Justin

Leaves are beautiful, golden little spirals. Scent of chocolate and hay.

The smell of hay in the leaves gives way to maltiness in the liquor. Choclolate is there, but less pronounced, and now a hint of caramel and butter toffee in the nose.

The liquor tastes peppery like a yunnan usually does, but is way more smooth than your typical yunnan. Malty/hay taste like an Irish breakfast, but sweet, with a buttery, toffee finish. Very nice tea.

This is my first pu erh ever. Straighter, chocolate-brown leaves that smell very fermented — it’s a sour, fishy scent, almost like when you open a can of tuna. The smell of the leaves left much to be desired. But I’ll try everything once.

Liquor loses the sour scent of the leaves, and the fishiness is much less pronounced. There’s a graininess there now that reminds me of tuna-noodle casserole. Taste has none of the fishiness, but instead a grainy, earthy taste that is slightly woody. An interesting tasting tea, but not something I’d drink on a regular basis.

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Swapped a teaspoon of each tea from Adagio’s Masters Sampler #1 for a friend’s Sampler #2. This is my first of those that I’ve tried.

The leaves themselves are dark and short, almost like chocolate sprinkles or a black rooibos. Scent of the leaves is very leathery and smoky.

Liquor tastes less leathery but more smoky compared to the scent of the leaves. Notes of pepper, dark chocolate, and malt coming through mid-cup. The liquor achieves all these tastes while still keeping it light — an impressive feat, considering all of the rich flavors in here. Delicious. Probably couldn’t be an every-day black for me like Irish Breakfast, but it might be one of the best blacks I’ve had.

The first thing I noticed when opening the tin was the color of the leaves: a reddish-greenish-brown. Apparently these leaves are roasted, and the scent of the leaves definitely says “burnt.”

The liquor smells like Genmai Cha, with a roasty, malty scent. The taste is also much like Genmai Cha, without the rice taste. The usual grassiness of the green has been replaced by a toasted, almost burnt taste, with a bit of smoke. I have to admit that I was expecting quite a bit more out of this tea after reading the description.

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This is my first Gunpowder, and I only had to open up the tin to see where it got its name — the little, rolled balls are a fun departure from the leaves of many other greens. The scent of the leaves is grassy and smoky, and maybe a bit “humid,” like the grass has sat in your dumpster for too long waiting to be picked up in the summer. But it’s not a gross smell like that.

The liquor smells smoky, but not as grassy as the leaves did. The taste is still smoky and a bit tannic. I’m not a huge fan of smokiness, like when people add liquid smoke to stuff, but this one tastes natural and I feel like it is balanced well with grassiness and bitterness of the tea. Not my favorite green, but I still like it.

Over the last few years, I’ve been relatively against chai, as I am most “trendy” things. But since this summer (when my tea obsession started), I’ve tried so many new things that I figured I had to try some chai. I went with the highest rated one on Adagio, the Masala Chai.

Since I am generally unfamiliar with chai, I asked my wife how much milk and sugar I should use. We agreed that I should try it “black” the first time, and then try a couple of combinations after I know the taste.

I opened the tin and was greeted by an overwhelming spicy scent, with plenty of cinnamon. I used my new UtiliTEA kettle to heat up some water and steeped at 212º for five minutes.

In short, the tea is delicious, even without milk and sugar. The cinnamon and ginger and other spices are strong, so I wouldn’t drink this straight (or with milk/sugar) when I wanted to taste the Ceylon, but only when I wanted something different or a “treat” of sorts.

I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, so this one is kind of a stretch for me. The nose is definitely full of potato, and once the tea is brewed, it retains its potatoness. The sweet potato taste is light enough that it is not overpowering, so it is pretty well balanced. I just don’t like sweet potatoes enough to give this a high rating.

I will say that my wife, who likes sweet potatoes, loved this tea.

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As my first Darjeeling, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. The color of the tea threw me off, since it wasn’t as dark as blacks usually are. The taste is nice, definitely different than a “normal” black.

I’ve only ever had bagged chamomile, so I was blown away by the beauty of this tea - the yellow blooms with white petals look spectacular in the tin and while steeping. The thing I love most is that not all of the flowers are missing all of their petals, and not all petals are intact, either-it’s like the tea gods’ way of saying that every blossom can make an incredible tea.

And it is incredible. The flavor of these flowers is the richest chamomile I’ve had, with a honey-like taste and a floral scent like I’m sticking my face into a bunch of wildflowers. This cup treats all of the senses.

A very aromatic oolong—I assume it’s because this is also from Darjeeling. Smells a bit like cloves. Very smooth tea, like an oolong with a bit of spice to it. Anxious to see what happens when I resteep ig.

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I opened this tin and was greeted by a surprising vinegar/pickle scent. The tea retains some of the scent after steeping. The taste is definitely that of cucumber, which pairs nicely with the delicate white. I like cucumbers, but not necessarily in my tea.

Very delicate green that reminds me of both Adagio’s White Symphony and Green Anji. As with many greens, more of the flavors come out as the tea cools. It also tastes sweeter as I go.

I opened the tin with these leaves, smelled them, and was completely disgusted by the strong, burnt sesame smell—almost like soy sauce. I like sesame and soy sauce, but the smell was so gross to me that I almost didn’t make the tea. I’m glad my grandparents always told me that “you have to try everything once.”

After steeping, the cup had a very faint sesame smell, and almost a spice to it. The taste is great: solid black tea with sesame notes and nothing “soy sauce” about it. This was a very nice surprise!

One word: minty. I may have steeped this at too high of a temperature, so I’ll let the water chill for a minute next time.

I don’t quite get the “froot loops” smell that others have mentioned—Earl Grey Bravo smells more like that to me. Regardless, this does have a very strong lemon-lime scent. As usual, I expected the tea to be overwhelmed by the flavor, but I found the citrus to balance quite nicely. A tasty tea that makes me feel summery.

I even resteeped for five minutes and it made a good, while noticeably weaker, cup.