John Grebe

I went into this with a single change to brew it and having no idea what to expect as this is a lone teabag that my girlfriend got with junk mail. Overall my impression of this tea is that it is a spicy mint blend.

Wow I am really impressed at the quality. If I did not personally brew it from a teabag I would think somebody was puling my leg if they said that it was brewed from a teabag. The tea has a nice smooth dark roast oolong, if you enjoy dark roast TKY than you will like this tea, if nothing else as a nice travel tea when loose leaf tea is not an option.

Noticed a box of Twinings Chai in my grandmother’s cupboard this past Easter so I took 2 bags to try. A very nice chai, especially for a teabag that is drinkable straight up. Some might think that the spices are weak but personally I like it that it is drinkable as is without needing massive amounts of cream and honey to tone down the spices to be less than overwhelming.

A rich and smooth dark oolong that is more mellow than nutty. Holds up fairly well to multiple infusions and is one of the better ones that I’ve had in some time.

This is the first my first dry storage aged sheng puerh tea that I’ve received a sample of. My initial impression is that the color is around the same of the wet storage ones but a little lighter. The taste is a bit different as it has still has the freshness of the younger tea but the harshness has given way to a more mellow tea. Overall an enjoyable tea and I am grateful for the free sample as it made me realize that when it comes to buying aged sheng that if it is not wet stored then it is not worth my money as I enjoy wet a lot more than dry.

A sample of this tea arrived as part of a tea order which was in fact placed as a birthday gift so it was a nice and thoughtful extra for Adagio to throw in. The first few sips of the tea straight came off as a bit bland which was not a surprise considering that it is based off of a mix of vanilla, cream and caramel flavored teas mixed with cake sprinkles so I was forced to add sugar to balance the flavors with the needed sweetness that they demanded. Adding sugar to my tea is something that I very rarely do and due to a lack of white sugar I added brown sugar. In the end it took around 3-4 spoons worth of brown sugar for the tea to end up tasting right, or at least as right as a birthday cake flavored tea can. I’m sure that even with all the sugar that I added that it has less calories than a slice of cake has, but in my opinion it sort of defeats the purpose of tea as an enjoyable calorie free beverage to take one’s mind off things with calories.

In the past I remember Yiwu puerh to be very sweet to the taste yet sadly harsh on the stomach before too long. This time I’m trying out the sample with cooler water to treat it like a green oolong in the hopes of a softer brew. While this one is sweet I can tell by the second round that I had best not push my luck any more with this tea so I will decline to give a number rating on the grounds that it is not the tea’s fault that my stomach can no longer handle young green puerh.

This is the second time that I’ve had Lapsang Souchong tea and the first that I’ve enjoyed it. The previous time was a teabag version back in college which was really bad. When I opened up the bag the smoke aroma was strong enough to be scary but once I brewed the tea, the tea aroma came off as a lot more mild and not scary at all. The main thing that surprised me was how light the tea was overall with a nice sweet and slightly smoky taste to it. If you like beef jerky there is a good chance that you will like this tea. Overall I find it to be pretty good for something different and I will gladly finish off the 3oz bag that I have but I doubt that I will bother to order again as while it is good there are a lot other teas that I enjoy more.

This is the best packaged loose puerh that I’ve seen to date. Instead of the typical foil or plastic bag of the loose tea inside the box I was pleasantly surprised to find a paper bag instead. So in other words this 2011 ripe puerh has already had the chance to air out and is ready to drink now instead of a year from now after being opened. Overall this is a lot better than one would expect for its price range, the puerh is malty with a slight earthy edge but not earthy enough to have the companion sweetness that often goes with it. Reminds me of the early cheap puerh that made me fall in love with puerh but at a fraction of what I was paying for it back then.

Like all mini bricks which I dislike, I broke this one up to ensure better infusion. Overall this brews up a sweet and very smooth blend with a bit of depth in the taste which is hard to describe. If you like the old tea nugget puerh than you will love this one as it is the closest to a nugget taste for a non nugget puerh that I’ve yet to encounter.

Another free sample and one that I enjoyed. This is a more mild sheng puerh, which like all of the samples I’m given tend to blend together for the most part.

Twinings Ceylon Orange Pekoe is a good standard generic black tea (or at least in the American sense) that likely got a lot of us started drinking tea. The loose tea variety is actually pretty good as long as one is careful not to over brew it. I normally brew blacks for 3 minutes but with this tea 2 minutes is a must as 3 will make it a bitter barely drinkable mess. At the very least a good tea to keep on hand for any guests that just want a cup of “plain normal tea” when they become overwhelmed with our selections of “fancy teas” on hand.

A very light and sweet tea that is slightly fruity. Reminds me of a bit of a cross between a green tea and a white tea. Think silver needle with a darker color and a bit stronger flavor and you have hunan gold yellow tea.

This is also the first time that I am having pure spearmint as a herbal tea. A light and sweet mint but to be quite honest not as good as I expected it to be after my experience of enjoying spearmint candy more than peppermint. Shocking as I think in reality when it comes to plain mint tea I actually like peppermint more but overall when it comes to a peppermint/spearmint blend Adagio’s beat the bagged variety big time.

This is actually the first time that I’m having pure peppermint tea as I normally stick to either spearmint or a blend that contains a mix of peppermint and spearmint. I figured it was worth a try as my problems with peppermint when spearmint being fine is rooted in Altoids mints which are different than herbal tea, so peppermint deserves a fair shot in its native form before being written off as being too overpowering for me.

What surprised me the most about this peppermint was the sweetness in the first sip as I normally thought of spearmint as being a sweeter mint. Sure it has the peppermint kick in after the initial sweetness but it is nothing like the bad experience I had with peppermint Altoids in the past. This is a good tea on its own but even better when it is mixed half and half with Adagio’s Spearmint as it really brings out the best of both and shows how even in mint loose leaf is better than a paper filter that can trap the mint oil in the bag instead of letting it get into the tea.

First off I only have this tea because the kind folks at Adagio threw a free sample of it into my latest order. Generally I am not one that goes for flavored teas so if you are this review might not be the most helpful to you. Overall I am surprised at how light the orange flavor is in this green tea, as the flavor does not overpower the green tea taste at all as I can tell it is a good quality naturally sweet green. It reminds me of those flavored waters that have just a touch of fruit flavor in the water as the best way of describing this tea as it has just a touch of orange in with the green tea.

A sweet smoothness is the first impression that I notice on my first sip of this tea. Slightly earthy with a bit of a slight roasted mineral taste like a good wuyi. I’d call it a good everyday black tea overall that is cheap, not the best overall but one that is hard to top in its price range.

As one that finds pure peppermint herbal tea a bit overwhelming it is amazing how much of a difference adding spearmint into the mix can balance things out. While the tea also contains other things they blend in nicely into the background so the focus is upon the mint which is cool but not overwhelmingly cold.

Picked up a few of these to try from a box at a friend’s house. Personally I have never been that fond of Earl Grey tea but the idea of a lighter Lady Grey where the bergamot is softened with lemon and orange sounded like it was worth trying. Unforgettably this is only the teabag version and not the loose leaf version although it seems to be a pretty decent tea with a nice fruity taste. I do not plan on picking up any more teabags of it but I’d have to think about if I want to buy a tin of the loose version if I can find it as it is good but there are a lot of other teas that are better.

Wow I find it amazing that I was sent a free sample of a tea that costs $95 a cake. So the question that I am sure everybody is wondering is if it turns out to be good enough to actually spend your own money on a tea this good. Quite honestly while it does appear to be a good tea, I highly doubt that it would be worth half its price. The taste is not really unique or different just a good drink now friendly young green puerh that does not have much harshness.

Yet another sample and a bit too small for me to be able to give a true review of it as I normally use a bit more ripe puerh at a time. Despite brewing light it has a smooth edge to it. Even though this ripe puerh was said to be made with really premium leaves I can not really tell that much of a difference. Sure it is a good puerh on its own merits but if you expect this one to be special or above the rest then you will be in for a disappointing cup of tea.

Another sample so once again this review is based upon a single session. Nothing really stood out to me as that remarkable of this tea as it is more of a standard young sheng that one can drink young without being overwhelmed with harshness. The only thing that stood out was when I forgot about in infusion that the result was stronger but still very drinkable.

Another free sample from PuerhShop so this is based on a single shot brew. I flash brewed it in a gaiwan with pretty good results. Overall the tea comes off as a light and sweet brew that comes off as being closer to a green tea than sheng puerh. Also for people that have a sensitive stomach when it comes to sheng this seems to be a very stomach friendly sheng.

Personally every time I tried to brew this one hot I got less than ideal results, so I only make this one in a Mr. Coffee Ice Tea maker. Personally I like darker oolongs to blacks when it comes to ice tea but I keep this on hand for the people that like their tea to be lighter. It is one that I do not mind drinking as ice tea but there are ones that I like a lot better. The bulk of this tea goes to making batches of ice tea for my girlfriend and my grandmother so if both of them love it a lot it can’t be that bad even if it is not my personal favorite.