Green Pekoe

I’m drowning in tea and must take immediate measures to STOP BUYING MORE.

My new plan has as a requirement that I drink up twice as much tea as I replace. This requirement applies to full sized tins only. In the case of Kusmi or Upton sample tins, I must drink 2 to equal 1 regular sized (so I have to drink at a 4 to 1 ratio). For Adagio sample tins, I have to drink 4 to equal 1 regular sized (an 8 to 1 ratio).

It’s the only way I can get my house in order. I have more tea than I have room for. I’m shortly going to finish up my H&S samples and start on the American Tea Room ones, of which I have rather a ton. H&S is grandfathered in because I started sampling them so long ago, but to place an ATR order, which I no doubt will want to do, I must meet the requirements above. If I’m lucky, this will make my tea collection manageable by the end of 2010.

Green teas seem a good place to start enforcing the rule, particularly Japanese ones (though this isn’t Japanese) since I recently learned that they lose their punch after exposure to air and should be drunk with all due haste after opening. So I’m now on a mission to finish my Adagio green sampler up. I don’t want to open my Maeda-en Sinchas until I’ve finished up my open green samples, or I might not be able to drink them up before they lose their freshness.

I’ve had several cups of this, before, during and after dinner, including one that was at 200F because I couldn’t wait for the Zo to cool down. Believe it or not, that was, I think, the most successful attempt. The hotter water seems to have brought out more flavor without bringing out more bitterness. It still “tastes kinda like a plant” but there’s a little suggestion of butter, and some grassy or hay like note as well.

It’s a little unfortunate that I discovered this on the last serving of leaves, but at least I got to end on a positive note. Bye Adagio tin no. 1!

For reference, I rated this a 16 because it tasted really really soapy and weird to me. But no one else had a similar rating and my sister thought it tasted fine and great, so I’m not going to skew the numbers with what is obviously a bizarre personal reaction to the tea.

Review:
The leaves had a nice buttery scent, with a little bit of dustiness.
When I brewed it up, there was a strange soapy residue on top of the pot. I hadn’t used soap last time I rinsed my teapot, so this was just from the leaves. I don’t know why it was foamy…
The liquor smells toasty with a little bit of a lighter scent, almost citrusy.
Unfortunately, this is going to be a tea I pour out. It is bland, bitter and sour all at the same time. Eww. I’m disappointed – I really wanted to like this. I didn’t even oversteep it!

ETA – I see that I’m the lowest rating for this tea. Perhaps I’m a fluke and there was just some bizarre reaction going on here… I used filtered water in a water rinsed teapot, at the recommended settings. Who knows?

ETA again – My sister tried it and thought it was great. So… I’m out of ideas :)

I received this as a free sample with my last Adagio order. It was originally supposed to be Green Anji, but that was sold out. (In fact, it still is.) I’ve been putting off reviewing it because unflavored green teas and I have a shaky relationship.

But this smells nice. Inside the pouch there is a noticeable amount of fuzzy leaf dust clinging to the sides. The leaves themselves are mixed light and dark green and very narrow, tightly rolled into little string-like bits. They smell mildly sweet, much like dried grass or fresh hay. I’m also smelling honey-like notes. There’s also a faint hint of the ocean, like seaweed.

Short steep time as recommended on the packaging. It brews up to a very light greenish color. The pungent seaweed-like aroma is much more noticeable in the steeped tea. However, the actual taste is much milder and actually pretty nice. Vegetal with a hint of honey and roasted seaweed. The exhale and finish have a faint hint of nuttiness. This is much more satisfying than I expected. A good, straightforward green. No frills.

Thanks goes out to tattooed_tea for this sample!

In all honesty I usually gloss over the non-flavored teas for the most part, especially greens. Maybe it’s because of the vegetal-ness I get from them, which is not my favorite flavor. But I am glad to try this as it’s not something I would normally seek out.

I got a weird spicy note on the first sip, which I really wasn’t expecting. But then the vegetal washed it away. This happened all through out my cup. It was very interesting.

I am resteeping the leaves as a cold brew, so we’ll see if that can coax something different from this.

smooth, easy to drink, green tea. nice leaves, too.

I’m finishing up this tea from my stash today. Will try multiple infusions. It’s tasting a little grassy and gritty so far…

By far one of the most delicate teas I’ve ever tasted… I really like. Sure the aroma and flavor could use a boost (which apparently can come from a longer steep) I’m not so sure that’s how God intended this tea to be tasted. Being the first tea I steeped from the Adagio green tea sampler, I’m pretty sure I have a fun couple of weeks ahead of me. Anyways.

Green Pekoe, a light and mellow green tea that is as subdued as her color suggests. Enjoy the nuances and don’t come down to hard on her. :-)

Alright, so this is a little odd to me but maybe to no one else but this tea smells like strawberry jam or preserves. This is before and after steeping, it’s not something I mind it’s just throwing me off a little.

That being said it has a very balances flavor that is a little sweet like jam or preserves. I could see myself using this as a base for a blend or just as an everyday sort of table tea.

The aroma of this tea reminds me of sweet potatoes. The flavor is actually pretty sweet. I can catch buttery notes as well as grassy, vegetal notes. I really liked this green!

Adagio describes this one as an “everyday” green tea. I definitely agree with their sentiments and would describe this as a gentle, delicate green tea that will offer a great introduction to green tea. Though I prefer my green teas a bit grassier I really like how buttery-smooth this tea is.

Steeping method: 1tsp per 8oz water, 175-180º for 2-3 minutes. Good for multiple steeps, just add a minute to each resteep.