Adagio

Tea Review: Hazelnut

Black Tea

Name: Hazelnut

Type: Black

Region: Sri Lanka

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Sweet, Nutty Smell.  Reminds me of flavored coffee.

Review:

Finally, something that tastes as good as coffee smells! I like this tea in no small part because it reminds me of the flavored coffee  that always smells so delicious, but tastes so bad. A darker black tea, it tastes very warm and nutty. It has an amazingly smooth finish for a black tea, and has just a hint of sweetness that leaves you crazing more.  I like this extra strong, a really nice way to put a hop in your step on and a smile on your face, especially on a cold winter morning.

My Rating: 4 / 5

Tea of the Week – Caramel

Black Tea

Name: Caramel

Type: Black

Region: Unknown

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Sweet, sugary smell

Review:

A somewhat disappointing tea. You can definitely taste the caramel, but it isn’t the sweetness of the caramel, it’s the aftertaste.  It isn’t bad, just not sweet enough for my tastes.  It does have a fuller, roasted caramel flavor though, which is still nice. It smells delicious, and doesn’t taste bad. A decent tea, just a little bit of a tease for a sweet tooth like me.

My Rating:3 / 5

–brent

Tea of the Week – Keemun Concerto

Black Tea

Name: Keemun Concerto

Type: Black

Region: Anhui province of China

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $3 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Earthy, Sweet

Review:

Well, once again it seems I am apologizing for the long gap in between reviews, but I promise August will be better (no really!) I recently have tried a bunch of new teas and am really excited about reviewing them! First up is a really smooth black tea from Adagio.  It smells sweet and earthy before being brewed, and picks up just a hint of smokiness as it brews.  It brews up really nicely, the smooth warm, earthy taste of a quality black tea that I find myself preferring over the green tea I used to love so much. It has just a hint of a bitterness in the last seconds of the aftertaste, but it is hardly noticeable. A good tea, there is nothing remarkable about it, but it gets the job done when you need a good start to the day.
My Rating:

3 / 5

–brent

Tea of the Week – White Monkey

Green Tea

Name: White Monkey

Type: Green

Region: Fujian province, China

Bought At: Adagio

Price: $2 for a 10 cup sample

First Impressions: Looks like white tea, Sweet grassy smell

Review:

I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed this tea before as it is one of my all time favorites, ever since I received it in my first tea sampler.  It’s a green tea the shares many of the characteristics of a white tea.  A very smooth, subtle cup that is perfect in the afternoon for a gentle pick-me-up.  It has a sweetness similar to most white teas, but with a lightly stronger grassy undertone.  A great tea that I usually enjoy at least once a week! (Be especially careful not to overbrew!)

My Rating:

4.5 / 5

–brent

Adagio Maestro Collection Sneak Peek!

Misc.

Hey Everybody –
I am excited to let you know that I just got my free samples of adagio’s upcoming maestro collection!  I was chosen for a preview of the new collection of 8 premium teas they are releasing April 10th. I will be reviewing the first later this week – look for them!

–brent
 (Teageek.org Founder)

P.S. – If your interested in ordering these before they are “officially” released, you can check them out here: http://www.adagio.com/maestro/ (Shh, don’t tell)

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!