Black Dragon Pearls

It took me a while to get the right time and serving size for this, but I think I got it. I need this strong, especially on a cold, rainy morning like today’s. 3 balls for a single cup, 5 minutes in boiling water. Resteeping once or twice will keep me going until lunch.

Very smooth, with little perceptible acidity. Strong, mellow black tea flavor. The tea balls add a little entertainment to the brewing experience.

But then, maybe I’m too easily entertained.

Tasty, well rounded and smooth but somewhat thin and one-dimensional, especially for the price. My scouter shows these dragon ballz lack a sufficient power level to reach super saiyan. Would rate higher if they didn’t drop a spirit bomb on my wallet.

A perfect black tea for me. It’s malty and earthy and sweet and everything I want in a tea. It almost has a chocolate/spice taste to it. Highly recommended. As a bonus, it’s so pretty to watch it unfurl as it’s steeping!

Received as a gift from dearest Mum! I enjoyed this tea, but I found the recommended steeping directions made a slightly weaker cup than I preferred. The second brew, using less water for the same amount of time, was an improvement. A very smooth tea, altogether; unlike my usual breakfast teas which need a splash of milk to take the edge off, this was quite nice without.

I put two balls in for about three minutes and that seems to do the trick. It’s chocolatey and smooth. While it isn’t as complex as a keemun or yunnan tea it still is very relaxing and I am using it more and more to end the day.

First off, I love that everyone is cracking jokes about the balls. Glad I’m not the only one whose mind went right to the gutter on that joke….

Right now, this is actually my favorite Adagio tea. I love the strength of this flavor. There is a mild hint of cocoa…which is delightful.

I tend to make this tea more at work. I use the Adagio filters & create my own teabag. I leave the filter teabag in the cup while drinking. I find the flavor doesn’t get bitter. And I luck out when making a second cup. The flavor stays as strong as the first cup.

This is definitely a morning tea to wake the dead. I now pass on my morning cup of coffee for a cup of Black Dragon Pearls.

Since reading the reviews, I’m going to have to make a pot in my clear glass teapot & watch the pearls come undone. I’m surprised I haven’t done that yet.

And I don’t care how they make the pearls stay in the ball shape. I’m just thankful for the delicious flavor!

This stuff rocks. I treat myself to it when I want something robust but I’m not quite in the mood for coffee and its epic dehydrating powers.

It’s most interesting at 4.5 minutes, 2 pearls per 8oz. The cocoa notes are really there — no finely-tuned connoisseur bullshit. A bit astringent, very full-bodied, and ultra satisfying. There’s maltiness there, but it isn’t dominant. When brewed for 5+ minutes, the maltiness overwhelms the complexity and it tends toward a typical Irish Breakfast-y taste.

The second infusion is good and strong, but nothing special — again, more like an Irish Breakfast tea. I usually just toss it after the first infusion or rebrew for a housemate.

I really, really liked this tea. I used 6 balls and 16 oz. of boiling water. Let steep for 3:30. It was fantastic. I’ve had a lot of black teas in the last few years, and this is one of my favorites. It was robust but smooth. I didn’t get any cocoa taste, but I love the way the balls smell (wow that sounds dirty). Will definitely be buying this again.

I absolutely love this stuff — it’s my all-time favorite tea to drink. Anytime. Anywhere. You can’t deny the cocoa malty goodness, combined with the honey-sweet earthiness here. I also wrote a review for the Teavana BDP, where you’ll find a more in-depth review. Although I think they get this tea from the same farmer, what’s nice about Adagio’s is you can get 3 oz. of this tea for $15, rather than 2 oz. for $15 at Teavana.

There are a few things a I want to note about difference between Teavana’s and Adagio’s BDP. Let me preface: I’ve only ordered this stuff twice (the first time being from Teavana, this time being from Adagio). Anywho, here’s some points of difference:

- Adagio’s is significantly lighter than Teavana’s. Adagio’s resembles a deep, golden brown, whereas Teavana’s was almost black like coffee
- With Adagio’s, I don’t really taste the sweetness that I did out of Teavana’s batch.
- I can only manage to get 2-3 strong cups before it starts getting noticeably weaker, whereas with Teavana’s I wouldn’t taste huge weakness until the 4th cup or more. Those are the main differences. Now, I do understand each year the harvests can be different. I did get the 2011 batch from Adagio, so if both Adagio and Teavana get this stuff from the same place then I’m sure Teavana’s has these characteristics, too. When I’m done with my Adagio batch I’ll have to get a sample from Teavana and report back here.

In any case, you’re really making a mistake by not grabbing a bag of this tea!! I use three pearls for 8 oz. of water.

Brewed using 2 pearls in a basket infuser with a 6oz teacup. The vendor’s description was dead on as it was a surprisingly sweet and smooth brew, with a lingering sweetness upon the lips after each sip. While I would not call it as being earthy, I would agree with the subtle cocoa notes but quite honestly they are light enough that I doubt I would have noticed them without looking for them without it being in the official tasting description. I was also impressed that I was able to get a second good cup of tea on a the compressed pearl limiting the exposure of the leaves to the water during the first brew. An excellent black tea that I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who enjoys black tea and one that if I drank more black teas would order in a size larger than a sample size.

Boom Baby!

Oh yeah. A great Chinese black.

4 or 5 pearls /cup.

Get you some.

I was skeptical about Black Dragon Pearls, it appeared that they were just made for flash and not for taste. But I had to try them anyways. The tea pleasantly surprised me. It has a nice robust flavor, but it is not bitter. The cocoa notes are strong and pleasant. I am really beginning to enjoy teas from the Yunnan region.

Still not tasting as good as the one from Teavana. First time I tried this, there was no flavor, the second time tasted like plastic, and now this latest brew it tasted like cigarettes (no one in my house smokes or anything). I was really hoping this would be good, but it just isn’t. I’ll make my way through the sample and then continue buying from Teavana.

This tea is one of the best Yunnan black teas I’ve had all year (2009). It is amazingly sweet, smooth, and chocolatey, with a maple syrup note- exactly what I’m looking for a good YG! I’ve been recommending it to all of my friends, and I’ve found it’s a great “converter tea”… if you have a friend who is not normally a tea drinker, give them this one, and 9 out of 10 will convert instantly on the spot.

Mmm I’m one of the few who really like this one. I get a really full rich brew from this and get the the coco notes towards the ends of the cup when it’s cooling down. It’s very comforting on a windy fall day.

I love to watch the little balls unfurl themselves coming out of their cocoons. It’s the perfect use for my IngenuiTEA pot from adagio.

I used 4 balls at 5 minutes and 30 seconds. It’s best the first two steepings I’m still fiddling a bit with the brewing time on the third.

Earthy and dark. Full bodied and almost chocolaty. I was surprised to like this since I don’t always go for teas this dark. Neat to watch the pearls unfurl.

This tea is an amazing black tea. It’s incredibly smooth- a perfect classic black tea. Because it’s in the pearls, you can steep it a little longer than you normally should with loose leaf tea. I steeped it for about three minutes, maybe a little longer, but it didn’t taste bitter at all. I did, however, wait a couple of minutes after the water came off the boil, so keep that in mind if you try it yourself.

I typically like my tea strong, and the package recommends that you use two or three pearls for a cup. I only used two, but I would use three for the stronger taste. Two is about right for an average strength black tea.
A lot of black teas I drink have a bit of a smokey or citrus aftertaste, but this one doesn’t at all. It’s honestly the most tea-y tea I’ve ever had, as odd as that sounds.

I highly recommend the black dragon pearl tea. It tastes great hot and cold. I would say it’s a great morning tea since it’s pretty highly caffeinated. It’s a bit naturally sweet. I still added sugar though because I like my tea sweet.

Watching the pearls unfold and uncurl is delightful. Can’t quite figure out how to describe the flavor, not sweet, not bitter, a very warm malty kind of taste. Seems like it would do really well with a touch of milk. I don’t smell the cocoa that others have reviewed.

I thought this was a pretty straight forward, good tasting black tea. The person I drank it with, who is near impossible to impress, really liked it and put this at the top of her favorites.