Moving on in sample land from honeybush to some of the whites.
It was hard not to notice the unfavorable reviews when I searched for this tea in the database. I am trying to keep an open mind.
There’s a strong coconut aroma to the sample tin, and I smell pineapple as well. I’m not smelling suntan lotion (thankfully) except to the extent that coconut is always a little reminiscent of suntan lotion.
I’m not sure what tea is used in the base. I can’t find any info on the Adagio site other than white tea. I whipped out the unflavored white samples for a comparison and I think it’s a mix. I see a few leaves that look like silver needle, and some that look like the White Symphony sample which are white peony. A lot of them are broken. There are bits of color among the leaves like in the picture, though I’m not sure what they are and my guess is they add atmosphere rather than flavor.
The infused tea has a golden, brown tinged liquor and a very light nose. I agree with the note that identified a sweet, bread-like fragrance which I think is how the coconut and pineapple aromas smooth out. I didn’t find them to be differentiated or pronounced after steeping.
And frankly, I don’t taste them much in the tea. There’s more coconut than pineapple, but really it’s more like a generic sweet flavor than anything else to my tastebuds (which are, admittedly, suffering from some flu-like virus at the moment). I didn’t have the aversion to it that so many others have had, but it’s kind of meh. I think one could achieve the same result by adding a drop of sweetness to a plain white tea, if so inclined. I’d rather drink plain white, though.
ETA: The taste becomes sweeter as the tea cools, so that it is more like a boatload of sweetness than a drop. I must remember to drink while hot. The coconut shows up in the aftertaste, and it’s not overly sweet. I sort of wish I could skip the drinking part and get right to the aftertaste.