Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Adagio’

My general aversion to bananas goes back to one greasy teenage summer schlepping banana splits at the Dairy Queen; I’d come home with fiber under my nails and reeking of overripe peels. (To this day, I won’t eat one raw—playing the “it’s a texture thing” card.) Thus, you’ll understand why I approached this tea with a bit of caution.

The first thing that struck me was how pretty this tea is. Heavy on the chamomile flowers, it would be pretty in a potpourri jar. (If you’re a fan of Adagio’s Foxtrot, it’s similar in character, minus the peppermint.) A test sniff didn’t turn me off; didn’t seem too heavy on the banana, so I gave it a go–about a teaspoon per cup, an approximate boil, an approximate five minutes, and …

…wow! The chamomile, banana, and coconut work really nicely together–you can’t really taste where one ends and the other begins. It’s difficult to pick out the other goodies individually, but they blend to make a really pretty red cup of herbal sweetness.

I downed half of my first test batch to prime myself for mowing the lawn; then iced down the rest to reward myself for doing so. Of course, the tea lost a little bit of strength on ice, but that can be remedied next time by upping the steeping strength. I can see Banana Dulce as a base for some add-ins–maybe orange juice or pineapple juice–for some nice, cool summer sipping.

You can purchase the Banana Dulce directly from the Art of Tea website.

The leaves are small and black. The dry leaf smell is of tea, a really good quality Ceylon tea. I can smell the tiniest hint of green? Can this be possible in a Ceylon black tea?

I brewed up 2 tsp. in the ingenuiTEA by Adagio for 2 minutes. The tea package clearly indicates that brewing over 3 minutes will produce a bitter cup of tea. The leaves danced around in the hot water.

First sip note: This is not bitter. It is smooth, amber in color and smells like I think black tea should. It’s the kind of smell that invokes memories of yesterdays gone by, the sound of someone mowing the grass, the smell of fresh cut grass. I know this is a black tea, but I do detect a bit of “green” in there also. The wet leaves do have a green hue to them. You take a sip of tea, it is not flavored with anything other than tea leaves. This is a simple tea that does not require milk or sugar.

Added ice and WOW! Decided to do a second infusion and put in my iced tea pitcher for later this afternoon. It is nice hot, but the Pekoe flavor really pops when this tea is ice cold.

You can purchase the Organic Ceylon Tea directly from the Leaf Spa Tea website.

I was surprised at the size of this infuser. It is small. When you see it online, it looks really big. Filling it to the brim gets 16 ounces in the infuser. In reality, you are only making 12-15 ounces of tea with this infuser.

Now, I have water and tea leaves in the infuser. I wait the prescribed amount of time depending on the type of tea. A word of caution here, make sure the cup you intend to use is large enough to hold 12-16 ounces of tea and that the brim of the cup is as wide as the bottom of this infuser. When the tea is ready, place the infuser over your cup and gravity does all the work. Thank you Sir Isaac Newton! When you lift the infuser off your cup, the mechanism closes. No drips.

Here are a list of pros and cons to help you decide if the IngenuiTEA is right for you:

Pros
It is clear, you can watch the agony of the leaves as they unfurl. And with it clear, you can easily get it clean.
With it being gravity fed, it is effortless to pour a cup of tea.
The IngenuiTEA is microwave and dishwasher safe. I personally would never put it in either appliance, but you could if you wanted.
This is great for using loose leaf tea to make iced tea. It fits right on top of my iced tea pitcher.

Cons:
It is plastic.
The lid does not come off, so it sits at an angle in the drain board.

I would recommend this to any tea drinker. It makes the using of loose leaves easy and fun. This is great for anyone who travels or wants to make great tasting tea at work. The IngenuiTEA is smart looking. It would certainly start a conversation about tea.

You can purchase the IngenuiTEA directly from the Adagio website.

Let me start by saying, I am not a coffee drinker. For me, the tea I choose to drink throughout the day will be dependent on my mood. This tea would be one that I would use to start my day, as I think it has the ability to give you that initial morning burst that many people claim to get from that first pot of java.

My first impression of any teas is usually in the form of smell. I was a little surprised to find the aroma of the Yunnan Noir to be earthy in nature, as I was expecting a soft and supple aroma. I do like teas that are full bodied and stronger in taste!

The tea leaves were noticeably large in size, and looked like they had been tightly rolled up, possibly to keep in their flavor. This tea has a woodsy smoked flavor bordering on bitter, but not quite. It has an almost rustic taste. As with many of the other teas that I consume on a daily basis, I added milk and 2 sugars. I don’t think I would drink this after a fine meal or sitting down at the end of the day.

I think, for anyone trying to transition from coffee to tea, this will hit the spot, unlike many of the store bought nationally branded products I used to buy!

I would definitely drink it again, without hesitation. If you are looking for something to give you a little pick me up, it will fit the bill.

You can purchase Adagio Yunnan Noir directly from their website.

Click here to enter the Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest

We are taking a brief break from reviews to help Steepster in getting the word out about this amazing contest! Why? Because in our opinion the tea community has never been hit with a contest of this magnitude before.

Steepster announced on Monday the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest – and I have to say, I have NEVER seen such a prize package for tea lovers as this!

Headlined with the much lauded Sorapot by Joey Roth, this prize package contains over $825 worth of tea and tea accessories from companies such as: Adagio, TeaFrog, Maeda-en, Golden Moon Tea, Art of Tea, Pearl Fine Teas, 52 Teas, Teas Etc, Earth Bound Tea, Tavalon, and Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea.

It is simple to enter, just visit the Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest page, and follow the simple directions. No long winded essays to write, no video testimonials, just a simple tweet or discussion reply, and you are in.

Steepster is a site that “helps you keep an online log of the teas you drink”. You can keep track of your teas, rate them, make tasting notes, and share them with your friends and followers. It is a great place to discover new teas, and share your passion of tea.

I personally had a chance to speak with Jason Roos, one of the founders of Steepster, and they are excited to be offering not only this amazing contest, but specials and features of tea companies of all size and shape through their Steepster Select program – a daily showcase of deals and favorites, a new one posted every day.

So head on over and enter the Steepster Ultimate Holiday Tea Gift Contest.