Adagio Teas

Adagio sent me a free sample when I ordered empty tea bags. Tea looks great and smells great but tastes bad verging on awful. I tried at various sweetnesses and just couldn’t get this to be palatable. There’s an odd sourness or something that is off-putting. I am used to Harney Earl Grey Supreme, always marvelous, and perhaps this “moonlight” thing just isn’t my style.

Another from Cameron B! Thanks again! And I’m very glad I was sent this sample. I’m quite the fan of THREE of the black teas from Adagio here when they exist on their own, so if I had known these teas were in this blend, I might have already purchased it. I actually had Keemun Concerto a couple days ago (rating of 87 from me). Then there is Assam Melody (94 rating), Yunnan Jig (97 rating) and Ceylon Sonata (though I haven’t tried this one… not a surprise, it’s from Ceylon and I’m not a fan of their teas.) So wow, three teas with very high ratings combined in a blend?!? How have I not tried Scottish Breakfast before?? I don’t know if I’m basing these ratings on older harvests, or possibly these teas stand better on their own. The blend here seems like what I imagine is the Ceylon Sonata taking over… it certainly tastes more like Ceylon than these other three great teas. That’s a shame. Though I would probably rather just drink the other three teas separately anyway. Sometimes I’m in a Keemun, Yunnan, or Assam mood. And they are distinctly so different and delicious anyway. I wouldn’t say no to trying this blend again, but also I think that Scottish Breakfast should definitely be a stronger cup than this was.
Steep #1 // full sample (a little over a teaspoon) for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

This was my sampler tea for last night. I am not really a fan of yerba mate, but I thought this one had a ton of other ingredients so maybe it would be okay. It was okay. Not terrible. Lots of different flavors, and the spices stood out, but not as much as I expected. I would not re-order this one but I was able to drink it. If a friend brewed me a cup of this I would drink it, but I probably would not ask for a second cup.

What a lovely start to real autumn weather! This is October waiting to be sipped: caramel apple melting into creme brûlée with a touch of cinnamon, and a nice creamy mouth feel.
There are tannic notes, a touch of astringency. I gave it a touch of honey to bring the sweetness out. (I always eat the rehydrated apple pieces that float atop the brew – these really absorbed the creme brûlée flavor!) A very enjoyable cup of tea!

I’m thrilled that it finally feels like fall outside after a brutally hot start to October. The windows are open, the crisp cool air of autumn is permeating the house, I lit a candle, and as I’m working on troubleshooting SQL issues, I decide to have the rest of this lovely blend. I’m fortunate to live within driving distance of an Adagio Teas store, and last time I was there I picked up a variety pack of autumn-inspired teas. This was one of the four blends, and likely my favorite of the bunch.

I love everything about this tea. It is the quintessential blend of fall flavors that all work so well together and romanticize the entire experience. I adore the creme brulee coming through without being too strong, leaving room for the apple and cinnamon to shine. The mouthfeel is malty and smooth. It is fall in a cup, and I couldn’t really ask for anything more. Will definitely buy more of this next time I’m at Adagio.

Boy, is this a great iced tea! The white tea’s nicely subtle, a presence, but in the background, and the peach balances that nicely. I get a hint of orange, and the whole thing is refreshing! A new favorite for summer!

Another sample from Adagio.

Not a fave at all. I am not a fan of hibiscus and that was about all I tasted in this one. Someone with a sense of smell might find this refreshingly tart. For me it was overbearingly sour. I drank about a third of the cup and poured the rest out :( It sure sounded good, but it was not for me.

Finally our last hot day of summer is done! Hopefully that is. We’ll see. WE could always have another day that is 20 degrees warmer than the average.

This was another of Adagio’s $0.75 samples. It didn’t impress. Nothing wrong with it exactly, but it didn’t taste like much. So I’m glad I got to try it but it will not be a re-order.

Sipdown
Finishing off my 11g sample packet of this nice version of the famed Taiwanese Ruby 18, from Adagio—Masters. Again with aroma of honey while steeping. My prior experience and observations were repeated. I guess my major disappointment is the flatness of the flavors. As a cook, I always add a note of zing to my dishes, either through an acid or tart component like wine vinegar in braising liquid, or a few chili flakes in a stir fry, or some citrus like bergamot in tea. Some teas carry their own astringency (Assams) or pepperiness (Keemuns) or bitterness (young puers) that provides the fullness of flavor. This Formosa Ruby 18 Black did not. So although I will recommend it (if you can afford its price), I am reducing my rating to 80 because it just comes up lacking.

Formosa Ruby 18 Black. Adagio—Masters.
Harvest: April 2025. Lot no. 97389. F.B. 09/2030.
Prepared 2.5g of the beautiful, long, spindly black leaves as directed: Western style in a stainless steel micropore infusion basket, with 8 oz boiling alpine spring water for 2 minutes.

The dry leaf aroma was jammy with a note of black walnut. Once steeped, this Ruby 18 was quite good, having the malty, raisin, and stewed stonefruit flavors I expected. Smooth and non-astringent, but there was also a bit of cardboard box flavor. Perhaps I’ll drop the water temp by 10°F in my next session. Decent, but I’ve had better batches of black made with this famous Taiwanese hybrid. This was my first Ruby 18 from Adagio—Masters, so perhaps other lots are better. Recommended, with a rating of 85.

Thanks to Adagio Teas for the free sample of Coconut Iced Tea with my $29 order last month. The two large sachets made some very nice tea indeed, both hot and cold. It’s got a natural honey flavor in the first place, with a peach-like echo in the pouch (before brewing).
I’m sorry I didn’t review it hot when I made the first sachet, but I remember it being very rich in the mouth. For that brew I did add a little honey, to draw out the flavor which was already in the tea itself. Lovely!
This time I didn’t sweeten it, and chilled it so that I could review it as the iced tea it had been sent to be! This time I can taste a back flavor of apricot as well as a buttery quality to it.
This is a very nice tea that I will certainly buy next year in late spring, to have more of during the hot season!

This sample is probably at least two years old and I have no idea how old it was when it was sent to me by a friend. In spite of that, it tastes as I expected and agrees with the notes here.

I don’t love chai and I don’t love clove and ginger in tea unless they are pretty light. Having said that, this one was actually drinkable to me. It is late September yet the early morning was already hot and muggy with heavy clouds, so something in the “comfort tea” line appealed to me and I decided it was a great time to try this and get it out of the samples bowl. I used boiling water and steeped for about 3 1/2 minutes.

There are so, so many teas with some combination of cinnamon, clove, ginger, and often orange. Occasionally you will cacao nibs added. I love when they include cardamom, as this tea does. But these blends end up tasting very much alike to me. I drink my tea plain and maybe with milk and sugar I would like that style of tea better.

I agree that this is best when hot as a briskness amplifies as it cools and the tea flavor becomes simply that – briskness. And then you are left just tasting the spices which at this point really are not all that strong. I kept thinking that if I tried it again, I would like to steep it in apple juice and make a mulled cider type drink.

Also, I did make this by steeping once, steeping again, and combining the two, so take that into account as you read my opinion.

Adagio had a sample sale, so I picked up about 7 that sounded interesting. Foxtrot was one. I didn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t hate it. It was kind of blah for me. I’m not a huge fan of chamomile, but I didn’t really taste it here. So, I’m glad I got to try this one, but it will not be a re-order for me.

White Tropics. Adagio.
Lot no: 93997. F.B.: n/a.
From a portions packet, I steeped the entire 2.8 g of leaf Western-style, as directed: 3 min in 180°F spring water, in a stainless micropore infusion basket.

The dry leaf aroma was of coconut and not much else. After steeping, the liquor was clear amber in hue, and was fragrant of both pineapple and coconut. The rose petals were seen but not smelt. Tastewise, the piña colada flavor predominated, in a barely perceptible background of white tea. Rose petals contributed nothing. Slurping intensified the above flavors, and there was no bitterness or astringency, nor chemical impression. But the coconut and pineapple flavors were muted and the overall tea was not super enjoyable. I would rate this as 55, and recommend spending your money on something else, unless you’re looking for an echo of piña colada in a hot, mildly stimulating beverage. To its credit, the tea did have a long finish/aftertaste that wasn’t unpleasant.

Gemini. Adagio.
Lot no. 94008. F.B. (illegible)
When cutting open the pouch, my fingernail scraped off the “Fresh By” date, which is why it was illegible. Oops.

I used the entire 2.5 g leaf from the “Portions Packet” which was part of a gift arriving with my first order. Steeped as directed, Western-style: 2 min in 8 oz. 180°F alpine spring water, using a stainless micropore infusion basket. I re-steeped once with the same parameters. The aroma of the dry leaf was reminiscent of Adagio’s “White Peach”, but somehow a bit more complex and a lot more restrained. As the steeping progressed, the aroma became more vegetal, and I worried that the lovely peach flavor would be lost, but it wasn’t.

Wow, this was just mouthwateringly delicious to me! The peach and apricot tastes were there, but without overpowering; the apricot and apple pieces lent a subtle sweetness to the tea such that I didn’t bother adding any sweetener; although I saw fragments of rose hip, I did not experience any tartness (probably masked by the apple’s sweetness), and there were floral notes wafting in my nose suggesting the rose petals were contributing in balance with whatever the base white tea was providing. I’m not real experienced with white teas, so I could not identify the base of this blend, but I did get notes of tea-like flavor, adding to the complexity. As I greedily slurped, I noted vegetal depth arising, likely from the tea leaf, the marigold flowers, and possibly the fruits. The second infusion (re-steep) was almost identical, so I would combine the two liquors in the future, for simplicity. No bitterness or astringency was noted. The lingering aftertaste was similarly complex and pleasing. I definitely recommend this tea, rate it as 95, and have already added a big bag of it to my Adagio shopping cart for the next order!

White Peach. Adagio.
Lot no. 75932. F.B. n/a.

Who knows what’s actually in Adagio’s teas?
Adagio’s website ingredient listing for this tea includes “peach pieces” but does not mention apricots. But my “portions packet” lists apricots as an ingredient, but only natural peach flavoring and nothing about peach pieces. Such discrepancies seem to be rampant with Adagio, and I find them unacceptable.

Steeped Western-style, as directed: full content of “portions packet” (about a teaspoon) and 8 oz spring water at 180°F for 3 min in a stainless infusion basket. This is a very gentle and delicious tea! The white tea flavor was present in the mild lingering aftertaste, and despite containing a flavoring, it was quite soft and pleasant. Nothing chemical or artificial about it. A good blend which I recommend and rate as 88.

Coconut Grove Pouchong. Adagio.
Lot No. 81375. FB: n/a.

One “portions pouch” of leaf, steeped Western, as directed: 3.6 g leaf in 8 oz 190°F alpine spring water, using a stainless infusion basket, for 3 min. Re-steeped 4.5 min and 6 min.

I’ve never sipped a pouchong before, let alone a flavored blend of pouchong, so I studied the reviews of Adagio’s straight pouchong (a type of oolong from Taiwan) in order to help parse out the flavors and know what to expect. I do like coconut (esp. in piña coladas), so I was optimistic. And the fragrance of the dry leaf was nothing if not potently coconutty! Whilst steeping, I noticed the leaf was a bright olive green in shade, and was pretty finely chopped, with only a few small intact leaves, but quite a lot of stems. Not sure how folks can enjoy watching the leaf expand, but since those notes were 15 yr old, perhaps the quality of the base tea has been changed.

Sipping on the first infusion blasted me with delicious aromas and flavors of coconut, to the extent that I did not really taste the base tea except for a flowery note. Well, prior reviewers did say the pouchong was delicate! But as the tea cooled, the coconut potency declined, and by the end of the cup I was noting some floral and green tea flavors that were quite pleasant.

While steeping the second infusion, I pulled out a strip of white coconut flesh and popped it in my mouth. What a surprise to get hit with the flavor of a mouthful of flowers! I wonder if Adagio hasn’t dosed the coconut with floral flavoring. In any case, as I began sipping this 2nd infusion, the coconut was now sharing the stage with the flavors of the base tea and floral flavoring. I could discern some bitterness and vegetal notes, and appreciated the golden yellow color of the clear liquor. There even seemed to be a note of fruitiness as the tea cooled in my cup. I tossed in a half lump of sugar to the quarter cup or so remaining, and enjoyed a nicely tropical two mouthfuls, and noted the coconut humming away at the back of my tongue.

The third steeping retained a golden yellow hue, and a soft coconut aroma. Flavors of both the pouchong and the coconut were very gentle here, but passably pleasant. I never really got the burst of sweet pouchong flavors that others reported long ago for the base tea. I won’t push for another re-steep of the largely exhausted leaf. If I were to have another session with this tea, I would combine all three steepings and sweeten slightly, possibly icing the tea. Recommended, with a rating of 68, but only if you like coconut!

This tea should be called “Red Fruits Punch”—to be served sweetened and chilled!
If one adds a bunch of sugar (or whatever one’s preferred sweetener is) and CHILLS this for a few hours, it is a delightful cold beverage. The flavor profile is completely different than when it’s merely cooled to room temp, UNsweetened.
It’s still hard to tell exactly what it IS—perhaps that’s why they kept it as Mango Melange—but it’s cold and tasty. I’ve revised my opinion to Recommended.

This is the third of four teas in Adagio Teas’ Summer Teas Sampler. A couple days ago I reviewed The Secret Garden Organic Mango Green Tea—the first tea I truly liked from the Secret Garden Organic gift box. I’d already opened this 3 oz packet of Mango Melange, and liked the fragrance. But boy, are they different teas!
Like the other four Secret Garden teas I’d tried, the Organic Mango Green was simply green tea and natural flavors. It smelled and tasted like mango (also a little apricot and peach)—but it actually tasted fruity, nicely so.
Adagio Teas’ Mango Melange should be instead be called “Hibiscus and Rose Hip Melange”. Tho the smell within the packet itself has a slight perfumy whiff of hair pomade—just in the packet!—it’s mostly pleasantly sour. I found myself wondering how it would taste to have the packet be cold-brewed (no pun intended!) in some lager beer. There are some Northern Europeans who enjoy the juxtaposition of fruit and beer, and I think the flavors in this ‘melange’ would work with that.
Why? Because it’s lightly sour! Between the hibiscus, rosehip skins and dried fruit pieces, which are edible, none particularly taste like the mango this is supposed to be based on.
Once I added some sugar, though, there was more mango-y essence.
This has the bright red color of hibiscus, which is always eye-catching. Maybe after straining out the fruit, one could make some kind of mocktail out of this. It’s got possibilities. But even cooled, I found this tea more like a project one could make something out of, rather than a drink I’d want by itself.
I will neither “yea” or “nay” this. [>>CHANGED BY MY SECOND REVIEW OF THIS.] Mango Melange is more likable than the Key Lime Herbal, also in Adagio’s Summer Teas Sampler, but it’s still not an immediate hit which should have been included in a Summer Sampler. Maybe Adagio should come up with a more accurately titled “Teas Not For The Faint of Heart”, or “Not Your Usual Summer Teas” sampler. Then they could let this and Key Lime Herbal find their proper audience, while those of us who think more of Mai Tais and Fuzzy Navels can enjoy more predictable flavors of summer.

This is the seventh/ last tea sample (July 29) in their “Week of July 27th” which Adagio sent with my order a month ago. Being a neophyte regarding oolongs and other varietal teas (I hope I’m using the phraseology correctly), I don’t yet have the proper vocabulary to go into depth of description here.
This is mild, yet stands on its own two feet. So it’s nicely between green and black teas. I taste a toasty quality, as in genmai cha, but of course there’s no toasted rice in this cup. It’s a clean, clear mouthful that’s a flavor I wouldn’t mind drinking all day.
When I saw the leaves of different colors I was impressed. I like the fact Adagio points out this has low caffeine. It feels good, I feel good, after drinking this tea. Well worth looking into and learning more about! Yes, I definitely recommend this tea!

Here’s the second (of four) samples in Adagio Teas’ Summer Teas pack. Quite an unusual tea to review! When I opened the packet, I got a whiff of the citrusy, acidic profile similar to key lime pie, but with an edgy note of dry mustard! Here’s a flavor note that should be added to that list: “Cosmetic”. It reminds me of whatever face powder is scented with. As someone who worked for a company which would occasionally test different fragrances to see how they would be perceived in products, smelling this tea before brewing reminded me of flavor test strips. Maybe that’s where “key lime pie flavor” came from.
My husband who has anosmia, liked this tea. “I can taste something!” But that’s not a criterion we’re looking for.
To be blunt, this is one weird tea. It doesn’t taste natural to me, nor does it taste like key lime. It has a tart, acidic profile similar to key lime, to be sure. But it falls short of being identifiable as such. I’m trying to think of something positive to say, but all I can say is, at least we finished the packet!

This (Aug. 1) entry from Adagio Teas “Week of July 27” box of samples is unsurprisingly somewhat more robust than the Apricot Green sample (Aug. 2) in the same gift box. I taste-tested the Apricot Green first, since I wanted the milder tea to hit my palate first.
This one being the black tea, even though decaffeinated, had a stronger tea flavor right from the start. Adagio uses the same “other” ingredients in both blends: apple pieces, natural apricot flavor, apricots, and marigold flowers. Yet this black tea is quite gentle; the lack of caffeine renders it a not-so-different version of the green.
Adding a bit of sugar to this tea does not result in a “oh! there’s TEA in here too, not just the apricots” feeling that happened when adding sugar to the green tea. Because the black tea had more of a presence from the beginning than the green tea does, all the sugar did was to sweeten it (duh).
When I sniffed the first-opened packets of tea, I actually liked this one better; the black tea gave it more odoriferous effect. The Apricot Green smelled more like being in the fruit section at the grocery. Yet in the drinking, I actually preferred the green.
Both are very nice cups of tea. But even though I usually live for decafs, since I’m affected by the caffeine, and usually prefer the flavor depth of black teas—I have to give the edge here to the Apricot Green.
I won’t “Not recommend” this tea, since I did like it. Just not enough to push it into an outright “Yes”.