Pouchong

enjoyed this tea. subtle, floral, and sweet

I liked this much more than I thought I would when I first saw the results of my first steeping. It’s a very pale yellow, almost colorless, and pouchongs are known to be on the greener side of oolong. I haven’t cared for the green teas I’ve tried, and found the Tung Ting Oolong I tried too reminiscent of the vegetal taste I dislike in greens. This had a floral note that wasn’t perfumey, a buttery taste, that mitigated the hint of a vegetal taste into a delicate sweetness I really enjoyed. The second steeping had a more mineral taste I associate with oolong, but not in a bad way.

Brewed gongfu style in my oolong pot. This pouchong is light and sweet but unlike the charcoal roasted pouchong that I’ve had before it is a bit more floral and less smooth. Still an enjoyable tea but personally I lean a bit more toward the charcoal roasted variety.

This was a pretty good oolong. It reminded me of a green tea, but with some of the vegetal flavor replaced by a delicate sweet taste. It is definitely a subtle oolong—it didn’t knock my socks off when I first tried it, but it grew on me. It is a nice tea to sip on while working since it isn’t so strong that it is distracting.

Very nice. It smells so good, highly aromatic, fragrant. The taste is somewhat buttery with a floral notes, has a long finish, no sharpness, and very flavorful tea.

I’m a fan of pouchong/baozhong oolongs. That’s the only reason I chose this tea when Adagio contacted me with a gift card offer. I had in the past some incredible pouchong oolongs from Taiwan and they have set my standard and expectations. Did Adagio’s pouchong meet the ante? No. No it didn’t.

But that’s not a bad thing! It’s a reasonable tea for the price and again sets a decent baseline on how to measure your teas. I’m finding this a lot with Adagio, nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible.

These leaves offer a decent amount of creaminess and that telltale milky/grassiness that I’ve come to expect. Does this tea have a a returning sweetness? Nope. But its suffices in a pinch and I wouldn’t hesitate to brew some for my friends.

Overall the leaves do have a quality to them: unbroken, sturdy, and hardy. So at least you can be sure you’re not getting ripped off.

Try a sample and enjoy!

My full video review can be found on my website!

https://worldteapodcast.com/videos/2017/5/16/world-tea-podcast-review-adagios-gyokuro-genmaicha-pouchong

I did several steeps of this. They first was 5 seconds and the others were 7-10 seconds. The first was a little light, the second was just a touch astringent but the third was wonderful.

The was very light and refreshing. I enjoyed it so much I took some of the leaves and put them in a glass in the fridge with water to cold steep. I suspect the iced tea tomorrow should be great!

Vigorously trying to finish my army, that is how I am spending my evening! I have basing to do, and my Intruder Alphas and the Ravagers that Ben surprised me with to finish. I have until tomorrow evening, and considering my afternoon will be taken up by allergy testing, I highly doubt I will finish, alas, my fear of bringing an unfinished army might come to pass. Just between you and me, I am not looking forward to my allergy test tomorrow, though trying to play Dropzone Commander afterwards could be an adventure!

We are finishing off Oolong week with Adagio Tea’s Pouchong (or Baozhong, depending on dialect) a very lightly oxidized (think 8-10%) Oolong with lovely curly green leaves. Pouchong is one of those teas that I tragically forget exists unless it is right in my face, which is tragic because it is one of those Oolongs that taste and smell like springtime. So, let me remind myself why I like this Taiwanese Oolong so much! The aroma is intensely floral, hello notes of hyacinth, orchids, and a mellow finish of chestnuts. It is like flower nectar and mild, sweet, nuts, the aroma overall is fairly mild while also being heady.

Since I do not (yet) have a dedicated Pouchong yixing, into the gaiwan the curly leaves go, and of course it is the dragon gaiwan because it is an oolong, love matching tea utensils to appropriate teas. Brewing the tea brings out the tea’s strength, the now wet leaves smell like a spring bouquet with notes of hyacinth, orchid, lilac, honeysuckle, and butter. Ok that last note is not so much part of a spring bouquet, but hey, it takes all types. The liquid is mellow sweet butter and lots of floral notes, it is very much a pile of flower nectar.

First steep starts out pretty mild, and finishes pretty mild, it is a super mellow tea without much of a presence. It has a wonderfully smooth mouthfeel, but the floral notes and sweet nectar are mild, there is a slight mineral note at the finish as well.

Second steeping time, the aroma is still pretty potent floral nectar with a distinct buttery tone as well as a finish of chestnuts. This steep has a little more body, still pretty mild and mellow, I am not much impressed. The taste is flowery and sweet, but it lacks a real presence, it is like watered down tea. I am wondering if I got an old sample, the bag I got from Adagio was different than any other bag I have gotten from them, so maybe they are changing their packaging, or maybe they package Pouchong differently. It does not taste state, it just does not have much of a taste. Sadly not every tea is a winner.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/adagio-teas-pouchong-tea-review.html

Waxing nostalgic this evening, as I brew and sip the last of this sample…

It’s funny how one’s tastes change. I first started drinking and discovering tea about five years ago. I heated my tap water via the microwave. I bought the Adagio steeper (the one that presses down and releases tea over a mug), and marveled at how the leaves swirled around inside. I didn’t do much with straight teas then. I was more drawn by the flavored teas and blends, and tended to add sugar, honey, and/or milk with nearly every tea I drank. I think my family thought it was a phase.

But it wasn’t. As I continued to drink tea, I branched out to other companies, like H&S, DavidsTEA, etc. Those (particularly H&S) have been staples in recent years. I ventured into straight black teas, and then flavored oolongs, and finally onto straight greens and whites. I own an electric kettle, which I fill with filtered water. I drink most of my tea without additions now.

In November, I ordered a few straight teas from Adagio for the first time in about four years. I can appreciate Adagio for getting me hooked on loose tea. I thought it would be like coming home. So this is an unflavored oolong and I like the flavor. It doesn’t seem to have much of an odor. It’s one I would order again, just not from Adagio. I’ve noticed that the leaves just aren’t high quality. Both the black teas and white teas I ordered came with broken leaves. It makes me a bit sad that I won’t be ordering from Adagio again, given that it was my first love and introduction to loose tea. Then again, I guess I should just remember the good times we had, and thank my stars that I didn’t spend more money on a relationship that wasn’t meant to be long term.

fresh with soft flower and green flavor