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This is one of four grades of Tieguanyin currently being sold by Tealyra. It is Stock Code 405, and is currently the cheapest of this type that they sell. I don’t doubt that it is from the Province of Fujian, but Tealyra does not claim that it is from Anxi County, the “home” of Tieguanyin oolongs. That claim is reserved for two other somewhat more expensive products. Nevertheless, it is the product I naïvely bought and am reporting on here. To be fair, I did just finish sipping a competitor’s Ti Kuan Yin, but this (code 405) is clearly inferior in color, aroma, and flavor. It does hit some of the expected notes of floral fragrance and mineral flavor, but it really tastes more like a fourth steeping of exhausted leaf. And for goodness sakes, please ignore Tealyra’s health claims— get your diabetes remedy from a physician and don’t look to a knock-off tea for it. Ditto for cancer. Ditto for weight loss. Etc.

I brewed as directed, and got the pale yellow swill that was described, with echoes of the sensory experience promised. I did try a second, hotter and longer steeping with minimal improvement. I was justified in taking a grain of salt with the description of it being a “tea masterpiece”. The only masterpiece was in the florid writing by Tealyra. Not recommended, and rated as a 35 score. This is going to the compost heap. Some day I may try the more premium offering(s), but a lot of water will have to pass under my bridgework first.

Found this Ti Kuan Yin amongst the sample packets I recently received from Adagio. Steeped the entire sample (about 3 g) as directed in 8 oz alpine spring water at 195°F for 2 min. There was a quick flash of potent orchid aroma while adding the water, then a less bold scent as the green leaves unfurled. A deep golden liquor was produced, with a slight tint of green. The soft floral scent endured throughout the session.

The flavors were essentially as Adagio described: “warm, soft and soothingly mineral in texture. Notes of toasted walnut and tender collard greens. Intriguing lingering floral aroma, lightly orchid and gentle astringency. A meditative cup.” I will add that the mouthfeel was very thick and smooth, and I also noticed a gentle sweet butter flavor in the finish. Although vegetal, it was not the harsh grassiness I’ve sensed in other teas. The aftertaste continued for a few pleasant minutes after each sip. A re-steep of 90 seconds also at 195°F again produced a deep golden liquor. And this time the butteriness was somehow sweeter and more umami in character, making the second cupful different, but every bit as enjoyable as the first.

I really enjoyed this much more than other tieguanyins I’ve had. I’ll rate this as an 87, and no longer stand in fear of the Iron Goddess!

SIPDOWN
Hard to believe I’ve gone through the entire 250 g pouch of this Premium Qimen Mao Feng black tea but, as another note here mentioned, it’s forgettable. That’s not to say it’s bad, and I rather enjoyed it— but I wasn’t overjoyed by it. My lot was from the Spring 2022 harvest, and now (in June 2025) this is my last session with it, having poured out the final 5 g of leaf into my infusion basket. Past experience has taught me that a single 4 minute western infusion with boiling water yields a strong, muddled, cardboard-y mess, so I dropped the temp a bit and allowed only 30 sec. for each weatern steep.

First steeping was more floral and delicate and not what I sought. Someone mentioned it being a nice cup to keep cozy with, and that’s probably on-target, if I was wanting to get cozy. Second steeping was considerably stronger with a deeper malty base supporting the remaining floral notes. This also had the spicy keemun flavor that I was wanting. Neither astringent nor bitter, and with a pleasing long finish on the tongue and nose. Third infusion had a woodier aroma, probably because my water got away from me, closer to a boil, but there were still some floral notes. Flavorwise, the base notes had weakened considerably and were still ok— not as nice as the second steep! Still no bitter or sourness, and just a bit astringent in the third steep (not mouth-puckering, though!). By the time it had cooled down, the weakness of the third steep became evident and I discarded the last, sad, ounce.

Overall, this tea is almost where I wanted it, relative to my favorite Keemun, just meriting a 75 rating. If there had been more body to the first steeping, it would have been a solid 85. I’d recommend it though, because you won’t remember having sipped it by next week. ;-)

Returning to this one after almost year, making this canister of leaf over 4yr old. I still smell the wintergreen in the dry leaf! In an effort to elicit softer flavors, I reduced the steep temp to 190, and infused 3g leaf for only 1 minute. This produced a less astringent and no longer bitter, but still flavorful, cuppa, so my plan from last year worked! Sadly, the wintergreen still dominates and gives me the impression of waxy mothballs, even though I know what pure methyl salicylate smells like. It must be the cedarwood notes in combination that gives me this effect. The lingering finish is pleasanter, having what I think of as a “Ceylon tea” flavor. I will boost my rating here by another ten points, to 65, and recommend it as an interesting and quality tea, despite being not my favorite.

Another winning Adagio sample packet! Prepared as directed, infusing all 3.2 g of material in 8 oz boiling spring water for 5 min. The aroma of the dry blend was pleasant, if powerful, but it softened considerably during steeping. I was skeptical here because there is no actual banana ingredient, only a flavoring. And I’m wary of cinnamon which often overwhelms.

But my fears were wasted and, as Steepster @Kaylee mentioned a few months ago, the banana flavoring was short of being candylike. In fact, my overall impression was of flaming, buttered Bananas Foster in a banana-nut bread context, which I adore. Kaylee couldn’t identify the nut, and neither could I except for having read of the chestnut flavoring ingredient— another dubious flavoring that turns out to work quite well. I was unaware of any cinnamon unless I tried to taste it. The sweetness was quite forward, and undoubtedly results from the honeybush and the dry apple pieces. Forward, but perfectly sweet in my opinion! I counted 14 small cubes of diced apple, and the resulting flavor was of baked apple dumpling, rather than sharp green apple (nor artificial flavor), which was warming, mouthwatering, and terrific. Steepster @Ashmanra reported some time ago about having liked the chocolate flavor (from the cocoa nib ingredient) in her sample packet, whereas my sample must not have gotten any nibs, since that element was undetectable. No matter, I do like chocolate with banana and/or apple, but this tisane was fine without. The marigold petals added no flavor, but imbued the liquor with golden color to brighten the amber honeybush tint.

A re-steep following the same parameters had a softer aroma, wherein the cinnamon was gently asserting itself. The banana was less impressive, but still notable, and the sweetness vastly reduced. Still no chocolate notes. Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable echo of the original result, and a soft landing for the evening. I will include more of this in my upcoming Adagio order, and play around with combining the first and second steeps for an improved 2 cups of ‘tea’. It’s really now one of my favorite non-caffeine dessert drinks. I’ll rate it at 89 for now, and recommend.

As a sweetened, iced tea:
Oh dear, no! I was wrong in my forecast about this a few months back. After thoroughly enjoying a hot cuppa this morning, I undertook to make an iced tea version this afternoon. Same nice aroma, but all the deep flavors vanished, and the floral flavor became artificial and plastic-y. Absolutely terrible. Don’t do it. Enjoy this expensive and premium tea HOT. Since the tea is inflexible in this regard, I’m dropping my rating to 98. Not recommended as an iced tea! Highly recommended as a hot tea.

One stone, two birds.
First, I remember, vaguely, a challenge to steep something having ten or more ingredients. Well this has a whole spice rack of ingredients!
Second, @ashmanra suggested I give green rooibos a try, since I liked honeybush, and one of the thirteen components here is green rooibos!

So I went digging thru my teas and found Samurai Maté, from Adagio. Now, I thought yerba maté was a South American beverage, whilst Samurai are from Japan, so it seemed dubious at first thought. But we’re well beyond the jet age, so why not‽ ‽ I ripped open the sample pouch and inhaled deeply… wow! I could smell so many things, and yet nothing dominated, not even the cinnamon! Even the empty pouch carries a terrific peppery fruit scent, reminiscent of Juicyfruit gum and warm spices. Really appealing to me. They’ve excluded clove and nutmeg, thereby deftly avoiding any echo of pumpkin spice.

I brewed as directed: the entire pouch (~3 g) in 8 oz. boiling spring water for a whopping ten minutes. A deeply golden liquor resulted, from which an aromatic battle erupted, with anise, ginger, orange, cardamom, cinnamon, and almond finishing in détente: all contributing, but none dominating. My nose couldn’t discern the lemongrass, maté, rooibos, mango or pineapple. It was quite an odorific result, but pleasing to me.

While sipping, my tongue first noted the sweetness of… ? Perhaps sweet from rooibos, or mango, or pineapple, or papaya or orange. And while I can convince myself that I could taste all of the flavors at play (other than maté and rooibos), I mostly found my attention swept away by by the clamorous roar of battle on my tongue and in my sinuses. And some caffeine came from the maté (as I learned many decades ago, drinking Celestial Seasonings’ Morning Thunder blend, before high school) so this makes a good wake up! beverage in multiple ways.

Yes, there is a lot going on in this tisane. And I like every bit of it! Perhaps overly raucous or jarring to some, I found it invigoratingly welcome after a string of somewhat boring teas. Often cinnamon overpowers in blends, but it was under control in the sample pouch I drank today. I’ll rate it an 88 and remember to order some more at my next opportunity. My only regret is that I could not clearly discern a flavor from the green rooibos. No matter, I’ve ordered some of that as a straight tisane to better evaluate its properties.

I’ve never had honeybush (Cyclopia sp.) before, in any form. Despite being in the same botanical family, it differs from rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) which may account for another reviewer’s report here of not tasting rooibos.

Anyhow, my sample packet contained 2.9 g of material, which I steeped in its entirety, as directed in 8 oz. alpine spring water. The aroma of the dry material was very fragrantly fruity, almost perfumy. I could detect notes of apple bits, strawberry, and rose. The hot steeping vapors were perfumy as well, without the powdery sensation which was probably from the forest berry flavoring, but adding another element to the mix which I suspect to have been the honeybush. The taste was of mixed berries, strawberry, apple, and quite sweet (without added sweetener). I couldn’t really taste rose petals or raspberry leaves. There was no bitterness or sourness, or other obvious defects, though I wish the “natural flavoring” had been used with more restraint, as there was a pervading ‘artificial’ note in the concoction.

Overall I enjoyed the blend, and did not object to the honeybush as I do to rooibos. It’s nice to have a caffeine-free option for dessert or bedtime, without the cinnamon present as in other blends. I’ll give this a rating of 70, and it might have been higher if not for the artificial quality of the flavor.

Fujian Rain from Adagio Teas recent order. 3.1 g sample pouch in stainless steel infusion basket with 8 oz 190°F spring water for 30 sec. Dry leaf had light toasted aroma, which intensified during steeping. Tea flavor was of toasted rice, rock mineral, and a flash note of honey midway through the first steep. No astringency or bitterness, no defects, absolutely no fruit flavor or fragrance. Nondescript aftertaste and afterscent of toasted rice. Re-steep using same parameters, gave essentially the same result, except halfway through a vegetal flavor and aroma arose and the honey note persisted a bit longer. A little woodiness appeared and the toast flavor subsided a bit as I finished off the 2nd steep. A third steep used 195°F water and ran for 60 sec. By this time the leaves had fully expanded, and the toasted aroma diminished and became slightly floral. The liquor was just as amber in shade as prior steeps, but tasted more watery. Still never got any fruit or nut or chocolate or earthy or smokey or leafpile flavors. Just not much bang for the buck here and I won’t waste much more spring water on it. Fourth and final infusion used boiling water and steeped for 5 min., producing a cup that was as unexciting as the third, devoid of floral or honey or vegetal notes, and tasting more of toasted sawdust. Rating it a 65, just because it’s a bit more interesting than sipping hot water, and does have caffeine.

From a sample pouch. Brewed as directed, which was too long. But that aside, despite my love of piña coladas and coconut ceam pie, this is just… not to my taste. It must be like cilantro or cumin: you love it or hate it! I like cilantro, but not this tea. Sweetener did not help. Cooling did not help. Prayer did not help. Clearly many others here did like it though. All the Steepster reviews on this Adagio product are 10-16 yrs old and run the gamut— though nobody seems to have disliked it as much as I dislike it. Still, Adagio continues to offer this coconut tea, so someone must be buying it. I rate it as a 20, and want to brush my teeth, tongue, cheeks, and roof of my mouth. And then gargle with Listerine and bleach my teacup! I guess if you like Adagio’s flavored teas, give a sample packet of this a try before buying much of it. Glad I did.