34 Tasting Notes

78

I got this as a gift. It’s probably not something I would have picked up myself because I would have been weirded out by the green and black tea blended together, but you know what? It’s good!

The outside packaging and the website say 175 degrees, while the inside packaging says 195, so they need to sort that out. I went for the lower temperature to avoid harshing out the green.

There’s a nice light fruitiness that is hard to describe — I’m guessing it’s the jackfruit, since I’ve never tasted that ripe (only young and green in savory dishes). The almond is definitely very easy to pick out, in an almond-cookie sort of way — delicious! The green and black tea bases are basic, serving as a tasty but nothing-special backdrop for the other flavors. Mixing the two types together seems to balance out what might become a problem in either on its own — grassiness in the green or bitter astringency in the black.

I like it. I bet it’d be awesome iced, too.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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69
drank Salted Caramel by DAVIDsTEA
34 tasting notes

The dry leaf smells so caramelly I could barely wait to take a sip, especially after my disappointment with Adagio’s Caramel. You can see all the little bits of caramel in it and it looks really promising.

It’s a decent black tea. Sweet, not bitter. But it doesn’t really taste all that much like caramel to me. It doesn’t even taste like coconut, despite that being in the blend. It’s a sweet black tea that I can’t complain about but probably wouldn’t write home about, either.

I wonder if the caramel flavor would be enhanced by milk and sugar or honey?

Edit: Toward the end of the first cup, the caramel flavor became more pronounced — perhaps it just needed to cool off a little bit.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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76
drank Genmai Cha by Adagio Teas
34 tasting notes

I decided to lower the temperature from 180 as recommended on the package to 170 for a more typical green. Good choice. Any hint of harsh grassiness in this tea has transformed into a mellow, enjoyable grassiness. Will be brewing at 170 from now on.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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77
drank Vanilla Orchid by DAVIDsTEA
34 tasting notes

This is a nice, sweet oolong. I think I’d especially love it in the fall or winter, but it’s fine as a summer sipper too. It’s not too strong, and the vanilla and floral flavors both come through without competing with each other.

As I come to realize that my favorite tea is not green tea, but oolong tea, I’m amassing an oolong collection. I have absolutely no problem with this.

As always, I’m curious to try it iced.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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76
drank Gold Rush by DAVIDsTEA
34 tasting notes

When I opened the bag of this, I was shocked by a) how few tea leaves there are in it and b) how much it smells like a dessert.

I guess if I had read the logs on here more closely I would have already known about the “mostly fruit and coconut, not a lot of tea” thing. I added it to my cart on a lark at the last minute because I’m a sucker for any tea described as creamy.

Luckily I read the logs on here before preparing my first cup, so I decided to take the popular advice and go for a fairly long steep time — 7 minutes to start. Brewed, it has that same creamy, desserty smell. There’s a bit of an oily sheen from the coconut flakes.

Anyway, this is tasty but I can’t even really taste the white tea. It just tastes like a caramelly, fruity, herbal. Like others have said, it could probably stand to steep for even 10 minutes or so to get a more robust flavor.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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77
drank Magnolia Oolong by Tea District
34 tasting notes

Got this in a swap from KiwiDelight. I figured I would probably be into it because I love oolongs and floral teas, and I was right. The floral taste is very similar to jasmine, like the description states. It’s also very naturally sweet. I will probably buy some of this for my stash, I think I’d like to try it again with a little more dry leaf for a stronger flavor.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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86
drank Dragon Pearls by DAVIDsTEA
34 tasting notes

I actually picked this up to make a Leland Palmer (an adult Arnold Palmer with gin, limoncello, and jasmine tea). The cocktail was amazing and enjoyed by everyone who tried it, but I decided I should try a cup straight too, especially since I love floral teas.

The verdict? So floral! I love it! It tastes much more floral than green, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your tastes. For me, definitely a very good thing. It’s very light (both in flavor and the color of the brewed tea), perfect for when you want to hydrate but want something with a touch of flavor instead of just water.

I think it’d be great iced too, as the floral taste screams summer to me.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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39
drank Raspberry Green by Adagio Teas
34 tasting notes

Decided to try this iced. Can you tell we’re in a bit of a heat wave?

4 teaspoons in 500 ml, poured over ice to chill and dilute.

Still not really a fan. There’s a weird aftertaste. I don’t really know what to say, except I don’t really like it. This tea is a dud hot and cold.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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77
drank Bamboozled by DAVIDsTEA
34 tasting notes

I wanted this iced as well, but considering a regular cup called for 2 teaspoons I decided to make it with 4 teaspoons to 500 ml water, and let it cool down for a while before pouring it over ice to prevent dilution. There are lots of big flower petals and things like that, so it ends up being pretty loosely packed in the teaspoon when you measure it out.

Anyway, I wasn’t so sure about this one. It smelled very, very peachy, slightly artificially so, when I brewed it — one of the maintenance guys working near my desk asked his friend, “Do you have peach gum?”

But that overwhelming peachiness in the odor doesn’t carry over into the flavor. It’s peachy, but not too peachy. The other fruits definitely chime in wonderfully for a great fruit salad sort of feel. I don’t get too much of the floral taste, which I was looking forward to. I don’t really know what bamboo tea would taste like plain without the fruit, but there’s no off flavor. Overall, great for an iced tea, but I’m not sure how much I’d like it hot. It is very summery to me.

I do wonder how many calories this packs, considering that there is a lot of fruit as well as added sugar to the pineapple. I’m sure it would be very tart without it, but it’d be nice to be able to decide whether to add sugar or not.

Still, overall I’m very satisfied for a tasty caffeine-free option. I’d probably buy this again.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec

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98

Hm. Wanted something frosty and decided to try this iced. I used 6 teaspoons leaves in 500ml water, then immediately poured the brewed tea over a large cup of ice. Even with the dilution from the ice, I think I could have gotten away with using less tea.

Not a huge fan, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. But icing it seems to drown out some of my favorite things about the tea, so it seems like a waste. The milkiness really didn’t come through, nor the velvety mouthfeel. The subsequent steeps (I did 4) had a more milky taste and were better than the first, but still not as good as it is hot.

I probably won’t drink this one iced again. It’s so delicious hot, why bother?

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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Bio

I love oolongs (especially milk oolongs), floral teas of all kinds, and the well done fruity tea blend or tisane.

Location

Baltimore, MD

Website

http://stuffed-grapes.com

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