Meghann M

Trying a sample of this sent to me by Erin.

Adagio’s site says this is a good first tea to try if you are new to white teas. I am new to white teas. Only other white I’ve tried was a bag of Berryblossom white with boiling water at work steeped for 2 minutes because I didn’t read the instructions right. That tasted like water. I’m hesitant to try this after the reviews I’ve read. It’s steeping right now.

Dry leaves smell like hay. Not sure how this compares to the scent of other white leaves.

Wet leaves smell like wet hay on a rainy day. Not smelling anything pear like, but pear is usually light.

Blech…tea tastes like what I’d imagine wet hay tastes like. Poor horses when it’s raining, although I’m sure they know not what they’re missing. Wow, two sips in and this is revolting. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Not sure I want to try anymore. It’s very vegetal. I hope I can find a good white tea. But many more herbal and black teas I would like to try first. Wow, this has got to go. Thanks for the experience Erin, the Peach smells much better!

Maybe I’m not in the mood for this tea, or maybe I was just expecting too much from it, but it’s not impressing me all that much.

This blend smells of caramel and coconut and has a orange brown liquor. The flavor is black tea with a hint of coconut and a slight woodsy taste (from the rooibos?). I don’t taste the almond, but I’m not to the bottom of my cup yet.

This tea doesn’t need sugar or milk, but I may try with both on my 2nd cup. Its a nice smooth tea, and affordable as an everyday tea, but I prefer the Earl Grey Creme to this cup at the moment.

Brewed this again this morning and tried it with a splash of coffeemate (drat do I need to get milk). I really do believe this is going to be a au natural tea for me (no cream no sugar) as it was HORRID with the coffeemate. Drowned out all of the bergamot goodness and creme taste. First cup I’ve poured out, but enjoyed the second cup of the pot very much as a refreshing uplifting morning tea. This is my new non spice favorite tea. I don’t know why I stayed away from Earl Grey’s for so long.

Adding a touch of splenda to a hot mug of this really smoothes out the mint flavor. Didn’t think it could get better, but tastes slightly sweet rather than herb-y now. Having a mug while watching biggest loser and hoping my tummy ache goes away so I can eat dinner. Otherwise a diet of tea sans milk for the rest of the evening!

After having my first Earl Grey in the form of a Tea Latte this morning at Caribou Coffee, I thought I would pick up some Earl Grey at Teavana. The associate let me smell both this and the plain Earl Grey, and I chose this for it’s creamy sweet aroma.

This tea brews up a nice golden brown color with an aroma of an orange creamsicle. I haven’t sniffed such an enticing brew that wasn’t an herbal infusion prior to now. Wow do I enjoy sniffing this tea.

The tea has a bright taste from the bergamot and a smooth creamy blackness to it. I really am enjoying this tea. Glad I brewed two cups, as I am nearly thru with the first after writing this review. Trying this sans sweetner and cream this go round as my stomach isn’t settling from lunch. Maybe I’ll try with cream after dinner.

Stopped by Caribou Coffee to get some work done this morning, spending most of my time on steepster after seeing the steepster select email though. Tried this new tea latte. They have several flavors, this sounded the most energizing this morning.

This tea latte is overpowered by the caramel flavored syrup they use. I think it it were reduced to 1 pump or none at all (if that is possible, not sure if it is added to the concentrate or not), it would have a much stronger tea taste.

This being my first Earl Grey anything makes me curious to try other earl greys with tea and milk. I had them use soy in this as a recommendation. I enjoy the flavor, it’s a neat option to the chai tea lattes.

Got a tin of these bags yesterday when stopping for my monthly chai tea latte. Tried it tonight with hot water steeped 2 bags for 4 minutes and a splash of vanilla creamer. Had no time to run to the store today for milk and forgot on the way home. This tastes quite a bit different from the concentrate. The concentrate they serve seems to have more of a cinnamon and cardamon kick to it whereas these bags I’m really getting anise flavor as the foremost flavor with hints of the others. I really hated the first sip, but a few more sips into it it has mellowed out a bit. I like the amount of spice in this, but would prefer a different kind of spice. I’m curious to try this with some steamed milk. Maybe the next cuppa.

Tried this this morning since I had some time to relax and really enjoy it. I added a splash of Vanilla Coffeemate as we were out of milk, and I like this much better with milk. The vanilla creamer really changed the taste. I could really pick out the apple and peach flavors with the rooibos. Very amazing how much more wonderful this was with the vanilla coffeemate over a splash of milk. Definitely glad I bought a tin of the full leaf bags last time I was in Starbucks! Now to see if the second infusion is half as tasty.

Used 2 tsp in 16 oz of water, boiled for five minutes while infusing. My husband commented that the kitchen “smelled like IHOP” while this was steeping. The aroma certainly has something in common to Maple Syrup.

Tasting this tea right out of the pot it is a sweet black tea. After it cooled a bit I get a maple-y taste with a slight edge to it. I think this tea may have to be added to something for me to really appreciate it. It is certainly sweet all on it’s own, just wasn’t expecting the maple syrup taste.

Hoping for better things to come with blends of this tea!

Just got this tea in the mail today along with Adagio’s Cream tea. I have been craving a Chai/Spice tea and had to try a cup right away.

I boiled 2 cups of water, kept it boiling as I steeped two teaspoons of tea for 5 minutes and then removed from heat and added 1/2 cup of whole milk and 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. I stirred it up and poured a cup.

The aroma is sweet and spicy, even through my allergy stuffed sinuses. (I don’t know what I’m allergic to in the bitter cold we’re getting here, but that’s another story). The taste is sweet, I can taste the black tea and the spices, although I can’t really pick them out individually. I enjoy this mix, it tastes like a lighter spice version of some of the chais I enjoy. Maybe I’ll try this tea black, but adding milk and sugar to it really compliment it.

Drinking a cold brew infusion I left steeping in my fridge overnight and WOW is this so much better than hot brew over ice!

The flavor is so much smoother, it lost some of the tartness of the berries and is now a delicate, sweet berry on my tongue. Lemon plays around with the Raspberry quite nicely. I didn’t think this tea could improve from it’s previously high status, but it has. I must have more of this tea!

I was making space in my cupboard for my Adagio tins on the way (only 2, but still want them front and center) when I found a few bags of Stash Peach Black left. I needed a pick me up this morning so I made a cup to enjoy while getting ready for work. It’s not bad for a bagged tea. Gave a rich dark caramel liquor after steeping for 2 minutes and smells strongly of peach. It does have a bit of a floral aftertaste. Might try the last few bags iced, as I believe this is one my husband would like (as it tastes like lipton iced). I can’t get him into other teas yet.

This tea is always great when one has a cold, sinus stuffiness, upset stomach, any ailment that makes an excuse to drink a hot cuppa.

I taste the spearmint and peppermint and an aftertaste that could be the tarragon, but not sure I’ve ever tasted tarragon so I’m not certain. Very refreshing tea. I enjoy the strong mint aroma and great mint flavor of this one.

I blended with this tea with equal parts of Sour Cherry Serenade to get a Cherry Chocolate effect. This time I used 2 teaspoons to 10oz boiling water. Steeped for 3 minutes. Liquor brownish with a bit of what I assume was chocolate floating near the top. Smells like strawberries and cocoa, not much cherry. Tastes like sour cherry with a chocolate after taste. This time I’m not getting much of the chili burn.

Not sure what it is, but something in this makes it curdle when I add milk, even non dairy creamer. Maybe the cherry? I brewed it as is this time.

I think I like this better as Azteca Fire by itself. Not much of a sour cherry fan.

Edit: a few more sips in and wow am I getting chili flavor. It cooled down a few degrees and I do like this tea a bit more.

This afternoon I decided to cold brew a few scoops of this mixture after reading about the cold brewing process online.

I did a quick rinse of the tea leaves with near boiling water for 30 seconds, then filled my bodum press with cold water and let steep in my fridge for 5 hours.

I love the beautiful bright orange liquor. The taste is light and fruity. A light taste of the smooth green tea with a bit of sweet and tart orange.

Had a coupon for a free drink at Starbucks so I opted for this. I do like the Tazo chai tea bags with milk, but this is too sweet for my liking. It does have strong cardamom and pepper with cinnamon, which I like. I really need to find some loose leaf chai to try, there are so many options out there, where does one start?

No notes yet.

Having this iced today for a quick break. Cleaning the apartment and really in need of an iced tea.

Made up a pitcher of this using 10 scoops of tea, 32oz almost boiling water and steeped for 9 minutes. I added about 2 cups of ice to a pitcher and poured the hot steeped tea over it.

The liquor is such a dark vibrant fushia I was a bit scared to try this one. First sip was quite potent, I think I used too much tea. Usually when I make one serving of this (16-20oz) and use 3 scoops of tea it is a light hibiscus pink color and not quite so tart. Added a tad of simple syrup to my mixture and it is ok. Probably could resteep the leaves for another batch, but with so much fruit in there I’m not sure the taste would stay.

Less tea next time for sure.

No notes yet.

I tried this tea at lunch today.

Used hot (nearly boiling) water from the water spigot at work.
Steeped 1.5 minutes
Liquor was a pretty cinnamon bark brown, darker than I thought white tea would get, maybe from the berries?

I think the temperature of the water really hurt this brew of tea. At first sniff I didn’t smell anything but a very faint berry. First sips while still very hot tasted like infused cardboard. After cooling down for a few minutes I noticed a bit more of the berry, but not really any tea flavor. Quite a bit of cardboard like aftertaste.

I’ll give it another shot with a much cooler controlled temp, but first taste this was awful!

Had this tea with hot water from the water spigot at work. Let it steep in a paper cup the whole drive home while sipping throughout.

This tea smells great: ripe red apples with a bit of floral undertone (not sure where the floral is coming from, maybe part of the apple?). I didn’t taste much apple, but I did taste a very creamy (the roobios?) with spice (cinnamon) that got stronger the longer I kept the teabag in.

I really thought I’d love this tea after sniffing it, but it tasted different then it smelled. I don’t know what it was about this I didn’t like, but it kept turning up a floral note in my taste buds that just didn’t sit right.

I’ll try again soon with a smaller cup and steep time I can control.

Made a pitcher of this iced using my electric iced tea maker. Used six bags and got some rather potent green tea. I need to add more ice or less tea next time as it is quite strong, but I love the lemongrass taste with a hint of mint. Very refreshing.

Having this Iced again. Used 3 teaspoons to 12 oz water (boiling) and steeped for 9 minutes. Then poured immediately over ice.

I love how potent the raspberry and lemon are in this mate. I usually add splenda to my iced teas, but this one is so sweet on its own that there is no need for it. Delicious citrus berry flavor with a hint of mate, this was a great way to start my morning.

I think I steeped this tea too long as it was much darker and almost bitter. I remember it being a light, pale green and not the olive I drank. It didn’t have the soothing qualities I remembered, more of a harsh bitter blend. Must shorten steep time next time.