I have searched for a tea tasting journal for the past few years, but I never found exactly what I was looking for; so, I have been writing in whatever journal I had sitting around. Notes are scattered throughout four different journals, which are now tucked under odd places, like the couch, in Oliver’s toy basket, under the bed– anywhere Oliver manages to fling them, really. Finally, I decided on a new home–a trusty, 98 cent Composition notebook, that I now keep well out of Oliver’s reach!
Last weekend, I sipped Jasmine Pearls from Adagio Teas. I don’t know what made me grab this particular tea. It’s not one I typically drink, and it was only in my collection because it came in my Christmas advent calendar. I have avoided it because Oliver’s pediatrician mentioned jasmine teas (and mint teas) could have negative impacts on a nursing mother’s milk supply, but now that Oliver is eating solids foods as well now, I have become less restrictive.
Aside from that, jasmine just isn’t a flavor I appreciate. I like some floral flavors, like rose, but I think jasmine can make tea taste like perfume or quite bitter. Still, I sipped on.
The tea was dark green leaves, scented with jasmine, and they were wound tightly into little balls reminiscent of a pearl. They came in a tea bag, though the Jasmine Phoenix Dragon Pearls seem comparable if you want a loose leaf variety. I decided to cut open the tea bag, so I could brew the pearls loose, and what a smart decision that was because these pearls unfurled into full, big tea leaves that could be steeped multiple times.
The initial steep had the most prominent jasmine flavor followed by a slight sweetness from the green tea. The following steeps lost the sweetness from green tea, but the jasmine seemed to mellow. Overall, I thought this tea had a nice, balanced flavor– never perfume-like and never bitter. I steeped this three times, but I think I could have steeped this a fourth and possibly even a fifth, which surprised me considering this started in a teabag!
Where do you record your tea tasting notes? Do you keep a pen and paper journal, or do you record everything digitally?
Looking for teas with floral notes? Check out these tasTEA recommendations:
I’m starting my 31st birthday off with a cup of Birthday Tea from Adagio Teas. This super special blend of black tea, caramel flavoring, sugar sprinkles, vanilla flavoring, and Creme flavoring is a treat I look forward to every year. It’s not available for sale on the Adagio Teas website; they simply slide a sample pack into your shipment if you order during your birth month (and you already have an account with them).
I love this tea sweetened because it tastes like just a like sweet birthday treat. The caramel, vanilla, and cream flavors compliment the black tea nicely.
As for turning 31…well, it’s strange being IN my 30s, but I’m excited to find out what this year has in store for me. I want to make friendship, family, community, and my health a priority this year. Becoming part of the community where I live and finding friends is terrifying to me, and I don’t really know where to begin. But, I’m already off to a good start for health and family. I have a doctors appointment today (who schedules doctor appointments on their birthday?), and Jon, Oliver, and I are going to the fair tonight!
Going to the fair is one of my birthday traditions (as well as drinking Birthday Tea). Do you have any birthday traditions?
Shut the front door! Did Té alla Rosa Bianca from Tea Fiori just make me a fan of white tea?
For years, I’ve avoided white tea. That’s not to say it hasn’t somehow managed to find its way into my collection throughout the years. It’s usually the flavored varieties that end up in my online shopping cart because I’m not paying attention. Or because I’ve convinced myself this time will be different. But the outcome is the same every time. I end up with a mug of tea that tastes just like hot water. Or a mug of tea that tastes like hot water and blueberries because I somehow get a new packet of White Blueberry from Adagio Teas every year.
It leaves me wondering: is it the quality of my water? Is it the quality of the tea? Am I more inept at brewing tea than I realize? Did I assault my tastebuds with strong, black coffee too much during college that I am unable to pick up the delicate aromas in white tea? Is it an unlucky combination of all four?
Té alla Rosa Bianca is a simple blend of organic Bai Mudan White Tea and organic rose petals and buds. The appearance of the tea is as lovely as the scent of the dried tea, which was of sweet rose.
When I first tried Té alla Rosa Bianca, I drank it hot, following the directions on the packaging very carefully– 1 tbsp of tea, 180 degrees, 3 minutes. However, I wasn’t impressed. The overall flavor seemed to be peppery hot water with an ambiguous floral aroma that I had to search for. I prepared this tea the same way two more times almost willing myself to love it, but the results remained the same.
Everything changed when I decided to cold brew the remainder of my sample though.
I didn’t note how much leaf to water ratio for my cold brew. I don’t even remember how long I let it steep, but if I had to guess, it was around 4 hours. Honestly? I was so intent to use up the rest of the tea that I just dumped it in a mug and called it a day.
But oh…what a beautiful cold brew this tea made. The first flavor to surface was a delicate, peppery flavor, and it was soon followed by refreshing cucumber and sweet summertime rose. It conjured up images of lush perennial gardens, sunshine peeking through cozy cottage windows, and afternoon tea. And I swear, the theme song to the Great British Bake-Off could be heard somewhere in the distance.
Never before have I been so delighted to have sipped on a white tea. This very experience has completely challenged my reluctance to drink it, and I am suddenly filled with the desire to explore this type of tea that I’ve long neglected! (After I sip down my collection that is already bursting at the seams, that is).
Are you looking for a little adventure in your cup of tea? Then check out the new Chili Lime Coconut Green from Adagio Teas. It will make your skull sweat!
Adagio’s Chili Lime Coconut Green is a blend of green tea, chili pepper, lemon grass, apple pieces, coconut, orange, key lime pie flavor, safflower, and natural coconut flavor
I went into this experience not really knowing what to expect. I’ve certainly had savory green teas before, like a gen maicha or a sencha. But with the citrus flavors, the apple, and the coconut in this blend, I thought this was going to be a sweet and spicy tea. I was very, very wrong, so when expectations and reality didn’t match, it affected my first experience with this tea. That is to say, “I was happy to try it, but I wouldn’t be quick to drink it again”. I am happy to say, this tea is growing on me.
Adagio’s Chili Lime Green Tea is very much a savory tea– one very reminiscent of a green curry because of the coconut, lemongrass, chili flakes, and lime flavoring. And luckily for me, that’s my favorite kind of curry!
The most prominent flavor in the Chili Lime Coconut Green is the creamy coconut, and of course the spice from the chili flakes will catch you in the back of the throat each sip. This tea is definitely spicy, but it’s not a spice that lingers. Finishing notes are bright citrus flavors, especially lime, which brings a brightness and acidity to balance out this blend. The Adagio Teas website mentions that the coconut offers a sweetness to finish rounding out the cup, but I’m not picking that up as I sip.
The Chili Lime Coconut Green isn’t an everyday drink, but it is a fun way to spice up the afternoons! (See what I did there?)
Have you ever tried a spicy tea before?
If you can’t handle the spice, check out this tea instead:
I generally consider myself level-headed when it comes to finances…except when it comes to tea. Then I am guilty of being impulsive. I’m supposed to be on a tea buying ban, remember? Except I indulged in the DavidsTea semi-annual sale. And…can I let you in on a secret? I only shared half my haul. (Don’t judge me!)
It’s not like I needed any of the tea. Nor had I been eying any of the teas in the collection for any amount of time (except Forever Nuts!). I just picked out teas to try haphazardly, which I’m sure is why the Cotton Candy blend ended up in my cart.
I mean, Cotton Candy flavored tea? That’s ridiculous. How do I go from sipping a tie guan yin to a cotton candy flavored Rooibos? I never claimed to be a connoisseur, but common’!
Except…the Cotton Candy Rooibos from DavidsTea is really, really good. It is a blend of Green rooibos, purple sprinkles, mango, hazelnut brittle, and natural and artificial flavoring. It’s really does taste like cotton candy, but in the best way possible. It’s sweet, ambiguously fruity, and creamy.
The drink does have a natural (“natural”) sweetness already from the Rooibos, the sprinkles, the brittle, and the mango pieces, but if you’re looking for decadence, add some milk and your favorite sweetener for liquid dessert! Or sip it iced for a fun summertime treat fit for the county fair!
Have you ever tried Cotton Candy Rooibos from DavidsTea? Or what is the most frivolous tea you ever tried?
If you like Cotton Candy from DavidsTea, check out these other sweet dessert teas:
Forever Nuts from Davids Tea is a fan favorite. It is one of their best sellers, and lauded as a “gold standard” for herbal/fruit infusions by many of my favorite tea vloggers, so I gave in to peer pressure and purchased a bag for myself during DavidsTea’s recent semi-annual sale.
Forever Nuts is a blend of Apple, almonds, cinnamon, beetroot, and artificial flavoring, and the moment I opened the bag, I was greeted with the warming scent of nuts and sugary sweet cinnamon and vanilla; it smelled just like the candied nut vendor’s stall at the county fair.
I sipped this tea iced and with just a splash of milk, although it tastes equally delicious when sipped hot as well. And this tea is total eye-candy! Because of the beetroot, Forever Nuts steeps to a fun, vivid pink.
The flavor of the tea is very similar to the scent of the tea– very much like candied nuts. Or even like the crumble on top of an apple crumble! It’s nutty and sweet and there are cinnamon and creamy vanilla flavors that come through as well. This tea makes me wish Autumn were already here! (Then again, I wish it was always Autumn, so…)
Forever Nuts tea was such a treat, and I’m already looking forward to buying another (much bigger) bag of this as Autumn draws near.
Have you ever tried Forever Nuts, and what did you think of it?
If you have been a fan of Adagio Teas for any length of time, surely you have heard about their Masters Teas. It’s a relatively small collection of hand-processed, premium teas, and to be honest, even though I knew they existed (and even purchased some Formosa Ali Shan Oolong), it’s a section of their site that has a tendency to fly under my radar. I find myself easily distracted by their more robust collection of colorful, blended teas. But now, Adagio Teas has launched a sister site to give their premium teas the attention they deserve.
Masters Teas offers direct-from-the-farm teas, and to ensure freshness, tea is processed in small batches and only becomes available on the website upon harvest. This means, you might see “coming soon” on product pages from time to time. Masters Teas also embodies the Roots Campaign, which encourages tea drinkers to “Know Your Farmers”. Each tea page provides information about the tea’s geographical origin as well as the tea farmer; Masters Teas strives to put a name and a face with the tea.
I had the wonderful opportunity to try some tea samples (for free in exchange for reviews), and I’m eager to share my experience with you. I debated recording a video for today’s post but decided to take it slow instead. I decided to go back to my roots and just write. It’s a process that makes me feel nostalgic. It reminds me of slow, Saturday mornings back when Jon and I first moved in with each other. Back before crazy, stressful jobs. Back before a mortgage and trying to decide if we should replace the roof. Back before we had two cats that wake me up in the middle of the night. Back before baby. Mornings were just quieter back then. As were afternoons, evenings, 1 AM, and 3 AM.
Back then, Jon worked Saturdays, so I would start my day with a cup of coffee while soaking in the brisk Autumn air out on the balcony. (For some reason, it’s always Autumn when I reminisce about the apartment.) Then, I would go to the library and spend an hour trekking through stacks, searching for books to read. Afterward, I would come home, put the kettle on, photograph the books I would never actually finish reading, and then I would write about tea. I’d write out my tasting notes, sure, but more importantly, I would reflect on how I would experience the tea, how it would make me feel, and definitely the weather. (I can’t tell if the weather was used to create atmosphere, or if I’m just so guarded that even in my writing, I couldn’t move past small talk). Still, some of my favorite pieces of writing came from those slow Saturday mornings, sipping tea.
I shuffled through a selection of eight teas before settling on a familiar, yet wholly different Muzha Tie Guan Yin. This kind of oolong is no strangers here on my blog, though the ones I’ve tried in the past were from the Anxi region in China and were only lightly roasted. The Muzha Tie Guan Yin from Masters Teas comes from Wen Shen, Taiwan, and compared to its Anxi cousin, it’s highly roasted, which impacts both the physical appearance and the tasting experience.
The dried tea leaves are a dark, muddy brown color. The leaves are tightly rolled, but unfurl to full leaves after steeping. The smell is of minerals and wet grass clippings that are slightly composted, and makes me think of rainy, late-springtime afternoons. After steeping, the wet leaves smell charred, vegetal, and like dark salad greens.
I steeped this tea three times, as recommended by the Masters Teas website, at 212 degrees starting at three minutes and increasing the steep time one minute with each subsequent steep.
Steep One:
The color of the liquor is the color of golden syrup, and it has buttery and spiced aromas with sweet blossom undertones. The tea has a medium-to-full bodied mouthfeel, and it is not nearly as astringent as I anticipated. The predominant taste is of buttered rice with mineral undertones. The butter rice flavor stays with you long after you sip, too.
Steep Two:
The liquor is still golden syrup-colored, but it smells smokey instead of buttery. The mouthfeel is still medium bodied, but again it lacks the butteriness that was present in the first steep. It also is slightly more astringent than the first steep. The flavors do become more complex during the second steep though. I tasted dry grass clippings. I tasted a spiced flavor that came through after the tea sat on my tongue for a while– earthy cinnamon. I tasted light, powdery blossoms as the tea began to cool.
Steep Three:
The final steep had a medium-to-light body, and a flavor that reminded me of dried clover and hay from late summertime. (Maybe something akin to the Chunmee Green tea I tried recently).
Overall, the Muzha Tie Guan Yin was a beautiful tea with complex flavors that peaked during the second steeping and one that I I can’t wait to experience again. If you are interested in premium, direct-from-farm teas, make sure you check out Mastersteas.com. Also, stay tuned because I have several more teas from Masters Teas to try out. I’m especially looking forward to the Formosa Ruby 18 Black tea, the Sincha Genmai Cha, and the Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha.
I haven’t always appreciated rooibos tea. I’ve struggled to put into words exactly what I sense when I sip this type of tea, and the best I’ve been able to come up with to describe my experience is something between imitation vanilla extract and tobacco– not always the most appealing of flavors. However, Adagio Teas has changed my mind about Rooibos teas, and lately I have not been able to drink enough of it! Their Rooibos Pecan Turtle is quickly becoming a new favorite, just like their Vanilla Rooibos.
Adagio’s Rooibos Pecan Turtle is a blend of rooibos tea, apple pieces, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, dark chocolate chips, chicory, golden pecan flavor, natural caramel flavor, natural chocolate flavor, and marigold flowers. A bit of sugar, turns this caffeine-free tea into a perfect after dinner dessert.
Have you tried the Rooibos Pecan Turtle from Adagio Teas? What did you think of it? If you’re looking for more dessert teas, check out these tasTEA recommendations:
Back in December, Tea in Spoons hosted a Tea Sparrow teas giveaway, which I won (yay!) So first, thank you for the opportunity.
Second, if you haven’t heard of Tea Sparrow, please go check them out! Tea Sparrow is a tea subscription service, and for $20 a month, subscribers receive 4 loose leaf teas to explore– one black tea, one green tea, one Rooibos tea, and one herbal tea.
The first tea I tried from Tea Sparrow was the Nut Crunch Rooibos, and it was especially dreamy as a latte. But, the tea I was most curious about was the Cacao Husk Tea!
Cacao Husk Tea is…well, pretty self-explanatory. It’s tea made from the shells of the cocoa bean that would have otherwise been discarded. The Cacao Husk boasts an antioxidant and vitamin-rich, mood-boosting, caffeine free cuppa while tasting like a mug of hot chocolate.
So does Cacao Husk Tea live up to its reputation? According to my tastebuds…not so much*. Check out the YouTube video at the top of this post for more thoughts on this unique tea. Have you ever tried Cacao Husk Tea before? What did you think of it? I still have some Cacao Husk Tea left, so if you have any pointers on how to brew it, I would love to hear them!
* I feel the need to offer a disclaimer here: my feelings on Cacao Tea are not a reflection of Tea Sparrow or the product they deliver. This one just comes down to preference. Some people prefer black teas, some people prefer green teas. I prefer tea that is not the Cacao Husk!
Today, I’m sipping Berry Creme Compote from Adagio, and it’s one of those teas that makes me think it’s a lot warmer than it really is. Which is why it’s only 39 degrees outside, but I have the back door open to let in that cool Springtime breeze. Did I say “cool”? I suppose I really meant to say “chilly”.
Look at this tea though. It’s practically a fruit salad! Berry Creme Compote is a blend of rose hips, hibiscus, apple pieces, blue cornflowers, natural creme flavor, raspberries, natural blueberry flavor, natural strawberry flavor, raspberry leaves, strawberries, blueberries, and natural black berry flavor
The first time I had this tea was while I was on maternity leave back in October. I had it hot, and slightly sweetened, and I thought it was tasty then. But, this tea really shines when it is iced; it becomes a refreshing treat for a warm, Spring day.
I steeped about 2.5 heaping spoonfuls of leaves per 8 oz of water, and I let it steep for easily an hour to get a really concentrated liquor since pouring it over ice would water it down a little bit. Aside from the beautiful and bold red liquor, Berry Creme Compote is a blend of tart berries and cream. I sweetened my iced Berry Creme Compote with a drizzle of maple syrup too, which helped draw out the creme flavor even more. (I find this tea is a little too tart for my tastebuds without sweetener).
This herbal tea is a refreshing treat for a warm spring and summer day that had me longing for warmer weather.
This tea, along with Adagio’s Lemon Meringue Green tea, is one of their seasonal teas available only for a short time during Spring, so make sure you snag some bags of this tea before it goes back to hibernate!
Looking for more fruity teas to sip this Spring? Check out these blends:
By Golly, Ollie! 