865 Tasting Notes

75
drank Iced Chai Tea Latte by Tazo
865 tasting notes

Today is my best friend’s birthday. She lives 1800 miles away so I can’t celebrate w/ her, but went to SBUX (she is, after all, from Seattle) in honor of her. Grande blended chai, half non fat milk, half ice, w/ mocha and caramel. I don’t like the concentrate. When I get this hot I always get it w/ the sachets, but sadly I just can’t figure out how to do it w/ the iced version. The only thing I can come up w/ would be to have the milk and water heated then steep the sachets in it, and when it’s done add the ice and blend… but that would just result in a luke warm, watery drink (as the ice would melt before it blended)… The chai spices are too strong when I order the concentrate version… they almost completely hid both the mocha and the caramel which is a MAJOR shame since chai, chocolate, and caramel (and espresso shots if you like coffee) are an amazing combo.

Preparation
Iced

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100
drank Mayan Chocolate Chai by 52teas
865 tasting notes

1 heaping teaspoon (4g), 4oz just below boiling water, 2oz coffee concentrate, 1 TB chocolate caramel coffee creamer. All flavors are equally strong, the cayenne is definitely present but not painful.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

2nd infusion, 7min. 1/2 water and 1/2 milk + 1tsp drinking chocolate milk. Not a bad sweet drink for ~46 cal. and 1/9g fat. Swiss who? This tastes much more like swiss chocolate than that imposter.

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100
drank Organic Matcha by Den's Tea
865 tasting notes

1 scoop/3oz water. Getting to the bottom of the canister so I think I didn’t get as much on my scoop today- it tastes a bit weak.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C

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100
drank Green Tea Kombucha by Yogi
865 tasting notes

I just may add kombucha to my “to have daily” list! I am very rarely a bagged drinker and even more rarely pay attention to the bag, but today I noticed that the bag bloated during steeping. Is this the kombucha “working”, or do bagged teas do this a lot? Frank, a kombucha matcha would be fun!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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100
drank Mandarin Matcha by 52teas
865 tasting notes

W/ all my experimentation w/ matcha, I’m surprised that just one scoop in 8oz of water can be so rich, smooth creamy, thick, and foamy. I love this, but strawberry matcha- get here NOW!

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100
drank Green Tea Kombucha by Yogi
865 tasting notes

My 1st Kombucha! I really need to start w/ unflavored versions of teas…

Prepared as suggested.

As soon as I put the bag in, it smells like lemon jello… and at the end of steeping that scent remains, only the aroma of peppermint is added. The flavors are much more mellow than I expected (mellow, not weak). The peppermint is slightly more pronounced than the lemon, but it blends well… and there’s definitely still the jello-esk component! Kombucha no longer scares me and I can’t wait to try an unflavored loose version!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Peggie Bennett

How is this bagged tea? Kombucha is fermented and has mold floating in it that you drink with the tea. It’s yummier than it sounds, but this bagged version I don’t understand.

Cofftea

Based on my rating of 96, it’s pretty freakin amazing:)

AmazonV

my best bet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha Additionally, some tea makers offer a dried version of kombucha, mixed with the tea leaves, that dissolves in hot water.9

Peggie Bennett

I still don’t think it could be nearly the same thing as real kombucha. It’s the fungus that makes it what it is, and I don’t think the live cultures would dissolve in hot water and still be beneficial.
There are good bottled kombucha teas in the health food section of the market. Synergy is my favorite. I can’t drink a lot of it because I don’t like bubbles that much, and even that tiny half percent of ethyl alcohol from fermentation makes my allergy kick in. I’m lame like that. :-|

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100
drank Organic Matcha by Den's Tea
865 tasting notes

Attempt 2 at Koicha, this time going w/ 3 scoops instead of 3.75g. Very thick. Just a touch too chalky for me I think. Maybe I just need to have someone make Koicha for me lol.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C

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82

After my matcha disaster, I needed something simple. Just dropped this in 6oz of water heated for 2 min. Pretty good for a bagged Chinese green. Very sweet, slightly grassy. Just what I need.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec
teabird

I’m always impressed now by good reviews of bagged (non-herbal) tea

Cofftea

At least ROT ones, especially considering how very light in weight they are. This one is ~1.77g

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100
drank Organic Matcha by Den's Tea
865 tasting notes

Ugh… Wikipedia’s matcha page needs work. I wanted to make Koicha and it said 3 scoops or 3.75g… well 3.75g actually equals about 7 scoops! I had to add an extra 120ml of water just to choke it down… what a waste of matcha and now I feel like I’m gonna puke… can anyone help me make Koicha?

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C

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100
drank Organic Matcha by Den's Tea
865 tasting notes

After 2 cantata performances I’m feeling quite out of it. I need matcha, but I don’t want anything too thick to coat my tongue since I’m having chai later. 2 scoops, 8oz water. Wow… after my matcha you’d think I would be more cohearant lol. It’s REALLY good like always though and that’s what matters, right?

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Profile

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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