Casablanca Twist

I wanted to try a different take on Moroccan Mint so I bought a sample pack of this tea.

I don’t really taste the Darjeeling at all. I’m also very confused because it tastes like gunpowder green anyway, I get a smoky note at the end. But it is mostly peppermint. Not as strong as a straight up peppermint cup though. It doesn’t have that sinus clearing minty power.

I’m just confused because it even looks like there’s gunpowder in the picture on Adagio’s site. And it’s under green tea, whereas the Sungma Darjeeling is a black. But the ingredient list is just Darjeeling and peppermint. Confused.

Overall it’s enjoyable and like any decent mint tea, it’s refreshing, but I think I was hoping for something just a bit more complex that allows a bit more of the base tea to shine. Oh well, that’s why I ordered just the sample bag right?

You know, when I think about it, I really can’t tell that there’s darjeeling in this unless I concentrate really hard. You can’t even really see it in the tea, so I can only assume that the percentage is pretty tiny. Either that or it’s all drifted to the bottom of the tin….

I’ll be right back.

Ok yeah, there’s just not that much of it in there. Not that this is a bad thing! I like the mintyness and just the smallest hints of something else. Considering my lukewarm reaction to Golden Moon’s Moroccan Mint, I guess I just like this kind of mint tea better. There’s also the possibility (I may have mentioned this in my Moroccan Mint review) that I just feel a sense of loyalty to the one I tried first, which, despite expectations, given that Moroccan Mint is a pretty established form of tea, was this stuff. It’s kind of like how if you read a book first and then watch the movie of the book you generally like the book more, but if you watch the movie first and then read the book you like the movie more? Although now that I come to think of it, I usually like the book more anyway. Yay for print! Stay in school, kids.

Thanks to LORI for sending me this sample. I wanted a late-afternoon tea with a strong flavour but not an overwhelming amount of caffeine and this seemed to be the perfect occasion to try Casablanca Twist. The dry aroma is pure mint. Steeped, the strong mint comes through very nicely. The Darjeeling is so subtle that I’m not sure that I would recognize it. I could be drinking a pure single-note mint tisane and would not know the difference.

Mint is among the tastes that I need to have in stock (along with vanilla, almond, chocolate) so I would certainly consider investing in a full load of this next time I order from Adagio. I don’t think it’s an earth-shattering revelation to me (as a tea like Maiden’s Ecstasy from Samovar was or Jackee Muntz) but I do think it would make a great member of the Reliable Dragoons of my teas—you know, those foot-soldiers who are essential back-up for the Admirals and the Generals. Why in the world I am thinking in military metaphor I don’t know unless the word “Casablanca” makes me think automatically of the WWII film with Bergman and Bogart and the wonderful Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Claude Raines—-great cast all around. And Edward Gorey’s stepmother was the lady who burst into singing the French National Anthem! True, true, true!

In any event, I like this tea. I don’t know that Adagio has created a one-of-a-kind blend, but it’s good and it’s nice and it’s minty fresh. My rating reflects the fact that the Darjeeling is not the major player it’s advertised to be. Maybe it went AWOL to take the waters?

This was a very minty tea, so much so that I could barely tell there was any green tea present. Though I seem to be coming down with something as my throat has become very sore over the course of the day, so it just might be that my tastebuds aren’t all working right now. I should add that it was still quite a pleasent tea and I enjoy mint teas in almost any form.

This is one of the first teas I tried from Adagio, and I was in love at first sip. Disclaimer: Gunpowder green tea is one of my fave teas of all time, so I am completely biased in any and all reviews re: Gunpowder green.

The gunpowder flavor, mixed with a subtle hint of Darjeeling, offers up a smoky flavor in the aftertaste. I actually added a bit more peppermint, but I enjoy stronger, spicier teas. (And my peppermint may have been fresher…no offense, just sayin’.)

Overall, this is a great blend for beginners to loose tea and for gunpowder fans. If you prefer stronger, blacker teas with lots of fruity flavors, I’d bypass this one. :P

If you want a minty, refreshing tea, don’t go any farther. This is it.

I was expecting a much greener, vegetal tea. When I opened my tin, however, I was pretty surprised because the leaves didn’t look anything like my other green teas. I took a sniff and realized that the leaf was at least 50% mint leaves. This was not at all a bad thing, as far as I was concerned, because it is a hot summer day and what is more refreshing than mint tea?

I brewed it up and threw some ice in, and voila! A lovely summer drink.

((I might have to try blending this with a strawberry tea. Doesn’t that sound lovely? Strawberry mint, iced. Yum.))

Had the last of this today – YAY! Not a bad tea, but very minty. I think I like more of a smooth mint. A little of it can go a long way. :)

You know, I really wanted to like Casablanca Twist, I really did. It’s like that kid in high school that you pity and want to be friends with, but you just can’t. He would never mesh with your other friends, and then it leads to awkwardness. That’s what this is, an awkward tea. I’m not exactly sure WHAT CbT is supposed to be (I’m clever with acronyms, right?), but unless Adagio wanted to make an over-the-top mint tea, they’ve done their job, ten times over.

Like I said, I really wanted to like this tea, but I just cannot find myself getting into it. I expected to taste green tea, but all I got was HEY HERE’S SOME MINT, TRY IT. And it wasn’t even like “oh it’s minty, but it’s pretty good,” more like this came from my grandpa’s candy dish from the Post-WWII era. In essence, this tastes like a STRONG mint leaf with a mix of random other small flavors, like it’s been sitting in the dish w/ other minty stuff (remember those little white chalky mints?) and red hot fireballs. Bad combo.

Just doesn’t CUT IT for me.

http://teacast.net

I really needed an afternoon cup of tea today after a 2 hour cleaning marathon. This one sounded delicious! I love Moroccan Mint and this sounded like an awesome twist on that. This tea is positively splendid! It is smooth and green with just a touch of mint. It really brightened my Friday afternoon! Not that Friday afternoons don’t already have a reason to be bright – haha! But anyway this is a delightful tea. I look forward to drinking the rest of my stash of this.

Thanks for this tea Rachel!!!!

I may have to realize that I’m not much of a “base tea” kind of person… at least not yet. I’ve been testing a lot of plain teas, and haven’t found anything in the “love” category yet. Perhaps I just haven’t hit the right one yet …

With that said, I know I’m a flavored tea person by now, and this tea hits the spot tonight. I much prefer spearmint to peppermint, but this is very very good to me right now. It has a natural sweetness somehow and a creamy feeling to it. Hmmm, I think I finally found an Adagio tea to love.

Have to admit this one is not my favorite. It’s o.k. , just not my favorite. I can hardly taste anything but the mint. Mint is one of those flavors that just takes over and pretty much “kills” anything else.

Never realized that there was Darjeeling in this – I guess that accounts for the earthy, vegetal, almost buttery flavor that I’m getting. I remember loving this when I first tried it, and I’m not quite as impressed now, but it’s still very good.

A nice mint/green tea combo. Nothing special or unique, though.

I really enjoyed this. I have had mint teabags and that flavor is just soooo strong. This is great. it is a smooth mint. Smells great. I am ready to sit down on a snowy night and drink some of this.

A fine take on the Moroccan Mint tea, the Darjeeling & Mint combination is very soothing and it is a great afternoon tea, especially after a large meal. The mint is definitely the high note and the Darjeeling kicks in at the very end, rounding out the flavors nicely by offering its buttery smoothness. Will definitely buy this again.

OMG!!! This tea is delicious. You can taste the mint in the tea but it doesn’t take over. It is smoothing and refreshing all at the same time. I am upset that I didn’t buy more than just a sample of the tea. I will get the bigger tin next time.

I just noticed that this finally came back into stock and I had to get it. The mint is pretty strong, and the darjeeling is an interesting replacement. It makes the tea come out a bit darker than the Moroccan mints I’ve had that used the more traditional gunpowder. At any rate, I do like this quite a bit.

This is basically just a mint tea… there is a little bit of green in it but i think you can accomplish the same thing if you add some min5 to gunpowder or another richer green. Then you can at least play with proportions.

I didn’t hate it but I wasn’t running to make another cup.

Other tasters are correct in that this is a predominantly peppermint tea with a light tea base. Replacing the gunpowder green with sungma darjeeling changes that typical smoky characteristic that the words “moroccan mint tea” bring to my mind. Here, the darjeeling acts as a light backdrop for peppermint to shine, without ever getting to that overwhelming toothpaste mint feel.

I’m currently too much in love with Loki blend on Adagio (gunpowder, spearmint, rooibos jasmine) to consider reordering this one, but it does make a nice refreshing, not super caffeinated cup for afternoons.

Really enjoyed this tea. It’s great before bed, it’s delicious with a nice minty note. Simple and delicious.