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“I’m in a no-frills mood today. My husband had knee surgery on Monday, so I’m pretty much running dead on my feet. I need the warmth, the simplicity, the CAFFEINE to make it through the work day...” Read full tasting note
“Almost a sipdown on this one today — two cups worth left. This has been languishing in my desk drawer for a while, so I might take it home and finish it off this weekend. Then I can replace it with...” Read full tasting note
“I’d rather drink Adagio’s Irish Breakfast. I’m not sure what’s going on in this one but it seems like some thing is wrong. I find that “tea” taste with quite a bit of bitterness. I swear I’m...” Read full tasting note
“Another sample comes to an end. I’m digging this more than usual this morning, I usually prefer Ceylons cold, and like to drink maltier blacks hot.” Read full tasting note
Ceylon Sonata is a classic black tea from Sri Lanka. In colonial times, this island nation was known as Ceylon. This name is still used to describe all teas grown here. Ceylon tea is bright and lively, medium-bodied and delightfully tangy. Our Ceylon Sonata hails from the renowned Kenilworth Estate, located in Sri Lanka’s Kandy region. Fresh, citrusy aroma, sweet juicy notes like mandarin peel or grapefruit, refreshing texture, and balanced astringency. The perfect afternoon tea.
The first tea plant was smuggled into Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) in 1824. While it was not intended for commercial uses at the time, it wasn’t long before more plants arrived, and by 1867, the first tea plantation was founded by Scotsman James Taylor. By the 1880s, following a severe blight in the 1870s, nearly all coffee plantations had converted to tea. Now, Sri Lanka is one of the world’s largest producers of tea, with six main growing regions across several elevations and growing conditions.
Black Tea | High caffeine | Steep at 212° for 3-5 minutes.
Adagio Teas has become one of the most popular destinations for tea online. Its products are available online at www.adagio.com and in many gourmet and health food stores.
Having a pot of this that is 2/3 Ceylon Sonata and 1/3 English Breakfast, both by Adagio. I’m not a very big fan of either, but they blend together well. I’ll definitely do this again. It’s malty and sweet, with a summery taste that’s hard to describe.
I probably should have brewed this for less time, as it is pretty potent and a little bitter. (But I like some bitterness to my black teas.) I think I’ll go with four minutes next round.
I love this tea. It is like Twinings Ceylon, only better. The sweet citrusy notes come out even stronger and tastier in this tea. It was not bitter and the astringency was not really noticeable (I guess I am used to it now). The best Ceylon I have tasted so far. I added cream and sugar, and the tea stood up very well. Close to perfection in a teacup!
Well I’m about to head over to a buddy’s house (got a handful of samples from Chicago Tea Garden, and I felt like sharing), and I also overnighted the Aladdin Infuser Mug. This thing is COOL. It looks sleek and I wanted to brew tea in it, but didn’t want to use my CTG tea yet. SOOOO I remembered I had this!
Do I smell a mild citrus tone? Or is this just a really bright tea? The tea infuser worked wonderfully, making a second infusion possible as soon as I finish this. Earlier I had the Apple Tea from Adagio, and I definitely taste the similarity. I think Ceylon is a better base for their flavored blacks more than Assam, due to the fact that it doesn’t pucker the back of your mouth as much. It does have a mild astringency, but oddly enough only right when I swallow. This makes me think of a morning tea, but nothing so particular as “Winter Morning” or “rainy morning”. It’s not powerful enough for such strong detail, but just light and good :)
While watching the future hubz play deamon souls I wanted one of the teas my sister got me for Christmas. The scent of the dry leaves is a bit floral but toasty. It’s warm and inviting. The tea smells pretty much the same but sweeter. The flavor is the backnote to all of adagio’s flavored teas. I can see why they use this for all their flavors. It’s sweet and mellow with that expected tea taste. I gotta sat I’m glad my sister got me the 4oz tin this is a no frills kind of tea. This will be great for those slow start days. :)
I don’t seem to have enough plain (unflavoured?) black teas, so I got this on a recent road trip. I originally like the scent, but it turned out to be a tea I wanted to try anyway. It has a mild citrus flavour. Good for a morning cup with almond milk. (Have it warm though.)
Another tea from linnaete (^^)
Don’t have much to say about this one. It’s kind of a hum-dee-dum tea. Nothing the least bit unpleasant about it, but boring nonetheless.
This is the second (unflavored) ceylon that I have tried and I can appreciate that Ceylon teas aren’t going to be particularly bold, but the first one I tried had a lot more depth to the flavor.
Teas such as this one make a good base for peppermint leaves. I have a whole bag of pure peppermint from Arbor Teas that I add to my less exciting black teas. peppermint in black tea is one of my favorite cuppas and helps me to use up all of my bland black tea varieties.
When I was at the Field Museum of Natural History, I saw a diorama of a tea plantation in Sri Lanka.
Stashdown #5! I got a sample of this from Caligatia. She’s very generous with her tea. A very good trait in a friend, if I do say so myself. Anyway, back to the tea.
Other people used light and delicate to describe this tea, and yeah, I can see that. For all that I like blends, sometimes a girl just needs a straight up single note tea that is what it is. It isn’t as smooth as the Yunnan Gold I had earlier, but is charming in its own, simple way. A solid tea when all you want is tea. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it!
