Sinister

So, next is Vanilla Oolong. It has a deep bronze liquor. The aroma is just vanilla and tea, heavy on the vanilla. The taste is copper Oolong and a nice minty vanilla. I admit to being impressed. I’m shy about flavored anything, but I had once bought Vanilla-flavored Rooibos and it was truly awful. So awful I don’t even think I logged it on Steepster. It was terrifyingly awful.

This cup of tea, in contrast, is perfectly sip-able. It is, however, very rich and not at all an “everyday” tea. It isn’t at all a “Grapefruit Oolong” or anything like as good(as I thought). As I reach for the bottom of the tea cup, the vanilla is getting on my nerves and the rating has dropped since I started this review. But it’s still a marvelous cup of tea.

Berry Blast. I cannot tell you how little the name of this tea won my favor. Anything called Berry Blast is not going to be a loud favorite of mine. The best it can hope for is guilty pleasure. That said, I have already another hibiscus tea on here and it was rated highly.

The liquor is…well, I mean, come on, it’s a hibiscus tea. It’s deep red/purple, which is unsurprising when you take into account that it has hibiscus and blueberry in it.

The smell is just awful. It is a terrible sort of fruit roll-up dark blue-raspberry nightmare. The brewed tea is more subdued and bearable.
And the first sip…..

…Is pretty damn good. It’s got a dry sour-pucker that lends itself to a certain sort of mood. It reminds me of a less passionfruity version of Tazo’s Passion.

It’s really quite impressive. I still refuse to openly admit I drink something called Berry Blast, so I’m renaming it. Standby for its new name…
Gummiberry Juice. See? Far more dignified and pop-culture-referency!

Okay, so I wrote a huge detailed account of this tea as I was tasting it…then steepster decided to crash and it was lost. Much like my first attempt at brewing this tea. I grabbed a cup, not knowing that this cup already had some water and baking soda in it. So the tea was nothing but salt.

I call it quits. The tea was good. It was mild, it was mineral tasting and light. It smelled kind of like tomato soup, tobacco and clay I liked it fine, as a black tea.

That’s all… Wish me more luck with my next tealog.

-Sinny

I love Oolong. I find it a very hard formula to ruin. You take Oolong and you add yet another pleasant flavor, smell, etc… to it and presto! Another hit tea. I think tea companies go to some silly extremes with this, but on the whole it’s a sound concept.

First let me say that this tea, in the bag, smells incredible. The citrus makes my eyes water and I love grapefruit. And that’s what it is, that pledge-strength citric-centric wonderful clean smell. I was disappointed in that the brewed tea has little or no smell whatsoever(either that or I’m suffering from the nose equivalent of snow-blindness).

The liquor is that familiar ole copper-bronze which is Oolong tea.
The flavor is literally the best “flavored” tea that I can remember tasting in recent history. It’s not artificial as so many flavored teas are. The flavor doesn’t destroy the fact that it is, at heart, an Oolong tea. And most importantly it fits well with Oolong. I’m trying later some other “flavored” Oolong teas from Adagio, which I don’t expect to work nearly as well.

In closing, for some reason(and I didn’t see this coming), Grapefruit and Oolong are like chocolate and peanut butter, toast and jam and all those other holy combinations.

Peace,
-Sinny

Okay, so Earl Grey Lavender, now. It has a dark prune juice, sherry kind of liquor going on. The smell is almost all vanilla, lavender and bergamot(in that order). And…right off the bat I can tell this is going to be too sweet. I, of course, add no sugar or milk and am referring strictly to the flavor, in terms of sweetness.
I’m taking the first sip now…
…
So yeah, I do not like lavender teas, apparently. Or to be more precise, I do not like this one. It has a Granny-perfume thing going on, that will just not let my tongue enjoy the vanilla earl grey notes. The lavender does add something in that I’m thinking someone may have spilled liquid hand soap in my Earl Grey.

If you like Lavender teas, I’m afraid you’ve wasted your time reading this as it probably does not affect you. If you think you might like Lavender teas, hell, you actually might. Do I like Lavender teas? I don’t know. It actually is kind of growing on me with each sip, and I do actually love lavender lemonade(I have a bakery on a street in my town that makes it.)

But I still half-feel that lavender should remain mostly in the domain of scents and not flavors. I.e. if you have to make a Lavender EG, this is far too much damn lavender.

Okay well, been a while, right? But I had a cup of this once I woke up. It’s not my first taste of it. I’ve been sipping this tea whilst doing the morning paper’s cryptograms for about a week now. So I’ve had time to think.

The liquor is a dirty rust color. It has a dry sour taste, plenty of a polyphenols cranking up the astringency. And don’t say I steeped it too long, I did not. I’ve tried plenty of different times. The aroma is tanned leather, sprinkled with cinnamon.

I’m not a fan of black tea. I don’t like weak tea. I do not care for weak black tea. But this is acceptable. I rate this with Irish Breakfast, although I like it almost a tad bit better.

Yet another tea included in a package from home. I’m at a loss of what to say or expect here. I’m not skilled in black teas the way I am in Green, in White or in Oolong. I’m ususually not a fan of these darker teas with the possible exception of Earl Grey. But can I honestly refuse to brew a cup of tea based on it’s color? No. That’s absurd. I’ve found only one tea that I could not stand and that was Twinning’s Earl Grey.

I will say that the tea leaves fresh out of the cannister, smell like a chocolate store to me. But I will forewarn that this may be because the cannister is an old recycled cannister that had once contained Yunan Noir.

When brewed, It has a darker and earthier aroma than English Breakfast. And it’s liquor is dark bronze. The taste is a rich coffee like flavor, but to my ultimate dismay I can’t voice it’s difference from English Breakfast. I can tell that there is a difference, possibly in terms of strength and definitely in terms of aroma, but I can’t describe it.

It’s a great black tea, if black tea is your thing. I wouldn’t dare insult this tea with a lower than sixty rating. And it definitely will not spoil in my tea cabinet. But when it comes time to order another black tea, I will think Yunan Noir before I think Irish Breakfast.

It’s been a while, Steepster. Many things have changed and time has past, but here I am. Back again and this time with an Adagio Teas staple. I admit to having never tried this before. I will admit to not liking Tazo’s ginger tea much at all. But this is a black tea, which already distinguishes it from that failure. The aroma from the sample tin is already promising. In fact, if the tea turns out to be undrinkable, I’ll keep the tin around just to open and sniff on occasion.

Let me update you with my setting before I take sips of this and review. I’m sequestered in the third story of my Residence Hall at Western Kentucky University. Outside is a good 4-5 inches of snow. It’s finals week and I just recieved a care package loaded with tea. Here we go, I need something soothing and warm, let’s see if Adagio delivers…

Liquor is a dark brown. The smell is, of course, ginger and strong ginger too. Hanging my face over the mug is therapeutic itself.

Wow… That’s… Hang on, I need a few more sips. This is a character study of ginger. It has the base notes of a normal black tea. But taking point, are the strong peppery notes of ginger. It’s hard to convert ginger’s citrus and sweetness to tea and I understand that. And although it lacks those, we can’t fault it for that and it’s perhaps best it doesn’t have them anyway. The aftertaste has what I’m forced to call a cooling mint flavor.

All things considered, I like it. Not as a tea to be drank daily, but perhaps as a seasonal tea?

Desperately needed something for chapped lips and cold hands. My choices are limited these days. I accidentally spilt all my Earl Grey. The Yunnan Noir is past it’s due date. I’m not in the mood for Jasmine tea. Blood Orange tea is too sour for right now. The others were all samples and have been summarily drank. That’s really okay, because Gunpowder shines in moments like these.

I’m going to break a precedent and try and analyze Gunpowder’s character. The liquor is Orange-Red. Smells like good tobacco, smoked herbs and orange peels. It has a thirsty smoke taste. The slight vegetable notes that you can catch are very dry. It feels fantastic on chapped lips, I can tell you that. Has almost a scotchy taste. Yep, yep, that’s it, I’m done. I’m comparing it to scotch… And you have to understand that this cup of tea is so perfect right now, that I really don’t care. Regards.

I edited this tea so that I could backlog it, specifically to warn. I don’t just like Earl Grey tea. Let me acquaint you with my impressions of Earl Grey tea. It was the first blend of tea that I had heard of and had exposure to, early in my life. To fully establish my geekness, lets say that I loved Star Trek the Next Generation. (fellow fans are already seeing where this is going.)

I would watch it non-stop when I was really little, instead of most cartoons. The great diplomat and my then-hero Jean Luc Picard drank this tea in times of severe emotional duress. It soon symbolized a refuge and an ultimate soother to any challenged hero.

I pleaded my parents to buy me some in the most heart-plucking manner. They did so. They bought me…Twinings. I hated it. Didn’t just hate it. Couldn’t stand it. And disillusionment spiraled in my poor head. THIS was what Jean Luc drank? How was the actor able to maintain composure for the camera not to mention to convey the general impression that his character liked such a horrible drink?!

Years later I understood when I tasted Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo, that Picard wouldn’t wash his cup out with the watery slurry that Twinings tries to pass off as Earl Grey. He would gag at the horrible mildness. He would recoil in horror at the missing bergamot notes. He would shake his hands in fury at the now sullied name of Earl Grey and bitterly cry “KHAN!!”

I’ve geeked this post out beyond good judgment. I need to leave before people try and track this IP to my house.

Whew, back. Had computer issues that involve a brand new Dual Core Gateway. Hurray, no?

I should start by noting that Sinister owns a lovely Yixing clay pot seasoned for this tea alone. (refers to self in third person) Did you see what I did there?

Iron Goddess is a good epithet for any Oolong tea, but it’s perfect for this. It has sharp blood-coppery notes that are very lifting. It’s by no means too dark to taste fresh and light. That may sound a little like a contradiction…but sense is so hard to type in words.

If you’ve tried this, then you know. If you haven’t, buy some. This type of tea is too important for that “I don’t have an opinion so let me use yours” mentality. Besides, if you really think about it…what sort of tea aficionado would you be if you couldn’t say you loved or hated this tea?

It’s hard for me to correct myself. But I apparently lied/wrong when I said that Gunpowder was my favorite forever. “There’s always a bigger fish.” “The light at the end of the tunnel is brighter the closer you get.” “When you meet the Buddha on the road, you should kill the Buddha.” (think I’ve taken this as far as it’ll go.)

Either way, few people can say bad things about this tea. But to the few that do: I won’t argue with you, but I wish I could give you something as delicious as this tea. Alas, I cannot. A lot of Zen references floating around this post… =/ Suppose I’d best end on that note.

I simply love Oolong and as this tea taught me, I love the smell of Jasmine. I’m sitting down, writing this review with a big hot cup of this.

The liquor is dark tangerine. The scent is pure hot humid Jasmine and Oolong, which together are wonderfully sweet. The taste itself is sweet as well, kind of like a liquid birthday cake…Or really like liquid Honeysuckle. I’ve NEVER needed sugar or honey drinking this. There are the usual copper notes of a well-treated Oolong, but ultimately, this tea is all about the Jasmine.

Had a dark yellow liquor. The smell was immediately pear and ginger. The actual tastes ranged from hints of pear to ginger and smacks of black pepper.

The tea is hot and spicy in a green tea fashion. All things considered, they could have made the pear flavor more obvious. Definitely wasn’t my favorite of the Tazo line-up. But a nice tea and not to be overlooked.

Most people love apple and cinnamon flavors… I, apparently, do not. It had an earthy brown liquor and a wonderful aroma. It smelled like so many Yankee candles or scented potpourri. I appreciated the nice sour apple pucker in this tea, but it was so horribly smothered with cinnamon that it tasted more like a cider gone horribly wrong. There were splashes of watery caramel that just weren’t welcome and didn’t fit in.

The most infuriating thing is that I can’t understand where I went wrong. I can enjoy almost any tea, and I love Tazo teas…but I literally threw the cup of tea out.

EDIT: I think I know why I don’t like it! A revelation! It’s flavor reminded me of something, I now remember what it was. It reminds me of the Quaker Oats, cinnamon/apple-flavored oatmeal I had as a child. In respects to breakfast and oatmeal…I got sick of it eventually and have never really liked the flavor since… =/

This tea is what I was thinking of when I was a child and making imaginary magic potions that could heal your lifeforce or imbue you with magic. The tea itself is a feel good item and can lift spirits. It allows you to shrug off discomfort, like it was some kind of winter coat and just feel good.

It has a cool blonde liquor and a mild smell like tanned leather or some sort of soft herb like tarragon. The taste has notes of butter and hay, like some impossible grain beverage. There are no truly bitter flavors present.

Have to admit…not one for flavored teas, really. But I love Passion fruit. This tea has a rich colorful bouquet of citrus and perfume. The liquor is a fascinating bruised purple. Tazo makes my favorite bagged teas and though I doubt I could stand to drink this regularly, it’s uplifting to drink this in the bath or while reading. It has a tart sour flavor that tastes…well…to be frank and a little synesthesic…like purple.

Never did a tea have a more apropos description and name than this tea. It looks like gunpowder, smells like it and has an ashen smokey flavor.

It’s my favorite tea. That is likely to be my final verdict, too. It’s just a favorite and a hard-nosed one. This isn’t necessarily a popular type of green tea. It’s not one that immediately shouts out to be liked. It doesn’t sing to the tastebuds… It’s not a profound medeley with hints of cocoa and notes of lemon… It’s simply a strong smokey green tea.

I love Tazo teas and this is my favorite of their line-up. The tea liquor is a dandelion wine yellow. It’s aroma is light and reassuring for the person with a cold or just in need of comfort. It has such sweet notes of butter and lemon that still don’t assassinate the green tea taste. I didn’t find it to be especially floral, but the hints of floral were still present.

It’s far from a traditional concept of a green tea. So don’t expect that. You will be upset. It hasn’t the grassy or vegetable notes of some of the more tradition green teas.

I ordered a 8 oz for my sister who is an avid fan of Orange flavors. The tea is a dark pink with a strong perfume of deep Orange. I admit that I liked the aroma of the tea better than the taste. If I could devise a way to turn the tea into a potpourri, I could make a fortune.

The tea itself is sour and lacking in what I would call complete character. Spiced with sugar, it’s perfect for kids. I liked it too, but it needed something to carry it to the finish line… A dark spice like Cinnamon would work, I think… Bottom line is, if you’re crazy about sugaring up your tea and love Orange, the tea is ideal.

I still have this in my tea pantry. I was excited when this was introduced into Adagio’s line-up. My first impression, to say nothing of it’s unusual shape, was the tobacco-esque smell. It smelled like rich rollcake cavendish. Brewing it revealed a dark doughy taste and aroma. It was earthy in a pleasing and comfortable way and was yet another black tea that surprised me.

I have some of this now and just ordered more, not leaving to chance that I should ever run out. I’m usually unenthusiastic about black teas but Earl Grey is one of my favorite blends of black tea and Adagio seems to have improved on it. Making this one of my all-time favorite teas. It has a dark red-brown liquor with a perfumed aroma and flavor with citrus playing bass.

The building block of a standard cup of black tea. Not earth-shattering, but far above the average bagged black tea. It’s worth waking up to, very economic and easy to use.