7 Tasting Notes

95

I’ve been saving the last 2-3 cups worth of this tea for MONTHS because I like it so much I don’t want to run out. I know, it’s silly. This morning, my partner said, “Tea wants to be drank. Give tea what it wants.” So I did.

This tea is just awesome. I’m amused by the “7% solution” jokes because it certainly FEELS like I’m jacked up way more than your average black tea blend should allow. Given that I’m a big fan of all 3 teas in this blend and like my caffeine kick, I suppose it’s no surprise that this knocks my socks off.

This was one of the first teas I bought from Adagio in my attempt to wean off coffee, and it remains probably the best coffee substitute tea I’ve tried. It gives you a nice smoky hefty wallop that doesn’t make you yearn for coffee’s earthiness, and it’s so delicious it reminds you of all the tremendous variety that tea can offer instead of coffee’s more narrow palette.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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76

Yum yum yum. I love that this tea really changes depending on how long you brew it. Longer, and the black teas leap to the forefront; shorter, and the green gets center stage. I tried for something a bit in the middle this time and was well pleased.

For all these reasons, it’s also one of my favorite “traveling” teas. Being largely a black tea fan with only occasional forays into green, this is a great one to take along because even if the best water you can get is the hot stuff from a water cooler, you’ll still get a tasty (and inevitably surprising) blend of flavors.

3 tsp tea x 12 oz water x 1/2 packet Stevia sweetener (= 1 tsp sugar)

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 15 sec

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70
drank Cha Cha by Adagio Teas
7 tasting notes

I dig it. Not as much as Foxtrot, no idea why. It’s suiting me well tonight, though, when I’m just wanting something a bit more complex than straight up chamomile but still need the relaxing components.

Side note: First cup of tea made with water from my brand-new UtiliTEA variable-temperature electric kettle from Adagio. Even though I’ve only used it once, I’m already dreading missing it on vacation a month from now…

3 tsp tea x 12 oz water x 1 Stevia sweetener (=2 tsps sugar)

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 45 sec

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89

Wow. I’ve had a number of “sleepytime”-type teas, and few of them actually have a soporific effect on me, but this tea makes me wonder whether there are sleeping pills ground up in it or something. I can be hanging from the ceiling by my fingernails, vibrating with anxiety, and by the end of this cup I’m comfortably drowsy and happy with the world.

The taste is nice enough that I don’t even sweeten it. It’s not a flavor combo I particularly crave, but it’s so well-blended that I enjoy picking out the various ingredients as they blossom on the tongue.

Basically, I plan on keeping some of this tea next to my anti-anxiety pills and muscle relaxants.

3 tsp tea x 12 oz water x 6 minutes, no sweetener.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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94

Sometimes, I worry that I’ll be unduly influenced by character blends and think the tea is tastier because I like the character. Though I’m a huge Moriarty fan, that is not a factor in this tea. It is explosive and awesome, by ANY name.

I should note that I regularly drink 100% ginger root infusions, so I have no problems with a huge wallop of spicy ginger. Moriarty WILL burn the heart out of you if you’re not so inclined.

This is one of my absolute favorite breakfast teas. Tasty, with a nice caffeine pop, and just the kind of warming, stimulating experience from start to finish that helps get me going for the day.

1 Tb tea to 12 oz water, plus a Stevia sweetener equal to 2 tsp sugar.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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67

A delicious choice for an evening (decaf) chai. It does really need sweetener to cut a particular taste in the blend, I think it’s the carob, that comes off a bit too thick and claylike for me unadulterated.

Like all of Townshend’s chais, it benefits hugely from their recommended preparation, including steeping the tea directly in a hot water/hot milk mixture rather than adding milk at the end. This is also a beautiful and calming thing to watch in my IngenuiTEA brewer: the broad variety of shapes of herbs and teas working their way through the progressively more caramel-colored milky bliss. It’s hard not to feel relaxed before even the first sip!

1 Tb tea, steeped in 8 oz. hot water + 4 oz. hot milk together for 6 minutes. I added a Stevia sweetener equal to 2 tsp sugar.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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34

My experiment in tasting several black teas is turning out to prove I haven’t got much of a palate to tell the difference. I found this one alright. It improved with a little sugar, and I liked the way it tasted much better once it had cooled drastically, almost to room temperature.

I’m a big lapsang souchong fan and was hoping the whole “famous smoky” thing would enrapture my tastebuds, but I honestly couldn’t taste it at all. May try a longer steep/more leaf to try to bring it out.

12 oz cup, 1 1/2 tsp leaf, 1 tsp sugar.

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

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Author. Geek. NIN fan. ASL student. Tattooed, pierced, and fauxhawked. Knitter. Am most of the letters in LGBTQI. Cat person. Learning to live with disabilities. Really, really, really into tea.

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