Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
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Edit tea info Last updated by Michael
Average preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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36 Tasting Notes View all

  • “My first try at this one… I love the smell of it. It makes me crave Japanese food. Like, a lot. Smells so awesome. Trying it straight first. The smell is milder than the dry leaves which makes...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “Another purchase based upon the weirdness of it … yeah, I do that a lot. But… peanut butter is where I draw the line. (Sorry 52Teas) The smell of the dry leaves is intriguing, it reminds me of...” Read full tasting note
    75
  • “I HAD to throw my lunch away…bleh. Decided to do a 2nd cup of this tho!!! I’m going thru my snack drawer at work – which is REALLY thin – mind you – and found some dehydrated sweetened Pineapple....” Read full tasting note
    75
  • “The first thing I noticed when I opened the tin is how oily the leaves look, like the whole container was dropped in a pot of sesame oil. The smell made me think of Chinese food, or maybe...” Read full tasting note
    68

From Adagio Teas - Discontinued

Nutty and versatile, sesame is a popular ingredient worldwide. Toasting adds a depth and intensity to an already tasty seed. Combined the flavor with Ceylon black tea and you get a truly unique blend.

About Adagio Teas - Discontinued View company

Company description not available.

36 Tasting Notes

79
911 tasting notes

My first try at this one… I love the smell of it. It makes me crave Japanese food. Like, a lot. Smells so awesome.

Trying it straight first. The smell is milder than the dry leaves which makes me a little sad. But still smells good. Love the initial taste of the sesame. Really good. But then the tea tastes a little bitter after that. Maybe I steeped too long… Added a little bit of sugar (maybe 1/8tsp for my 7oz glass). Okay, that takes away from the bitterness but keeps a nice savory taste going. Much more sugar and I think the taste would be totally thrown off. Still a little hot thought so I gotta let it cool.

Okay, cool now. Oh… Niiiiiice. This tastes like it smells. Like something with a really awesome Japanese glaze on it. Like the glaze on osembe or something. Maybe the sauce on unagi sushi? Which is something I love so that’s a good thing.

I think this tea is going to be directly responsible for me going out to get some unadon today.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
gmathis

This sounds GREAT! Must add to my rapidly growing wish list.

Auggy

I really enjoyed it. And I DID have unadon at the sushi bar and the tastes were super-similar!

takgoti

I need to get around to getting this set. Blerg.

Also, whenever anyone says unagi I automatically think of that Friends episode where Ross is talking about his sixth sense of perception and he keeps calling it unagi [with the hand motion that I can’t emote].

Cofftea

Hmmm… a black tea at that temp and steeping time shouldn’t be bitter. Maybe the sesame seeds were burned? That’s my biggest fear w/ this one.

Auggy

@takgoti: Hmm, wonder what that tastes like?

@Cofftee: No, the seeds were not burnt. If they were, I imagine there would have been a burnt taste, not a bitter, the-tea-was-steeped-longer-than-I-prefer taste.

Auggy

Hahahahaha! DANGER!!!

takgoti

Ahhh, Salmon Skin Roll.

Jillian

Mmm, the original B.C. roll. ;P

Auggy

And once again this is making me want Japanese food.

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75
4843 tasting notes

Another purchase based upon the weirdness of it … yeah, I do that a lot. But… peanut butter is where I draw the line. (Sorry 52Teas) The smell of the dry leaves is intriguing, it reminds me of sesame oil and Chinese cuisine, and because I’m hungry, this aroma is making me even hungrier!

Because of previous issues that I’ve had with Adagio’s black teas – I found them to be just a bit bitter when brewed for the recommended time of 5 minutes – I chose to brew this just 2 1/2 minutes, which seems to be just about perfect for this tea.

I like it better than I thought I would. It possesses a very unique flavor. Adagio’s black tea base is much more tannic than the average Ceylon. It has a stronger astringency, and a tendency to get bitter if it’s brewed too long.

The sesame is toasty and nutty. However, I think that much of the sesame’s characteristics are overwhelmed a bit with this Ceylon – perhaps it would be a flavor better suited for a green tea? I don’t know… I think I need to taste it a few more times before I can really summarize my thoughts on this tea…

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec
Cofftea

I find it funny you find a peanut butter tea more odd than toasted sesame lol :) I thought the same thing about switching to a green tea base… but I think it’s just cuz it’s an Asian flavor- I thought the same of their Thai Chai

LiberTEAS

I guess I’ve never been a big peanut butter fan. I like it ok, but, about the only way I really ever “crave” or even “want” peanut butter is in peanut butter blossom cookies and I think that is mostly because my gramma made these and they hold a special place in my heart because of that. I don’t know… I guess it’s just one of those weird things that I can’t explain … Peanut butter in tea just doesn’t sound appealing to me at all. LOL

LiberTEAS

The second infusion of these leaves proved to be much better than the first. The Ceylon base softened significantly and what remains is a very smooth tasting tea. This allowed for some of the more interesting notes of the sesame to reveal themselves – it is a little sweeter with a stronger nutty quality, and a very pleasant toasty note.

Nattie

peanut butter is where I draw the line. (sorry 52teas)

Just stumbled onto this and it made me lol.

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75
6768 tasting notes

I HAD to throw my lunch away…bleh. Decided to do a 2nd cup of this tho!!! I’m going thru my snack drawer at work – which is REALLY thin – mind you – and found some dehydrated sweetened Pineapple. They are surprisingly good to nibble on while sipping this tea.

Cofftea

Pineapple and sesame tea? Weird. LOL:) Why did you have to throw your lunch away?

TeaEqualsBliss

It’s was plain brown rice – boil in a bag – no flavor – but it looked bad – grossed me out! LOL

Cofftea

You were just going to have rice? Nothing else? Ick lol.

TeaEqualsBliss

Well…it was the only thing I had to eat…didn’t have cash on me. Usually I will have it with Hummus. No hummus in sight, however…

Cofftea

Hummus! Yum. I’m thinking of trying to make matcha hummus.

TeaEqualsBliss

Let me know how that goes! :P

Cofftea

Ok, let me rephrase that- I’m thinking of trying it after someone else makes it. Yes, I know- I’m a hypocritcal wimp lol. I’d have no clue how much to put in.

Cofftea

Thinking… How about steeping a 2nd infusion (you DON’T need to add anymore caffeine lol) to make matcha… or maybe a matcha made w/ genmaicha?

TeaEqualsBliss

interesting…

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68
1908 tasting notes

The first thing I noticed when I opened the tin is how oily the leaves look, like the whole container was dropped in a pot of sesame oil. The smell made me think of Chinese food, or maybe teriyaki. When I started steeping though, the smell reverted back to being just like a bag full of sesame seeds.

I goofed on the steeping time so I’m not sure how long it was, but it’s probably somewhere around four minutes. When I rescued it, the surface of the ‘tea juice’ (ha!) was covered in a distinct sheen of oil. The flavour is very much like what I’d expect toasted sesame to taste like; so Adagio gets points for authenticty. It seems to also work quite well with the tanins in the tea base.

This isn’t a flavour I’m used to tasting in my tea (obviously) so my tongue is sending my brain rather mixed signals and confuzzling the poor dear. I think I’m leaning towards liking it, but not loving it – further testing is required! ;)

Preparation
Boiling
Cofftea

I’m so glad it didn’t taste like BURNED sesame seeds! I got 3 good infusions from mine.

Jillian

No, no burnt flavour, thankfully. I might see if I can get another infusion out of this later.

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67
1629 tasting notes

When I first opened this tin, the first thing I noticed was how oily and black the leaves look. The smell was just like toasted sesame, which I absolutely love! After I steeped it, the leaves looked dark brown and almost had a green sheen to it. Very nice. The smell of sesame was faint to me. The taste is very faint sesame but bitter. I added some sugar after tasting it without sugar. I believe it needed it. I don’t have any milk, but it might help to add some milk too. Overall, good tea. I’m not too into bitter though. My mouth feels a bit dry now.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

I do enjoy me some Toasted Sesame. Yummy!

Cofftea

Sugar in that??? Hahaha weird!=D

Stephanie

Not too weird, actually. Many asian desserts and candies are flavored with sesame. :)

Ricky

That is so true!

Cofftea

I don’t doubt that, but my American taste buds say “What the heck???” =D

Butiki Teas

this sounds like a yummy tea.

ChariTea

I love sesame anything on desserts like those fried sticky balls with sesame seeds on the outside and red bean on the inside! YUM! I forget what they are called. :)

Butiki Teas

ooooh, i remember those red bean & sesame deserts. those are awesome.

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84
32 tasting notes

I was so excited to get my “savory sampler” from Adagio yesterday. Sesame was first on my list to try. The leaves smell and look a little like soy sauce. They are dark black and have kind of a dark sheen on them. There are also sesame seeds visible with the leaves. When brewed it smells somewhat like sesame, not soy sauce (thankfully), but the sesame flavor was kind of weak. I’m giving it a 100 rating for the moment, because I don’t really know what I think of it just yet. When I first tried it, I was at work and distracted, so I will make a better assessment when I’m fully focused. Try it! The “savory sampler” is free with a $19 purchase from Adagio. Not sure how long that promotion is running. This tea is definitely worth checking out.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Cofftea

I’m having stirfry next week and I can’t WAIT to try it w/ that… although to me it seems like it might be better w/ a green tea base. I’ll know more when I try it.

Cofftea

I’m glad to know the sesame seeds don’t burn.

teaplz

How did you find out about this promotion, Sarah? Did it just say you were getting a free sample when you checked out of Adagio’s website with $19 worth of merchandise? I’m thinking of making an order and I’d love to try this and the Artichoke!

Cofftea

I got an email about it (I’m a frequent customer) and I also saw it on their home page.

Sarah M

I also got an email about it, but I actually heard about the savory teas on here before I got the email. Coftea- I was thinking stir fry too!!

TeaEqualsBliss

Another one I am looking forward to ordering via the free sampler!

Auggy

@teaplz: They’ve got the promotion on their main page currently with a little link to “get your friend sampler set” which, when clicked, will put it in the basket and then included in your purchases when you check out, but the price is $0.00.

teaplz

Thanks guys. I’ll be checking this out. I’m probably not seeing this because I haven’t yet ordered from Adagio. I’ve been planning on putting my first order in. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to get the savory sampler as a result (of not being a member sooner!).

LENA

great idea on the stirfry! oh yes. i will pass this idea off as my own. hahaha!

Cofftea

In addition to steeping it a full 5 min, make sure you’re using enough leaf. Try 2.25 per 6oz or 3g per 8oz.

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14
6105 tasting notes

Thanks to Awkward Soul for sending me a bit of this tea! I don’t think it’s particularly well-liked, but I was curious. Toasted sesame reminds me of Japanese desserts, and therefore makes my mouth water, but I’m anticipating disappointment.

The aroma of this one is… rather like a straight black tea. That sort of straight black tea I don’t particularly care for. (I really need to sample black teas from different regions so I can explain this better!) Even with a 4-minute infusion (5 minutes was recommended), I’m getting a fair bit of astringency. I really can’t taste anything but astringent black tea, to be honest. No sesame at all. Perhaps I’ll try the rest of my sample in a 3-minute infusion, but I have doubts that I will get anything good out of it. Ah well. I have a (tasty) 5th infusion of Verdant’s Aged Traditional Anxi Tieguanyin to make me feel better before bed!

Hrm. I feel like I’m being quite the harsh reviewer tonight, but I feel like I’ve had a lot of mediocre to bad tea tonight. Just one of those nights, I suppose!

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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69
61 tasting notes

I had a decently sized, well thought out comment on this tea. But then I got distracted, ate dinner, did some work, watch a little South Park, and realized I never finished or posted the note. And then we had a system update, so it was lost.
All in all it boiled down to this tea tastes like sesame seeds and it was delicious in that sense. But I’m not a huge fan of sesame, so I won’t drink it often.
Also, the dried leaves smell exactly like soy sauce, and maybe a little bit of peanut butter if you stick your nose in there deep and good. They look super oily too. Very odd.

Mike

eek…sorry about losing your post :( Hope the new features are worth it!

Seeing too many posts about this tea…it does seem…odd. Must…try…

teafiend

Oh, totally worth it! Other than the initial spam on my dashboard, I really like the cupboard idea.
Mostly my fault, I left it up for like about 2+ hrs.

Angrboda

Oh I hate when posts get eaten. Happened to me too the other day, although that was entirely my own fault. I think there is some sort of natural rule somewhere that says that the longer the post is, the more likely it is to disappear mysteriously, because I can’t recall ever having it happen with a new post. I’ve taken to writing my posts in Semagic now, which I also use for my LJ and then copy/pasting the whole thing over when I’m done. Especially if I know I’m going to be rambly.

takgoti

Between this and the artichoke tea I might be in for a rather bizarre purchase from adagio. After the holidays, perhaps.

Jillian

@Takgoti, There’s a special on Adagio right now that if you spend $19 you get a sample pack of the savory teas for free. That’s why we’re all trying them out at once. And don’t forget the Sweet Potato Pie tea. ;)

takgoti

WHAT? DAMN. Must. Not. Spend. MONEY.

Jillian

Doooo-eeeeet! :P

takgoti

I love how this is turning into you and me having conversations on everyone’s tasting notes. [I BLAME LIVE FEED.] It’s like we’re leaving little presents for everyone! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Steepsterites! Pls snd tea!

Jillian

Personally, I prefer to blame boredom. And yeah we’re totally turning this into a free-topic forum. :D

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60
358 tasting notes

This is one of those really unique teas that I find myself craving every once in awhile. The dry leaves smell really toasty and the tea smells warm and nutty. There is a light sesame seed finish that I wish it was a little stronger. For me, this is basically a nice black tea with a little sesame seed note at the end. A nice tea, but not one that I reach for everyday.

-Dry blend has medium shiny black tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell like toasted sesame seeds. Tea liquor aroma is nutty.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium reddish brown color with an oily sheen on top.
-Malty and nutty flavor and finish. Light toasted sesame seed aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Black tea with a toasty flavor.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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40
260 tasting notes

Auggy sent me some of this tea [because she’s awesome] and I was pretty excited to try it because I enjoy sesame.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to really get any sesame taste out of it. This is what my notes say:

Tastes bitter.
Sweet-ish aftertaste.
Bitter. Bitter. BITTER.
Didn’t get any sesame.
At all.
Boo.
Oh, wait, on the breath…? Yep. A bit. Not enough to be sating.
WTF?
…Am I broken?

I think that pretty much says it all.

I had enough for two cups. I tried the first one at 4:00 minute. The second time I tried this I moved the time down to 3:15.

Thanks for sending it, though, Auggy. Ah, well.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
Auggy

Aw, boo bitter! Sorry it didn’t work out for you. This one always makes me crave eel so I like it lots – but then I don’t get the bitter from it. If I did? Yeah, wouldn’t be a fan either! Actually, I think I do get a little bitter from it but it cancels out well with a little sugar and I do enjoy sugar. :) Oh well – even though it didn’t work out at least you can say you’ve had it! Yay!

All things green

I had a similar experience. I need to write a review soon.

takgoti

@Auggy Yeah, I was a little sad, but I’m definitely glad I got to try it. I think either bitter flavors tend to be louder to me than other people, or I’m not as good at picking out flavors from tea. Or some combination of both.

@All things green Ah good. I mean, not good, but it makes me glad that I’m not the only one.

Auggy

I’m sad for you, too. Aww, no eel tea. Hehe. I might end up avoiding some bitterness from some teas since I so rarely end up using boiling water. But that’s cause I’m too lazy/impatient to reboil the zo.

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