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Cofftea drank White Peony by Adagio Teas

865 tasting notes

Sample #2 from my white tea sampler…

1st Infusion:
The raw leaf has a stronger scent than I was expecting, kind of like gunpowder- no floral scent as the name implies.

Steeping method:
2.25g of tea per 6oz of purified water heated to 180 degrees F and steeped for 7 min.

The liquor and aroma are both stronger than I expected. The liquor is a medium orange tone and the aroma is solid, no floral notes. Smells kind of like some of the bagged green tea I get when I go out to eat.

The strength of the flavor matches the liquor, but is still stronger than I had expected from a white tea. It’s not heavy like a black tea, smokey like gun powder, or fecal like pu erh, but it’s not light and floral as the name might suggest either. Quite possibly my favorite unflavored white tea so far. I’ve been on a string of “the 3rd infusion was my favorite” teas so we shall see if that continues.

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time: 8 min

The liquor and aroma are both lighter than the 1st… The liquor lost some of the bright orange hue the 1st infusion had and is now duller, almost like tarnished brass. The aroma is still more solid and earthy than I expected from a white tea, especially with the word “peony” in it, but the floral scent is starting to appear.

I love when the aroma matches the scent. It shows consistancy. It is more grounded than I would have expected a white with a floral name, but as the scent eluded to, the floral notes are starting to peak out.

3rd Infusion:
Steeping time: 9 min

I’m still surprised at the darkness of the liquor… The third infusion resembles the flesh of an acorn squash, especially after it’s been roasted. The aroma is slightly lighter than one may expect based on the liquor. It’s light and smooth with a touch of floral.

The taste is something that I’d expect from a 2nd infusion… quite strong considering the leaves have now been steeped for a total of 24 min. There is no floral taste when I take a sip, but there is a very light floral aftertaste. One that would not scare off anyone that hates floral teas.

Conclusions:
Very interesting tea. Stronger in all 3 aspects through out the infusions than I had expected, but not over powering. I probably could get a 4th infusion out of this but I have 2 more teas in my sampler to try so I’ll have to come back to this one.

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Oolonga
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I’m genuinely amazed at your steeping times. No wonder you can’t find any peony resemblance in this tea and it smells “like some of the bagged green tea”, I bet it tastes like that too. Try 3 mins at 180F.

Cofftea
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Oolonga, I steep it as the company directs.

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Oolonga
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Cofftea
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Oolonga, I steep it as the company directs.

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Bio

Are you a company or tea blender on sites like Adagio that would you like your tea reviewed? If so, please e-mail me @ [email protected].

What I most enjoy from obtaining samples from companies to review is that it helps me to better learn to drink and review teas from a more objective perspective, meaning more of the “This tea is…” point of view rather than the “I like/don’t like” this tea. I feel objectivism in tea reviews is EXTREMELY important because no two tea drinkers tastes are exactly the same. I’ve also been extremely surprised by several teas. I love recieving a sample I think I will be only writing an objective review on, only to completely fall in love with it upon tasting it.

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Are you interested in redoing or starting your own tea related website or adding Search Engine Optimization? If so, please contact me at my work e-mail address: [email protected]
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Tea tastes:
I will ALWAYS pick loose leaf over tea bags. I only drink bagged tea if that’s my only choice or I find a flavor that I can’t find a loose leaf version for. When I do drink bagged; however, I always weigh my bag and am constantly curious as to the weight/flavor ratio- sometimes I am quite surprised by the flavor punch of light bags.

I have a preference for organic and fair trade teas (preferably both), but would never pass up an amzing tea just because it isn’t organic and/or fair trade.

I love savory teas.

I’m currently searching for a chai flavored soy powder or a soy based chai mix (either already mixed or a recipe).

I hardly EVER sweeten my teas. I feel that sweeteners (unless flavored like tea honeys, brown sugar, ice cream topping syrups, flavored coffee syrups, etc) do not add anything to the flavor profile of tea- in fact, I’ve found that they dumb down the flavors.

I NEVER serve my tea over regular iced cubes- I always make tea cubes.

I LOVE cooking w/ tea and making smoothTEAS.

I LOVE tea blending.

I rarely drink herbal teas unless they are mixed with true teas. My favorite herbals to mix with true teas are: spearmint, peppermint, lemongrass, rose hips, and gingeroot.

I can’t stand anything w/ fennel or anise. Hot black teas (except orange pekoe bagged tea that you get when you go out to eat and chai teas) tend to upset my stomach.

I drink matcha daily and love flavoring it. I’m also in a constant search of preflavored matchas.

I’m constantly searching for information on how to prepare tea authentically according to its country of origin.

My Tasting Notes Ratings (edited 8/8/10)
1: I can’t even stand the raw leaf enough to make this (I’ve never owned a tea w/ this rating, but I’ve smelled some before buying resulting in me NOT buying them that were that bad)

2: I steeped this tea but couldn’t stand the aroma enough to get it past my nose

3: I immediately gagged at the 1st sip and spit it out.

4: I manageed to get the 1st sip down, but I tossed the rest.

5: I drank the 1st cup but I can’t bring myself to resteep

6: Made it thru the entire set of infusions but I can’t bring myself to tinker w/ the parameters and won’t be making it again.

7-10: Does not taste anything like the ingredients or name suggests (i.e. Adagio’s Sour apple)

11-25: I can taste some of the ingredients, but the flavor is severely lacking

25-49: Teas that I would not consider bad in their flavor profile, but certainly below average

50: Average.

51-69: Teas above averge, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them “good”.

70-75: Very good, but still room for improvement

76-85: Above average flavor profile

86-90: REALLY good flavors

91-99: Almost PERFECTLY achieves the goal of the ingredients and name of the tea.

100: Abosolutely perfect teas!

Other Interests: GOD! and all things pertaining to Him and His children, my dog Madison, travelling, and coffee.

Favorite Music: ANYTHING Christian. I don’t normally listen to secular music, but I do love jazz and swing.

Favorite Movies: Romantic comedies mostly. My Sister’s Keeper, P.S. I Love You, Fireproof, National Treasure Trilogy (I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 3rd ONE TO COME OUT!), Night at the Museum 1 & 2, Sister Act 1 & 2, Yes Man, Bruce & Evan Almighty, rarely watch animated movies but LOVE anything 3D.

Favorite Books: THE BIBLE!!! & My Sister’s Keeper

Favorite Quotes: “A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ”- John Stienbeck "

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”- Aristotle

“You should always carry burdens, but they should never be your own”- me

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Mom was right, ‘because I say so’ is enough- at least when it comes to God.”- me

Favorite Foods: fried calamari, lemon chicken, anything w/ buffalo sauce.

Favorite Places: WA state, Switzerland, Orlando

Places I Want to Visit: Hawaii, Africa

Anything Else: I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida which is the failure of the spinal column to close en utero. Because of this I am a parapelegic and use a manual wheelchair.

Location

Oshkosh, WI

Website

http://www.adagio.com/signatu...

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