266 Tasting Notes

51

A sample of this tea arrived as part of a tea order which was in fact placed as a birthday gift so it was a nice and thoughtful extra for Adagio to throw in. The first few sips of the tea straight came off as a bit bland which was not a surprise considering that it is based off of a mix of vanilla, cream and caramel flavored teas mixed with cake sprinkles so I was forced to add sugar to balance the flavors with the needed sweetness that they demanded. Adding sugar to my tea is something that I very rarely do and due to a lack of white sugar I added brown sugar. In the end it took around 3-4 spoons worth of brown sugar for the tea to end up tasting right, or at least as right as a birthday cake flavored tea can. I’m sure that even with all the sugar that I added that it has less calories than a slice of cake has, but in my opinion it sort of defeats the purpose of tea as an enjoyable calorie free beverage to take one’s mind off things with calories.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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In the past I remember Yiwu puerh to be very sweet to the taste yet sadly harsh on the stomach before too long. This time I’m trying out the sample with cooler water to treat it like a green oolong in the hopes of a softer brew. While this one is sweet I can tell by the second round that I had best not push my luck any more with this tea so I will decline to give a number rating on the grounds that it is not the tea’s fault that my stomach can no longer handle young green puerh.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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90

This is the second time that I’ve had Lapsang Souchong tea and the first that I’ve enjoyed it. The previous time was a teabag version back in college which was really bad. When I opened up the bag the smoke aroma was strong enough to be scary but once I brewed the tea, the tea aroma came off as a lot more mild and not scary at all. The main thing that surprised me was how light the tea was overall with a nice sweet and slightly smoky taste to it. If you like beef jerky there is a good chance that you will like this tea. Overall I find it to be pretty good for something different and I will gladly finish off the 3oz bag that I have but I doubt that I will bother to order again as while it is good there are a lot other teas that I enjoy more.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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94

This is the best packaged loose puerh that I’ve seen to date. Instead of the typical foil or plastic bag of the loose tea inside the box I was pleasantly surprised to find a paper bag instead. So in other words this 2011 ripe puerh has already had the chance to air out and is ready to drink now instead of a year from now after being opened. Overall this is a lot better than one would expect for its price range, the puerh is malty with a slight earthy edge but not earthy enough to have the companion sweetness that often goes with it. Reminds me of the early cheap puerh that made me fall in love with puerh but at a fraction of what I was paying for it back then.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec

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100

Like all mini bricks which I dislike, I broke this one up to ensure better infusion. Overall this brews up a sweet and very smooth blend with a bit of depth in the taste which is hard to describe. If you like the old tea nugget puerh than you will love this one as it is the closest to a nugget taste for a non nugget puerh that I’ve yet to encounter.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec

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Another free sample and one that I enjoyed. This is a more mild sheng puerh, which like all of the samples I’m given tend to blend together for the most part.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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87

Twinings Ceylon Orange Pekoe is a good standard generic black tea (or at least in the American sense) that likely got a lot of us started drinking tea. The loose tea variety is actually pretty good as long as one is careful not to over brew it. I normally brew blacks for 3 minutes but with this tea 2 minutes is a must as 3 will make it a bitter barely drinkable mess. At the very least a good tea to keep on hand for any guests that just want a cup of “plain normal tea” when they become overwhelmed with our selections of “fancy teas” on hand.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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99
drank Hunan Gold by Adagio Teas
266 tasting notes

A very light and sweet tea that is slightly fruity. Reminds me of a bit of a cross between a green tea and a white tea. Think silver needle with a darker color and a bit stronger flavor and you have hunan gold yellow tea.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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95
drank Spearmint by Adagio Teas
266 tasting notes

This is also the first time that I am having pure spearmint as a herbal tea. A light and sweet mint but to be quite honest not as good as I expected it to be after my experience of enjoying spearmint candy more than peppermint. Shocking as I think in reality when it comes to plain mint tea I actually like peppermint more but overall when it comes to a peppermint/spearmint blend Adagio’s beat the bagged variety big time.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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95
drank Peppermint by Adagio Teas
266 tasting notes

This is actually the first time that I’m having pure peppermint tea as I normally stick to either spearmint or a blend that contains a mix of peppermint and spearmint. I figured it was worth a try as my problems with peppermint when spearmint being fine is rooted in Altoids mints which are different than herbal tea, so peppermint deserves a fair shot in its native form before being written off as being too overpowering for me.

What surprised me the most about this peppermint was the sweetness in the first sip as I normally thought of spearmint as being a sweeter mint. Sure it has the peppermint kick in after the initial sweetness but it is nothing like the bad experience I had with peppermint Altoids in the past. This is a good tea on its own but even better when it is mixed half and half with Adagio’s Spearmint as it really brings out the best of both and shows how even in mint loose leaf is better than a paper filter that can trap the mint oil in the bag instead of letting it get into the tea.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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A Christian mystic who loves ripe puerh and darker oolongs.

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Pennsylvania

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http://mercersburgmystic.word...

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