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Not Recommended

Shanie O Maniac drank Thai Chai by Adagio Teas

201 tasting notes

OKAY! New Rule. All chai teas will be reviewed using the same prep method- With Almond Milk and two splendas. That being said, time for the review.
WOW! This is certainly a… DIFFERENT tea. I don’t think I have ever had tea with coconut in it before and it shows. I really don’t know if I like this at all or not. The Coconut is pinging in my mouth along with the chai spice and it is really a weird combo. It’s almost like combining sweet with spice and getting sour. I don’t what to do with this. It is kinda tasty, but just really too odd a flavor combo for me. The flavor is very strong even with the almond milk and sweetener. Nope, don’t think I can recommend this one. It’s different in a bad way.

Flavors: Coconut, Spices

Preparation

Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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3 comments

Mastress Alita
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Does the dry leaf have a “sour” or “off” smell, or any of the dry coconut slivers taste funny if you lick/nibble one, by chance? Dried coconut is the one ingredient notorious for going bad quickly in tea, with a shelf life of around 4-6 months, and I’m not so sure how long Adagio’s teas sit around in warehouses before they ship it. I know when I’ve had bad coconut in teas it had a sour/acrid taste. Since you described a sour taste in your cup it just makes me wonder. I know I had a fandom blend mixed with their Thai Chai that had the coconut in it go bad.

Shanie O Maniac
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Nope. I both smelled and tasted it. It does not seem to be that. I think what I’m tasting is the lemongrass. I noticed that there was a ton of green strands in it which I believe is the lemongrass, so that would explain the weird flavor I was getting. I’m not use to mixing sweet/zest/spice. It’s not that it is rancid, or bad so to speak. It’s just a flavor combination I’m not used to. I drank two cups of it and didn’t get sick either so I really think it will be ok.

Mastress Alita
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Drinking bad coconut in a tea has never made me physically ill, but it does make the cup smell absolutely repugnant. Everything from a sour/acridness to that chemical spray-on sunscreen taste/smell to even smelling/tasting like vomit. It’s very noticable. If the leaf and brewed cup smell fine, then it’s still fine, which is good!

I do know lots of folks that don’t care for lemongrass. Sort of like a citrusy hay flavor, so it is a little herbal and a little tangy.

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Mastress Alita
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Shanie O Maniac
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Mastress Alita
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I do know lots of folks that don’t care for lemongrass. Sort of like a citrusy hay flavor, so it is a little herbal and a little tangy.

Profile

Bio

HELLO! My name is Shanie and I love tea!

While I have always loved various types of tea, for a very long time it came exclusively from a grocery store. It’s only been a year or so now that I’ve gotten into loose leaf. As such, there will likely be tasting notes I do for bagged tea as well as good quality (and not so good quality) loose leaf teas. I’m still learning as I go so have patience please!

Right now, I am on a massive Earl Grey kick. So if a ton of my notes are just various varieties of EG, that’s why!

Some of my favorite flavors include: Cocoa, Malt, Bread, Honey, Earthy, Sweet Citrus, Caramel, Apple, Spices, and Cinnamon.

Some flavors I don’t like: Licorice, Coconut, Bitey Citrus (like Citric Acid), Licorice, Sour, Smoke, Overpowering Fake Vanilla, Stevia, and did I mention Licorice?

NOTE: I am Type 2 Diabetic. As such, I can really not have sugar added to tea without suffering problems. This prohibits me from using either plain sugar or honey. Instead, I use Splenda as I found my system can handle it well and I like the flavor. I try to avoid stevia as I’ve found it often ruins the flavor of tea. However, not all teas require sweetener, and some are better without. Because of this, if I add sweetener to a tea, I will mention it in the tasting note and say what kind and how much. Usually, I sweeten flavored and herbal teas but leave true teas unsweetened. There are exceptions, but this is a general rule of thumb to go by.

Almost all of the tea I brew is western style. I occasionally do grandpa, but pretty much never Gong-fu. I do own a Gaiwan, but it never gets used. Considering I don’t have a “sip setting” when it comes to beverages, it’s really hard for me to get into any sized amount less than 8oz at a time. I know that probably makes me a tea-heathen, but so be it. I like my mugs.

I have decided to try and make a scale for my ratings. So here goes.

As of January 2020.

100-91: These are my go-to favorites. I will likely go out of my way to always keep these on hand, including going on third party websites to obtain out of season.
90-81: This is a tea I really did enjoy, and I will likely purchase again. However, I wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth for it, and it isn’t my all-time favorite.
80-71 This is a tea that, while I may have somewhat enjoyed, something is holding me back from making it a mainstay. Maybe the flavor profile isn’t the best. Maybe there is an offputting aftertaste. It varies. But while I did like it and will continue to drink it, I don’t absolutely need it in my life, and while I will likely finish what I have, I may or may not get more.
70-61: This is a tea which I drank, but I didn’t like it. However, I didn’t hate it either. It wasn’t bad enough to dump, and if it is the only thing available to drink, I would likely drink it instead of plain water. But in the end, this is just not my literal cup of tea and I will likely not get this again.
60-51: This is something that I didn’t like much at all, but for one reason or another, refused to dump. If I squint hard enough and use my imagination, I can almost BS myself into thinking they are decent, and I suppose I can choke it down and not waste it. These are teas that I will not be buying again, and may not even finish what I have.
50-41: Yeah, whatever this is, I there’s a good chance I dumped it. At this level, it’s pretty bad stuff with either weak flavor, nasty flavor, or all the wrong flavors, It has few redeeming qualities, and I likely won’t reach for this one again. On the bright side, it isn’t sewage water, so there’s that.
40-31. On it’s best day this tea has no redeeming qualities. This not only got dumped but the package it came in either got thrown away, traded, or shoved to the back of the cupboard to never be touched again. Not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, but darn sure close.
30-Under: The worst thing I’ve ever tasted. This not only has no redeeming qualities, but it is gag-inducing. “Teas” in this range are so bad I not only will never drink them again, I really don’t feel like offloading them onto anyone else because they are just that bad. Actual sewage water.

Location

Pennsylvania, US

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