Cynthia Carter

I bought a sample of this with my last Adagio order, because I really need to find a bedtime tea I like that is not mint. This just might be it, but it is so unlike anything I would call tea that it deserves its own genre.

Oh yeah – tisane. That’s the word.

This tea looks a lot like the dried fruit blend I buy for adding to my oatmeal. I see very little in here that looks like a leaf. When I add hot (not boiling) water, the smell seems familiar, rather like what you smell when you walk into a Yankee Candle store. Except that it is much less intense than the candle store, which is an all-out sensory assault on the nostrils. Still, it has that same undefined sweet rush of different fruity odors.

It’s hard to identify anything in the taste or smell that actually reminds me of mango, but it definitely has a very sweet, fruity taste. Somewhere lying underneath the fruitcake potpourri is the distinct taste of hibiscus. I happen to like hibiscus tea – a hangover from my hippie vegetarian herbalist days – but I’m glad it is not a strong presence in this tea. After getting home from a late choir practice, I’m not ready to be assaulted by what’s in my cup. Sweet, unsophisticated fruitiness feels rather soothing.

I have been craving citrus lately – probably due to a decided lack of sunshine down here in the Sunshine State for most of last summer and this winter. Anyway, I’ve been bringing home bags and boxes of oranges, clementines and such, and even smearing Meyer Lemon marmalade on my morning toast.

So, this tasting note may reflect a little bias. Because, oh my goodness, this is so good! A delicate citrus scent while brewing, and a delicate flavor in the cup. The tea is a pale grassy color and a light, bright flavor with no mineral taste that I can detect.

When I was a small child, my mother used to give us that puffed rice cereal for breakfast. I loved it – so toasty and caramelly tasting. So, I have been preprogrammed from early childhood to become instantly addicted to this tea. After trying it for the first time today, I can report that all of that childhood conditioning worked, and I will never again be without genmai cha on my tea shelf.

There is an instant rush of toasty rice smell as the hot water hits the leaves. The color is golden green and the smell is rich. With the first steep, the flavor reminds me of brown rice sushi – warm grain with a hint of saltiness and seaweed flavor, with perhaps just a dash of toasted sesame oil. As the brew cooled on the first steep, I noticed a very pronounced bitterness and astringency, that nearly disappeared with the second steep. It may be I need to use a shorter steep or less leaf, but this is definitely so good that it is well worth experimenting to find the perfect brew.

Astonishingly honey-dark color after 7 minutes steeping, with a light, slightly spicy scent that does remind me of peonies. Sweet, and slightly salty taste, with almost no bitterness even after the long steep. Second steep is bolder and darker, with more of a honey taste.

Very finely cut tea with some dust, with a very intense, almost rank odor of bergamot in the dry leaf. I used about 1measuring teaspoon to a pint of boiling water, and steeped for about three minutes. This produced a ruddy dark brown tea, fairly clear, still with an intense bergamot scent and somewhat less intense bergamot flavor. Good breakfast tea, which is when I had it, together with toast, marmalade and a nice boiled egg. My husband tried it as well, and pronounced it “good.”

I bought the loose leaf tea, which came in the coolest. tea. tin. evah. It has an airlock-type top – one outer lid like a dome on top of the opening, and an inner lid which fits tightly into the opening, with a neat little button handle on top so that you don’t have to pry the lid out with a screwdriver.

The tea itself is very finely cut, with some dust. Truly, it looks like the same particle size I would expect to see if I tore open a teabag. It took me about 4 tries to make a palatable cup of tea. The loose leaf teas I have been using lately are all much coarser, and I wound up using way too much of the Dilmah leaf for my first few tries. I ended up using one level teaspoon, about 2 grams, in an infuser set in a one pint teapot.

The resulting tea was very dark and a little murky with sediment. I found the color improved as the tea settled. Despite the infuser, a lot of tiny leaves escaped and settled to the bottom of the pot. The resulting tea flavor is classic Ceylon: bright and citrus-y, with a spicy, almost pepper-y finish.

For comparison, I made a pot of my current favorite, Adagio’s Ceylon Sonata, which is a much coarser tea, with long, slender strands of leaf, and little dust. I use a longer brew time (5 minutes) for this tea, and I made it as I ordinarily would, with about a tablespoon of leaf. The Adagio tea compares favorably with the Dilmah – the Adagio is more fragrant, somewhat smoother tasting, still very bright, with a clearer, more reddish liquor and far less sediment. It seems to lack the peppery finish that the Dilmah tea has. At $4.99 for a 125g tin, compared to $7 per 4 oz tin for Adagio, the Dilmah tea is an excellent value and well worth a spot on my shelf.

I was in Starbucks today, and decided to pick up a tin of their bagged whole leaf tea to try. Zen is one of the Tazo teas I like fairly well, , so I took home a tin.

The tins are absolutely huge, and about half empty – not a feature I appreciate when I have limited tea storage space. I used one bag for a one pint pot, and that seemed sufficient. I think using a second bag would probably make the tea a little overwhelming. I like lemongrass, but I don’t want to swim in it.

This is also giving me a chance to play with my new toy, an Apple Iphone. My husband claims I have been obsessively, obnoxiously geeky about it since it arrived. I found a neat little tea timer app for free, with an amusing little graphic of a glass tea cup that gradually turns darker as the timer counts down. I set it for the recommended time, and was thrilled when it went off. So cool!

The bags are huge, and the leaf inside smells and tastes very attractive – large chunks of lemongrass, with a very minty aroma. (Have I mentioned that I love mint?).

In taste, this could just as well be an herbal infusion – I get spearmint and lemon grass, and just a hint of lemon zest, but no real tea flavor. Looking again at the bag, it appears that it is almost all mint, lemongrass, and lemon balm – there’s not a whole lot of tea present. Still, it’s a pleasant flavor and aroma. The mint is dominant in the first steep. The lemon flavor and scent are more pronounced in the second steep.

I would really prefer to buy this as a loose tea – it is way overpackaged. But good. I enjoy this cup.

This tea was a gift to me from a friend who knows the family who owns this estate. It is very much as described. A strong, earthy dark brown tea that is deep and satisfying on its own, with a grassy flavor. It blends well with milk and sweetener without losing its character, and makes a good base for chai – cardamom in particular seems to marry happily with this tea.

I don’t quite know what to think of this. The dry leaf has a very strong pear flavor, together with something rather astringent, like vinegar. During brewing, the honey and pear scents are overwhelming, and smell delicious. The tea has a strong pear/honey scent and much milder flavor, but the tea is . . missing, somehow. Possibly I need to use more leaf, but I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that from the scent. I’m wondering if mixing it with another plain black tea might provide a more satisfying cup, or if slightly sweetening it would reinforce the flavor.

I’m finishing off a sample of this that Adagio sent from one of my earlier orders. I have brewed it up before, and remember not being very impressed.

I added milk and sugar, thinking that might help. No. Dang, this stuff is nasty.

This reminds me more of an Assam, with its chocolate notes and deep brown color. I was surprised to find that it is a Ceylon origin tea. It doesn’t taste or look as bright as Adagio’s Ceylon Sonata, for example. It is rather bland to my taste – not quite as rich as an Assam, nor as bright and thirst quenching as a Ceylon. Nonetheless, a pretty decent cuppa, but I have other teas in my cupboard I like better.

They say scent has the power to trigger memories, and the rose scent of this tea is wonderfully evocative. Years and years ago, in my hippie herbalist days, I gathered several pounds of wild rose petals, and made a wild rose conserve. The memory of the scent of that jam is still with me, and this tea has exactly that scent. It also reminds me of locoum, or Turkish delight, a sweet confection made of roses.

Once brewed, there is a distinct flavor of rose, but no cloying sweetness. The tea, which tastes like a Ceylon, is clearly present and not overwhelmed by the rose.

It’s not a tea I would drink everyday, but it’s definitely going to take a permanent place in my pantry. It would go well as a finish after Middle Eastern food, I think.

Much thanks to Ricky and to Auggy – your reviews talked me into buying this.

I think I’m going to have to upgrade my rating of this somewhat. It still has a rather odd butter rum flavor, but after letting the tea sit in the cupboard a while, the mint flavor is coming more to the fore, and I am enjoying drinking this somewhat more. Did I mention that I am a sucker for mint?

The tea is very dark, and still does not assert itself much over the other flavors going on, and the butter rum flavor is not as strong as I remember it. It’s not my favorite flavored tea, but I can enjoy an occasional pot.

This is a very fine, wiry looking leaf. The smell is earthy and sweet, like peat moss. First brew was five minutes. Fairly dark liquor, sweet and clean tasting like a Ceylon and finishing with an earthy, smoky flavor, rather like good barbecue, but just a hint of the smoke. Second steep wasn’t really worth drinking – the flavor was much weakened. I tried a new batch with a somewhat longer steep time – about six minutes. This made the earthy/smoky flavor much more pronounced, with no bitterness. This tea would probably benefit from a longer than usual steep. That finished off my sample, and now I am totally out! Sadness :( I like this very much!

I picked the last of the lemons from my Meyer lemon tree yesterday, to keep them from freezing, and spent today processing lemons into marmalade. Big steaming pots of lemony goodness, big steamy canning kettle, lots of steaming hot jars. I’ve steamed myself limp, and need some refreshment.

This really is what the doctor ordered – light, fresh, rather grassy and with a faint mineral aftertaste. Aaaahhh – I think I’ll put my feet up for a while.

Well, I know a bit more than I used to about making tea, so I decided to apply that knowledge, and try this tea again.

This is a loose leaf tea, but the leaf is very fine, and seems to have a lot of tea dust clinging to it. I used water that was less than boiling – brought it to a boil first, then let it cool till it was still. I also reduced the amount of leaf compared to what I used before – a scant tablespoonful, and steeped for much less time – 3 minutes, where I had used 5 minutes previously.

I prepared this in traditional East Frisian fashion – pour the tea, add a lump of rock sugar, and dribble in a bit of cream, without stirring. Then “wait and see and take some tea!”

East Frisian teas are supposed to contain Assam tea, and this definitely tastes like it – a bold, assertive malty Assam flavor. I expect that is necessary to stand up to all of the cream and sugar. I tried the second cup from the pot without the additional cream or sugar, and it is quite an acceptable cup of Assam blend, though not the best I’ve tasted.

Anyway, I’m upgrading my rating of this. This is something I would definitely reach for, when I am in the mood for a strong tea with cream and sugar.

Oh, my. I was craving this and didn’t even know it. Pale, greeny-gold liquid, a sweet, fresh and vegetal taste, a richly sensual aroma like asparagus cooking in butter, and so very thirst-quenching.

This tea is rapidly becoming my second favorite (next to Darjeeling!). It was my first cup this morning, and I’ve continued drinking it through the day. It has a beautiful deep golden color and sweet, rich flavor.

Sometimes I don’t want my palate challenged, or a finicky steeping ritual, or a lot of nuance. Sometimes, I just want a really good, satisfying cup of tea. Now, please.

This one has a deep tea perfume, a dark color that promises and delivers a strong tannic flavor. Tannic meaning it tastes like tea – good, honest, no fussiness about it tea. I wrap my hands around my mug and inhale deeply before each sip. Ahhh – tea.

Wait, the pot is empty already?!!

A nice quality loose leaf tea, in a mesh bag. The vanilla flavor is gentle and adds a sweet note to the tea. I seriously oversteeped this tea, and it still has a mellow taste.

A light, gold-green liquor with a remarkably rich flavor. Buttery and sweet, with a faint vegetal aftertaste. This is one of those teas that is complete in itself – it would be spoiled with any additions. The dry leaf is compact and heavy, and expands dramatically during brewing.

Yum!

Very nice iced!

Liquorice is the “curious” flavor in those “curiously strong” mint candies. It adds a welcome sweetness to the cup, and, of course, that slightly odd and quirky liquorice flavor. This is a refreshing herbal cup. If you really hate liquorice flavor, it may not be your cup. I like this without any milk or sweetener. It may work quite well as an iced tea, and I may try that later.

The smell and first sip of this tea remind me of butter rum candies. There are large chunks of peppermint candy in here, which I think is the source of the slightly minty flavor. If you can imagine using a peppermint stick as a swizzle stick in your hot buttered rum, that’s pretty close to the flavor. The butter rum flavor is rather odd and artificial.

I’m sure there’s some tea in there somewhere, buried under everything else that’s going on. It may even be good tea, but I can’t tell.

It seems there are several custom blends on Adagio called Candy Cane. The one I have is by Megan Pederson.

I give it a “meh.”