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Can I — someone who spends much of her time writing and reviewing performance evaluations for humans, and someone who has never been “taught” how to evaluate tea — rate a single tea as a 100? I’m thinking maybe.

My favorite part of this tea is how well it holds up to multiple steeps, but still keeps its flavor and aroma. It’s relatively forgiving, steep it for 30s, steep it for 3 min… no biggie, the flavor will be different, but to me it’s still delicious. If I do a <1min steep the first time, there’s some floral and spicy and a tiny twinge of earthy. But that still leaves some of those flavors in there for the next steep, since the leaves won’t be fully unfurled. For me, a longer initial steep results in a sweeter, rounder, complex and more amazing first steep. I can breathe the aroma for days and never get tired of it. While drinking it at work, I can attend meetings and listen to vendors and feel so… detached and zen. I like all of the greener TGY I’ve tried — sweet with a bit of fruit — but this one has just enough nutty and enough of that tiny hint of spice/earth — and lasts thru resteepings — that this one has stood out among the ones I’ve tried so far.

Since this is everything I want from a tea right now, and it comes to about $0.42 per big-ish mug (which I get multiple infusions from), I’m giving it full marks.

Love it. Fruit, citrus, and hibiscus herbal tea. They’ve added some flavoring, but I can’t taste anything artificial, which I love.

From the dry leaves, I got a whiff of raspberries along with the mossy and mineral, it smells really delicious. The brewed tea smells a tiny bit toasty, a bit vegetal, and a bit spicy with the mineral-y in the first steep. Forgot to time the second steep (oops). Still good. After the third steep, the leaves smelled entirely of spinach, but the brew was less vegetal in flavor. Mostly sweet and spice.

I don’t know what chestnuts taste/smell like, so I cannot comment on that. But there was a more nuttiness that came out for me after the first steep.

I’ve put this tea head-to-head with the similarly priced oolongs from the company, and this one is my favorite for the price.

Up early on a Saturday to work. Needed a wholesome cup of black. I would call this rich but not bold. There’s some subtle (to me) hints of citrus and sweet flavor. No bitterness for me, which is how I prefer it. Whiffs of toast and lemon. It doesn’t slap you in the face. It’s not too complex. Something for me to put in a travel mug for commuting to work.

I can’t wait to try this again in a couple days and try a longer steep each time. I’m giving it the highest rating I’ve given so far. This also is the last for me to try from my Adagio order of 11 samples.

The first steep was good (I followed what the sample bag said of 2-3 minutes). A little toasty, a little vegetal, sweet. Then the second steep was so much more floral. Like, shockingly so. But also nutty. And there was whiffs of mint now and then. I was expecting more vegetable to come out, but it didn’t. It stayed balanced with the now floral and nut. The third infusion held up well. Still some nutty, floral and sweet.

Longer steep led to a less gritty mineral-y first steep, and more of an integrated flavor. When I started with a 2 min first steep, the leaves didn’t open all the way. With the 3 min initial steep, the leaves more fully unfurled. I really enjoy this, but I don’t know if I enjoy it quite enough to justify the cost

What an interesting contrast to the White Peony (also from Adagio) I finished earlier. I’m snowed in here in the Great Lakes, so I thought I’d taste through some of my Adagio shipment. Where that had all the delicate hints of floral, melon, nectar and vegetable, this one has all kinds of subtle mineral, roots, fruit, and smoke. Come to think of it, the Irish Breakfast from this morning was malty, citrus and toasty… I may have just developed my first tea flight… just need to find a grassy green I like…

Back to this one. I think when people were saying oolongs taste like “mineral” I was originally expecting something more “metallic.” So it’s taken me a few different brews of different teas to parse out the flavors. By the third infusion, this one had lost a lot of that mineral flavor, and vegetable smells and flavors came out more with a bit more toasted rice smell and flavor. I don’t know that I’d say I “like” it. But I don’t “dislike” it either. These oolongs are just so different than anything I’ve had.

I can’t help but compare/contrast this to the Ceylon and Assams I tried yesterday. This is just so different than the “bold” flavors in those. But not “delicate” flavor either. But not “earthy, mushroom” of the pu-erh either. So many different flavors… And I haven’t even delved into actually FLAVORED teas yet. How do you pick?

Another day snowed in, another round of tea sampling!

These dry leaves and stems smell like a flowering herb garden. The brew is pale ivory and smells like vegetables, maybe like cucumbers tossed in sugar syrup with a drop of lemon. The taste has more sweet, and the vegetable-ness isn’t nearly as evident. It’s balanced with the sweet. It’s like just kisses of all the yummy flavors of white tea. A little fruit, a little vegetables, a little herbs, a little floral, a little a little a little. Delicate. But has enough going on to make it interesting. Held up well to a second infusion, lost most of the vegetable smell. But kept the same flavors. A little more peachy tasting maybe.

Not bad. Better than any bagged Irish Breakfast I’ve had, for sure. If you close your eyes, it smells almost like buttered toast with tea and lemon — which I suppose is the goal. For me, it makes the Assam boldness personally tolerable, since it’s mixed with the Ceylon. This is something I’d probably serve to others if they said they drink black tea, but then kind of stared at me doubtfully when I pulled out loose tea. For me, there’s still a bit of bitter at the end of the sip. But others probably wouldn’t necessarily taste it. I really would recommend this to other tea newbies or ex-coffee drinkers. I found I enjoyed it more if I drank it fast-ish, and didn’t stop to think about it. I’m not finding it “contemplative,” if that makes sense.