Now something unsweet to get me back on track.
I first encountered Black Dragon Pearls at Teavana years ago. I fell in love with them. So yummy, so malty, so chocolatey, so good. I was addicted. In fact, for awhile that was my breakfast tea, every day. They were that good. I use 6 pearls usually, which is about twice as many as suggested.
Sadly, they don’t have them anymore. They will tell you that Golden Monkey is the same tea, but I don’t think so.
I haven’t had them for quite some time now, & I think I’m on a quest to discover who has the best pearls. Maybe I’ll never find pearls that taste THAT good, maybe it’s a myth my mind created, maybe it was just where I was at at that time that made them seem so special…just my imagination?
Anyway, Adagio’s pearls are nicely tasty. A little malt, a little chocolate, a pleasant full mouth.
I guess I’m gonna order some pearls from Mandala & TeaVivre, & whoever else has them for comparison.
Let the quest begin!

JacquelineM

I heard Teavivre’s are very very good and more reasonably priced than Teavana. I was a Teavana Black Dragon Pearl lover too.

Uniquity

I really like the Teavivre dragon pearls, though for me they can have a slight hint of leather, malt and smoke more than chocolate. I still love them though! Davids Tea has some jasmine scented black pearls which are delish but VERY expensive, so probably not the best idea to fall in love with.

moraiwe

thepuriTea has some pretty amazing Red Dragon Pearls. Really malty with sweet and earthy notes.

Terri HarpLady

Yum! I just visited thepuriTea site, I’ll have to loiter there soon, & definitely gonna have to get some of their pearls to add to the comparison.
I’ll probably pass on the one’s from David’s. I’ve got plenty of Jasmine flavored teas already :)

Terri HarpLady

Just for the record, I steeped these for 5 minutes. The 2nd steep for 6 was also quite tasty.

Sil

nooooo jasmine blacks terri! lol

Terri HarpLady

Huh? YOu want me to get them Sil?

Sil

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no jasmine is ICKY

Terri HarpLady

LOL, that’s what I thought you meant! hahaha

JacquelineM

Thanks for the tip about thepuriTea, moraiwe! I just placed an order for lots and lots of pearls! I can’t wait to try them!

tea-sipper

Tealux.ca and zentealife.com both have black pearls I LOVE. Though I haven’t had any others yet, so I don’t know how they compare.

Terri HarpLady

Great to know, TeaSipper! I’ll probably check theirs out as well!

Sixie

I’m not sure if I have a different crop or something… but my black dragon peals from Adagio have almost no flavor at all! Its shocking, I can double up the tea and melt them for 5 minutes+ with boiling water and the resulting brew is always so thin and flavorless. I even threw 5 of them in the gaiwan to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Don’t know whats going on with mine… The tea itself doesn’t taste bad or anything its just completely weak and mediocre — to be perfectly honest I am disappointed. I’ve been throwing handfulls of them in with iced tea blends to get rid of them :/

Part of me feels like I have a different crop from everyone else because the reviews are so high. I ordered mine in lets see… February of this year.

Terri HarpLady

That’s a bummer, Sixie.

Sixie

Nah, not a big deal, and if anything its helping out with the iced tea blends. As we all know, there are plenty of other teas to drink out there!

TeaLady441

Thanks Teasipper – will have to try the Tealux ones!

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Comments

JacquelineM

I heard Teavivre’s are very very good and more reasonably priced than Teavana. I was a Teavana Black Dragon Pearl lover too.

Uniquity

I really like the Teavivre dragon pearls, though for me they can have a slight hint of leather, malt and smoke more than chocolate. I still love them though! Davids Tea has some jasmine scented black pearls which are delish but VERY expensive, so probably not the best idea to fall in love with.

moraiwe

thepuriTea has some pretty amazing Red Dragon Pearls. Really malty with sweet and earthy notes.

Terri HarpLady

Yum! I just visited thepuriTea site, I’ll have to loiter there soon, & definitely gonna have to get some of their pearls to add to the comparison.
I’ll probably pass on the one’s from David’s. I’ve got plenty of Jasmine flavored teas already :)

Terri HarpLady

Just for the record, I steeped these for 5 minutes. The 2nd steep for 6 was also quite tasty.

Sil

nooooo jasmine blacks terri! lol

Terri HarpLady

Huh? YOu want me to get them Sil?

Sil

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no jasmine is ICKY

Terri HarpLady

LOL, that’s what I thought you meant! hahaha

JacquelineM

Thanks for the tip about thepuriTea, moraiwe! I just placed an order for lots and lots of pearls! I can’t wait to try them!

tea-sipper

Tealux.ca and zentealife.com both have black pearls I LOVE. Though I haven’t had any others yet, so I don’t know how they compare.

Terri HarpLady

Great to know, TeaSipper! I’ll probably check theirs out as well!

Sixie

I’m not sure if I have a different crop or something… but my black dragon peals from Adagio have almost no flavor at all! Its shocking, I can double up the tea and melt them for 5 minutes+ with boiling water and the resulting brew is always so thin and flavorless. I even threw 5 of them in the gaiwan to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Don’t know whats going on with mine… The tea itself doesn’t taste bad or anything its just completely weak and mediocre — to be perfectly honest I am disappointed. I’ve been throwing handfulls of them in with iced tea blends to get rid of them :/

Part of me feels like I have a different crop from everyone else because the reviews are so high. I ordered mine in lets see… February of this year.

Terri HarpLady

That’s a bummer, Sixie.

Sixie

Nah, not a big deal, and if anything its helping out with the iced tea blends. As we all know, there are plenty of other teas to drink out there!

TeaLady441

Thanks Teasipper – will have to try the Tealux ones!

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Bio

I’m so excited to have found this community! I’m a self-employed Harpist (acoustic & electric – Originals, Classical, Rock, Jazz, etc) & Singer/Songwriter. My days & nights revolve around teaching at home, playing gigs, gardening,& fixing awesome food to eat. My schedule is different everyday, but I just go with the flow, & I sip a lot of tea!

My love of Tea began with Herbals back in the 70’s. One of my favorites was a licorice blend from House of Hezekiah, an old tea shop in Kansas City. There was also a tea with mint, rose petals, chamomile, etc called Nuclear Casual Tea.
In the 80’s I gave up caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, (& a few illicit substances…), and brewed medicinal blends & tinctures to support 4 pregnancies (all children born at home). In the 90’s my love affair with green teas began when I discovered ‘The Republic of Tea’. Their beautiful teas & packaging inspired my original song, “TeaMind”, from my CD “Zen Breakfast”. If you’d like to hear the song for free, drop by my website.

In general, I drink my teas straight, but occasionally I add a pinch of Stevia & maybe some coconut or almond milk (I’m allergic to dairy, gluten, & various other things & avoid most sweets.)

I’ve explored a variety of teas:
Whites tend to be a little bland…sorry
Oolongs – wonderfully sensual
Roobios – I’m not a fan in general
Puehr – a fairly new direction for me
I’m not a huge fan of flavored teas, but I do make exceptions, & I’ll try just about anything once.

And Black Tea, Oh how I love thee!!
I am on a quest for the most wonderful breakfast cup! I will find you, my Love!

Location

St. Louis, MO

Website

http://www.harpsinger.net

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