White Pear

This one is from Azzrian, and is one she (I thought, perhaps) unjustly hated, so I asked her to send it to me. Big mistake. Although this one doesn’t smell like vomit like Pina Colada, it smells like play dough. Almost a rancid sort of smell, in the bag. I have to wonder if it went bad…

The steeped aroma is kind of cardboardy, and that’s exactly how the tea tastes. Maybe a hint of nuttiness. There’s certainly nothing pear-y about this tea. Major fail, Adagio. Major fail. There’s no way a shorter infusion would have helped this one, either. BLECH.

This is a cup meant for the garbage, and only the garbage.

What is wrong with Adagio that they would release this for sale? It tastes as if it was soaked in some really rancid frying grease. Sorry Adagio – I won’t tweet this one but Uggggg I expect better from a middle of the road tea company.

I have no idea why Adagio recommends such long steeping times for their white teas, just about any tea is going to taste unpleasent if you steep it for that long! So I stuck with the steeping times I’ve used for other whites tea (I go for something between 2.5 – 4 minutes, usually). It certainly made this tea more palatable – it has a vegetale flavour but it’s not too strong and I can even taste a bit of that nutty flavour that’s characteristic of many bai mu dans. But where the heck is the pear? I can’t taste anything beyond the tea base except maybe a very vague, general fruit flavour. I’m not sure if that’s due to how old this tea is (I got it out of the Travelling Teabox so I have no idea of its age) or if it’s just the blend itself.

So it’s not outright teaFAIL, but it’s not something I’d be willing to shell any money out for. So back into the TTB it goes – hopefully someone down the line will like it more than I do.

I was extremely excited when I ordered this because I love pears. My first thought was that I was disappointed that there weren’t any pieces of pear mixed in with the tea. I should have stopped right there.
The tea in the tin doesn’t smell very good; kind of like hard-boiled eggs that have been laying around in some grass for a long time (think of a forgotten Easter Egg hunt).

And then there is the taste.

It tastes like nothing I’ve ever tasted before, and like something that I never want to taste ever again. It certainly doesn’t taste like pears, that’s for sure. If I had to compare it to anything, I’d say it tastes like latex and corn syrup stewed in a mug with some asparagus thrown in. It made my mouth say “ouchies.”

Never again with this one. If anyone wants to trade something for it, just Private Message me.

I was excited to try this tea as pears are one of my favorite fruits to eat, at least out of a can. But unfortunately I wasn’t that impress with my first pot. As always I’ll be giving it a few more tries but my first impression was meh.

this tea is steeping now. ive had this for a while so i dont know why i havent tried it before. i love the taste of pears but hate the texture (same with bananas)

the leaves are very pretty and dry smell very nice. while its steeping it smells almost the same theres something different i just cant put my finger on it…and seeing as i dont drink much white teas this may be why :p
so the leaves got huge i love it! its so pretty and the liquor is a very pale yellow
it tastes very nice unsweetened. nothing like real pear thats for sure but more like pear candy. with sugar its even more candyesque :) i like it. i can see myself drinking this.
im using an acrylic travel mug i got from starbucks that has a screen thats keeps the tea leaves from being sipped up so im sure i will be over brewing this as i continue on drinking it.

Trying a sample of this sent to me by Erin.

Adagio’s site says this is a good first tea to try if you are new to white teas. I am new to white teas. Only other white I’ve tried was a bag of Berryblossom white with boiling water at work steeped for 2 minutes because I didn’t read the instructions right. That tasted like water. I’m hesitant to try this after the reviews I’ve read. It’s steeping right now.

Dry leaves smell like hay. Not sure how this compares to the scent of other white leaves.

Wet leaves smell like wet hay on a rainy day. Not smelling anything pear like, but pear is usually light.

Blech…tea tastes like what I’d imagine wet hay tastes like. Poor horses when it’s raining, although I’m sure they know not what they’re missing. Wow, two sips in and this is revolting. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Not sure I want to try anymore. It’s very vegetal. I hope I can find a good white tea. But many more herbal and black teas I would like to try first. Wow, this has got to go. Thanks for the experience Erin, the Peach smells much better!

Adagio really dropped the ball on this one…

To begin with, the tea doesn’t taste or smell of pears at all, not even close. The brew has an indescribable sweetish artificial flavor which is quite unpleasant. The worst thing about it however is that this God-awful flavoring totally ruins the lightness in White Peony that is used as a base here, making it bitter and heavy instead. As i drink it I can’t get rid of the feeling that this poor White Peony has gone bad a hundred years ago…

I’m not even sure if I will be able to finish my sample, it’s that bad. I’m fighting the urge to go and throw it in the trash right now.

This sounded so good when I ordered it. I’m crazy about anything pear, but this… it was a huge disappointment. Even when brewed with twice as much tea as recommended, it still barely has any flavor. And what flavor you do get tastes nothing like pears. The tea itself doesn’t even really smell like pears. When I drank my last cup, there was a kinda unpleasant aftertaste, but mostly I could only taste the sugar I put in it. :(

Yeah, this one was the worst of the white tea orchard sampler.

First off, there’s the odd unpleasant smell. I optimistically thought that brewing would fix this. I was mistaken.

It tastes weird. Sort of chemical-ish. Not even an artificial flavoring thing.

Bland and uninteresting. Little taste of pear or anything good really. Would not buy, or drink again.

It’s not the best, certainly not the worst.
It’s surprisingly smooth, but that after taste is gonna stay.

Sarah – very bad. Rating: 0

It doesn’t smell or taste like pears at all and was awful hot. I made some iced though and it was pleasant and refreshing, though still not pear-y.