Tea of the Week – Casablanca Twist

Green Tea

Name:  Casablanca Twist

Type:  Green

Region:  Darjeeling, India

Bought At:  Adagio

Price:  $3 for a 10 cup sample

First Impressions:  Minty aroma

Review:

My second tea this month is a green from adagio: Casablanca Twist.  I didn’t really know anything about this tea before I tried it, and was surprised by its minty flavor.  It has a very smooth, light green tea feeling to it and by far the biggest taste you get is that of mint – peppermint to be exact.  I learned it is a “twist” (pun intended) on the older Moroccan Mint which uses gunpowder instead of Darjeeling as the base.  I would be interested to try Moroccan to see the difference between the two.  It isn’t overpowering like some mint herbal teas, just a cool feeling after you have taken a sip.  Overall it was pretty good, definitely refreshing.  It would probably make an interesting iced tea. While it was a good mint tea, mint really isn’t my favorite; but others who enjoy mint more might like it better.

My Rating:
2.5 / 5

Tea of the Week

Name: Casablanca Twist

Type: Green

Region: Darjeeling, India

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $3 for a 10 cup sample

First Impressions: Minty aroma

Review:

My second tea this month is a green from adagio: Casablanca Twist. I didn’t really know anything about this tea before I tried it, and was surprised by its minty flavor. It has a very smooth, light green tea feeling to it and by far the biggest taste you get is that of mint – peppermint to be exact. I learned it is a “twist” (pun intended) on the older Moroccan Mint which uses gunpowder instead of Darjeeling as the base. I would be interested to try Moroccan to see the difference between the two. It isn’t overpowering like some mint herbal teas, just a cool feeling after you have taken a sip. Overall it was pretty good, definitely refreshing. It would probably make an interesting iced tea. While it was a good mint tea, mint really isn’t my favorite; but others who enjoy mint more might like it better.

My Rating:

2.5 / 5

Tea of the Week – Citron Green

Green Tea

Name: Citron Green

Type: Green

Region: Unknown

Bought At: Adagio

Price: 2$ for a 10 cup sample

First Impressions: Amazing sweet citrus smell

Review:

The second month of my tea reviews, February will be a month of green. To start out I decided on one of my all time favorites that I just got back in: Citron Green. The most amazing thing about this tea is by far its smell, probably the best smelling tea I have tried. Its taste follows up and doesn’t disappoint like last week’s Blood Orange. The delicate blend of the sweet citrus and the mellow green tea makes this taste just wonderful. It finishes off with just a hint of a smoky finish, leaving you with a very pleasant aftertaste, something a lot of teas lack. It also holds up well to multiple brewing, making it a great choice for mornings at the office. Overall, it’s my second favorite tea of all time. There’s just not too much more to say, except I think I’ll go make another cup.

My Rating:
4.5 / 5

Tea of the Week – Blood Orange

Black Tea, Reviews

Name: Blood Orange

Type:  Black

Region:  Ceylon Region of China

Bought At: Tea Gschwendner

Price:  50g for $4.90

First Impressions: Strong citrus smell, lots of orange pieces

Review:

The final tea in the first month of my tea tasting experiment came from a new company to me, Tea Gschwendner.  A German company that has a wide variety of tea, I hadn’t heard of them until I received this and a few other teas for Christmas from a coworker.  (As a side note I love tea as a present because you can give / get something that you wouldn’t normally try)  As for this particular tea, I was a little disappointed.  It has an almost overpowering citrus scent, but the actual citrus flavor left much to be desired.  It was a decent tea, but compared to the scent it gives off it was very tame.  There was almost no orange flavor and the Ceylon tea they used as a base isn’t remarkable.  It calls for a shorter steep time than I would normal do, but didn’t get bitter when I left it in a little longer than they recommend.  Overall it was a decent tea, but nothing to write home about.

My Rating:

2.5 / 5

Tea of the Week – Earl Grey Bravo

Black Tea

Name:  Earl Grey Bravo

Type:  Black

Region:  Yunnan region of China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a 10 cup sample

First Impressions:  Strong Citrus Smell

Review:

Wow!  This was a lot better than I was expecting.  Maybe because of the poor reputation for tea and England in the States, I always thought that “Earl Grey” would be dull and bland.  How wrong I was!  The sweet citrus smell given off by the tea leads to an equally pleasing taste.  Definitely the most tasteful black tea of the Adagio sampler I have been going through.  I wish I could tell you how it tasted with a little milk and sugar, I enjoyed it so much plain that I didn’t want to try it!  Probably the Black tea I will be recommending to new tea drinkers, not once did I get even a hint of bitterness off it.

My Rating: 4/5

Tea of the Week – Yunnan Jig

Black Tea

Name:  Yunnan Jig

Type:  Black

Region:  Yunnan region of China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $3 for a 10-cup sample

First Impressions:  Sweet Smelling, Large Leaves

Review:

My second attempt at new black teas was Yunnan Jig.  After the pleasant surprise of enjoying last week’s English Breakfast so much, maybe my expectations were just too high.  Yunnan Jig had a little bit sweeter smell than some black teas, but other than that nothing really jumped out at me.  It wasn’t too bitter, although it did have the slight hint that accompanies some black teas.  There just didn’t seem to be anything going for it.   I was also disappointed that there was no sweetness that I was expecting given its aroma.  While I didn’t mind drinking it, it wasn’t something that I was really enjoying either.  Definitely a mellow black tea, I found it a little lacking.

My Rating:  2 / 5

Tea of the Week – English Breakfast

Black Tea

Name: English Breakfast

Type: Black

Region: Anhui region of China

Bought At: Adagio.com

Price: $3 for a 10-cup sample

First Thoughts: Strong, Dark

Review:

While I normally enjoy lighter teas – green being my favorite, I decided to try some black teas this month and my first pick was adagio’s “English Breakfast.”  From first brew you can tell it is a strong black tea.  It had a very strong aroma – not sweet at all, but still pleasant.  It tasted a lot like what you would expect.  It isn’t sweet like the green teas I have tried, but it also didn’t have quite as much “bite” as some other black teas.  I found that I enjoyed it best as a pick me up in the morning.  I also really enjoyed it in the afternoon with just a little bit of milk and sugar.  The milk and sugar really ease out the last hint of bitterness and make for a really smooth cup.  It actually reminded me quite a bit of coffee, and might make for a good “transition tea” for anybody trying to switch.  One note: be careful when you brew it, even a little extra time can make it very bitter very fast.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

Tea of the Week

Reviews

One of the things I wanted to use this blog for was as a way for me to share my love of tea. Along those lines I will be trying something new this year.   I will be trying and reviewing a different tea every week. The plan is to try a different tea at the beginning of every week and post an article about it every Wednesday.  Look for my first attempt later this week – English Breakfast from adagio.

Great Gifts for Tea Lovers

Reviews

You’ll have to hurry, but adagio tea has some great gift ideas for anybody that likes tea.

I am a huge fan of their IngenuiTEA tea maker and use it almost every day.  You can get it as a gift set with a sample of some of their teas (choose Black, Green, Flavored or Herbal) and a great book about tea.  They also have several other gift sets with more traditional tea pots and kettles.  If you’ve got a lot of money to spend, their TriniTEA electric tea maker looks interesting, although I’ve never used it myself.

If you don’t know anything about tea, or just don’t know your friends’ taste in tea, their gift certificates are great and let them pick their own personal favorites.  I’ve given these to several people where I work and they have always been a big hit.

Oh, did I mention that they are on sale? – 30% off the IngeniTEA maker set!