Black Dragon Pearls

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Cocoa, Hay, Honey, Leather, Chocolate, Earth, Apricot, Bread, Malt, Smooth, Caramel, Cedar, Cream, Mineral, Orange, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Roasted Nuts, Smoke, Toast, Vanilla, Dark Bittersweet, Scotch, Wheat
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Michael
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec 4 g 11 oz / 322 ml

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186 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Thanks to Lena for sharing this with me! First off, the dry leaves (balls) smell like someone sprinkled cocoa on them… not my cat but rather the baking powder. Really surprising. I had a little...” Read full tasting note
    81
  • “Now something unsweet to get me back on track. I first encountered Black Dragon Pearls at Teavana years ago. I fell in love with them. So yummy, so malty, so chocolatey, so good. I was addicted....” Read full tasting note
  • “Backlogging from last night. I tried adding milk to this tea but it pretty much killed the rich, earthy, cocoa-y flavour of the tea, just leaving behind the tanin-y/smokey flavour (I think it’s...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I still consider myself to be new to the tea game. Now that Steepster has me reading all of your wonderfulness, I find myself googling things [or binging things – I’m an equal-opportunity search...” Read full tasting note
    60

From Adagio Teas

Hailing from the Yunnan province, this black tea version of the popular Dragon Pearl is naturally sweet and smooth with a touch of earthiness. Comprised of only the highest quality leaves and buds, expertly rolled into a large pearl-like shape. Subtle cocoa notes whisper gently as each pearl unfurls delivering a superior tea experience not to be missed.

About Adagio Teas View company

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.

186 Tasting Notes

4 tasting notes

This has a very earthy flavor and I’m not sure if I can taste the cocoa.

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28 tasting notes

Not sure how I feel about this one, I think I made my cup a little too strong.

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64 tasting notes

I’m mixed on this tea. It got slightly oversteeped, so the black became a bit bitter and overpowering. It also reminded me of Yunnan Jig, about which I feel similarly.

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72
20 tasting notes

This tea is an amazing black tea. It’s incredibly smooth- a perfect classic black tea. Because it’s in the pearls, you can steep it a little longer than you normally should with loose leaf tea. I steeped it for about three minutes, maybe a little longer, but it didn’t taste bitter at all. I did, however, wait a couple of minutes after the water came off the boil, so keep that in mind if you try it yourself.

I typically like my tea strong, and the package recommends that you use two or three pearls for a cup. I only used two, but I would use three for the stronger taste. Two is about right for an average strength black tea.
A lot of black teas I drink have a bit of a smokey or citrus aftertaste, but this one doesn’t at all. It’s honestly the most tea-y tea I’ve ever had, as odd as that sounds.

I highly recommend the black dragon pearl tea. It tastes great hot and cold. I would say it’s a great morning tea since it’s pretty highly caffeinated. It’s a bit naturally sweet. I still added sugar though because I like my tea sweet.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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67
2 tasting notes

Watching the pearls unfold and uncurl is delightful. Can’t quite figure out how to describe the flavor, not sweet, not bitter, a very warm malty kind of taste. Seems like it would do really well with a touch of milk. I don’t smell the cocoa that others have reviewed.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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97
11 tasting notes

Scent:
-Before Steeping: Very earthy, typical black tea scents, with an undertone of cocoa.
-While Steeping: Very mellow. The scent of cocoa is a little stronger, but not much. Not much other scents really, but that might just be because of the temperature.
-After Steeping: A nice, malty, black tea scent. I can no longer smell the cocoa either.

Flavor:
Still hot. Very hot, burnt my tongue trying it. It tastes bitter, and that’s all I can really say for the first taste. After it cools down a little I’ll probably be able to taste more. Then I will taste after I add sugar, and then milk.

After cooling down a little, it’s still bitter, but there is another taste there, that I just can’t place. Almost cocoa, but not quite.

After adding a little sugar (don’t ask how much); the cocoa flavor stands out quite a bit more, the sugar brings out the sweetness in it. The bitterness is pretty much gone completely, leaving behinds faint earthy and cinnamon tones, with a flavor that tastes how molasses smells.

Adding a shot of milk (literally a shot); the milk adds a creamy texture that goes so well with the sugar that it’s not even funny. Intense chocolate tones mixed with the rich, creamy flavors, mixing in well with the traditional black tea undertones. It’s glorious! It’s sweet and rich and yummy, the faint cinnamon tones blends with the cream and sweetness, the molasses taste rich and gooey-like, rich honey-like flavors; the sweetness just overwhelms engulfing the mouth in an avalanche of candy-like goodness. Oh god, I like this tea. I love this tea- with sugar and milk it fits my tastes so perfectly it’s not even funny.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 45 sec

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100
6 tasting notes

Ridiculously convenient, smells like trees straight out of a forest, and tastes marvelous.

Simple as that.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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87
3 tasting notes

Fabulous tea. Great smokiness.

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85
35 tasting notes

Love the flavor and watching the balls open slowly adds extra points to this tea.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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100
23 tasting notes

Definitely has slight hints of cocoa. I use about 3 pearls to 6oz boiling water for 3 minutes… 4 pearls for 8oz or for 6 if I’m in the mood for something stronger than usual. VERY good tea. I asked for more for Christmas in 2010 and despite having a large variety of teas, have already gone through one of the 4oz bags… Mostly at work. Note: Can be brewed in a gaiwan if you drink it within reason; does not turn bitter as quickly as some and can be rebrewed at least once or twice before it begins to get wimpy. I’ve also had luck brewing as I heat the water, in a microwave for 2 minutes on high using adagio’s ingenuiTEA, 4 pearls, and 8oz of water all at once. (You can also add the tea after heating the water, but whatever… I got lazy a few times.)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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