50
drank Pu Erh Dante by Adagio Teas
1216 tasting notes

This is another sampler that came to me a few summers ago from Meowster’s cupboard destash, so thanks Meowster! I honestly don’t have the highest expectations, though. For one, because it is a pu-erh, the one type of tea that despite me trying again and again, it just always taste like dirt or swampwater to me and I can’t quite understand why it’s considered the “fancy coffee” of the tea world and be a “true tea connoisseur” you should be drinking expensive puerh and nothing else… when it tastes like dirt or swampwater. I’ve been okay with a few flavored puerh blends I’ve tried, but that leads to my second point… the only other Adagio pu-erh I’ve tried was their Pu-erh Chorange, which I personally found awful, like a very fake, artificial-tasting orange was dropped in a pile of dirt. So… ya. Maybe the sheer age of this sampler at this point may have improved it?

So, this one falls into the “swampwater” realm. Again, not really a flavor I enjoy, but I suppose it is slightly more preferable than the “dirt” ones. It’s like a strong, vegetal, marine/earthy taste. It isn’t undrinkable and actually very smooth for what it is. There is an earthy taste that lingers in the aftertaste, as well as some minerality. It actually is better than the Pu-erh Chorange, since it doesn’t have that awful artificial orange flavoring smothered over the top of such a conflicting flavor. But it still isn’t really a flavor that is for me. I wonder how many pu-erh samples I’ll try, trying to convince myself to “like” this stuff because proper tea-drinkers are “supposed to like it”…

Flavors: Earth, Marine, Mineral, Smooth, Vegetal, Wet Earth, Wet Moss, Wet Rocks

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
AJRimmer

Yep, I have similar feelings toward pu erh. I don’t really get it.

gmathis

I feel the same way about Earl Grey. I feel like I really need to like it to be a well-rounded Steepster, and I try, but it’ll never be my favorite.

tea-sipper

Adagio has the WORST puerh I’ve tried… at least years ago anyway. So I doubt it’s the age of the sample.

Mastress Alita

@gmathis : I actually went through a phase when I did not like bergamot at all either. And it lasted for quite a while. Something in my palate changed, and I started to like the flavor over time, but it was still more gradual than a sudden change. I started by having flavored EGs that were a lot lighter on the bergamot, and even now I tend to not like the ones that are really harsh bergamot bombs or ones that pair bergamot with a strong Ceylon base which tends to come off a little too citrusy too me. But I definitely went through a full-blown “don’t like EG” phase before my palate changed and the flavor grew on me (I still don’t like grapefruit, and find bergamot “similar” to it, at least to me, which makes me wonder if one day I’ll start liking the taste of grapefruit, as well…)

@tea-sipper: Well, they say pu-erh “gets better” with age, hense why I wondered if it being old would’ve actually done it some favors in this rare case.

mrmopar

@AJRimmer we may have to change your outlook on that.

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Comments

AJRimmer

Yep, I have similar feelings toward pu erh. I don’t really get it.

gmathis

I feel the same way about Earl Grey. I feel like I really need to like it to be a well-rounded Steepster, and I try, but it’ll never be my favorite.

tea-sipper

Adagio has the WORST puerh I’ve tried… at least years ago anyway. So I doubt it’s the age of the sample.

Mastress Alita

@gmathis : I actually went through a phase when I did not like bergamot at all either. And it lasted for quite a while. Something in my palate changed, and I started to like the flavor over time, but it was still more gradual than a sudden change. I started by having flavored EGs that were a lot lighter on the bergamot, and even now I tend to not like the ones that are really harsh bergamot bombs or ones that pair bergamot with a strong Ceylon base which tends to come off a little too citrusy too me. But I definitely went through a full-blown “don’t like EG” phase before my palate changed and the flavor grew on me (I still don’t like grapefruit, and find bergamot “similar” to it, at least to me, which makes me wonder if one day I’ll start liking the taste of grapefruit, as well…)

@tea-sipper: Well, they say pu-erh “gets better” with age, hense why I wondered if it being old would’ve actually done it some favors in this rare case.

mrmopar

@AJRimmer we may have to change your outlook on that.

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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