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backlogging this mornings tea. Finished off my Masala Chai sample. I only had 1/2 a teaspoon left, so mixed equal parts Chai and Assam Melody as before. Love it!

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.

Used a bit extra (1 1/2 teaspoons) dry tea this time, as the tea is in large fragments (~1 – 1.5cm). Hot water from the coffee brewer and 4 minutes steep yielded a light rust/brown tea that is very mild in flavor. Not grassy in flavor…I can’t quite nail it down.

And the resteep. The resteep came out very good this time, not pale at all. Still had fines in the bottom as noted before, but good stuff.

backlogging this morning some more.

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.

made in my two cup teapot with a heaping teaspoon (not the measuring one) and fairly hot water (185-190 F). Steeped the recommened 4-5 minutes for black tea. Nice clean tea w/o much after taste. Mild, not tannic, not acidic.

Back from an extended weekend vacation filled with bad coffee and this was the first thing I found. When your tastebuds are asleep, this will do you good.