Review

Tea of the Week – Mambo

Black Tea

Name: Mambo

Type:  Black

Region:  Yunnan and Wuyi regions of China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $3 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Large leaves for Black Tea, Pleasant earthy smell

Review:

A black tea I haven’t tried before, Mambo is marketed as similar to the Mamba Dance which “originated from the fusion of Cuban and American Jazz.”  While I don’t know about being “jazz infused”, this is a decent cup of tea.  A solid black tea with a strong earthy flavor, this isn’t a tea for those who like lighter teas.  Be careful because it gets very bitter if brewed even a little too long, but when brewed correctly is a pleasant tea.  I wish I had some milk to try with it because I think it would stand up well and smooth out the flavor a little.  Overall, good but not a new favorite.

My Rating:

3 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Xue Ya Ballad

Green Tea

Name: Xue Ya Ballad

Type:  Green

Region:  Keemun, China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Gentle Grassy Smell, looks similar to a white monkey leaf but smaller

Review:

My first unflavored green in a while, Xue Ya Ballad was just okay.  It wasn’t as light as I was expecting, and reminded me more of a gunpowder green than a white monkey green.  Not really bad it lacked the smokiness that I like in darker greens.  It had a hint of nutiness, but also just a twinge of bitterness in the end.  It’s possible that I over steeped it, and will try it again, but all in all a little disapointing.  Given a name with the grandiose of “Xue Ya Ballad” I was expecting a little more.

My Rating: 2 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Raspberry Green

Green Tea

Name: Raspberry Green

Type:  Green

Region:  China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Sweet and fruity, smells good!

Review:

I was really nervous about trying this week’s tea for a couple reasons.  First, the last  fruit tea I tried (Cherry Green) was absolutely terrible, and second, I love raspberries.  When I was growing up my parents owned a raspberry stand and ever since they have been one of my favorite fruits, and I was really excited about finding a good raspberry tea.  Luckily, Adagio nailed this one.  The tea is both sweet and a little tart, just like its namesake fruit.  The fruity flavors blend well with the mellow green they used as the base.  I found it interesting that they also included the raspberry leaves in the tea.  I’m not sure why they did that (If anyone at adagio reads this feel free to fill me in), but it seems to have worked.  A solid tea that nailed my personal tastes, try some!

My Rating: 4 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Cherry Green

Green Tea

Name: Cherry Green

Type:  Green

Region:  China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Two Words – Cough Syrup

Review:

Wow!  I very rarely come across a tea that I have trouble finishing at least one cup, but this pushed it!  It tasted sweet, but was more like cough syrup than anything, and I HATE cherry cough syrup!  I think it really is the overpowering smell that brings it such a similarity to medicine.  I did think it interesting that they had whole dried cherries in the tea, but that was really the only think that was remotely positive about this.  It gets half a point only becasue I was able to force the rest of the cup down.  In my opinion: stay away!

Side note: If you are one who likes the flavor of cough syrup, you might really enjoy this, but you are weird.

My Rating:

.5 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Apricot Green

Green Tea

Name: Apricot Green

Type:  Green

Region:  China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions: Wonderful sweet and fruity smell

Review:

My first review in a loong time, apricot green was really good.  The smell of the leaves and brewed tea are both awesome without being overpowering.  The tea itself was good, a nice sweet hint of apricots on top of a mellow green tea.  It reminded me a lot of one of my all time favorites, citron green.  The biggest difference between this and citron is the apricot flavor was much more subtle, and a little sweeter.  Overall a good tea, and hopefully a good start to blogging again!

My Rating:
3 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – White Symphony

White Tea

Name: White Symphony

Type:  White

Region:  Fujian province, China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a five cup sample

First Impressions:  Large leaves, looks like white peony

Review:

Upon visiting Adagio’s website I found out why white symphony and white peony looked so much alike to me – white symphony is a type of white peony tea.  Like the other white peony, this tea is very mellow and smooth.  I actually think that it has slightly subtler flavors than the other peony, which, until now I wouldn’t have thought possible without tasting watery.  It does however manage to do this, and quite well.  I feel like I should not give this a 3 / 5 rating because that is where all the white teas I have tried landed so far, but it really is in the same category:  just above average, good, but definitely nothing  overly exciting.  Three it is!

My Rating:
3 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – White Peony

White Tea

Name: White Peony

Type:  White

Region:  Fujian province, China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a five cup sample

First Impressions:  Large leaves, some covered in white but not all

Review:

The second white tea from my sampler, I thought this would be very similar to snowbud.  In some ways it was – light tones sweet smelling before brewed.  What surprised me is it isn’t sweet like snowbud.  Instead it has a not-quite-smoky flavor that reminded me more of green tea.  It definitely had a noticeable flavor to it, as opposed to some white teas that are so light they only hint at a flavor.  It is good, and the smokiness was a nice change up from the other white teas I have tried.

My Rating:
3 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Snowbud

White Tea

Name: Snowbud

Type:  White

Region:  Fujian province, China

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $2 for a five cup sample

First Impressions:  Large leaves, with interesting white “hair” on them

Review:

The first of four white teas that I am trying, snowbud was a good start.  It has very subtle flavors, really weak compared to a green or even a oolong tea.  Drinking it I feel the smoothness of it more than anything else.  Even though it doesn’t have a strong flavor per say, it is a really enjoyable drink.  It leaves a smooth warm feeling for quite  a while after you have finished it.  I enjoyed it, I think I will be able to judge it a little better after I have tried some of the other white teas.

My Rating:
3 / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Darjeeling #22

Black Tea

Name: Darjeeling #22

Type:  Black

Region:  Darjeeling, India

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $3 for a ten cup sample

First Impressions:  Sweet smelling, like fresh straw

Review:

Well, last week I finished up my samples from adagio, so now it is back to some tea I was going to review earlier.  I have a white tea sampler that I will be starting next week, but this week I thought I would slip in a black tea I like: Darjeeling #22.  Interesting note: I found out that a lot of tea marketed as “Darjeeling” actually doesn’t come from that region, they just use the name because it is so popular.  The tea was mellow for a black tea, with a roasted scent and flavor.  There really was no hint of bitterness in the aftertaste, something I find myself appreciating more and more.  Overall, a good cup, but nothing amazing.

My Rating:
3  / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

Tea of the Week – Fujian Jasmine Pearl

Oolong Tea

Name: Fujian Jasmine Pearl

Type:  Oolong

Region:  Taiwan

Bought At:  Adagio.com

Price:  $29 for maestro sampler set (4 teas)

First Impressions:  “Pearl” shaped leaves, floral smell

Review:

Another first for me, I’ve never had a Jasmine tea before.  The first thing that was surprising to me was just how strong the jasmine scent is, both from the leaves and the tea when made.  It smelled like I had just picked a bunch of fresh flowers!  The tea has a unique, light, flowery flavor.  It was very light, similar to last weeks Formosa Pochong, but definitely has a sweeter aftertaste.  While I can’t say I’ve ever eater a flower, I definitely think this is what it would taste like.  The smell was actually a little overpowering to me, but I would imagine this would be great for a Jasmine tea lover.

My Rating:
3  / 5

–brent
(Teageek.org Founder)

*Disclosure (AND Thanks!): This was part of a free sampler I got from Adagio to preview.