Oh what a lovely tea! Out of the package, the aroma of Adagio's Peach Oolong is pure, unadulterated summer, and that sensation persists through the entire tea-drinking experience. Overlaying the rich, slightly floral quality of the oolong is a beautiful sweet peach. It is not the sickly sweet of commercial "peach iced tea." It's a gentle honey-like sweetness with a fruity overlay. The brew is golden in color and golden going down.
Hot, this tea feels indulgent and decadent. Iced, it's breezy and summery. This is definitely a new favorite of mine.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Flavorful Summer Iced Teas
Iced tea is the essential summer drink. Specialty teas make for fun, flavorful iced teas. Here are a few of my favorites:
Teavana's Blackberry Mojito: This green tea is far more blackberry than mojito, but it ices up superbly, both fruity and slightly minty. Add a sprig of mint to enhance the flavor.
Tea Forte's Lychee Coconut: A white tea, with low caffeine, suitable for drinking late in the day. Coconut is the predominant aroma and flavor, but the sweetness of the lychee can be found below it, even when it's on ice. A taste of the tropics on a hot day.
Boardwalk Creamsicle: Not to blow my own horn too much, but my specialty blend via Adagio is wonderful when made as iced tea. It's designed to taste like the orange sherbet/vanilla frozen custard swirls available on the NJ Shore boardwalks. A little splash of orange juice or very little bit of True Orange sweetener is far better than sugar for those who like sweetened tea.
Tea Forte's Coconut Mango Colada The tang of the green tea prevents the coconut, mango and vanilla notes from becoming overly sweet. Tea Forte claims there's also some lime in this mix, but I can't taste it. For those who like their iced tea on the boozy side, this tea is spectacular mixed with some sweet moscato.
Adagio's White Cucumber: This tea may be too fussy for those who like their iced tea done quickly. Unless this tea is brewed at more or less precisely 185 degrees, it loses any meaningful flavor. But if brewed properly, and then iced, it's a palate-cleansing and refreshing drink, excellent with a sprig of mint.
Teavana's Blackberry Mojito: This green tea is far more blackberry than mojito, but it ices up superbly, both fruity and slightly minty. Add a sprig of mint to enhance the flavor.
Tea Forte's Lychee Coconut: A white tea, with low caffeine, suitable for drinking late in the day. Coconut is the predominant aroma and flavor, but the sweetness of the lychee can be found below it, even when it's on ice. A taste of the tropics on a hot day.
Boardwalk Creamsicle: Not to blow my own horn too much, but my specialty blend via Adagio is wonderful when made as iced tea. It's designed to taste like the orange sherbet/vanilla frozen custard swirls available on the NJ Shore boardwalks. A little splash of orange juice or very little bit of True Orange sweetener is far better than sugar for those who like sweetened tea.
Tea Forte's Coconut Mango Colada The tang of the green tea prevents the coconut, mango and vanilla notes from becoming overly sweet. Tea Forte claims there's also some lime in this mix, but I can't taste it. For those who like their iced tea on the boozy side, this tea is spectacular mixed with some sweet moscato.
Adagio's White Cucumber: This tea may be too fussy for those who like their iced tea done quickly. Unless this tea is brewed at more or less precisely 185 degrees, it loses any meaningful flavor. But if brewed properly, and then iced, it's a palate-cleansing and refreshing drink, excellent with a sprig of mint.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Adagio Specialty Blends: Mercedes and Frasier (Guest Review)
+Jody Livingston provides her take on Frasier's Mustache (version 1.0) and Mercedes' Citrus de Califia. As a result of her taste-testing, Frasier's Mustache has been reblended to add lemongrass on a permanent basis. Now they both have lemongrass in their blends. How cute. :-)
Frasier's Mustache v1.0: Tasty in an earthy, smokey way, but with a sharp bitter note at the end. It felt like there was a note missing so I tried adding a fruit note (cranberry), a floral note (lavender), and a lemongrass stick. The lemongrass stick smoothed out the bitter note without taking away the earthy smokiness. Good both hot and cold but I think this will make a nice tea for a winter night.
Mercedes Citrus de Calafia: Lovely, fresh, and light when hot. Better slightly sweet which makes the flavors pop. Over ice, it's like a refined Arnold Palmer. The tea is clean and bright and the citrus is soothing rather than sharp. I can't wait to try it on a really hot day. I suspect it will be gone quickly.
Frasier's Mustache v1.0: Tasty in an earthy, smokey way, but with a sharp bitter note at the end. It felt like there was a note missing so I tried adding a fruit note (cranberry), a floral note (lavender), and a lemongrass stick. The lemongrass stick smoothed out the bitter note without taking away the earthy smokiness. Good both hot and cold but I think this will make a nice tea for a winter night.
Mercedes Citrus de Calafia: Lovely, fresh, and light when hot. Better slightly sweet which makes the flavors pop. Over ice, it's like a refined Arnold Palmer. The tea is clean and bright and the citrus is soothing rather than sharp. I can't wait to try it on a really hot day. I suspect it will be gone quickly.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Tea tasting: my Maggie's Chocolate Chip Mint specialty blend
This blend is inspired by Maggie the Dog and her white and black-spotted coat, which always reminds me of chocolate chip mint ice cream.
To make Maggie's Chocolate Chip Mint, I combined Adagio's Cocomint Green Tea with spearmint tea, peppermint tea, and chocolate chips.
The aroma of out of the bag and when brewing is delightful. The chocolate insinuates itself in and around the predominantly mint aroma. I quite like how the teas all blend together to make a mint that is neither entirely peppermint nor entirely spearmint.
The taste is wholly minty at first, then the chocolate sneaks up in the aftertaste. As a hot tea, it has all of the soothing, relaxing qualities of a good mint tea with that extra hint of chocolate to make it interesting. It's got green tea in the blend, so it's not completely caffeine free. Even so, it's definitely a nice evening tea. I've got to try it hot with honey to see what that does to the flavor profile.
It's also quite splendid as an iced tea, needing no sugar from my point of view. Again, the minty flavor blend predominates, with the chocolate elements sort of sneaking their way in and around the mint.
As there are now many chocolate-based blends in Alys's Tea Party, I'm not going to tinker around with the chocolate vs. mint proportions on this one. It's mint with chocolate chips, and that works just fine for me.
Tea tasting: my Boardwalk Creamsicle speciality blend
As a New Jerseyan for pretty much my entire life, I have, of course, visited the Jersey Shore quite a lot. One of the flavors I associate most strongly with my trips down the Shore is the blend of vanilla frozen custard and orange sherbet that is the Kohr's creamsicle, found on every boardwalk from Cape May to Sandy Hook.
Using Adagio's custom blends, I tried to make a tea that captured the flavor and feel vanilla custard and orange sherbet swirl, without those pesky calories. Boardwalk Creamsicle is a low caffeine blend so that it can be consumed as iced tea throughout the day during the summer. It consists of decaf black tea, orange peels, safflower, natural creme flavor, natural vanilla flavor, and natural orange flavor.
The aroma of the tea in the tin is perfect -- creamy and citrus blended in a way that fills me with nostalgia. As a hot tea, it is just okay. The vanilla and cream overwhelm the orange. It's not unpleasant at all, and I would certainly drink this tea hot, but it's not what I intended.
As an iced tea, perhaps fittingly, it is much better and far closer to what I had in mind. Vanilla and cream still predominate, but the orange flavor comes out as an aftertaste that lightens up the flavor. I think a little bit of orange sugar or orange extract would make it perfect. It's refreshing and gentle at the same time. I recommend it highly.
Also, a portion of the proceeds from the purchase of this tea go to the American Red Cross, who provided such invaluable assistance to the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy destroyed so many of my childhood memories.
Using Adagio's custom blends, I tried to make a tea that captured the flavor and feel vanilla custard and orange sherbet swirl, without those pesky calories. Boardwalk Creamsicle is a low caffeine blend so that it can be consumed as iced tea throughout the day during the summer. It consists of decaf black tea, orange peels, safflower, natural creme flavor, natural vanilla flavor, and natural orange flavor.
The aroma of the tea in the tin is perfect -- creamy and citrus blended in a way that fills me with nostalgia. As a hot tea, it is just okay. The vanilla and cream overwhelm the orange. It's not unpleasant at all, and I would certainly drink this tea hot, but it's not what I intended.
As an iced tea, perhaps fittingly, it is much better and far closer to what I had in mind. Vanilla and cream still predominate, but the orange flavor comes out as an aftertaste that lightens up the flavor. I think a little bit of orange sugar or orange extract would make it perfect. It's refreshing and gentle at the same time. I recommend it highly.
Also, a portion of the proceeds from the purchase of this tea go to the American Red Cross, who provided such invaluable assistance to the Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy destroyed so many of my childhood memories.
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