Poor quality Adagio Lemongrass??
I’m still relatively new to loose leaf teas but I’ve developed a few favorites. Recently I created a blend on Adagio that included lemongrass. Just like in my Calypso Caribbean tea from Teavana, the lemongrass pieces from Adagio were large, green blades that are quite fragrant.
I decided to order lemongrass separately to add more of it to my blend. I was shocked at what Adagio sent: very pale green/beige, thin, broken up pieces with little to no fragrance. Why would I get such a different product than they put in my tea blend? I feel cheated!
I don’t know if I’m just mistaken about what lemongrass looks like or if they sent me something inferior. Can someone advise me on what I should expect with lemongrass tea, and what might have happened here? Should I ask for a replacement?
I would email them. They are really good about fixing problems. I quit buying from them because of the many problems—but they fixed ALL of them. Their customer service gets a big thumbs up from me.
I got a response – it was pretty much, “Sorry, you’re stuck with it. Try again.” I decided to buy some from an herb store just to see what that looks like.
I am disheartened to hear that. They must be struggling in customer service now too. I quit buying from them about a year ago. I got tired of their product not matching their description. (wrong grade or unlisted ingredients) It is too bad because they are a nice alternative to Teavana.
Maybe that’s just their regular lemongrass. I’m disappointed. I’m gonna order it from somewhere else so I can compare.
From what I understand, from past topics on Steepster, Adagio keeps different, separated stocks for their normal teas and their custom blends. This can most prominently be seen in the fact that some teas can be sold out normally, but a custom blend that contains one of those teas isn’t.
Also in that, from what I understand (if I remember correctly), there are some teas that have been discontinued but that can still be added to custom blends.
So the suppliers that they get their lemongrass from—the supply can vary, fresh, not so fresh, and since they seem to keep custom stock from regular stock, there can be varying freshness there. The two stocks could be from different batches—maybe even different suppliers.
I’ve had very good lemongrass from Teatulia. Upton Tea Imports also sells lemongrass which is good, but IMHO not as good. Upton’s is from Thailand and Teatulia’s from Bangladesh; I don’t know where Adagio’s is from. If you want something different, you could try ordering from EGO Tea Company, they sell lemongrass from Guatemala. Never tried it though.
I strongly prefer other lemon-scented herbs, however. Have you ever tried lemon balm, lemon verbena, or lemon myrtle? Lemon myrtle is the lemoniest. Lemon balm though is my favorite…it’s also very easy to grow in most moist temperate climates.
Lemon verbena is also easy to grow.
Also, again not cheap, but if you can get your hands on it, try fresh lemongrass…after using that I really can’t go back to the dried stuff.
I am lucky for price of lemongrass was .99/pound. I bought one stalk for four cents. Some stuff may be high in Silicon Valley but not lemongrass. Last night I shaved a quarter inch of fresh lemongrass into second steeping of green yunnan and it made it so refreshing. Love lemon balm and lemon verbena from my yard too but no luck finding that Backhousia citriodora as a live plant. DavidsTea only place I’ve found it dry.
I bought lemon verbena for the first time, from Mountain Rose Herbs (along with their lemongrass), and will try it tonight.
I just got my lemon grass order from Mountain Rose Herbs and WOW- what a difference!! It makes Adagio’s sample look, smell and taste like old hay. I am amazed that Adagio would sell what they sold to me! MRH lemon grass is aromatic, not as dried out as Adagio’s, and has made a wonderfully delicious tea. Not a good first impression from Adagio, unfortunately.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.