2517 Tasting Notes
Not even worth a note for this one. To be honest, this was a really old tea bag. But wow, it seemed like the teabag was heavier than the amount of tea they included. I like my chai STRONG. This is definitely not a winter chai. The brew was the palest of brown and had hardly any spice or flavor. meh.
Additional notes: MMMMM… really loving this one today again. It’s still a magical dreamy creamy banana tea. Can’t get one much better than this. It’s also lovely alongside a sipdown of Frank’s Coconut Cream Pie that still has some lovely coconut. (Hey, I usually need some caffeine tea to go with my less caffeine white tea.) I’m raising this one from a 95 rating.
This is about eight months old now? But I noticed no tasting notes from anyone, so I had to for the steep session today. I love the name of this blend. However, I just realized it is the name of a drink. I just liked the rhyming. It looks like such a colorful mix of goodies. The base is a green tea (though I didn’t notice much green tea in the pouch) with a mix of spices and fruits: juniper berries, elderberries, apple, hibiscus, angelica root, coriander seeds, blackberry, liqorice, lime leaves, cardamon, lemon, raspberry, strawberry. I have no idea what the alcoholic drink should taste like, as I did not know of its existence before today. It sure tastes like the mix of ingredients though, with this purple brew. To be honest, the flavor is a little more medicinal than I’d like (I want a fun fruity summer blend.) But I think it’s one of those blends that have so many ingredients but is so evenly balanced, that you can taste almost everything in the cup. It’s fruity and spicy. The hibiscus wasn’t too bad, but I’m kind of sick of seeing hibiscus in so many B&B teas. Even hot brewing, it didn’t seem overbrewed, as again, I didn’t notice much green tea. I want more fruity flavor though! I want all those berries to be ridiculous (maybe ditch that hibiscus). This is tasting the same as it did when I got it, for what it’s worth.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 32 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
I received this as sample from Bird & Blend with their Christmas in July sale. It’s one I REALLY wanted to try. I love a good jam and a good jammy tea. I’m glad I didn’t use more than one heaping teaspoon, as the black tea tastes richer here than the usual black tea from B&B (which I think is usually Ceylon unless they changed it). That is because this one is a mix of an Indian assam black tea and a Kenyan black tea. The black tea itself is definitely for breakfast, even if the brew color is more red than black. The flavor is malty, bready deliciousness. I really appreciate the different black teas used here, but the strength might overpower much of the raspberry flavoring. I think it’s all in the luck of the teaspoon scoop though because I might be tasting more hibiscus than raspberry. B&B is usually really great at taming that hibiscus. Or maybe I just like a ton of jam. Overall, this one just isn’t the blend that I’d hope it’d be. I’m very glad the base isn’t the usual Ceylon, as that would be even more disappointing. Nothing magical here like with their Jelly + Ice Cream blend (which sold out almost instantly for their sale…. maybe they shouldn’t offer some teas only during a sale? Supply & demand sort of thing?) But I have at least one more teaspoon to try — maybe the magic will be there.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug// 14 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // couple minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Thanks so much for sending samples, AprTea.com! I really appreciate it! AprTea.com is a new tea company selling lovely teas. This one looks quite different than any other pu-erh I’ve had before. It looks like little shards or pebbles of a ripe pu-erh flavored with sticky rice. I used two heaping of teaspoons of these pebbles for a mug (the entire 10gram sample) and I’m glad I did use two teaspoons as they don’t really unravel like the usual pu-erh leaves. And I like my pu-erh extra dark. A dark pu-erh to me is like having a cup of coffee. But coffee is less to my tastes than ripe pu-erh. While steeping, these pieces remain in their pebble shape. The flavor is delicious though — smooth and sweet with no offensive pu-erh flavors, and the sweetness is not even counting that delicious sticky rice flavor that is consistent through all these steeps. The last steep I forgot about and left an hour and a half – extra dark, delicious and still had that rice flavor. I like these! AprTea also has another sticky rice mini tuocha that is even lower in price than these.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 17 minutes after boiling // rinse // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 1 1/2 hour steep
Oh WOW. This is the one I wanted most from Meowster’s destash swap as I remember I loved it so much. Thank you, Meowster! It is still SO GOOD. One of my favorites. I had to read my old tasting notes for this one, and not only was I wondering how consistent Adagio’s harvests of teas are, I also compared the (at least) five year old harvest of this to Butiki’s Hattali Golden Lion Assam. I was comparing it to Butiki’s Golden Lion TODAY too!!! Without even reading my tasting note first!!! So I guess that answers my question — at least for this tea — the harvests are pretty darn consistent. I haven’t had a glorious yunnan in a while. I just love the medium body of this, smooth, doesn’t get astringent, fruity notes, honey, chocolate. ALL the notes I love in my perfect yunnan. I give massive credit to Adagio if most of their teas can stay so consistent over harvests over a few years, as that is always a problem for a tea drinker – when you find a tea you love but the next harvest just isn’t great.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // couple minutes after boiling // 4 min steep
Not really a tasting note: but I ordered a sample of this a few months ago, but when I opened it, it doesn’t smell like Vanilla Comoro. It smells like Paris, or something else with a pastry scent. I know what Vanilla Comoro should usually smell like. Since I usually only have this one at night, since it’s decaf, I’m a little afraid to have it at night, in case it was mislabeled somehow and is actually a tea with caffeine. I also don’t want to drink it during the day in case it DOESN’T have caffeine. Hmm. Anyone else have this problem with Vanilla Comoro?
Thanks so much for that awesome swap, Meowster! I think I’ve only had one Jun Chiyabari before and it was the most delicious, multi layered, complex flavor combination of any tea I’ve ever had (this was from a long ago harvest from SingleOriginTeas.com but it was also the tea that changed flavor the quickest). Now this tea might not be on that level, but every sip was delicious. It’s the most scrumptious of a Darjeeling type flavor. This golden brew has notes of peach along with the muscatel, and I’m pleased to see the description also notices the peach. It’s just a tough tea to describe, you just have to DRINK IT and taste the complexity. I will certainly savor the last few teaspoons I have!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 21 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
I had one teabag of this as a freebie from a Harney order, so I didn’t want to sip it down without writing a note. It’s definitely not Harney’s best. An okay black tea… I was surprised to see it’s a keemun, as it mostly tasted like Ceylon with a hint of Assam. There is a bright, fruity note with a bit of a kick. But not enough kick for me if it’s a ‘breakfast’ tea. Both steeps tasted the same. I DO appreciate that I was able to try it for free though! Thanks Harney!
Additional notes: Finishing the last of my older stash, and having the new “harvest” of this last week, there definitely seems to be an improvement in the new batch. The older batch is much lighter. That could be because it is older now, but I’m pretty sure it was always like that. I love the new darker flavor!
