Adagio Teas - Duplicate

I received this as a sample tin with another purchase and initially wasn’t sure about it after Adagio failed to deliver an up to par peach white tea— so imagine my surprise when I liked this blend more than the blend I had ordered. This tea is both dainty and full-bodied. The smokey oolong paired with the gentle marigold petals and peach create a balance feels distinct and refined. I like the mixing of the oolong and white teas a well. The white tea and its natural sweetness makes the peach flavoring soft and honey-like rather than overpowering.

Sipdown no. 8 of 2018 (no. 364 total). Sample tin.

This is a backlog from two days ago while the site was down.

I sipped this one down over the course of several days, Western style. This was my last Adagio oolong sample. Now all that is left is one black tea sample, which I have been hoarding and must now make an effort to de-hoard.

Another mystery Adagio oolong from my sample set of years ago. There’s a green tea with the same name on Steepster, but I had to scour the internet to find Adagio’s description of the oolong (which I found on Amazon). It’s confusing, made worse by the fact that the pearls look just like the picture given for the green tea version.

I tried it in the gaiwan with short steeps after rinsing.

If you’ve read my notes in the past, you know I love jasmine in tea, and so I was fully expecting to love this one, too.

Steep 1, 15 sec. Pearls are still tightly wound. Aroma is a light jasmine, tea a pale yellow and clear. Aromatic tea, with a cooling sensation on the upper palate and a silky mouthfeel that becomes clean in the aftertaste.

Steep 2, 20 sec. Pearls are beginning to unfurl. Aroma about the same, tea a deeper yellow with a pink tinge. Aroma is a single floral note this time; in the first steep it was harder to pin down. I’m not noticing the silk in the mouthfeel this time, but the cooling remains. The flavor is jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. I’m trying to taste the tea.There’s a sugary, floral smell in the cup once the tea is gone.

Steep 3, 25 sec. Leaves have completely unfurled, filling the gaiwan. They’re a sort of olive green. The aroma is not as strong this time, though the floral note is still paramount. Same with the flavor. The cooling quality is barely there, and the silk is gone from the mouthfeel. There’s a sort of drying effect happening now.

Steep 4, 30 sec. Still floral, but not really evolving in aroma and flavor. More drying. A tiny bit of bitterness in the finish.

Steep 5, 35 sec. It’s done. It was probably done on steep 3.

If it wasn’t for the fact this is jasmine and I love jasmine, I’d consider this average at best. I enjoyed the jasmine, though. Since I didn’t feel the tea gained much through multiple steeps, I expect I’ll sip this down western style — perhaps as a take it to work tea to mix up the greens.

Sipdown no. 67 of 2017 (no. 348 total). Sample tin.

Made a big pot Western style to finish this off. Gonna take a huge mug of this and snuggle under the super soft fuzzy sherpa blankie I managed to score at the department White Elephant exchange.

I have a lot of oolong. I have way more oolong than I have patience and time, so I expect in the near term I’ll be saving the multi-steep experience for the really off the charts ones.

Pretty sure I tried this once before and accidentally logged it under Formosa Ali Shan. But maybe not. It’s possible I had two different Ali Shans from Adagio. I went through a period where I tried a bunch of their samplers, including two or three oolong ones.

In any case, I can’t find any evidence that this one ever existed on the internet — except that I’m holding the tiny tin in my hand.

The only samples I have left now are oolongs, with the exception of one black tea. I thought I’d give this one a try today in the gaiwan.

It’s a green looking and smelling, a sort of buttery, floral smell in the tin. The tea is rolled into irregularly shaped balls with stems visible. It looks a lot like the picture of the Formosa Ali Shan, here: https://steepster.com/teas/adagio-teas/11434-formosa-ali-shan

I rinsed and took it through a number of steeps starting at 15 seconds.

The first steep smelled lovely — milky/buttery, lilac — captured subtly in the flavor. The flavor wasn’t a deep one, but was refreshing. The tea was pale yellow.

Second steep, 20 seconds. Darker color (medium yellow) more floral, less butter in the aroma. Flavor was similar to first steep but slightly more robust.

Third steep, 25 seconds. Even darker (golden yellow). Still heavily floral in the aroma. By now the leaves had fully unfurled and doubled the volume of leaf in the gaiwan. I started to suspect that I had in fact written a note about this one before but put it in the wrong place because my experience of all three steeps so far was quite similar to what I wrote under the Formosa Ali Shan. The flavor didn’t change in any discernible way from steep to steep.

Fourth steep, 30 seconds. The color held steady at a golden yellow, as did the aroma. Before this steep, I noticed that the cup had a sugary, pastry-like smell to it, which was very appealing.

It’s a pleasant green oolong but doesn’t evolve a lot from steep to steep, which is another quality that makes me think I tasted this once before and wrote a note under a different name. Then, I called the tea I was drinking a Johnny One Note — this is pretty much that.

I considered taking it through more steeps just to see when it reached exhaustion, but by the fourth it was getting a bit of a bitter note in the finish and didn’t have that swell of flavor in the sip. I will probably drink the rest of this Western style since it doesn’t seem to pay to go through multiple steeps.

A very soothing tea, especially if one is looking for something flavourful for the throat. The peach is a juicy compliment to the raw power of the ginger.

The first thing to note about this fruit blend is… don’t get excited about the name. The name is deceptive. It leads to disappointment. In those first few sips you’ll be completely and utterly heart broken.

Yes, this blend contains coconut and, yes, it also contains pineapple, but it also contains a whole host of other ingredients that completely suppress the classic Pina Colada flavour you may have been hoping for. Once you’re over this fact, and trust me it took some getting over, it is possible to enjoy the fruity punch. Coconut, surprisingly, is not the overbearing flavour in this. In fact the hibiscus provides a fruity musk overtone that batters away the under notes of the remaining ingredients. It’s fair to say that the after taste is somewhat worthy of the name of this blend, but it’s very mild and takes so concentration to notice it.

To be honest, Pina Colada is a fairly good fruit tea that’s even better iced and could actually be a good base for a fruity cocktail. However, it’s not the best, with downfalls that include it’s inappropriately deceptive name and a tad too heavy on the hibiscus.

For more visit www.TastetheTea.co.uk

“By far- and coming from someone who once eagerly poked around Asian grocery stores- this is the best jasmine tea I’ve had yet! It’s very smooth and fragrant. As soon as I opened the package, I knew it was going to be good- if I could properly brew it. The previous teas I’ve tried that were jasmine in flavor, I just couldn’t do it- they’d be burned or not hot enough or too rough at the edges.

I’ve since gotten unused to jasmine tea, but I’m going to fall right back in love with it now. I also have a tin of the master’s jasmine tea, so I’m looking forward to this as well.”

By far- and coming from someone who once eagerly poked around Asian grocery stores- this is the best jasmine tea I’ve had yet! It’s very smooth and fragrant. As soon as I opened the package, I knew it was going to be good- if I could properly brew it. The previous teas I’ve tried that were jasmine in flavor, I just couldn’t do it- they’d be burned or not hot enough or too rough at the edges.

I’ve since gotten unused to jasmine tea, but I’m going to fall right back in love with it now. I also have a tin of the master’s jasmine tea, so I’m looking forward to this as well.

Received with October 2016 subscription. Not a fan of the overly perfumey aroma. The light, sweet flavor grew on me after a few cups, but the aftertaste is meh. Would not purchase.

Tried this tea today after I had a tea emergency at work. My stash ran out and the only thing left in my work tea drawer was a sample tea bag of this. This tea is just…meh. It had that fake citrus kitchen cleaner aroma – not very inviting. The brewed tea had a strong, slightly tart citrus flavor which competes with the smokey green tea base. The citrus is overpowering at first but tames down a bit as the tea cools.

Once more I’m reminded of why I’m drawn to straight and mildly flavored teas. The aggressive flavoring combined with low grade tea kills it for me. If you want citrus you’re better off just brewing your favorite green tea and adding a squeeze of lemon or lime to it.

Not proud to admit it, but I’ve been scared of rooibos. First of all, is it “ROY-bose” or “ROY-bus”? “RUE-ee-bose” or “RUE-ee-bus”? Reading that’s it’s also called “red bush tea” and that it comes from South Africa, while interesting, doesn’t help. I’ve had it (and made it) in blends of herbal tea, but as it was always mixed in with other tastes, I never knew exactly what it contributed aside from its lack of caffeine. Even the old Tazo African Red Bush teabags (which, alas, they no longer make or sell) combined hibiscus, lemon verbena, orange peel, rosemary, lemon balm, citric acid and natural flavors. I used to like those teabags. I’m sorry they’re no longer available.
But rooibos by itself I had never had. So I bought this small 4 oz tin (with a nice see-through hinged lid) in order to really try it. Aside from throwing in a spoonful when blending myself a pot of something without caffeine at night, I’d never used it. So here goes.
First of all, be prepared to use some kind of filter paper, otherwise the tiny little seedlike bits can escape even tiny-meshed tea strainers. No, I didn’t do research to find out what part of the red bush this tea comes from. Doesn’t look like leaves, maybe it’s seeds—it’s certainly tiny enough to be little seeds. Yeah, the bulk of them will be caught by the mesh—but there’s enough residue of dozens of tiny specks, you’ll want to use a coffee filter over a mesh if you want to keep them ALL out of your tea.
The tea has a pleasant-enough flavor. It’s not bitter, kind of nutty, kind of raisin-y tasting. I feel like I should be eating a slice of nut bread or raisin toast while drinking this, as it would certainly go well. Don’t know what the health benefits of rooibos are supposed to be (yes, I’ll be looking that up, too), but while not the usual tea flavor of camellia sinensis, it’s a cozy-tasting hot beverage. I’m having this unsweetened, so to taste it by itself. It tastes “healthy”—like it should go along with organic toast or oatmeal, or other good-for-you foodstuffs. Unless you’ve grown up with it, it is not the usual breakfast beverage. This will be a plus for some people, a minus for others who’d rather have regular tea or coffee.
The upshot? It’s not bad. I will have to give it a number of more tries for my tastebuds to get over the “different” factor. But I think it could be just the thing for a cool fall morning, especially with some nice baked goods.

Let me start by saying that I’ve really been missing out by not buying a bag of these for myself sooner. These cookies are really tasty and in full disclosure I should tell you they’re a bit addictive (I may have sat here and eaten most of the bag in one sitting, whoops!) You have three different options for flavors: honey rooibos, white berry, and vanilla chai. When I send these to my friends I usually buy the vanilla chai because you really can’t go wrong with spiced cookies and it’s a flavor that will appeal to tea lovers and haters alike. The cookies are gently spiced with chai and the texture reminds me of buttery shortbread. Occasionally you’ll run across a piece of dried pineapple, which is slightly gummy and doesn’t really add to the flavor. I could do without the pineapple in the cookies, it seems like an odd combination to me, but the inclusion doesn’t affect my enjoyment enough where I wouldn’t order these again (and again and again, did I mention they’re addictive?)

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2016/8/30/vanilla-chai-tea-cookies-adagio

The dry leaves had a grassy aroma to me but once they were hit with hot water that changed to that spinachy smell.

I did several infusions. The first was roughly 7 seconds and the subsequent ones were 10-15 seconds. The flavor was light and refreshing though there was a bit of astringency at the finish trying to dry my mouth out but not horribly There weren’t a lot of subtleties I could taste here. If I hadn’t known it was an oolong I’d have guessed it was a green tea. That probably says more about my inexperience than it does about the tea.

You know, if you actually sit down and edit your tea cupboard, you too can get your collection down 100+ teas! I went from 171 teas to 63!!!

Some teas I tossed (bc they’re either too old, or just so nasty that no one should ever drink them), but the majority of them I’ve packed into small samples and I’m giving them to my coworkers on my last day at Disneyland :)

But today’s tea of the day is this lovely one from Adagio! Super easy bc I got it from the oolong samples and it’s in a cute little sachet :) Great lazy day oolong. Nothing too special or too complex about this tea? Just a nice cuppa to get the day (and packing) going!

I am always REALLY careful when steeping this tea, because when done correctly I absolutely love this one. I do add a tiny bit of truvia to it, though. It’s really smooth, not at all bitter, and lightly sweet. VERY fragrant and soothing. Just the thing for a stressful afternoon!

Revisiting this tea on a rainy morning that sees my son home from preschool with a bit of the sniffles and feeling under the weather. To help combat that, I made us a smoothie this morning consisting of plain greek yogurt, almond milk, a banana, Amish jarred peaches, frozen blueberries, turmeric, and ginger with a squirt of honey. It was really good.

And to combat the rainy day, I have made a cup of one of my favorite styles of tea, Jasmine Pearls. There is something about good jasmine tea that just… gets me.

Gongfu style, first brew of 20 seconds. Yup. I remember why I love this so much. Thick and creamy mouthfeel. Delicious jasmine tea and flavor that is not overpowering or too weak. No bitterness. Wow, I nailed this first steep, if I do say so myself.

Second steep, 15 seconds. Pulled it back by about 5 seconds due to the leaves opening up. Scent is still nicely balanced. No bitterness in the liquid. I do think, however, that I could have let this go to 20 seconds and have gotten a flavor similar to the first steep. The flavor is still nice here, just not quite as thick or sweet. Still above average in flavor in scent, though.

3rd steep, 30 seconds. Scent is as strong as ever. The strength has come back a bit for this steep. A few seconds longer and I could see this turning a little bitter. But as it is, still very smooth and drinkable.

4th steep, 40 seconds. The scent still has such a creamy, sweet, jasmine scent. I love it. The flavor is still very nice and similar to the scent. I was actually expecting this steep to start the decline for this tea but not so. I would still drink this steep every time.

5th steep, 1 min. This tea has great longevity and consistency for its style.

6th steep, 90 seconds. Went to take a shower. Came back to this tea and now I am seeing the flavor start to fade which is fine. I feel I got more than I bargained for anyway.

I’m glad I revisited this tea (and that I have plenty left). It is a great option for a Jasmine Pearl and probably one of Adiagio’s best offerings that I have had.

These are exactly what I was hoping for. They have a strong Jasmine scent both in the dry leaf/ball and also in the steeped liquid. It is not overly strong. Sometimes something floral can go over into a perfume type flavor and scent. Not the case with these. I am a huge Jasmine tea fan and these hit the spot. I imagine they could be a bit bitter with over steeping or over leafing but when done right, these are pretty good.

I’m really surprised that this tea is rated as low as it is (currently). It is sweet, smooth, and has a few layers of flavors to chew on. Over steeping can lead to bitterness but it shouldn’t be an issue if you are paying attention. Then again, I may be bias because as a Scorpio, it could just naturally agree with my palate! ;)

Here we’ve got a run of the mill black tea with a few red safflower petals thrown in. There’s a few pieces of fruit; I originally thought it was pomegranate, but it’s actually raspberry.

Speaking of raspberry, the leaves smell of raspberry, but in a really dark, full kind of way. Not smoky, exactly, but full bodied and complex. It’s interesting to smell raspberry like this without a chocolate addition of some sort. It must be the vanilla and creme that are giving the tea its interesting profile, though it’s hard to pinpoint those flavors individually. I like the smell quite a bit.

Unfortunately, that lovely raspberry smell is completely absent from the tea itself. It’s now 99% bergamot, which is very disappointing.

The flavor profile matches the tea’s smell, too. It just tastes like a diluted Earl Grey. A bit of sugar teases out some of the raspberry flavor, but it’s still covered up by the bergamot.

A copy of this review can be found on my blog, as well as a few pictures: http://lizkuba.com/tea-review-sagittarius-by-adagio/