Vanilla Green

What happens when you fall asleep at 8 p.m. while watching TV? Well, you wake up at 2 a.m., if you are me. Three hours later, I’m ready to start testing some tea : )

Starting with this one this morning. The aroma in the package is sweet. Haven’t had much luck with Adagio’s flavored black teas so far, so starting off with a green.

My first impression is that is a bit weak (need to add a little more leaves I think). But the taste is very nice. I can taste the green tea first and the vanilla second. I added about a tsp. of honey, so it is on the sweet side to me, but not overly so. I wish it had more of a vanilla taste, so this falls squarely into the “ok” category for me. Will keep sample and play with it again (if I can ever get through all my samples).

This tea truly is about what you would expect in terms of “vanilla” + “green tea” = “vanilla green tea.” The scent and taste are largely dominated by the vanilla, in my estimation. It produces a very nice amber color. I don’t terribly care for the vanilla however. It’s ok, but not really my, uh, cup of tea, so to say. My wife loves this tea, however, and it’s one of her favorites, so we keep it around and I do drink it from time to time.

This is a nice tea. It’s pretty straightforward, with a vanilla flavor that’s clearly present in every sip but not overwhelming; I’d say I’m getting about 60% vanilla taste and 40% green tea taste. Whatever technique that was chosen to add the flavor was a good one, because it harmonizes better with the base than I’ve come to expect from flavored teas, especially inexpensive ones. The green tea they used isn’t overly complex, but there’s still a nice flavor, one that’s a touch grassy and buttery.

I’ve had a couple of blends that utilize this tea, and it’s very good for that purpose as well. I feel like, in general, these simple flavored teas from Adagio are best for blending; this is one of the few that I’ve tried that works wonderfully both ways (although I prefer it in blends).

Smells yummy. The vanilla scent is very strong in the dry leaves. I quite like it. I don’t taste the vanilla so much in the tea, though I’m not sure. I think I got hints of vanilla, but nothing to sweet or intense. A nice after dinner tea, I think. I don’t know that I’d order it (I got a sample from a friend), however.

The vanilla aroma is very strong while steeping, but the taste is not overpowering. The tea is actually very balanced and nice. As others have noted the tea will get bitter if steeped for too long, but I wish I could make it just a bit stronger. As it is, it is good, but not astounding.

I didn’t think that I would like vanilla green on its own, but it’s surprisingly good. This may, in fact, be one of my new favorite flavors. I’ll have to try blending it with some other flavors.

Not sure about this—I might like it better with different timing or quantity of leaves. My opinion improved slightly when I added some sugar. (I don’t usually sweeten green teas.)

As is, it seems like this particular green tea wasn’t quiiiiiiite the right match for the vanilla.

Well, this one was a bust for me. Someone else described it as “dusty”, and I have to agree. I knew I would dislike it as soon as I smelled the dry leaves because it smells of vanillin and not vanilla beans. The smell is very flat, lacking the subtlety and full bodied-ness of the beans.

Once brewed, the leaves look great. Full green leaves. Definitely a Chinese green base, and the tea itself actually tastes great but the fake vanilla smells terrible. I even tried adding a piece of vanilla bean that I had, and some vanilla sugar, but the damage was done. The only reason I didn’t give this a lower score is because if you let it cool so that the smell goes away, it’s actually an ok green tea.

I might have steeped this a little too hot, since my kettle doesn’t really have a temperature guide. 190F is a rough approximation. I also may have used more leaves than required, as I did not realize how compact the leaves were.

The smell is at the very surface a subdued vanilla, of course, with a stronger overtone of earthy green tea leaves. Very nice, and being a fan of vanilla I sat for ten minutes taking in the aroma.

The taste of vanilla is even more subdued than the vanilla, but it is there over the delicious standard of green tea. Not as sweet as some reviewers have noted—I only really notice a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.

All in all, a very satisfying tea.

About time – after being bored by nearly every sample I ordered, I finally enjoy one of Adagio’s teas! This still isn’t the delicious vanilla milkshake beverage I’m seeking, but this blend has a lot to offer.

The leaves are full and bright, with an unfortunately artificial vanilla scent laying over the grassy green notes. This vanilla scent sticks out even more when steeping, but fortunately loses some of that ‘vanilla extract’ edge the leaves had. The liquor ends up a pale golden tone that more resembles an oolong than the green I was expecting, but oolong is obviously the One True Tea (or Many True Teas, I suppose) so that’s not a complaint.

The flavor is downright great. It’s unfortunately still weaker than I’d like (which seems to be the Adagio story), but I’ll just use more leaves next time. It’s got a crisp mouthfeel and tastes exactly as its name implies; both the sweet creamy vanilla and grassy tea are present, starting more with the former and leaving the latter behind as it goes down. The flavor doesn’t stick around long, and I ended up drinking my first cup of it in a very short time as a result. I was pleased to find the vanilla flavor managed to taste more like a dessert than the bean I’ve learned to expect from vanilla teas without tasting artificial, despite the unfortunate scent of the leaves.

This one’s a winner, and is the first Adagio tea I’m likely to re-order. I expect it to be fantastic iced when I try that tomorrow.
-Cash