I’m still looking for a smooth green tea that I can sip at slowly without finding a single flaw. I can’t say that about Adagio’s Dragonwell.
I recently placed a rather sizable order from Adagio, purely made up of samples for my tea edification. While the reviews I’ve read on Steepster tell me that Adagio’s teas are not ideal, I figure that the teas will at least give me a starting point in terms of what to look for. And, hopefully, comments when I write them up will give me a better idea of which direction to look for better versions of these teas.
Today, I went for the Emperor sampler.
“Ooh, I’ve heard a lot about dragonwell tea,” I told my long-suffering boyfriend. He was busy eating his dinner at the time, so his reply involved enthusiastic nodding. He doesn’t drink tea himself, but he knows how excited I get.
Now, the description on Adagio’s page promises a toasty aroma. I could smell it, but I was a bit worried about the seaweed-y edge I picked up. I’m not too fussed about seaweed, usually, but I don’t really like it in tea. It makes me extremely picky when it comes to green tea. I was a little worried already, from the smell.
I wanted to steep the tea for two minutes, but I didn’t count on the strainer for my new teapot on being quite so finicky to get out. I was terrified of making it go bitter on top of seaweed-y, but the extra 45 seconds doesn’t seem to have had any ill effects.
It brewed up a nice light yellow-green, with the usual green tea smell. Maybe a little stronger on the vegetal scent than some. And taste-wise it isn’t horrible like I was expecting, though I’m not that keen on it. It’s got a definite hit of seaweed and vegetalness, but it does resolve into something I could like. If the first hit of taste were less intense, I would definitely enjoy it a whole lot more. The aftertaste isn’t bad, smoother than the tea itself, definitely.
Sooooo final verdict is mixed feelings. It’s not terrible, but it’s not something I’ll reach for, given a choice. I’d go for my bland Heavenly Tea Leaves Oolong before I go for this tea.
I have not been able to resteep, because I made way more than I needed. I was under the impression my sister would help me drink this, but she left long before I made it. I don’t even know what to do with 40oz of green tea at 10PM! It’s a bit amusing, really. :)
If the flavour changes when I resteep, I’ll let you know, fellow Steepsterites!
