124 Tasting Notes
I love the scent of this – it is umami and smokey and meaty in a great way.
This is so neat – it’s completely different from the other lapsang souchong I like. It is sweet! It has a nice astringency to it – I never really like astringency in my tea but this is nice because it balances out the sweetness.
This lapsang is a little lighter on the smokey flavor. I actually really like super dark smokey flavors in lapsang souchong, but I’m still enjoying this. I am going to try it with milk. The addition of milk brings out the sweetness – I love this as a breakfast tea.
Preparation
This sample was generously sent along by Angel from Teavivre – thank you!
This is the first dragon well I have tried. The liquour was so light I was afraid I hadn’t used enough leaf (I might not have – I don’t have my little gram scale right now).
The flavor is subtle and interesting. It has a buttery scent to it, with a nutty flavor with a funny vegetal aftertaste. I’m not sure that I like it, but I am going to experiment with it and try a shorter steep with more leaves.
Preparation
Fruit loops! OMG this smells just like fruit loops brewed up. Tastes nothing like them, thank goodness! I like this. The citrus is seriously backgrounded which is more to my liking than overwhelming acidity.
There is some sweetness at the finish – otherwise I’m not tasting too much, but this is perfect for an evening drink to put me to sleep. I’m actually feeling sleepy already…
Preparation
This smells much better than the mango rooibos I tried last night. Still more piney than I am used to, but not bad.
This tastes much better than the mango blend too! It’s still not quite my favorite rooibos (it has the hint of cough syrup to it) but very drinkable and enjoyable.
Preparation
This smells like a pine tree… I usually love rooibos so I wasn’t not too worried, more just puzzled. The mango pieces are huge and the sunflower petals looked awesome.
Flavor – this is the first time I have ever tasted any of the “medicinal/cough syrup” notes in a tea. I’m not surprised that this is basically adagio’s lowest rated rooibos. Epic tea fail tonight :(
I asked my mother her opinion. She said “this tastes like something that isn’t food”. I suggested cough syrup and she said “that’s it!”. She kind of liked it actually though. I’ll finish my cup, just because it’s way too late to make anything else. At least my mom liked it!
Bottom line – if you like very syrupy or sweet teas (like my mother does) this might be right up your alley.
Preparation
This was the second of the two tea samples I requested.
I’m debating something here – is this tea just intrinsically not so great? I don’t know. Should pear, pecans, and oolong not be put together in a tea? Very likely.
I thought the pecan might play well with the occasional butteriness of oolong and that the pear might be nice with floral notes.
I don’t know… this tastes burnt… like burnt coffee. I think the pecans overwhelm things. If I were to try again, I would probably brew the oolong at a lower temp. The package said boiling, but 195 might have been better.
I think the oolong might not have been that great. My sister hated it and I ended up pouring it out :(
Preparation
I have had some REALLY wonderful teas from Design A Tea such as Marzipan Sunset SO SO GOOD, their Plum Lovin is great, and I have made several of my own I love. Sometimes though there is a miss as well. I think when a company is willing to try many different things that can happen. Their prices however and their coupons they send with orders seem to help a lot to balance out that risk for me.
I was pretty happy with the other blend from them and loved how fast and nice they were. I felt really bad about disliking this one so much – thanks for the recommendation about Marzipan Sunset – I love almond. I’m definitely willing to give things another shot!
This sample came today – peach and zabaglione. The packaging was really cute :)
The scent is a little artificial, but not bad. I ended up adding milk to this. I don’t really taste “zabaglione” but to be fair, I’ve never actually tried zabaglione! The peach flavor was nice.
My blend was just peach and zabaglione without the extras Azzrian’s had.
Preparation
Hummm that is odd. Nothing more under the ingredients list? Next time (if there is a next time) ask Brian at Design a Tea to whip up some the way he did mine.
With the teas from Design a Tea … I highly recommend waiting to try them for at least 2 or 3 weeks after you receive them. They flavor them to your order, which means the flavors have not had time to absorb into the teas and cure. A tea that is flavored today will not taste the same as it will three weeks from today is one of the most important lessons that I learned as a tea artist.
Hmm thanks LiberTEAS, that’s a really interesting point. I wish I had known that! I was so excited that I tried them the day they came. I’ll keep that in mind.
This smells amazing! It’s 3:14 and I need to stay up for a while longer before I can sleep. I’m looking for something to skirt the line between invigorating and relaxing. Impossible? Hah!
This is wonderfully citrusy and fruity smelling. Flavor-wise it’s pretty mediocre. Okay to sip on, but I’m not tasting any of the scents from it.
Preparation
Wow, today was hectic… there’s nothing like having a broken finger, helping someone with a broken foot repot dozens of plants while trying to keep several dogs and many cats from eating/burying the plants or tipping over the half filled pots.
A pot of tea is definitely what I need now after so many plant pots.
Thanks, Fusion Teas for the sample!
The flavor is great – it smells exactly like pumpkin pie. I don’t taste a ton of pumpkin though – mostly I taste sweetness and vanilla. It’s a pretty smooth relaxing cup though. The rooibos gives it a nice smooth mouth feel.
To counter some of my other posts where I quoted modernist poets, I should note here that I am enjoying this tea while watching Tommy Boy with Chris Farley and David Spade.
Perfect almost-Fall combo <3
Preparation
The scent is very strong! Okay, here’s the deal. I’m giving Earl Grey a second chance. The only times I had had it, years ago, were as bagged teas. I disliked it then, but I think I really ought to give it another shot. The leaves smell very strongly of citrus.
The tea black is really interesting. Moderately astringent and with a definite citrusy flavor but… I like it! Shocking.
I actually like it better without milk – the milk adds a nutty element that doesn’t blend so well.
I think I’m a fan though – hurray for (re)trying (old)new things!
