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__Morgana__ drank White Symphony by Adagio Teas

937 tasting notes

Now that I’ve given all the flavored whites in the Adagio white sampler an initial taste I thought I’d move on to the non-flavored ones.

I’m using the time and temp on the Adagio label for the first try. White tea steeping times and temperatures still seem a bit of a mystery to me as the recommendations vary widely. I’ve read lower temperatures and longer steeps, lower temperatures and shorter steeps, higher temperatures and shorter steeps. It seems to be highly subjective. Next time I might try the Breville’s white tea settings and see what happens.

The dry leaves look and smell like the leaves used as the base for the Adagio flavored whites, so I’m expecting a similar flavor, minus the added fruit flavors.

The aroma after steeping is sugary, with a hint of plantiness and the color is almost the same as water, a very faint green-yellow.

And yes, the flavor is what I tasted under the very faint pear and very faint tangerine, and I like it much better on its own, mostly because I can just sit back and enjoy it without playing find the flavor. On the other hand, it isn’t knocking my socks off. Part of this may be that I’m still working my way up the white tea learning curve, but I know I’ve had whites that had more to them in subtlety and substance than this.

Now for something completely different. I noticed that I have now rated 399 teas. Woo hoo-the odometer is about to turn over! What to pick for no. 400. Hmmm…

Preparation

180 °F / 82 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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Bio

I’ve updated this bio as it’s been a couple of years since I “started getting into” tea. It’s now more accurate to say that I was obsessed with tea for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it, and I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I’ve recently started writing fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I much prefer to drink tea without additives such as milk and sugar. If a tea needs additives to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’m going to rate it high. The exception is chai, which I make on the stove top using a recipe I found here on Steepster. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs into the harder stuff, but once I learned how to make a decent cup of tea they became far less appealing to me. That said, I’m not entirely a purist, and I enjoy a good flavored tea, particularly flavored blacks.

I like all kinds of tea depending on time of day, mood, and the amount of time I have to pay attention to preparation.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. I’m revising them slightly to make them less granular as I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas against other similar versions. So I rate Earl Greys, for example, against other Earl Greys, rather than against all teas. If something rates very high with me, though, it probably means it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is; will keep this stocked until the cows come home

90-94 First rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Excellent; likely to become a favorite, will likely buy more

70-79 Very good; would enjoy again, might buy again if in the mood for this particular one or a better, similar version not available

60-69 Good; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but probably wouldn’t buy again unless craving this particular flavor

50-59 Okay or run of the mill

Below 50 So-so, iffy, would definitely pass
or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.