Featured & Popular Tasting Notes

I LOVE this tea. It is my ultimate favorite white. It’s flavorful, juicy, malty, fruity and lasts many many steeps. It is an Assam version of a bai mu dan (pai mutan, white peony) but with oodles more of a peachy, nectar, melon type flavor that just persists throughout steeps (ive gone up to 7 infusions and its still got flavor to spare!). Ive tried other assam whites from other estates, but none of them even get close to the quality and flavor of the one sold by S & V. I bought a pound of it last year and have kept it in a tin in my cupboard and even after a year of sitting there, it still tastes and brews like it did when i first purchased it. Im very impressed with this tea.

This is incredible!
I’m worried, tho, because I haven’t been able to access Red Leaf’s Website for DAYS!

The scent of this is stunning! Very floral with a hint of sweetness – almost a fruit – but slight. It’s a true white tea in color and taste but the floral tones are perfect and yummy. No aftertaste. Soothing. Very nice. Thirst Quenching. Comforting. Lovely.

I really like it!

More vegetal and a little less sweet than the “Kotobuki no Tsuyu” Gyokuro by Bird Pick Tea. I enjoyed it more than the Bird Pick, but I need to try both a few more times before rating.

This was yummy though, especially after I increased the amount of water to 3oz (the 1st steep was good, but a little intense for me at 2g for 2oz water).

With the exception of the Award Winning Gyokuro that Den’s Tea had earlier this year, I’m actually having to learn to taste Gyokuro. I like it, but it hasn’t been the same eye-opening taste that my first Sencha and Shincha were. However, I’m still new to it, so I’m going to wait until I’ve experimented a bit more. I look forward to doing a real comparison between this and the Bird Pick one.

This tea’s leaves are perhaps 1/2 inch long at most. The dark forest-green leaves have some lighter tinting in spots that make them very nice to look at. The loose leaf aroma is smooth and deeply vegetal with only slight hints at the bergamot fruit’s citrus.

Once brewed the leaves produce a smooth, even keeled brothy aroma and a clear yellow liquor. With scents of spinach and avacado this lightly vegetal tea smells very promising.

Drinking this brew is a pleasure. The smooth vegetal notes flow over the tongue lightly. It almost reminds me of a light oolong. You catch the oil of bergamot in the finish more than the initial sip. This is a well balanced tea.

Well, this’ the last bag of this I have. I’ll miss it. It’s one of the staples I carried in my Travel Tea Bag. I don’t plan to actively go out and pick this one up again, but if I come across it—maybe it’s marked down, or I have yet to find a vanilla black that I like more—I’ll probably pick it up again. It’s just a bit pricey. Fourteen freakn’ bucks? Come on. Otherwise, I will probably try Tealicious’ vanilla black next. Murchie’s was utterly flavourless, and I don’t know if Tea Desire even carries a vanilla black… They gave me a list of their full tea stock, but I seem to have misplaced it. Plus, I haven’t been to Tealicious in a while, and I actually LIKE the base used in their flavoured blacks, unlike Tea Desire’s.

As for the base used in Mighty Leaf’s, well, this is the only flavoured black I’ve tried from them. It’s not wonderful, but it’s far from terrible. Sometimes it takes on this weird spinachy taste—it’s particularly prominent in the second steep, although still quite noticeable in the first. But if I avoid a second steep (difficult, because I feel like I’m wasting it if I don’t—except for fanning teabags, which you usually can’t get a second steep out of anyways), and don’t mess with the recommended four-minute steeping parameters, it’s usually fine. Fairly enjoyable. Keeps my vanilla cravings at bay.

Now that I think about it, I had always meant to mix a sachet of this with some earl grey. Too late now, ahwell.

Eventho I was thinking a black tea to start my day – I did this one instead. Upon opening the tin – the aroma of mini mint chocolate chips or maybe even ice cream seems to be the thought that first enters my mind. It seems to steep fairly quickly. As you steep it is smells more chocolate and less minty. At first sip you can taste the Rooibos but the Chocolate follows it and the Mint is the caboose. The after taste is more minty than anything. As the tea sits in your cup for a while it gives off a slight coffee sent but doesn’t really taste like it. Nice, creative blend. MIGHT be one of my favorite flavored Rooibos Blends from Adagio so far…but I am still pondering that for sure. In the meantime…a thumbs up!

I’m a huge fan of this tea iced…but this morning in my sweat pants and hoodie, I’m drinking it hot. And it’s great! I think there are one or two blueberries floating about that I might have to fish out and eat. Tasty cuppa!

Although, after looking at the fuzz covered blueberries in the picture, I might pass on eating them today.

Egh. it was one of those mornings when you wake up too early and you can’t fall back asleep… well for those deep sleepers out there i guess that is pretty unimaginable, and i am envious. But yes, it was one of those mornings. As a result I ended up eating three cream puff pastries… and was wanting something wheat-like but instead continued on my sweet tooth rage by brewing a fruity black tea.

I was automatically a little off put by the fact that the aroma was not too strong and there were no bits of real fruit in the loose leaf mix. After a slight steep you could smell the hint of apricot more than the peach… and the taste was more black than fruity. I guess that is good for me as those cream pastries were too sweet anyways, but if i grabbed this tea on a day I was craving a fruity kick of goodness I would have been disappointed.

Part of the Indian tea sampler. (The Adagio black sampler taught me that I prefer Indian over Chinese, now I’ll learn which Indian tea I prefer. Good deal.)

I’ll have to remember to use one of my white cups next time, because the color coming out of the teapot spout looked much darker and more red than I’m used to, and I’d really like to see it. The flavor was very rich, very smooth and pretty malty. I’m a fan.

Part IV: Halmari CTC BOP (TA 27) vs. Nahorhabi Estate BOP CTC Cl. (TA 18)

The long-delayed fourth round! This time it’s two single-estate teas going head-to-head. With their more impressive pedigrees than previous competitors, I imagine they’re donning elbow-length white gloves instead of boxing gloves.

Dry leaf: Both teas are CTC (crush-tear-curl) process, so they take the form of tiny rolled-up balls rather than leaves. The Halmari has more of the “Grape Nuts” appearance that many of us associate with CTC teas; the Nahorhabi tea balls are smaller and less perfectly round. The Halmari has a subtle aroma of lightly toasted bread. I did not discern any distinctive scent in the Nahorhabi.

When the two teas were brewed, the Halmari produced a liquor that was lighter and browner; the Nahorhabi liquor was deeper in color and had a more reddish tone. (Note: In this round, the teas were brewed with 8 oz. boiling water rather than the Showdown standard of 6 oz. I’d like to pretend there was a rationale for this, but the truth is that I just forgot to stop pouring. :)). Accordingly, I added a little less almond milk to the Halmari.

When tasted, the Halmari had a pronounced biscuity flavor that was quite pleasing. The Nahorhabi had a somewhat richer, maltier character. Interestingly, when I drank the longer-steeped dregs from the brewing vessels (Pyrex cups) after downing the “official” test cups, the Halmari tasted more bitter.

In this (highly subjective) decision, I give the edge to the Nahorhabi, for its deeper color (I’m a sucker for that reddish hue), more complex character and greater tolerance of oversteeping. I think it would be an excellent choice for anyone looking for a morning Assam that is full-bodied but not at all harsh. The Halmari would be my pick when I’m seeking that distinctive biscuity flavor; I can see it working well for afternoon tea. It might also be the better choice for someone who drinks Assam without milk (a concept I have trouble grasping :lol). Just be sure not to let it steep longer than the recommended three minutes.

The tea is exactly as it claims to be: chocolate. This is probably the most chocolate of any tea I’ve had. It’s very good. It has a slightly odd perfumed fragrance as well, which I assume is supposed to be the “cream” flavor. It’s a good tea but somewhat monochromatic. If what you want is just this side of hot chocolate, this is a good place to go.

As a Bay Area resident, I am happy to present and review this local company, finally making tea fairly traded to connoisseurs after hundreds of years of British economic colonialism. Zawadi Karibu Spiced Chai is a mild tea that gets the job done. The flavor is earthy and spicy without being overwhelming. I have been drinking it with sugar and soy milk, and it has been a joy to keep refilling the cup. Additionally, as the box mentions, I don’t seem to get the jitters that black tea and caffeine can sometimes give me. This unique tea is complemented by its easy pre-packaging, which is both convenient for the user and accessible for anyone to try. It is perfect for the season, and I’ve been keeping my snowman mug full.

Don’t miss the website for this company where sippers can read about the impact of colonialism on access in the tea trade of England, India, and the rest of Europe and the Middle and Near East, fair-trade in Kenya, and the Kenya AIDS Intervention/Prevention project.

Reminiscent of a very high quality Darjeeling, but with stronger tannins. The flavor blooms and expands in your mouth. Woodsy, oak-like scent to the dry leaf and liquor. Light like a Darjeeling or a crisp Chardonnay, but fully flavored with layers of depth in taste and aroman

I am a huge ‘skeptic’ on flavoured teas, not a purist, but I just tend to stir away from them, especially after some flavored teas didn’t play nice with my taste buds. Some like Black Currant (Enjoying Tea.com), White Peach (Adagio Teas), Mango Black (Zhi Tea; makes a good iced tea though), California Fields (Mighty Leaf Tea,) and some things like that dreaded Earl Grey Bravo (Adagio Teas), and even some overly flowery Jasmines.

So I hear about the “legend of the flavoured teas”: Mariage Brother’s famous Marco Polo Blend. So popular to a fact that when I went to Williams & Sonoma to pick up a tin, they told me they were sold out the very day they restocked. It’s reputation proceeds itself. I consider myself lucky to pick a tin up at Gumps the same day. However, I think I may be overstating this tea.

Now lets dedicate a short some of this on the moment I open this tin; as I was expecting most flavoured teas to have their odour reek from the tin the moment it’s cracked open. Some flavoured teas are so dank, that their scent permeates outside the tin! (White Peach). The the scent of Marco Polo, was tame. It came to my nose with it’s exciting strawberry-maplelike scent, candylike almost, but very sophisticated. I spent a good three minutes just enjoying the aroma this tea tea. The leaves weren’t surprisingly different than other flavoured blacks, a little more fuller of a OP, with contrast of browns, and some lighter blacks. But I still say this is more than decent quality for a flavoured tea.

I brewed this like most blacks: five minutes at boiling, in my 24 ounce white teapot. The cup yielded a medium amber cup, with a mellowed aroma of the tin. The take was surprising to me. Medium-full body, it was mildly fruity and sweet, the flavouring almost bypassed my tongue in a way… to travel to my nose. Either the flavouring of this tea wasn’t as strong as I thought it was, or the heat of the boil just killed all the flavour. Either way, it finished up medium, and somewhat sharp.

This tea strangely finds a place between enjoyable and tolerable for me as I am not a fan of flavoured teas. I tried my second cup with light agave nectar, which leveled the sharp finish; and the third cup with 2% fat milk, which ‘almost’ makes me say this would make a “damn fine cup of tea”. I will make this again but with WHOLE milk or maybe even half and half.

Good luck trying to find a tin of it. It’s a bit more expensive on the web, and some high end pricey stores like Gumps in SF and Williams & Sonoma have limited stock. I consider my score to be high for a flavoured tea. This tea made me accept flavoured teas a little more, which is what I was looking for. It changed my opinion of flavoured tea, and it reminded me of Strawberry Black (Adagio Teas). If you know people who love flavoured teas serve them this, or buy it to entertain your nose. I couldn’t have this everyday. If you are a sceptic on flavoured teas, try this, and it may change your mind. 


Let it be said that the ability to describe the tastes of sheng puerhs has always evaded me, like those dreams that seemed so pleasant but you can’t really remember just what they were about. All the roasty-toasty oolong vocabulary just doesn’t work. So my task now is destined to fail, but must nevertheless be undertaken. Because this white-bud sheng from Norbu, which I tasted for the first time today, produces a pretty amazing experience.
Routine brewing in a tiny pot. First sip seems to make a small explosion in my mouth, like the tastes are shooting sideways across my palate and tongue. I taste steamed yellow squash, very precisely. But almost none of the characteristic sheng camphor. There’s something else that I can’t quite say: maybe caramel, yes, or maybe really good whole wheat toast eaten outside near a honeysuckle bush? But the amazing thing is how sweet and how full the nectar is. Does tea have sugars in it like wine or milk?
Second infusion. I think I actually shivered. Second infusion is even better. Camphor just whispers but not medicinal like other shengs. This one would be undetectable except that it’s camphor wrapped in sugar. And the liquid is now even richer. A tiny bit of earthiness, not loamy like old puerth, just fresh earth and a tiny pinch of grass clippings.
I think it does an injustice to say this is a good starter puerh; I think you have to have struggled with sheng first to see how different this is. I look forward to more time with this.
But… I have only a small sample. And Norbu is out of it (lifts the back of his hand to his forehead and sighs). The stuff of dreams.

I like this more and more every time I drink it. The sweet, grassy, unmistakable taste of orchid married with smooth, creamy coconut gets me every time. Upping my rating!

So THIS is what they’re using for all the flavored black teas at Adagio. I knew it was Ceylon, but I didn’t know which blend. Anyway, this is a good, standard black tea. The leaves smell sweet and smoky, but the smokiness doesn’t really appear in the tea itself. But that’s alright, I’m not really a fan of smokiness anyway. It brews up a really pleasant shade of amber, and was a great way to start my day.

Okay, I don’t know what I did differently this time (perhaps brewed it longer?) because I liked it today. Still don’t know what a currant is supposed to taste like but I got sort of a light black cherry/berry vibe coming from it today. Of course, lower expectations also might have played a hefty roll in my liking it today. Yay lower expectations!

I went into a new store they opened in the area, and decided to get some samples. I love being able to try new teas and not pay shipping!

The brewed leaf smelled like some kind of delicious fruit aroma. It really surprised me because I was expecting a more roasted-like smell (I hadn’t read the description of the tea that they have on their website; the store just had the name and the price).
BUT, it tasted like strawberries! This could be called “Strawberry Oolong” (in my opinion) though, there are of course no flavorings. Because of this, it seemed like a really high quality tea, but that wouldn’t matter if it didn’t taste good. Well, it was very good. :-)

Finally. This is the first non-bag, non-Bigelow tea I’ve ever tried. It was wonderful! It’s the first tea I had my family try, using the Adagio UtiliTEA Kettle I bought them for Christmas, and I just might have converted these coffee-and-soda-drinkers to a healthier lifestyle. Thank you, Adagio, for potentially extending the lives of my loved ones.

Because of my incredibly satisfying first foray into non-bag tea, I am giving this tea the highest rating possible. Maybe one day I will look back at this tea and scoff at my naivete, with the disdain of a runway model toward her high school yearbook photos, but until that day, ignorance is bliss.

WHOA holy flavor. I was that shocked, yes. I don’t know where all that sugary sweetness comes from! It is delicious! It reminds me of the Hot Tamales candies that I love. I don’t know what the “three types” of cinnamon are here, but they are magic. There has to be some sort of sugar in this though, it is so sugary and it is consistant throughout the entire cup. The color of the steep is a nice brownish dark orange. As for a black tea, it isn’t too strong, really letting the cinnamon shine.

This is a very heavy jasmine tea. The scent is heavy and the mouth feel is heavy so that they seem to match in weight making the strength seem appropriate.
I’m pretty sure there is a hint of spice from the tea base to which is really neat. Like the way arugula is spicy so I know plants can exhibit that flavor. Never expected that from a tea base but it makes the whole blend exciting!

hmm this really really tastes like Tea! I know that should be kinda obvious but with the list of flavors I was expecting the tea part to be mostly covered up.
and the rose flavor is barely there!
wow… this is light and subtle but the flavor really pops for a white. the coconut and the vanilla go very well together (obviously) but don’t cover up the tea… awesome.
Although I don’t know why the listing here on steepster has blueberry on it. My sample pack does not say blueberry and I don’t taste any either