White Strawberry

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 26th, 2023

Why is there rooibos?! The cynic in me wonders if it’s included as a cheap filler.

The rooibos here just makes this taste so medicinal, like some vaguely berry-flavored cough syrup. And the white tea is quite musty, though I can hardly taste it under the rooibos.

Boo!

This is another of the Adagio white teas I got from Meowster’s cupboard clearout a couple summer’s ago (thanks Meowster!). So far this has been my favorite of all that I have tried; it was the most pleasant of the different flavored whites I’ve tried as a warm cuppa, and right now I’m drinking it as a cold brew, which I prefer even more.

The berry taste isn’t syrupy or candy-like, which can be the case in a lot of strawberry teas; but it isn’t really a strong, in-your-face sort of distinct strawberry flavor, either. I get a more gentle sort of berry sweetness, and a subtle tanginess as well, that I think compliments the refreshing white tea. This white tea isn’t coming off quite as leafy either, which probably helps (or maybe the flavorings are just covering it up more this time around). It tastes more like damn earth rather than autumn leaves, slightly vegetal, and a bit of melon rind, which comes in more at the front of the sip, but the close is a sweet-tart sort of berry taste; not distinctly strawberry, but an indistinct yet pleasant red berry sort of note. It’s a refreshing iced tea, and actually brewed a nice warm cup, too, while the other flavored whites I tried I really preferred as iced beverages to their warm cuppa counterparts.

Thanks for the sample, Meowster! Just one more flavored white from the cupboard clearout to go!

The most prominent flavor is the tea base. The strawberry flavor is pretty subtle. It does taste nice, but I’d like for the strawberry flavor to be stronger. I’ll have to try this cold next time to see if the flavors are clearer that way. Certainly not bad; I’ve just tasted better.

I have never tried this tea hot. I always have it cold when I don’t have time to make my own tisane. A tablespoon with about 2 liters of water is wonderfully refreshing and delicious. I think this is the best one out of 3 similar teas blends I tried. I continue filling up the pitcher with water and it gets weaker, but the longer it has to infuse the better, so it is best to start overnight.

When I saw this described as a strawberry creme-saver, I knew I had to get some. Well, A++, exactly as described. When I opened the pouch, it was like POOF! STRAWBERRY CREMESAVER IN YOUR FACE. It’s a very pretty blend, and Adagio’s image of it matched my sample pouch very well.

The tea steeps surprisingly dark for a white tea, though I’m guessing it’s mostly due to the inexplicable rooibos. Some of the strawberry smell is lost when it’s steeped, but it’s surprisingly present in the flavor. The cream is lost in the flavor, though. I think it’s overpowered by the bite (it’s a soft bite, but bite nonetheless) of the strawberry.

I would love to try this with real cream at some point in the future, but cream just isn’t something I stock regularly. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to buy some more.

I fondly refer to this tea as the Frankenberry Cereal tea, because that’s what it smells and tastes like to me. I do find that I have to use a higher leaf-to-water ratio (2 heaping teaspoons to about 10 oz of water), but I can usually get 2 good infusions and a 3rd passable one. All in all, this tea is pretty fantastic, hot or iced.

I just picked this up from Adagio this afternoon, and couldn’t wait to try it. However, after following the brewing instructions on the package, I’m not really tasting a lot of fruit. Perhaps I’ll over steep it next time. This is the second flavored white tea from Adagio that I’ve tried and so far, I’m not too impressed!

Overboard Traveling tea box

I’ve learned that Adagio whites benefit from major overleafing, so I used 3 tsp for my 12oz mug. I’m getting a faint hint of strawberry which actually reminds me of their strawberry tisane. It’s not in your face, but it’s present. I’m not finding this as buttery as the other Adagio whites I’ve tried, which is a bit of a disappointment, but I think it’s the rooibos in it (not sure why they added that in to be honest). It’s ok, but it’s not on the to-buy list and I wouldn’t add it to an Adagio order.

I decided to add a tiny bit of sweetener which made the strawberry much more obvious, but it’s still lacking the kind of quality I’m used to with the whites from this brand – and they aren’t even the best out there! Anyway, drinkable, but not great.

This was finished by me.

Overboard TTB.

This tastes like strawberries and smoke. Looking at the ingredients, it does have Rooibos in it. I don’t quite understand why rooibos is so popular, and I really don’t understand what it’s supposed to add to a strawberry white tea. Why add a smokey flavor to that? It’s a mystery to me. Anyway, this is not bad, just not quite my cup of tea I don’t think.

I have thus far been unimpressed with Adagio’s white teas because they never seem to taste like what I want them to taste like…that could be MY problem, but it definitely makes me less keen on trying out more white teas from them. This just wasn’t very strawberry-ish. It’s very light. I tried it both hot and let it cool to room temp. Not much difference for me. The white tea is probably good on its own, but I wanted a strawberry white tea.