15 Tasting Notes

80

The scent of this tea was so scrummy. It was sweet and fruity, and I was excited to get brewing right away. And let me tell you, the taste of Tropical Goji Green was just as delicious as its smell. “Flavoring” can be a little tricky because it can overpower the tea, but in this tea it was a nice balance. The flavoring was fruity and slightly tangy, and this paired nicely with the fresh, grassy, and light sweetness of the green tea. I decided to go back for seconds and steeped the bag for a second time. The aromas mellowed a bit, but it was still good the second time around.

Bottom line, this tea was pretty darn tasty. I need more of this stuff because I’m thinking it would make a delicious iced tea. Think of how great it would be to enjoy this outside on a warm day while reading a good book. Fruity and refreshing, I’m sure!

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73

This tea surprised me. Mostly because I’d never heard of Gen Mai Cha, so I was blown away when I found little, roasted rice nestled amongst green tea leaves. I had to do a little research on Gen Mai Cha because I couldn’t figure out why someone would want to brew roasted rice. According to good ol’ Wikipedia, Gen Mai Cha was drunk by poor Japanese people back in the day. The roasted rice was a filler to cut down on the cost of the tea.

I was skeptical of the tea because the scent reminded me of Honey Smacks cereal (minus most of the sweetness), and I was never too fond of Honey Smacks. This tea grew on me as is cooled down though. When the tea was still hot, all I tasted was the puffed rice, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was drinking watery porridge. This isn’t necessarily bad because I like porridge, but I would have been disappointed if that’s all it was. When the tea cooled down to a luke-warm temperature, the aroma of the green tea finally surfaced, and the flavors seemed to marry. The aroma of the roasted rice mellowed and became nice and nutty, which tasted good with the fresh and light sweetness from the green tea.

Bottom Line, Two Leaves and Bud’s Organic Gen Mai Cha is a win. Even though I’m still trying to wrap my head around puffed rice in tea, the flavors in this tea just worked, and they only got better with each sip I took.

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56

My experience with Stash tea is pretty hit-or-miss; however, when a birthday offer showed up in my inbox, I had a hard time resisting. I’m such a sucker for discounts. I don’t really have a favorite Stash Tea, so I ended up buying a couple of sampler packs.

The aroma of this one was a little weird; half the time it smelled like Autumn in a cup, and half the time it had this strange old, alcohol scent that reminded me vaguely of my college days… Regardless, I’m glad I didn’t sip this during Autumn when I craved all things pumpkin flavored; it may have turned me off to pumpkin spiced tea forever. The ingredients include: naturally decaffeinated black tea, cinnamon, ginger root, clove, natural pumpkin flavor, natural nutmeg flavors. Even though black tea is the first ingredient, I didn’t catch the black tea flavor at all. Pumpkin Spice wasn’t completely bland though. It did live up to the second half of its name– Spice. This was a spicy, something-flavored beverage that left the most peculiar sensation on my tongue. I have no words for it (the sensation), really.

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34

My experience with Stash tea is pretty hit-or-miss; however, when a birthday offer showed up in my inbox, I had a hard time resisting. I’m such a sucker for discounts. I don’t really have a favorite Stash Tea, so I ended up buying a couple of sampler packs.

Stash Tea’s Cinnamon Apple Chamomile herbal tea was the first tea I tried from my stash (har har, see what I did there?). When I first started brewing this tea, it filled up the room with the most delicious apple cinnamon aroma. It reminded of the apple cinnamon oatmeal I used to eat in the mornings before going to school, so it was particularly comforting. The ingredients include: cinnamon, hibiscus, chamomile, and natural apple flavor, which all seem pretty tempting, but I thought the tea was pretty bland. I didn’t pick up the apple flavor, and I missed the spice of the cinnamon. I’ve never tried chamomile tea, so I can’t honestly say whether or not that flavor came through or not.

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50
drank Almond by Adagio Teas
15 tasting notes

On occasion, I get a hankering for the flavor of amaretto or raw almonds. I blame it on my sister-in-law, who fixed me my first amaretto sour, when I went to visit she and my brother in the very flat lands of North Dakota (to this day, one of my favorite vacations…EVER). I’ve been obsessed with the flavor ever since; gobbling down raw almonds is a luxury I rarely afford myself, but I do appreciate adding amaretto-flavored creamer to my weekend coffee. Naturally my interest was piqued when I discovered Adagio sold an Almond Black Tea. Finally! An opportunity to marry two of my food obsessions.

But, this is where the excitement ends with Adagio’s Almond Tea.

My experience with Adagio teas that have artificial flavoring has been positive. I could practically bury my face in a pouch of Adagio’s Chestnut tea. The same could not be said for the Almond Black tea. First sniff was alright, and I definitely smelled the sweet, raw almond scent I hoped for. But, with each intake of breath after, it got worse. After a while, the Almond Tea started to have the bitter or sour scent of chemicals, which was obviously unpleasant. It was so off-putting that I almost ditched the bag because I was certain this would affect the taste.

Flavor-wise, the Almond Tea wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. When sipped at a temperature slightly less than piping hot, all I picked up was the flavor of the black tea. Not until the tea cooled down did the almond flavor seem to stand out. Then, instead of tasting the sweet, cherry-like flavor of raw almonds, I tasted the nutty flavor of roasted almonds– a flavor I can tolerate, but ultimately don’t enjoy.

Bottom Line, I’m a big fan of Adagio tea (and their prices), but I did not enjoy their Almond tea. Honestly, the tea did not taste bad; if you’re a fan of that roasted almonds, then you may enjoy this tea. However, I don’t like that flavor and don’t really want to sip on a tea with a flavor I consider merely “tolerable”. I’ll probably put off drinking the rest of the Almond Tea until I’m desperate for a caffeine fix.

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Profile

Bio

Hi! My name is Jackie. I embarked on my tea journey back in 2009, when I received a shiny red stovetop kettle and a box of Celestial Seasonings fruit teas for Christmas. The real adventuring didn’t begin until 2018 though when maternity leave left me craving community and warm, lower caffeinated drinks. I’ve been photographing and writing and filming videos about tea ever since.

I sip “straight teas” and “fanciful, flavored teas” equally. And while I prefer gongfucha, the convenience of steeping in a cup with a basket infuser wins most days for this working mom.

P.S.: You can follow me on Instagram (link below) for more tea musings, tea photography, and alerts for when my new TeaTube videos drop.

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