Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Product Description:
Jasmine Phoenix Pearls are perfumy, hand-rolled jewels of tea from Fuding, in Fujian province, China. Any fan of jasmine tea should try this specially crafted wonder. When added to hot water, Jasmine Phoenix Pearls majestically unfurl, releasing their delicate scent and flavor. Also known as ‘Jasmine Dragon Pearls’, their liquor is sweet and almost sugary. Very soft, airy mouthfeel. The delicate quality of the flavor is due in part to the leaves used to produce this tea: two tender, tiny new leaves and one plump unopened leaf bud. Younger leaves will yield softer flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a little bit like my revisiting a tea, because I did previously review Jasmine Pearls from Adagio. However, since these are loose pearls, and my review was of Adagio’s sacheted Jasmine Pearls – which were part of Adagio Teas’ lovely Artisan Comfort gift box – I feel like I can get away with revisiting this one.
And as you are probably aware by now (assuming that you’ve been reading my blog regularly!), I adore Jasmine Pearls!
I brewed these pearls in my gaiwan and I combined the first five infusions in my designated especially for Jasmine Tea Yixing Mug. And what a lovely experience these Jasmine Phoenix Pearls from Adagio offer! The jasmine notes are soft and sweet and exotic. The green tea has a fresh, subtle vegetal tone that marries beautifully with the flowery essence that has been imparted onto the tender tea leaves by the jasmine flower.
And the fragrance is heavenly! Every time I lift the lid of my Yixing mug and raise it to my lips, my nose is enchanted by the aroma of jasmine and green tea. It’s so wonderfully perfumed without coming across as something you’d find in a bottle of perfume. It doesn’t come across as something that belongs at a department store cologne counter. It is light, airy … almost like a sweet breeze that has been delicately scented with the flower as it passed through the vines of a jasmine plant. So beautiful!
The sip begins with the sweet notes of jasmine that wash over the palate, and as my taste buds experience the soft floral notes, they start to also pick up on the notes of lush green tea. Not really grassy, and there isn’t a heavy vegetative flavor. Instead it just has a soft “green” sort of flavor. It has a soft, silky texture and there’s a hint of buttery flavor to it. The flavor remains smooth through to the finish, and there’s very little notable astringency. The aftertaste is sweet with floral tones.
A really good Jasmine!
Autumn Chai Custom Blend from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
This blend combines candy apple tea with spiced apple chai and caramel tea for an autumn explosion! Add sugar for a Halloween treat too. I added a pinch of cinnamon black tea and this chai completely rocked! If you’ve got some cinnamon tea on hand, add it for an extra kick; or blend freshly ground cinnamon for an autumn adventure.
A Carolynne Keenan Custom Blend.
Learn more about this custom blend here.
Find more Carolynne Keenan blends here.
Taster’s Review:
As I was brewing this Autumn Chai Custom Blend (created by Carolynne Keenan) from Adagio Teas, I was surprised by the scent of apple! Yeah, it says in the description that there is Spiced Apple Chai in the blend, but, with the other ingredients, I didn’t expect the apple to offer such a prominent fragrance.
I could also smell notes of cinnamon, cloves and ginger, with the cinnamon being the most pronounced of those aromatic spices. The brewed tea smells strongly of spice with hints of apple in the background.
This is pretty good. As I’ve said more than once before, I’m not crazy about the black tea base that Adagio uses as it tends to come off tasting harsh. And even though the custom blends seem to be less harsh (and sometimes not very harsh at all), I’m getting some of that harshness here. Not as much as if I were drinking one of the single flavored teas from Adagio (as opposed to the custom blends), but, there is still some of that brash astringency to this cup.
Fortunately, that harsh note isn’t too aggressive, and I am enjoying the other flavors that this drink has to offer. The cinnamon and other spices are fairly well-balanced. The cinnamon is the strongest flavor, but it doesn’t overwhelm the other spices. I taste notes of ginger, clove and cardamom. Then I get a smooth, silky sweet note of caramel. Mmm! The apple comes through shortly after I notice the caramel. In the distance, I notice a bright note of orange.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable chai. Not my favorite, because even though the harshness isn’t terribly assertive, the fact that I’m detecting it means that I’d rather it not be there. And the orange … while it does perk up the cup a little bit, it seems a little out of place. It is certainly tasty though and something I’d be willing to drink again.
Wonderland Custom Tea Blend from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
As part of the Wonderland series of tea, this blend mixes spearmint, cinnamon and candy cane for a refreshing – if bit mad – concoction of tea. The taste is extraordinary; minty, mad and yet crazy fun – just like Wonderland.
A Carolynne Keenan Custom Blend.
Learn more about this custom blend here.
Find more Carolynne Keenan blends here.
Taster’s Review:
The name of this Wonderland Custom Tea Blend from Adagio Teas designed by Carolynne Keenan is what interested me about this blend. I’m a fan of Alice in Wonderland, so I was intrigued by this blend. I don’t know if I would have selected the Cinnamon, Candy Cane and Spearmint teas to create a blend called Wonderland, I guess because in my mind, they seem to go together so well, and I would think that Wonderland would be a bit more wacky.
That said, this blend is very tasty. A really good balance of flavors has been achieved. It’s got a zesty flavor from the cinnamon, but not too much. There’s a fresh, minty flavor from the peppermint and spearmint, and a sweetness from the candy cane notes and it all melds in a way that is very pleasing to the palate. It’s got a crisp, lively flavor to it.
And while I do taste the black tea, it’s more of a background note and not a real dominating force in this cup. And given some of my past experiences with Adagio’s black tea base, I’d say that not experiencing that harshness from the black tea is all for the better. It’s a good thing!
I drank about half a cup of this without any additions, and then I tried a full cup with about a half a teaspoon of sugar. I found that the sugar really brought out the candy cane-ishness of this tea, and I enjoyed that. It’s good without sugar, but better with just a little bit of sugar to bring the candy cane flavors to life.
Chocolate Chip Black Tea from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
Dark chocolate chips melt into the infusion of this Ceylon black tea to create the ultimate coupling of two taste bud tantalizers. Dense and soft chocolate flavor – seriously, for a second you think you’re just eating a bag of cookies! Clean, slightly tangy finish brings you back to tea, and the balanced astringency compliments the dark chocolate nicely.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have often said that I’m not a big fan of the flavored black teas from Adagio Teas. And since this Chocolate Chip Black Tea from Adagio Teas is exactly that – a flavored black tea from Adagio Teas – I took extra care when I brewed it. I steeped it for just 2 1/2 minutes, hoping that this was what was needed to keep the harshness of the black tea to a minimum.
I still taste a little bit of that harshness that I usually taste with the flavored black teas from Adagio Teas … but it isn’t as harsh as some of the other experiences I’ve had with other flavored black teas from this company.
Just out of curiosity, I made a quick stop at Steepster to find out if others liked this one. And based upon my quick glance, it would seem that other Steepsterites experience much of what I am: a sweet, vanilla-y undertone with a luscious chocolate-y high note. And it would also seem that the key to keeping this from tasting too bitter is to not oversteep. However, even at 2 1/2 minutes, I am noticing some bitter notes and some of the aforementioned harshness, although, as I said, this isn’t as harsh or off-putting as some of the other flavored blacks.
I really wish that Adagio would rethink their black tea base. Ceylon teas tend to be – typically – a fairly moderate, mild-mannered tea, but I have to admit that the Ceylon that Adagio uses as their base for their flavored teas is an exception to what I know as Ceylon. This is an “ill-tempered” Ceylon, and I find that as I continue to sip, the harshness seems to build.
A splash of milk reduces the harshness further, making this a good choice for a latte. In fact, that’s my favorite way to consume this tea – with an ample bit of milk, it tastes a bit like a hot chocolate! That said, I find it difficult to recommend this tea, because as a tea drinker, we shouldn’t be trying to drown out the harshness of a tea with additions.
Kind of sad. This would be a much tastier tea if the base was not so brutally harsh.
One Tart Queen of Hearts Custom Blend from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
From the Wonderland series, this is One Tart Queen of Hearts! The flavor isn’t as tart as the name would lead you to believe. A fun medley of cherry green (40 percent), raspberry green (40 percent) and pomegranate green (20 percent) teas make up this ode to one of childhood’s favorite characters. If you don’t like too tart teas, try with sweetener (sugar or Splenda).
A Carolynne Keenan Custom Blend.
Learn more about this custom blend here.
Find more of Carolynne Keenan blends here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really tasty. Despite the name of the tea – One Tart Queen of Hearts – a custom blend from Adagio Teas as created by Carolynne Keenan, it isn’t as tart as I thought it would be. It is tart, but it’s not pucker-y or sour.
I’m learning that I prefer the green teas from Adagio versus the black teas, which tend to be just a bit on the harsh side. With this green tea blend, though, I’m not experiencing any of the usual brash taste that I get from many of Adagio’s black teas. This green tea base is light and slightly buttery and adds a hint of sweet, vegetal flavor to this fruity blend.
The fruit flavors come together in a very harmonious way. I taste mostly raspberry and cherry, with only hints of pomegranate, but, I like the way these three fruit notes unite. It’s a little more tart than sweet, however, I kind of expected that from the name of the blend, you know?
But it’s not TOO tart. I tend to have kind of a sensitive palate when it comes to tarty, sour flavors, and I don’t really care for teas (or anything, really) that are too tart. I’m talking that it’s so sour that I pucker when I take a sip. Not into that. I know that there are lots of people out there who dig on that, but I’m not one of them. So, I’m happy that while this blend created by Carolynne Keenan is tart, it’s not overwhelmingly so.
A really tasty blend. I’d definitely drink it again!