257 Tasting Notes
Ok, I think I’ve figured this one out. You have to use a bit extra dry tea to develop body with this tea. 1 1/2 heaping teaspoons (again, the silverware, not the measuring spoon) at a minimum for a 12oz cup of tea. I’m using drinkably Hot water and a full 4 minutes of steeping. The resulting tea is very mild and not astringent at all. A very tame cup of tea.
Made this last night in my 4 cup pot (after the decaf ceylon disaster). Two heaping teaspoons with boiling water, steeped 3 minutes. Yummy! This came out perfect. I really like the bergamot peel that Adagio uses in their Earl Grey, and like the “normal” version, this EG comes out with a big bergamot burst that some might find overwhelming. But for the real Earl Grey experience, I think Adagio has the finest…and their decaf keeps up the standard.
I fixed a 4 cup pot of this for my wife and I last night. First time I’ve tried Adagio’s Decaf Ceylon. In short, it was a disaster! The tea had an off taste that I can only describe as “fish stock” and I poured the whole pot down the drain (I abhor fish stock and anything made with it).
For the record: 2 heaping teaspoons steeped with boiling water 4 minutes. The off taste was present at 90 seconds when I checked for color and just got worse with time.
Backlogging this mornings doings…I went all out with Ceylon Sonata this morning. about a teaspoon in a large mesh ball (plenty of room) and HOT water at a full roiling boil! 4 minutes and I had a perfect cup of tea. As I’ve noted in the past, this is a good tea, not an outstanding tea…I’ve had better “Kenilworth’s”, but all things considered, I’m talking about the difference between really good and really, really good…not between trash and good.