tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-310548702026-04-04T14:45:00.603-04:00A collection of looseleaf tea reviews and various tea related musings.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1156367592757370202006-08-23T16:46:00.000-04:002006-08-23T17:13:12.833-04:00

Gunpowder is a hand rolled green tea from the Guangdong province of China.  And from the background info from Adagio, it is apparently a favorite green tea in Morocco and the Middle East where it is prepared with mint and sugar.  The flavor of this tea is more smoky and leans more towards oolong than the vegetal taste of most green teas.I steeped just under one tablespoon of leaves with about 2

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154986452024646602006-08-07T17:34:00.000-04:002006-08-07T17:34:12.096-04:00

Irish Breakfast is a smooth black tea that is great for breakfast, as its name implies.  Irish Breakfast is a blend of high grown Ceylon with a malty underscore of a hearty Assam.  The flavor of this tea is more mellow and deeper than the Ceylon Waltz that is also from Adagio.  This tea is very heavy and tends to coat the mouth, so it would be perfect with a bit of milk or lemon.I

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154647529883074762006-08-03T19:25:00.000-04:002006-08-03T19:27:08.066-04:00

There's really not much to say about Ceylon tea. It's what most people think of when they hear black tea. This tea from Adagio has a very nice well rounded 'black tea' flavor. While there is nothing spectacular about Ceylon Waltz, there's notihing wrong with it either. The tea brews clear and fragrant with little to no bitterness unless you let the leaves steep for more than 5 minutes.Two

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154483050025550142006-08-01T21:43:00.000-04:002006-08-01T21:44:10.033-04:00

Snowbud is a white tea from the Fujian province of China. This tea is comprised entirely of unprocessed leaves and buds. I would describe a cup of Snowbud as very clean and delicate tasting. There was a very light hint of floral, but the flavor is definately more 'earthy' than that of White Peony.I brewed this tea from Adagio with water that I let cool down for 3 minutes after boiling. About

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154223347767599862006-07-29T21:02:00.000-04:002006-08-07T17:37:23.966-04:00

I have never tasted Lapsang Souchong before, but from the comments on various blogs and forums, the impression I had was that this would be a bitter and muddy tasting tea. When I opened my sample tin from Adagio's, I was pleasantly surprised by the smoky aroma. This is a smooth tea that was only slightly astringent, certainly no more so than an improperly brewed green tea. The flavor is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154042034437892122006-07-27T22:25:00.000-04:002006-07-27T22:25:51.753-04:00

The color of the leaves of this gyokuro from Tealuxe is noticeably darker than the leaves of Adagio's gyokuro. There is also a huge differnce in the flavors of the teas.I brewed Tealuxe's gyokuro the exact same way as I brewed the tea from Adagio's. The resulting tea had a very light underlying 'seaweed' or 'vegetal' flavor. Instead, this tea is dominated by a pleasantly fragrant floral aroma.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1154050506097042372006-07-27T21:10:00.000-04:002006-07-27T21:35:06.206-04:00

I thought I'd share some of my pictures from my trip to Hong Kong this spring. These were taken on Lantau Island on the trail up to Lantau Peak from the Po Lin monastery. About half way up the mountain trail there was a little area with a group tea plants.The world's tallest outdoor Buddha at Ngong Ping is 34 meters high and weighs 250 tonnes. I felt like a tiny speck walking up the steps to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153976755781161582006-07-27T01:05:00.000-04:002006-07-27T01:13:34.100-04:00

Gyokuro is one tea that many people are passionate about, they either love it or think it's absolutely vile. How do I even begin to describe the taste of gyokuro? It's a bit salty, or 'umami' and many people describe the flavor as grassy, vegetal, or spinachy. I think it tastes a bit like fresh seaweed with a bit of that undescribable rawness of fresh fruits and vegetables. If brewed properly

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153959186633034822006-07-26T20:13:00.000-04:002006-07-26T20:19:06.156-04:00

White Peony from Adagio Teas is a very smooth white tea with a subtle flavor. A fragrant floral notes dominated this tea with a sweetness in the background that traveled from the tip of my tongue to the back of my mouth.As with all white teas, this tea required a longer steeping time of 7 minutes to bring out it's subtle flavors. A heaping teaspoon of leaves was steeped with 8 oz. of water at 85

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153955380502786882006-07-26T19:09:00.000-04:002006-07-26T19:09:40.580-04:00

The tea loving Tibetans of Dharamsala - India News "Dharamsala - Tea drinking is an age-old habit among Tibetans in this abode of the Dalai Lama. Not only do they drink different types of the beverage, they are also particular about the way tea is sipped.Salted butter tea, made of Brick tea from China and Tibetan leaves, is hugely popular. The leaves are boiled in soda and poured into a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153943305320335322006-07-26T15:48:00.000-04:002006-07-26T15:48:25.326-04:00

And look what UPS just dropped off:White TeasGreen TeasTechnorati Tags: adagio, teas, green, white, black, oolong

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153849384544473622006-07-25T13:02:00.000-04:002006-07-25T18:35:58.873-04:00

This is one bagged tea that may rival many of the loose leaf teas I have in my collection. Ito En is a Japanese company that's famous for their quality Japanese green teas and tea beverages. I'll have to admit that my Chinese isn't really all that great, and my Japanese is practically non existant, but from what I could tell, the box describes this as Japanese Green tea that's a mixture of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153768222684790572006-07-24T15:10:00.000-04:002006-07-24T15:10:37.323-04:00

While many tea snobs don't consider herbals to be 'tea', I think herbal teas offer an occasional interesting change of taste. Not only are brews of Camellia sinensis leaves good for our health, but 'teas' of many other herbs and spices offer a myriad of health benefits.Read more about this at Herald DispatchTechnorati Tags: tea, health, benefits, herbal

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153767455290877182006-07-24T14:57:00.000-04:002006-07-24T14:59:15.410-04:00

For the first time, scientists have found that green tea is apt to slow brain aging, helping prevent declining memory, cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer's.In fact, drinking more than 2 cups a day of green tea slashed oddsof cognitive impairment in elderly Japanese men and women by more thanhalf!Read more at Daily India...Green Tea Prevents Mental DeclineTechnorati Tags: green tea,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153708110053186452006-07-23T22:28:00.000-04:002006-07-25T19:08:30.673-04:00

I'll have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of flavored tea or flavored water. However, I was at Whole Foods today and came across this Pomegranate Green Tea. What an absolutely genius invention from the guys at Republic of Tea! My favorite fruit combined with my favorite beverage in one convenient no mess package.Pomegranate Green Tea comes in a cannister of 50 natural unbleached tea bags

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153604663555409052006-07-22T22:27:00.000-04:002006-07-29T21:42:35.010-04:00

I ordered a bunch of tea from Tealuxe a while back and one of the teas happened to be their Blue Flower Earl Grey.I brewed this tea with about 8 oz. of boiling water to 1 tsp. of leaves. After 3 minutes what I had in my cup was a very nice black tea. While the bergamot was a little bit overwhelming, the tea itself is very smooth and it coats the mouth with just the right amount of bitterness.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153602451485731672006-07-22T17:10:00.000-04:002006-07-22T17:11:40.386-04:00

In India, demand for tea was steady and commodity prices for tea remained for the most part steady for both dust and leaf prices. While there were slight increases in the prices for brokens, fannings, and highgrowns.http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=134858

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1153596996757832322006-07-22T15:36:00.000-04:002006-07-22T15:36:36.783-04:00

I'm personally not a fan of bagged teas, but my mom loves tea bags for the convenience.  So last week she got me a tin of Emperor's White Tea by The Republic of Tea.  Maybe I'm too used to drinking loose tea leaves, but this isn't what I expect from a white tea.  I brewed this for about half a minute with about 8 oz. of water that was cooled for about 1.5 minutes after boiling.&

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31054870.post-1152767721772977152006-07-13T01:15:00.000-04:002006-07-13T01:15:21.780-04:00

testing 

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0