Sleeping Dragon

I really like this iced and have been using it to make some of my other greens go farther. It isn’t my favorite on its own but it does the trick.

I gaiwan brewed this tea like I normally do with greens. To me this is a somewhat light and sweet green tea with some depth that is not grassy but unlike the description I would not call it smoky, maybe slightly smoky but light enough that one can miss it. While it was compared to Gunpowder in the description quite honestly I think it is more like a Pi Lo Chun type green tea.

Sipdown 6 – 2025

Another miss from Adagio. While this smelled really nice; vegetal slightly, savory, it just didn’t taste good. Seems like it’s old/stale, which is a running theme I found with a lot of these samples I got from Adagio.

Ochre yellow brown. Spinach, seaweed (nori), vegetal, with some roasted notes.

Sample 3/19! It was so fun to watch the leaves expand in this one! At first I was really surprised by the smell. There was a sort of chemical sharpness (which might just be what strong green tea smells like), but then also, I could’ve sworn it smelled like pineapple juice. Not completely of course, but definitely a hint of something like pineapple juice. Overall, this tastes like a really strong green tea to me. Very bitter, but with interesting lighter notes that my refined palette can only describe as “like pineapple juice” haha. It’s a little too bitter for my taste, but I’d definitely try it again.

Update: steeped a couple more times for less time and got all the flavor without the bitterness, so upping the score :)

The first time I tried this I followed the brewing instructions on the package, and it was too astringent for me. This time I tried it at my go-to green settings: a heaping tsp at 160 for 1 to 1.5 minutes. That turned out much better. I enjoyed this cup, though the second steep was unbearably bitter. I may try dumping the second infusion next time and trying for a third.

This reminds me of a dragonwell. Which is why perhaps they called it sleeping dragon? I thought at first that it was an oolong based on the look but it definitely has the flavor profile of a green/dragonwell. Grassy, somewhat bitter (maybe I over steeped it?), A bit of hay.

Holidays TTB: Took the kettle off before it whistled for this. I can’t wait until my Tea Maker comes in later this week so I know that I’m using correct temperatures. I ended up adding some sweetener to this and it brought out an almost juicy flavor and texture. There is a bit of a grassy flavor and something else. My guess would be some sort of citrus or melon flavor?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCV9wk5pnn17VnzohhZ8KpfyO3FMvWGhzbbsEc0/?taken-by=kkpeltzer

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 2 Minutes
Light roasted aroma is matched by the light roasted flavor.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 4 Minutes
There is a distinct astringency to this tea now that over powers the roasted flavor and any natural flavors budding from the leaves.

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 6 Minutes
The astringent and the roasted flavors have mellowed out at this point and merged together to create a really mediocre tea.

COLD BREW
No notice of roasted flavors, the astringency takes over. Nothing gained, everything loss. A serious disappointment.

good green tea