Gunpowder

Every time I drink this tea I can’t help but imagine two wooden ships blowing each other to smithereens with cannon fire. Gunpowder. Yes!

As someone who prefers more full bodied greens I have gone through a lot of this, and it remains a favorite every day cuppa. Malty fried vegetables with a hint of smoke, and just the right amount of bitterness for a green – comforting and invigorating at the same time. Most enjoyable, fairly low maintenance and consistently good.

This is by far my favorite tea. I would not feel comfortable purchasing Gunpowder green tea any where else but Adagio. They’ve never failed me when it comes to my selection in Gunpowder. I drink at least two cups almost every morning.

I find this tea to not hit my taste buds well. My husband and 9 year old love it with a little splenda and iced. I make 3 gallons a week for the family to drink as Iced.

Backlogging from last night.

I received two bags of this and upon cracking this baby open I initially thought that I didn’t like it, so I decided to take the unopened bag and give it as a housewarming present to my friend’s new apartment.

She didn’t have any pots or kettles unpacked, so I haphazardly microwaved a glass of water and plopped in a handful of leaves, waiting a few minutes and drank it straight-up, leaves and everything. I don’t know what I did wrong before this, but this was just delicious, even when it’s been steeping for several minutes.

Sweet, refreshing, and a tad buttery. One of the best Adagio greens I’ve tried in my limited experience with them, much better than the awful, spinachy taste I got beforehand.

This tea is gorgeous! I watched it steep and as the leaves unfurled, they took over a large amount of the teapot and looked like a crazy overgrown forest.

The second thing I noticed about this tea is the smell. The first thing that struck me was the smoky scent that reminded me of a campfire. I can understand the name of the tea now. I made enough of this tea to make two cups. One for the hubby and one for me.

It has a really light flavor, as one reviewer said, like spinach. I kind of like it. I think that I will try another cup before I decide whether to like it or not.

New to gunpowder. The unfurling leaves are super fun to watch.

The smokey flavor is pleasant, but it’s more grassy than I normally like. If this is normal for gunpowder, that explains my intense dislike of the Moroccan mint I tried recently. Smokey grass does not belong near peppermint in my book.

Going to give it a fair shake and finish the cup, then resteep to see if the grassiness mellows out.

ETA 4/22/13 – I think I was bad at taking the water’s temperature, and scalded the leaves. I’ve tried again—with more careful temp-taking—and not gotten bitter grassy flavor.

I have a love hate relationship with Gunpowder. Mostly I hate it, not the most delicate tea, tends to be overyly strong and has a almost salty smokey quality that can be overpowering.

The love part is that its cheap, easy to brew and consistant.

I will probably continue to buy gunpowder although i’m going to put an order into Tea Trekker soon opposed to ordering from Adagio

I have to be careful not to brew this too long or it tastes purely like an ashtray. When I get it right, it’s smokey and wonderful.

My first experience with gunpowder, and I am not disappointed. Tastes just like it smells. I only steeped it for 2 minutes but I believe 3 minutes will be better. It was excellent with a small amount of honey.

Strong grassy scent, not unpleasant. Seems slightly smokey to me, but that just might be an influence of the name. :)

The liquor is a nice amber color.

The taste isn’t strong, but it’s nice. No bitterness, very little astringency. Just a lovely soothing tea.

The second cup, after it’s been steeping longer, doesn’t have any bitterness, just an increase in astringency.

Brandice gave me this tea to try because she is a fan of Gunpowder. I had not purchased any of this tea because quite frankly the name scared me. When I hear someone mention the name all I can think of is my grandpa in his gunroom with his gunpowder and that is not something I would ever want to drink. That being said, I also saw that so many people have said it smells of cows or tobacco and tastes smokey. From my new tea experiences, I am finding that if I don’t like the smell of a tea I tend not to like the taste so that also scared me and I’ve been warned of teas tasting like campfires or “smokey” as some called it which also is something I don’t like.

Now on to what I thought about the tea. When I opened the bag of tea, I thought it smelled like a good quality tea, not cow dung. When I brewed the tea, I still thought it smelled fresh and inviting. When I drank the tea I was pleasantly surprised with the way the tea tasted in my mouth and slid down my throat. I’m still new to this tea thing, but I can say in my opinion it doesn’t smell like pooh and it doesn’t taste like a campfire.

I really enjoyed this tea and look forward to having another glass. This is the first green tea I have tried.

I am tired tonight…so, this may be short and sweet.

I just received it today and had to try it.

I like this tea. Adagio Teas Gunpowder is vegetal and definitely a Chinese green tea. It has all the bright, grassy, vegetal characteristics of Chinese green teas with a little smokiness to make it interesting. Also, I would like to mention that in addition to the aforementioned taste characteristics, there is one other that plays a role and this is, the prominent flavor of spinach…I suppose this is the “vegetal” component of the nuance flavors, but nonetheless, noticeable. The aroma is of wet grape leaves…vegetal, grassy, bright but not astringent and a little smoky.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I used the same teabag “pyramid” for a second steeping, same water temp and same duration and the only difference is that the second brew was a little sweeter; but it did yield a very nice second cuppa.

This is a very good everyday green tea. As everyone knows, I am not a big fan of Chinese green teas except for anything Jasmine, however, I would purchase this again because I do enjoy this one. Would I recommend this tea, a big fat YES!…it is delicious.

Aaah nothing like a comforting cuppa gunpowder green tea. Tastes wonderfully comforting and familiar like my favorite well-worn jeans. I received Adagio’s gunpowder in a green tea sampler. I love to watch the pellets unfold as it steeps. Nice balance between astringency and buttery flavors.

Gunpowder is my favorite type of green tea and Adagio’s is the best I’ve had. I particularly like how the pungency of this tea plays along with the typical grassiness of green tea and the smokey notes. Gunpowder may not be the highest grade or most prestigious tea but it offers a flavor profile other greens don’t offer. I’ve tried other gunpowder teas and, while they are not bad, they don’t compare to this one.

Since this tea is pretty strong and the pellets are tiny I’d say 1 teaspoon per 8oz. of water is a good starting point. You can get 2 nice infusions with this tea although the 2nd one is a bit milder. If you, like me, enjoy very strong green tea then 1 teaspoon in a small gaiwan is the ticket.

I will warn you up front: there is a reason some people compare gunpowder tea to licking the bottom of an ashtray. I can see how people come away with that impression, and I don’t think gunpowder green tea will be for everyone.

Having said that, this tea has a smokeyness that is unmatched. And its not an out-of-whack flavor that overwhelmes, but a balanced flavor that is both intereseting and challenging.

Probably not an every day tea for most, but its perfect in the right amounts. I would absolutely recommend against using this tea as your first experience into green teas.

If you like it however, its a great value. The price on this tea is great and it stands up very well to multiple infusions. Each infusion tends to be a little less smokey than the last, even with more brewing time.

I love smoky teas, so of course, I quite like this.

A delicious smoky tea, strong and manly.

Delicious when cold-brewed, which is how I usually take it. Often with a little mint.

Never did a tea have a more apropos description and name than this tea. It looks like gunpowder, smells like it and has an ashen smokey flavor.

It’s my favorite tea. That is likely to be my final verdict, too. It’s just a favorite and a hard-nosed one. This isn’t necessarily a popular type of green tea. It’s not one that immediately shouts out to be liked. It doesn’t sing to the tastebuds… It’s not a profound medeley with hints of cocoa and notes of lemon… It’s simply a strong smokey green tea.

I’m trying the new batch that just came in from Adagio. Love the smoky flavor. I always inadvertently brew it a little strong- since it is so compact, I need to go with a scant 1 tsp per 8 oz.