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Adagio CommuniTEA – April 29th, 2023

Was interested to try this, because I love apricot, but I’m finding it very not good…

There’s actually not a ton of apricot going on. I mean I can taste a little but considering it’s the only flavor I would expected it to be more present. And the honeybush sort of just tastes like wood chips with a bit of pepper.

Meh!

Sipdown! (33 | 155)

My last mini tin from Monsoon! Now I have several 50g bags I need to sip down… >.<

This is quite nice though. Like their other rolled oolongs, it tastes more like a green tea to me, and it also does better with a cooler water temperature. This is described as having longan, mangosteen, rose, and chrysanthemum, but mostly I’m just tasting the sweet-tart mangosteen. It reminds me a bit of passion fruit, actually. Maybe there’s a teeny hint of chrysanthemum’s savoriness?

Still very enjoyable as mostly a mangosteen oolong. I believe I have another tea with mangosteen among the pouches, so now I’m looking forward to that one! :)

Sipdown! (31 | 153)

This one definitely had more flavor than when I tried it in the advent calendar. Sweet and very candylike strawberry swirled together with tart rhubarb and a hint of a floral note. The black base is very generic and lacks any real flavor, but it does make a decent foundation for the flavoring.

Enjoyed sipping this one. I don’t think I need it in my cupboard since I already have a strawberry rhubarb tea from Lupicia, but it was nice to revisit.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 28th, 2023

Ooh, an interesting one today. I think I’ve had one of Adagio’s other arabica tisanes before and I remember enjoying it. The mocha one maybe…?

Anyway, this is nice. I’m actually not big on plain Earl Grey these days, I find it to be a bit much usually. But the bergamot here is fairly mellow, and makes an interesting pairing with the hay-like herbaceous notes of the coffee leaf. Reminds me a bit of an Earl on a white base, with those same light & crisp sort of vibes. A nice one for the afternoon, or I guess even for the evening since apparently coffee leaf is low in caffeine.

Seems Adagio is discontinuing their arabica tisanes, which is a shame as I thought they were some of the more unique blends they carried. The lemon turmeric version doesn’t say it’s being discontinued though, so maybe they’re just swapping out the flavors they offer.

Only two more days of communiTEA to go!

Sipdown! (29 | 151)

So this one is described as having jasmine, spearmint, and rose. But it doesn’t really taste like any of those things to me…

There’s a minty sort of note, but it tastes more heavily mentholated than spearmint, more like eucalyptus or even a menthol Chapstick. As for the jasmine, not getting that at all, which doesn’t surprise me since I think it’s just jasmine blossoms mixed in, the tea isn’t actually scented. There’s also a slight fruitiness that isn’t accounted for in the description, definitely a bit tropical and tart like passion fruit.

Anyway, a strange one to be sure.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 27th, 2023

Just a plain spearmint tisane today. I do happen to like spearmint, even though it reminds me of toothpaste and chewing gum ha ha. This is a nice enough rendition, sweet and refreshing with a nice lingering finish. I think my favorite might be peppermint and spearmint combined, as it lessens that chewing gum quality a bit but also sweetens up the peppermint.

Anyway, a pleasant and relaxing cuppa for the afternoon!

Sipdown! (25 | 147)

So this one sounded good to me – it’s a black tea with mango, cardamom, and lavender. However, the lavender tends to overpower the other flavors in my experience. The mango and cardamom are both very subtle so it ends up mostly tasting like a lavender black tea. Not that the lavender is crazy strong or anything, just the other two flavors are so light that I can barely taste them.

For this last cup, I picked out all of the lavender flowers to see how it would affect the taste. I still taste a bit of lavender, just from the flavors melding as the loose tea sits. There’s virtually no mango to speak of, which is really disappointing to me. I do taste some cardamom, but it’s fairly light as well given how many pods were present.

A shame, the idea of this one sounded really good but it’s just missing a lot of the flavors I was excited for.

Sipdown! (24 | 146)

Figured I should start working on sipping through some of these Moomin teabag samplers I ordered, because yay easy sipdowns! :)

This is a nice enough lemon black tea. The lemon falls somewhere in between sweet lemon drop and more pungent lemon essential oil. Maybe with a hint of lemon-honey throat lozenge in there as well. It’s a pleasantly sweet lemon flavor without being too medicinal.

The black tea is super mellow, even though it’s quite dark in color. It tastes Sri Lankan to me, with the acidic and metallic notes that I associate with that type of tea. Not overly tannic, though there’s not a ton going on in the flavor department either.

It’s fine for mindless sipping while coding, but not something I would order.

Also, I discovered new (to me) Moomin teas from Teministeriet while looking for product photos, and now I want those too. Such cute tins… XD

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 26th, 2023

Why is there rooibos?! The cynic in me wonders if it’s included as a cheap filler.

The rooibos here just makes this taste so medicinal, like some vaguely berry-flavored cough syrup. And the white tea is quite musty, though I can hardly taste it under the rooibos.

Boo!

From the Tea Thoughts spring countdown box.

This tisane actually reminds me of pickles. I think it must be the chrysanthemum giving me that connotation, as it often tastes a bit savory/peppery, so I could see it making me think of dill. I’m surprised that it’s not sweeter given the classic jujube, longan, and hawthorn fruits included. I do taste a bit of that syrupy sweet quality from the fruit, but I think mostly I’m getting chrysanthemum and the tangerine peel, which together are giving me pickles. I don’t think I’ve ever had bamboo leaf, so not sure what that is adding.

Anyway, not quite what I expected given my previous experience with similar TCM tisanes, but still very interesting and strangely enjoyable! :P

The licorice does build a bit as I sip, which gives it a stronger sweetness.