Adagio Teas

Received a loose-leaf sample of this last week from Adagio. Appearance, taste and fragrance indistinguishable from “Jasmine Dragon Pearls” sold by Tealyra. Plenty of reviews on the Adagio product here to inform you, and I rate it a 75 (just like the Tealyra product).

My major complaint is Adagios inadequate labeling on the packaged tea— specifically the ingredient listing. I have uploaded a photo of the foil packet, which lists “ Ingredients: jasmine phoenix pearls”. That is not a legal ingredient list! Green tea is not included as an ingredient! Jasmine is not present, only the infused floral volatiles. Phoenix is a mythological creature, not an ingredient! Pearls are a marine product, and are not in this blend. Ingredient lists should be technically precise, complete, and accurate! People depend on this information, and I do believe it is a legal requirement. Adagio could be more accurate here. What they are showing on their product is IMO insufficient.. The website lists green tea as the only ingredient, which is incomplete because the jasmine volatiles are not shown. And I question whether the website is the proper place for the ingredient list.

My secondary complaint is the photograph on Adagios website which shows the pearls, along with what appears to be dried jasmine flowers or petals. There were no jasmine flowers or petals either mixed with or inside the pearls of my sample. I have attached a photograph of my steeped leaves, clearly showing their size, beautiful green color, and the absence of any jasmine petals. While it conveys the concept of a floral component, the photograph on their website could be misleading.

First of all, this tea is badly named. It is NOT a post-fermented heicha dark tea such as Liubao (as distinct from Pu’erh) bearing tiny “golden flowers” of the fermentation microbe (Aspergillus cristatus, formerly Eurotium cristatum) that many might expect, especially if exploring probiotic teas. Adagio should re-name it. That said, I did read reviews here and knew to expect an oolong before ordering.
Sadly, I must concur with reviewer amandastory516’s evaluation. My sample pack (received a few days ago) tasted of old, stale green tea that had lost 95% of its character. There was some promising aroma during the steep (per Adagio’s directions) and a nice green color, but the taste from the first infusion was okay, if weak and devoid of the many flavors promised. The second infusion had a slight bitterness and cardboard flavor that would have been terrible except for being so washed out. I did not attempt further infusions, would not recommend, and will not buy again this product. I’ll rate it a 40, not even as satisfying as the generic Té negro teabags I bought at a supermarket in Mexico.

Jammy, malty, sweet and aromatic, my experience with Adagios Irish Breakfast blend was delightful! I brewed the full sample pouch just as directed, in 10 oz boiling water for 2 min. Because the leaf was pretty finely chopped (2-3 mm bits), it brewed up fast, but surprisingly free of tannin or astringency! Adagio hit a home run with this one, which I’ll rate as 90 and definitely recommend and buy again.

Just received this sampler pouch. Brewed as directed, in 10 oz boiling water for 2-1/2 min. Loved the orange and bergamot aroma of the dry leaf, which was pretty finely chopped (2-3 mm) except for a 1 cm square chunk of orange peel. While brewing (only one steeping) the pungency of the aroma was pronounced, and the resulting liquor was a bit on the strong side, both with regard to the tea component (good) and the bergamot flavoring (too strong). Overall I felt the tea could have used more— and fresher— orange, and less bergamot, which had a harsh chemical note to it. I detected astringency, too, which is expected, but I was surprised by the numbing sensation on my tongue! The Ceylon tea component was either overwhelmed by bergamot flavoring, or nondescript to my buds. If I try this again, I would reduce the leaf amount and reduce the steep to 60-90 sec. I can’t recommend nor condemn this product. Will rate it as 65.

TTB 2025 – I am usually a fan of coconut teas, but not this one. I brewed my first cup at 195° per the instructions. I agree with Kaylee that the base is too coarse. It overpowered the coconut and was astringent. I ended up dumping half of my first cup. I decided to give it a second chance and brewed at 155° on the second steep. The base tea was less harsh but still astringent. I got more coconut flavor in the taste, at least.

After concluding my previous note, I plugged in the phone and decided to go for a third steep on these leaves. Yesterday I started a new library book, Uncomfortable Conversations With A Jew by Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby; today I continued reading it, and the steeping time on the third infusion was “until my eyes next slid out of focus.” The cup that resulted was a mix of freshly-snapped beans (the smell as a taste, rather than tasting like a bean) and flora with a soft but distinct note of something like whipped cream underneath it. Encouraged by this, I decided to really risk wasting six ounces of water and put the leaves on for a fourth steep, which was allowed to steep while I walked around outside for a few minutes to absorb some sun. I once again have no idea how long I let the steep go, but it was almost surely at least as long as the third steep. This time, the flavor I ultimately consumed was all dark green leafy vegetables (which is also what the leaves, now fully unfurled, now looked like; my mother asked if I was trying to drink poke salad!) and minerals, which paired surprisingly well with my supper potatoes.

Could I wring a fifth steep out of this tea? To my surprise, I actually think I probably could. I’m feeling quite ‘full’ now, though, satiated and hydrated, and four western-style steeps is already a more than respectable amount of tea to get out of such a small sample packet. I am quite pleased with it, as it stayed interesting throughout and leveled out into a steady level of clear flavor after the first steep. I’m not sure what this one costs, but if it’s reasonable, I might consider it for a work tea sometime, something that lasts a good while and can take some fairly rough treatment when I get distracted. I doubt it would win many elite oolong competitions, but it’s a solid drink and I think it really would work well as an introduction to the world of lighter oolongs for someone just discovering the delights of the teas between black and green.

I bought a few portions samplers as part of my Journey Back Into Tea, and this was the packet at the top of the oolong box. Out came the six-and-a-half ounce glass teapot and the Whittard of Chelsea “English Breakfast” teacup and saucer, lower went the temperature knob on my kettle, and off we went!

I’ve had several Ali Shans before, prepared both western and gong fu style, and I debated breaking out one of my gaiwans for a moment before I decided to stick to the instructions on the packet, which were for western brewing. Once I tipped the leaves out into my little glass pot, I felt assured I had made the right call there, as it just didn’t seem like there was quite enough leaf there for…what my hands can remember of gong fu, at least. The dry leaf smelled strongly vegetal, but this turned into a very thin, light scent somewhere between the smell you get when shelling peas and something floral. After a three-minute steep, I poured the tea up and found a very pale yellow brew with more or less the same scent as the leaves had when they first touched water, only a bit stronger. It’s still far from the most fragrant oolong I’ve ever had, I have to put my nose quite close to the cup to smell it at all, but it does smell good. One of my kittens even seems slightly intrigued, looking back at the cup a few times between pets, though without any particularly obvious signs of either desire or disgust.

When I first started reviewing my teas on tumblr a few weeks ago, I used the time it took me to write up my introductory notes to let the cup cool just a touch to drinking temperature, and I employed the same policy here. Then, with my teacup in my right hand and my entire left arm occupied with ten pounds of cat who needed a snuggle, I took a sip and got…

Crispy hot water?

Sounds strange, but that’s the best description I can come up with. You know how lettuce is basically crispy water with only a faint trace of flavor to it? It was like that, except hot. Since there was nobody about to witness my impending act of poor manners except for the cat, I slurped on the second mouthful like a proper tea taster and got, this time, a taste – delicate, but a taste. It was pretty much exactly the taste version of that smell you smell when you are shelling peas or snapping up fresh green beans – clean and clearly plant-like, not entirely dissimilar to what I remember cut grass smelling like before I developed a painful allergy to it…Or maybe it’s closer to when I would pick dandelions out of the yard when I was little, and that smell which came with the white “plant milk” substance that would seep from where the stem had broken off. There’s also just a hint of something I interpret as “the smell of mud,” which, given that we’re on red clay here, I’m going to tentatively identify as a mineral note.

Well, that was a pleasant little drift down memory lane – in addition to the childhood dandelion memory, it also brought to mind how my family, it used to be the custom for all the women and girls to sit around shelling peas or snapping up beans together, as the work went much faster if you had people to talk with as you worked. Same went for shucking corn, though I never could help as much with that because I have a reaction to corn silk (and just corn silk, for some reason. I can and do eat popcorn all the time, and have done since I grew my first couple teeth, but let corn silk touch me and I’m going to go to itching all over and being unable to shake the headache I’ll suddenly have no matter how many times I sneeze). One more swallow, and the cup was empty. In the interests of science, though, I did not wrap up my tea session there and go put my phone on the charger, where it very much needs to be. Instead, I lowered the cat to the floor, heated the kettle again, and put the leaves on to resteep for three minutes plus as long as it took me to type out all the above notes about taste with one finger, since although I’m a good typist, I never got the hang of texting properly. This all done, I poured the tea up again and think it is a slightly deeper shade of yellow than the first cup. It also has a more pronounced floral smell. Excellent. And my mouth was just getting a tad uncomfortably dry from the finish of my first cup, so it was an excellent time to put more liquid in there, and so I did. And it tasted like….

Multiple things!

As I sipped on this cup, I remembered what Ali Shan is supposed to taste like – those cream and floral notes. I was able to find them in the cup this time, with the sweet floral notes particularly clear on the swallow. They were not as strong as I would have liked (though Ali Shan is, if I recall correctly, supposed to be a fairly delicately-flavored tea), and there was a now slightly bitter vegetal note on top, but it was nevertheless a pleasant cup that reminded me why I used to love a good oolong so. I think I could get along quite well with this tea, if I just upped the amount of leaf involved the tiniest bit…

Do I dare attempt a third steep? If I do, it’ll have to be documented later, because my phone is very dying and I don’t want to lose this whole note to a battery shutdown. To the charger with me!

Day 9 of my DIY mostly-Adagio advent. I’ve been a bit slow finishing this calendar! I was optimistic about these, but I ended up not particularly enthused. I found the jasmine to be more “jasmine flavoring” than “jasmine scented.” Drinkable but not exactly wowing me. Just tastes very mid to me.

Sipdown 6 – 2025

Another miss from Adagio. While this smelled really nice; vegetal slightly, savory, it just didn’t taste good. Seems like it’s old/stale, which is a running theme I found with a lot of these samples I got from Adagio.

Loose black tea, smoked. I am not a lapsang souchong hater, but this one was really weird. The dry leave smelled smokey, it also had a strong spearmint smell. The tea tasted like if I was chewing on a moldy disposable wood spoon that was mint flavored. I don’t like it.

sold for $10 / 3oz

https://www.adagio.com/black/lapsang_souchong.html

I was very excited to try this tea, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I will say that Adagio gets the more starchy kind of element of the sweet potato quite well but it was lacking that more rich, golden and naturally sweet element of sweet potato for me. More than that, something about this was just a little bit bitter and burnt tasting. If it was, like, more of a “burnt sugar” or “sweet brown” sort of mailard element that more closely reflected the brown sugar or toasted marshmallow notes often associated with sweet potato pie that would be one thing, but it just really wasn’t…

I will definitely taste again and maybe make some adjustments to my steeping, but based on first impression this was a let down.

I love all things earl grey, and really all things bergamot in general. This tea has a lot of great qualities, and extra points for being caffeine-free so that I can enjoy it in the evening.

Visually, this tea is gorgeous. The little specs of blue cornflowers are delightful to look at. I did notice that it’s about time I invested in a better quality infuser, as my current ones allow a good portion of the finely ground loose leaf tea to simply fall into the water. If anyone has any recommendations, drop them in the comments.

The taste is great! Plenty of bergamot, but the rooibos profile is definitely not to be dismissed. I agree with some of the other descriptions that were listed: wet wood, root beer, anise (as an aside, I noticed that “wet dog” is one of the flavors in our database…I hope I never have to use it in one of these reviews). These are all great descriptors that work well with this tea. There is some orange/citrus as well that’s quite lovely.

I don’t often comment on the mouthfeel of teas, but I will say that this one felt particularly silky.

I enjoyed everything about this tea thoroughly and look forward to drinking it again.

Had a hot mug of this earlier in the week at work. I wasn’t really focusing on it all that much while drinking, instead letting this be a bit of a background mug to sip on while working. I really picked up on the bergamot notes of the tea, but the rest didn’t really stand out. In the past I’ve found this kind of busy tasting, so it was interesting that when not focused on the tasting notes the business of it all kind of faded away and just that one note really popped out.

This tea was really interesting to me because the concept is so ethereal and it utilizes flavours that both aren’t necessarily stereotypically associated with Paris and that aren’t conventionally paired together either. I had quite a large mug of it earlier in the week and overall I enjoyed it, but it really did feel a lot like an enigma to me as I was sipping it. Of the flavours in the blend, the bergamot was the most strong tasting to me but I have to wonder how much of that is the fact it’s highly aromatic and that deep, heady citrus smell as you lean in to take a sip is easy to get swept up in.

Aside from that I thought the pomegranate came off as a bit more generic red fruit, but in a pleasant and complimentary enough way. I wish it was a little juicier and deeper because it felt eclipsed by many of the other things going on. Caramel? Yeah, kinda. Definitely a sweeter and more “brown” undertone that was a nice foil to the bergamot. It was a little less that sweet/gooey caramel note to me versus the more burnt sugar note of a creme brulee – but I ultimately think that’s probably the better taste with a bergamot this floral and heady. Love how brisk the black tea base was, too!

Now does it taste like April In Paris? Well, I’ve never been to Paris so I suppose I can’t say for certain. There is something very European feeling about it to me, though. So that’s at least something. In my head I feel like April is so in the heart of Spring that I’d have expected something softer and floral in a more light and airy way. But all of this is HIGHLY subjective.

Anyway, a very interesting blend to be sure!

Day 9 of DIY mostly Adagio advent. The coconut flavor in this is fine – not too oily, decently creamy – but the base tea is extremely meh. It just has this coarse edge to it that doesn’t complement the flavoring and makes it impossible for me to enjoy the cup. I tried adding honey in an effort to soften the edge, but it didn’t help at all.

Not a big coffee person, but I wanted to try this one given how (seemingly intentionally) similar it is to DT’s Coffee Pu’erh. I do really like the shou pu’erh that Adagio uses in their blends. It’s very, very thick and earthy tasting in a way that obviously compliments the darker roasted flavour of coffee very well. And this is a really roasty tasting tea. I think maybe a little more overtly roasty than DT’s Coffee Pu’erh. The vanilla comes through a little bit in the finish, and I like that it gently softens out the end of the sip without diminishing the overall bold, intense feeling of the cup. I do think there’s room for it to be stronger, though.

The key difference is really that DT’s coffee pu’erh also has almond flavouring in it, and I personally prefer that inclusion. I think it’s richer feeling and creates a lot more depth and layering of flavours, and really leans into the aroma/nose of the brew as well. However, y’all know I’m a fan of things with a heavy roast note so I also appreciate that this blend was a little bolder in that aspect. It’s a solid blend overall.

Had to get a sample of this to try, because I love cranberries and cranberry-flavored things.

Sadly, this tastes more like a cherry lozenge than it does like cranberry anything. Extremely medicinal cherry candy flavor with a very powdery undertone and a light hibiscus tartness. Nope, nope, nope!

I love a cranberry tea, so y’all know I had to try this one!

The dry leaf aroma is kind of off smelling to me, like sugar free red jello but with a slight medicinal/cough drop sort of edge to it. Wasn’t the most promising, but steeped up I found the cup much, much more enjoyable. There’s still maybe a touch of a medicinal undertone/edge to it, but the cranberry was pleasantly thick and jammy with a creamy edge to it and just a hint of warming cinnamon. The cinnamon flirts a bit with this mulled fruit sort of vibe, but neither the spice or fruit notes themselves are strong enough to full commit to that sort of direction. Still, there’s a sort of festive feel to the cup from the combination. As a lover of cranberry teas, it’s pretty solid!

Adagio sent me a “we miss you” envelope with four samples in it, but they didn’t include adequate postage, so I had to pay $4 to retrieve it from the post office. When I complained to Adagio, they didn’t care. It’s only $4, but it’s funny to me that their attempt at goodwill has instead made me not really want to order from them again.

I’d already had three of the teas previously, but this one is new to me. I taste the tang of the citrus. It’s decent, but the green tea below is pretty meh. It was a little straightforward for me and not as well done as something like 52teas could have done.

It’s blood orange. It’s spice. It’s really good iced.

I’m still holding true to my sentiment that this is not really a unique profile, but it was very good iced – probably better than it was hot. That deeper and almost berry-like but still juicy and citrusy blood orange note is really well done and so refreshing, and it felt a lot more “correct” with the notes of clove, cardamom, and cinnamon which I struggled with ever so slightly when I had this hot since I felt those cozier spice notes were a bit strangely juxtaposed with a brighter orange note. No problems here!

…It’s definitely growing on me.

Continuing sipping my way through this last Adagio order!

Even though spiced orange is a very played out flavour, this one intrigued me because it’s herbal/fruit based and I feel like most of the spiced orange blends I’ve tried are either rooibos, black, or green. Sure enough it’s not the most unique tasting blend, but it would be unfair to expect that when dealing with this classic of a flavour profile.

What I did find myself impressed by was how deep and rich yet juicy the orange notes were. I bought in that it was blood orange and not just a standard orange flavour. I loved that it wasn’t sweet/sugary or really sharp/tangy and acidic but that the fuller, lush sort of citrus flavour felt lively and contrasted against the spice notes. It was a cool effect to have that deeper blood orange profile still feel refreshing and lively against the spice mix instead of the more cooked down or mulled orange we usually see in these types of blends.

The spices were maybe a touch one note? Well, two note I guess because it was really cardamom and clove that came through the most. Y’all know I love cardamom paired with fruits, and it works really well. Especially in the nose of the cup. The clove was pretty strong, especially in the aftertaste which lingered for a much greater time than the orange did. I love clove, but I think if you’re not as into that flavour it could read as too strong for a lot of people.

Overall, I think this was really nicely executed! I don’t necessarily think of tisanes as one of Adagio’s strong suits, but this is the type of tea I would actually buy again even with it being a more accessible flavour profile from other companies.

December Sipdown Prompt – get a final sipdown for the year

Apparently this exact blend is no longer available. This was a sample from the Communitea pack for Dec 27, probably for 2022 or 2023. It came to me as a gift so I don’t know how old it is, for sure. There is a tea by this name on the site but not with these ingredients, and another tea named Warm Up By The Fire, also not with these ingredients.

And that is a shame! This is one of the first blends by Adagio that I have rather taken a cotton to! Ginger and clove made me dread it, but they were both so tame they didn’t offend. Maybe that was die to age. It was a true cold weather comfort warm up mug of tea, and I enjoyed it for breakfast.

Since it was only a sample, it wasn’t listed in my cupboard and therefore the numbers don’t go down but nevertheless the number of grams of tea in the house DID go down.

Cold Brew!

Sometimes I feel like a bit of an oddball for liking elderberry as much as I do, especially because the quality of elderberry can range so significantly and when it’s bad it’s really bad. I got a little nervous smelling this one as it definitely has a bit of pungent musk to it. Not quite full blown “foot smell” as some elderberry is want to do, but leaning that direction a touch…

Steeped up it’s actually surprisingly fresh and mellow, though? I mean, don’t get me wrong – I don’t think I would at all describe the OVERALL taste as mellow since it’s still got a lot of tartness and bold berry flavour from the hibiscus in the blend. It’s just much more mellow than I would have ever assumed given the dry aroma. Not funky tasting to me at all, though! Instead it’s a refreshing deep purple berry sort of flavour with a citrusy edge from the lemongrass and some apple notes. Refreshing and relatively clean finishing with an appropriate level of natural sweetness.

I do think I own elderberry teas that I enjoy more which have a bit more saturated, syrupy fruit notes to them without any funk – but I think this is nice! And pretty approachable for someone who has either never tried an elderberry forward tea or, perhaps, has been burned by an especially stanky one in the past.

Cold Brew!

Back at the top of November Marika and I ended up placing a joint Adagio order that, unfortunately, got stuck with Canada Post during the strike – however it was finally delivered a few days ago so I’m now slowly exploring the different teas – most of which were samples of new to me blends, but I did get a couple restocks.

Y’all know I love a strawberry banana tea so I feel like maybe I had high expectations for this one. I do think Adagio does banana well, and I feel like that comes through in this blend. It’s got sort of a “medium feeling” flavour intensity to it, with fresh and lightly sweet notes of banana and ripe strawberries. A little bit tart and a little bit creamy, but not too much of either. My big issue with this blend is the lemongrass. It’s a nice enough quality lemongrass with a bright, soft citrusy note – not coarse or lawn clipping-y. However, for a banana split inspired profile any lemongrass kind of just feels out of place and there’s A LOT of it in this tea. It makes the overall profile read more like tutti-frutti than ice cream.

I still enjoyed the brew, but I’m definitely making the mental note that it’s not something I should pull out when I’m seeking that sort of fruity decadence of a split since I just feel the name is a little mismatched to how it actually tastes.