I learned how to speak English and Spanish at the same time (English at home with my USA born Mom and Spanish everywhere else in Ecuador!), which meant that I spoke my own version of “Spanglish” while I tried to make my kid-size brain make sense out of two separate languages. Somehow, I managed to figure out that vanilla was a word that when mentioned, always ended up in me getting something yummy flavored. It was a great word and great taste! I have grown up (quite a bit…) and now can fluently order any flavor I want, vanilla is still at the top of my list (along with blueberries)!
Adagio has one of the best vanilla flavoring I have tried. Their vanilla black is incredible! When sweetened it tastes creamy enough to almost make you believe that it has milk in it! I had high hopes for this vanilla Oolong!
The smell is very creamy, I couldn’t help think of vanilla ice cream as I measured the tea out for my brew. I could smell a lot of woodiness from the leaves as well, but since it is a rather dark Oolong, it was to be expected.
The resulting liquor was golden brown and delicious smelling. The entire room smelled like vanilla. : ) There was definitely still some woodiness to the smell, but the vanilla creaminess was sufficient to mask it.
The taste, while not as great as the vanilla black or green from Adagio, was still good. I enjoyed the first cup with a bit a brown sugar that helped covered up the woodiness (which I didn’t want) and helped bring out the vanilla. Sadly, the vanilla taste wasn’t nearly as strong as the vanilla smell of the brew. The second steep was much less vanilla and a lot more woody. It tasted almost like Adagio’s Oolong #8 (which got a 69 from me). So, having had this experience with the second brew, I ditched trying for a third.
With vanilla, it is hard to go wrong. This tea will make me smile any day, though it didn’t make spot #1 for my favorite vanilla tea. I bought a 4oz bag of it, so I’ll have some around for a while. I read that it is good iced, I will have to try it!
