123 Tasting Notes

23

This is a neat idea, ‘cool brew’ ice tea. I’m often without a handy hot water source when I’m at work or at school, so when I saw these I wanted to try it out immediately.

It’s OK. I mean, for $5 a box I’m not expecting the same quality from Teavana or high-end tea brands, and I figure some flavor has to be sacrificed for the convenience of brewing without hot water. The black tea is pretty weak, naturally, just a basic orange pekoe made from low grade tea leaves. The peach tastes OK for the first steep, sort’ve sweet-and-not-quite-peachy-but-a-nice-addition-to-weak-tea, but if you try to use the teabag again the peachiness disappears and it’s replaced with the definitive flavor of orange peels. Turns out that’s the third ingredient listed :-p

Not bad for the price, and the convenience is nice. But not a favorite by any means.

JMKauftheil

A lot of teas can actually be cold brewed, it just takes a lot longer, usually. Of course, you’d probably still be using the lower quality teas, because broken leaves leech out more quickly, and there’s not much quality to be drawn from them with properly tempered water anyway.
As of such, cold brew is a good way to get rid of teas that refuse to steep well in hot water. I know I have to do that from time to time.

Hope this helps!

Suzi

I’ve tried cold-brewing a couple of different teas before, but like you said, it takes a lot longer, and I’m definitely an impatient sort. :-p But it might be worth trying, since I have sooo much tea and unreliable access to hot water!

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9
drank White Ambrosia by Tea Forte
123 tasting notes

The description of this tea sounded wonderful. From the package:
“A fine white tea seamlessly melded with vanilla and slices of coconut.”

Unfortunately, the execution is pretty weak. The little pyramid teabag is cute, but I’m not convinced it helps the tea steep any better than a regular tea bag. The brew itself has no flavor, and I can’t even smell the white tea, let alone taste it. It’s like drinking slightly dirty water – doesn’t taste pure, but it doesn’t have any discernable flavor. There’s a heavy aftertaste of coconut and cheap vanilla.

I guess if you’re aiming for a ‘seamless’ integration of flavor elements, this achieves the goal because no individual note can be detected in the tea. But man! The aftertaste feels very heavy and sticky in my mouth. It’s almost gross.

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88
drank Valentines by Adagio Teas
123 tasting notes

This is one of my favorite teas from Adagio. Chocolate in a tea rarely works for me, but when coupled with the strawberry of this blend it tastes wonderful! The strawberries aren’t cloying or screamingly artificial, as sometimes happens in other strawberry-flavored teas.

Note: This is not a tea that ages well. Order it fresh and drink it up; the flavor difference between a fresh batch from Adagio and old leaves that have been around the house a year or longer is really, really noticeable.

imabandgeek4eva

You make me wanna drink this! Where do I get it?!!?!?

Suzi

You can order it from Adagio.com. In fact, if you tell me your email address I can email you a $5 gift certificate for that website.

I can also give you some of my Valentine’s tea if you like, but my leaves aren’t fresh so it doesn’t taste as wonderful as it should! :(

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46

So I guess it’s a little weird to rate a pre-brewed bottle of tea, but let’s face it – sometimes you really want some tea, and you’re stuck at school where you have no access to brewing equipment so you just have to buy whatever the cafeteria has in stock. So you debate between Nestea’s sugary-sweet “tea” and Snapple teas, and finally you spot the Lipton PureLeaf line. What the heck makes this sugar-infested beverage pure, you wonder? I have no freakin’ idea. You can barely taste the black tea. The strong flavor of citric acid (for tartness!) and sugar – we can pretend it’s raspberry-like, but really it is its own synthetic candy-like taste – is not the worst drink out there. It’s miles above the tea you get out of a soda fountain, which is just sugary water with tea flavoring (according to me, anyway.) But it doesn’t hold a candle to the stuff you make yourself at home.

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88
drank Pouchong by Adagio Teas
123 tasting notes

This is really pleasant. Pouchong is a very light oolong, without the smokiness that I normally associate with oolongs. I have no idea how Adagio’s Pouchong compares with other Pouchongs, but my unsophisticated tongue thinks that this is great when you want something delicate and light.

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52
drank Jasmine (loose leaf) by Twinings
123 tasting notes

A nice, basic jasmine tea. The floral notes balance the bitterness of the green tea, but it’s not the most exciting drink. I’ve had better jasmine teas from specialty stores, but if you want something quick and cheap from the grocery store, this makes a decent brew.

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44
drank Melon Oolong by Lupicia
123 tasting notes

Lupicia has a lot of flavored oolongs, and they’re a really mixed bag. The super-sweet, almost cloying melon did not match well with the oolong, in my opinion. Rather than getting a unified blend I could smell a melon scent and taste the oolong tea, but I couldn’t really taste the melon flavor. Rather disappointed, but I did use one of Lupicia’s teabags – next time I’ll try to loose tea and see if it’s any better.

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91
drank Jardin Sauvage by Lupicia
123 tasting notes

The flavor of Jardin Sauvage is very zesty and energizing. There was a familiarity to each sip that tantalized my curiosity. I recognized the taste; it was a flavor I’ve encountered before. But what it was, I am not sure. When I asked my brother, he tasted and declared the tea tasted of white/clear gummy bears. He tasted again, and said maybe a lime jello.

I don’t know that either of those is quite what I’m tasting, but it’s definitely a sweeter citrus-like flavor.

I’ve never had green rooibos before, but I really liked this blend and I’m normally not especially fond of red tea. Jardin is extremely refreshing and fun – I love it!

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75

I really like the bottled Jasmine Tea from Adagio, and whenever it goes on sale I stock up. It’s VERY flowery, which I like, so jasmine fans should rejoice and try a bottle! Works double time as a refreshing drink and breath freshener :-p

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61
drank Rum by Adagio Teas - Discontinued
123 tasting notes

It’s been a while since I actually tasted rum, but I wouldn’t say this tea tastes of it. Instead, the flavor is a light black tea with a slight flavor note that almost seems like a berry. It’s very mild, a good basic tea. Steep it for five minutes and mix in some milk and sugar for a tasty treat.

If, like me, you often forget to take your leaves out don’t despair – this tea has a slightly astringent quality when over-steeped but it isn’t unpleasantly bitter. Oddly, the word I would use to describe the aftertaste of over-steeped Rum Tea is ‘chewy’, but anyway. I often over-steep my tea so I’m always on the look out for blends that won’t be ruined if I do, and this is one of them.

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