. The mouthfeel is thin and the tea is lacking a bit of overall body – a longer steep or more leaf might help balance that out. I suppose, in the sense that it is a “melon flavoured tea”, it is similar to Melon Cooler but it’s not really a direct replication of it – I find it more similar to Luscious Watermelon. I admittedly like this much more than a did Melon Cooler, but it’s not as tasty as Luscious Watermelon. Given that the latter hasn’t been available for a very long time I think this is a pretty solid option for an accessible watermelon profile though!
