Adagio Teas

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

This is surprisingly good. The black tea base is not harsh or bitter or course like I have often experienced in Adagio’s black tea blends. It actually tastes smooth, although there is a fair amount of astringency at the finish. The cranberry is a light note, sweet with a touch of tart but not that typical TART of a cranberry. The tartness arrives later, in the aftertaste, but it is still not an overtly tart taste.

Very pleasant.

Tea of the late afternoon…….

I completely forgot I had this. I got it as a free sample back in the Fall when I was going through all the issues that the first release of Adagio’s VarieTEA electric kettle. (If it is any indicator how that went, I have a UtiliTEA instead!) I did not realize that this sample costs $6. And 3oz of it is currently $19. Wow. Since I just had some of my favorite Premium Dragon Well earlier this afternoon (and it is about $13 for a similar amount!) and I had the Lung Ching from my local Asian Market yesterday, I thought I would be in a good place to compare the three.

Color on the leaves is kind of a dull yellow-green. Definitely yellower than the leaves from the Asian Market tea, but not nearly as bright green as the leaves of the Premium Dragon Well from Teavivre. It smells very similar to the market tea. It steeps up with a similar color to the market tea. The Premium Dragon Well steeps up a little brighter yellow, and this is more a golden yellow. The taste is somewhere between the market tea and the Premium. The market tea had a hint of smoke, and this might have a remnant of a similar flavor. I likened the flavor of the Premium to very fresh asparagus that is roasted, where this is more like spinach…roasted spinach. Not that great. I pretty much prefer the market tea to this as the slight smokiness makes it interesting. So glad I have tried these two other dragonwells, though. It makes no sense for me to try to find a better one than what I can get from Teavivre!

This tea reminds me of a coconut macaroon cookie, like the kind we used to make at Mrs. Fields cookies (I worked there wayyyy back when they were still owned by Debi Fields, and we mixed the dough fresh every morning instead of pulling frozen dough pucks out of the freezer.) It almost tastes like the love child of a snickerdoodle and a macaroon. Incredibly yummy. Much better than I thought it would be.

Ordered this because I saw a lot of people refer to it as their “favorite oolong”. Reading the description, it mentions that it is a green oolong (being a newbie, not sure the differences). Also the descriptions mentions fragrance again, and am not sure I’ll be a fan (after testing several jasmines).

This to me is bitter, or maybe this is what people mean by astringent (it’s different than when I say a black is bitter). I don’t like this because of that … totally assaulting my (sensitive) senses here. My immediate impression is bleh bleh bleh (going to go dump).

This smells wonderful (if you like jasmine, which I do). The taste is overwhelmingly jasmine, which I do not like. I’m just not sure that perfumes (flowers) have a place in tea, although many obviously disagree. I love to wear perfumes, but just don’t think I’m going to like tasting them. It’s kind of like wearing a scent and licking my wrist … wouldn’t do it. It would be awful, I’m sure.

This tea gets high praises on Steepster. Setting personal preferences aside, this is probably a very good jasmine white tea. I do taste the tea in this…it has a grassy taste (hmmm, I wouldn’t go out and eat grass either). And it is definitely screaming “heeeeeey, there’s jasmine in here”. I can see people really liking this, if that’s where their tea preferences are, but it’s just not for me.

I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to write about this here since I’m eating this tea and not drinking it but I think it’s fitting so I’m gonna go for it.

So earlier this week, I talked about turning this tea into food. Today, I made cookies. with this tea. More specifically, I made lemon ricotta cookies with this tea pulverized in my food processor. Among my ideas, I listed lemonade and cookies, and I sort of wanted to both but only had enough leaves for one. So I combined the idea. Vanilla-y lemons sounds really appealing to me. And while these cookies are awesome, the green tea flavor is overwhelmed by the lemon zest (home grown meyer lemons!) The vanilla flavor was present though, and tasted awesome!

I think next time I want to bake with a tea that’s not matcha, I’ll have to brew some tea real strong and see if that works better. But I’d probably taste the tea more without the lemon. But lemon is great too! And I get all the health benefits of consuming the whole leaf. Everyone wins!

Today has been an awesome teaful day!

I’m rather fond of vanilla so I had high hopes for this tea. Vanilla is a good complement to almost any flavor. I even had vanilla tomato soup at a fancy French restaurant once and it was quite tasty.
I think that the flavor is well done here. I sort of wish it was a little stronger. It also reminds me a bit of 52teas’ famous Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha, only not toasty and with a lesser quality of leaf. The quality of leaf here is quite subpar. With a subtle flavor like vanilla, I’d think you would want a good quality leaf since it’s flavor would show through pretty clearly. The mouthfeel is nice though. A bit creamy and a bit bitter to balance the sweetness of the vanilla.

Overall, this is comforting and enjoyable, but I think I’ll use this to blend with other teas or for baking and cooking. Vanilla green mint tea? Vanilla green pancakes? Vanilla green lemonade? Vanilla green hot chocolate? Could I pulverize the tea in my food processor and use stir the powder into cookies? Looks like my weekend will be filled with experiments. :)

Many thanks to MadelineAlyce for the generous sample of this tea.

This is a nice smooth earl grey. Not bitter like some. The bergamot is not overpowering the base tea.

Not having much luck with Adagio’s flavored black teas, my expectations aren’t high with this tea. But how could I resist chocolate covered strawberries?

The dry leaf smells like chocolate to me, with some faint sense of strawberry. Brewed, the strawberry aroma is enhanced.

First sip is very disappointing… there is that bitterness that is all too common in Adagio’s flavored black teas. Behind it are the strawberry and chocolate flavors, but very faintly. Could be that my tastebuds just can’t get past the bitterness to appreciate. Oh well, live and learn, eh? : )

I’m revisiting this today, because Adagio’s clever lil marketing game has me narrowing down an order. I’ve had 2 cups this morning. The first was plain, and it still feels like a green/black mix, and was noticing a slight vegetal (very slight) aftertaste this time (I took it easy on the honey for this tasting, lol). Like it a lot, but truthfully on it’s own, it wouldn’t be haunting me.

My real curiosity was about creating a spearmint Casablanca Twist (which is this tea with peppermint). I have Adagio’s spearmint and peppermint, so studying the Casablanca Twist, decided to go with a 1 part Darjeeling Sungma Summer with 2 parts Adagio Spearmint. Adding a T. of honey, brewed according to this tea’s parameters (rather than Casablanca’s of 180 for 2 min).

The verdict? Success! This is great. As a base, it adds substance to the mint (whether it be spearmint or peppermint). I can see playing with the ratios, even mixing the 2 mints and this remaining a player in the mix. Are there other teas that would play equally well with this scenario??? Oh I don’t doubt there are. But going to throw this to Adagio out of loyalty (guilt? lol).

Darn you Adagio (sticking out tongue). I’ve been trying to resist sales. Frank already got me, now you. And have tested 2 of Teavivre’s samples and have already fallen in love with one of those (Yun Nan Dian Hong Golden Tip) < will write that up after a few more tastings. Tick tock…

This is the base tea that Adagio uses in their Casablanca Twist Tea, so I wanted to try it without the peppermint. Casablanca Twist is a favorite of mine from Adagio, but I do usually prefer spearmint to peppermint (this tea caused me to rethink that, or at least give peppermint more credit). It is confusing though, because Adagio classifies this tea (Darjeeling Sungma Summer) as a black tea, but Casablanca Twist as a green… but it’s not a green, is it? : )

Anyway, I added a tsp. or so of honey to this, since that’s how I drink Casablanca, and honestly many other teas too. First sip, I am happy. There is no bitterness at all to this tea (a worry of mine with blacks). There is a sweetness to it, but is that the honey or the tea? Probably both, since I didn’t add much. Trying hard to pick up the muscatel and spice flavors this is supposed to have, but alas I can’t … that’s not to say they aren’t there however. Very mild and pleasant black tea. I think I’m making progress in my journey : )

Will be curious to see how this turns out mixed with spearmint leaves (you should see how much of those I’ve accumulated, because I do like to drink spearmint plain …well steeped long, with honey).

This is one of my work day go-to teas. I often take some in a travel tea mug to work and steep several times throughout the day. Sometimes I add cream/sugar, but most times it is straight up. I love the fullness of the tea with just a hint of woodiness.

The description of this tea sounds great … peppermint bark chocolate! The dry leaf also smells great. It reminds me of a York Peppermint patty.

This brews up to be a very light colored tea, and has retained a weaker version of the scent of the dry. Upon first sip though, my first impression is of overall weakness of flavors. When they say “whisps” of chocolate, they aren’t kidding. The dominate flavor is of green tea with peppermint, but there is that “somethin somethin” in the background that reminds one of chocolate. I followed directions, but feel that this could benefit from adding more tea than recommended. Overall I like the flavors. It’s light, so if one was expecting stronger flavors (like me), there would be disappointment. Going to retry later with more tea.

ETA: As it cools, the chocolate flavor comes out more.

This is a black tea blend from Adagio that works for me. In other samplings of their flavored black teas, they always tend to turn bitter. Not this one. I already tested this before joining Steepster and have already purchased a larger quantity. It’s that good (if you like chai teas in general).

Black tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, dried coconut, lemon grass, cardamom pods and natural coconut flavor.

On first sip, you really notice all the spices, with none really dominating over the other. If I had my way, there would be less ginger, but that’s neither here nor there in evaluating this tea. What sets it apart from a “normal” chai is the lemongrass and coconut. They play a major role in the overall flavor of the tea, and in my opinion make it special. The flavors are strong and yummy, and with the addition of honey, it’s nice and sweet. Would recommend a test to the chai tea lovers out there.

Backlogging. See previous notes.

This tea is a great example of why Darjeelings are called the Champagne of tea. A strong fruity aroma and dark brown color are different from all other types of black tea I’ve ever had, that the flavor is really in a class all of it’s own. The flavor of the first infusion was a nice balance of fruity sweetness and something akin to mesquite, which is very different from my Chinese blacks. There is a bit of an aftertaste of mesquite and hints of fruit that lingers on the top of the mouth, which seems to be fairly standard for my other Darjeeling tea.

First of all, I really decided to baby this tea, brewing at a pretty low temperature and for a rather short period of time to prevent any astringency. This is my first time trying this tea, so I’m be extra careful until I have time to experiment a bit with it.

This was a very different tea than I’m used to, with a very unique aroma and taste. The first infusion I had was very good, with a nice nutty flavor and a very pleasing warming sensation when drinking it. The taste of sweet nuts lingers on the hard palate of the mouth for a few seconds after swallowing, making this a very interesting tea to drink.

The second (and unfortunately last) infusion was also delightful. It was sweeter than the previous infusion, which complemented the nutty flavors very well. Other than that, it is pretty much the same as the first.

The final verdict on this tea is that it’s rather nice, but not particularly special. There is nothing that says “I’m unique!” about this tea, so I can’t justify giving it a higher rating. Also, I have no experience with this type of tea, so even though I like it a lot, I need to be a bit conservative here. Regardless, I’ll keep this tea in mind, and if I don’t find anything better, I might buy it again.

A delicious green tea for the tired student! I place the dried leaves right in my cup and brew on top of it. No need to actually strain out the leaves because it’s so delicious! The tea unfolds many times its size and gives a nice green tea flavor that isn’t too harsh and not as light as a high quality gyokuro. Very good pick-me-up tea!

Fresh out of the bag, this tea reminded me of my days in the barn, picking through leaves of hay. What an unexpected wave of nostalgia and longing. I spent about three minutes just breathing it in. Literally. But I did my best to not allow that to color my opinion of the tea overall.

The directions call for two heaping teaspoons steeping for three to five minutes at a temperature of 195°F. I elected to use one mostly-heaping teaspoon in a smaller teacup, steeping four minutes at the recommended temperature. I also want to note that I did not add anything to this tea; I often find that white and green teas rarely beg to be sweetened. White Symphony was no exception.

After steeping, this tea – in both smell and taste – reminded me of a Jasmine green tea I have. The floral scent is quite calming, and the taste is what I would expect from a good (floral) white tea. While it’s nothing spectacular or out-of-this-world, White Symphony is nonetheless a wonderful choice.

Want to give this tea – or any of Adagio’s other teas – a taste? Let me know and I will send you a $5 gift certificate to use for your first purchase! :)

When I first tried it I was unsure of it. It was definitely different from anything I had tasted before and from what I was expecting. But after perfecting the steeping process itis now my new favorite tea. I am somewhat partial to Japanese greens anyway, but this one wins so far. I love the sweetness and what I am assuming is the umani, although my taste buds aren’t refined enough to know for sure. They work perfectly together. I also love the color of this tea. This tea pleases all senses.

Upping my rating to 90. This stuff is awesome.

Steeped for 3 min this time rather than 5 (which led to some bitterness), that was perfect. Takes milk very well and is such an awesome afternoon treat. This is really very tasty, so well balanced. The floral and fruity tastes are present but not overwhelming as with other teas. This stuff rocks.

Really good! A pretty awesome chocolate flavour and the combo with strawberries is very good. Careful not to oversteep, it got a little bitter so next time I’ll steep it a little less. Very nice, great combination.