Black Dragon Pearls

So delayed tasting note since I actually had this over the course of the day yesterday. It was the last tea I had while out on vacation and I steeped it twice, then saved the leaves in my ingenuitea and had two more steeps when I got home that night. Lol.

I put about 4 per 8oz in my cup and have easily gotten 4 steeps out of them (I just add a minute each time). I haven’t tried a fifth steep yet, though I did put the leaves in some water and stuck them in the fridge before I went to bed last night to see what happens. Checked this morning and it’s not looking promising since the water is still very clear with only a hint of tea.

The taste is a very strong, black tea taste. Smooth and kinda rich with no astringency that I could tell, which I always love finding a tea with (without? Lol). I guess malty could be used to describe it if I’m using the word correctly, though I don’t really get the cocoa that other people seem to get. Unless that’s actually what I’m tasting, then it doesn’t really taste like what I think cocoa tastes. Lol.

It also makes a great iced tea by just brewing it normally and sticking it in the fridge to cool then adding ice later. I did this with the second and third steeps the first time I made this and it was just as good as the first two were hot.

I’m not really sure how these are supposed to compare with other companies’ black dragon pearls though. I have the black dragon pearls from Tazo, so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare. Maybe I’ll start collecting them from all the companies and have a big brew taste and compare day. Lol.

I think these are pretty good, though a bit expensive for me to potentially keep around to drink. Though I guess I have to take into account the multiple steeps I get from them. In any case, I’d definitely get these again one day.

Steep Information:
Amount: 6 balls
Water: ~16oz filtered, boiling
Tool: Adagio IngenuiTEA 16 oz
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: not really getting anything
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet black tea, coco, earthy, malty
Flavor: malty black tea
Body: Full
Aftertaste: a little astringent, sweet, malty
Liquor: translucent brown

Gift from SoccerMom.

I’ll admit I only wanted it because of the name, DRAGON, RAWR!

It’s a pretty, cute named, black tea.

Post-Steep Additives: lactose free milk, to calm the astringency

Resteep: 5 min, strong black tea, a little astringency

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/adagio-teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-black.html

I made this a little weak, and not as sweet as I would have preferred. Still pretty good, and I am liking Almond Coconut milk with it.

I’m eyeing the spaces developing in my tea cupboard warily. Tomorrow, I start my 3rd Annual Buy Nothing summer (see my blog, evilwidgets.com for details) which means I can’t buy anything except living basics from Memorial Day to Labor Day. A little over 3 months.

It’s good for me to start a steepdown and use up all those sample packs and tins I currently have. But there are a few things I’m low on that I love – this tea, Prince Vladimir. Yeeks.

But I know from the last 2 years that I can do this! clutches her cup nervously

This tea sample comes courtesy of Sare during our recent swap. Thanks!

I asked for a sample of these pearls out of curiosity. I don’t know if I’ve ever had an Adagio tea, actually, but I do love the black dragon pearls I got from Teavivre so I wanted to compare those with another company’s (not that I’m looking for a replacement!)

The dry pearls smell really quite chocolatey, with maybe a touch of cinnamon, actually. Intriging! Sare sent me 4 pearls so I decided to use them all up in my 12oz mug, and hope that it will be strong enough. Steeped, it smells roasty and grain-y, not much if any chocolate. The flavor could be stronger, but that is likely an effect of using what is probably too few pearls (I think I would normally go with 5). Otherwise it is pleasantly sweetish and honeyed, with a somewhat molasses-y grain-y flavor. Quite a tasty tea, though not going to replace Teavivre’s version any time soon. It was good to get to try these from another vendor!

Additional notes: Sipdown! Trying all the pearls with the same parameters slowly but surely. (Five pearls, just boiled, rinse, 2 min, 4 min). These are not my favorite, as they seem to be more typical black tea flavored than the chocolate honey deliciousness I usually find in pearls, if that makes sense. Apparently I really liked them last time and I steeped four pearls for FIVE minutes. Whoa. These seem to have hints of cherry in the flavor too. I like these but there are better pearls and now they’re gone. I guess all of these pearls really AREN’T the same. Most of them seem to have slight differences.

I’m having a quick gaiwan steep of this before I go to bed. I understand that strong caffeine tea is not the best thing to have before bed time but I am up all night anyway as I am very restless and enjoy reading my book. Husband doesn’t mind as long as I use my book light.

Tea: 5p 5 steeps: rinse, 30s,50s,1m10s,1m30s,2m 100ºC/212ºF

First steep
Gold in colour with a malty yet fresh tea with slight sweetness.

Second steep
Deeper golden brown in colour with a strong malty flavour. No bitterness.

Third steep
(The pearls have started to break apart)
Deeply golden brown with an earthy, malty and cocoa taste and smell. The sweetness is also back. So far I’m reminded of a much less sweeter version of Maltesers.

Fourth steep
Now more brown and gold than gold and brown in colour. Malty, strong, slightly bitter now but still with a slightly sweet cocoa finish.

Fifth steep
Brown, gold, red in colour and still malty and deeply earthy in smell. Quite bitter now but still manageable, very malty with no sweetness.

A lovely tea overall with my favourite steep being number 3. If you love malty and strong tea’s then this would be worth a try. :)

Yummy cocoa goodness for a Sunday morning.

I am absolutely stunned by the amount of this tea used that other have logged. It seems to be a pretty forgiving brew. I used 6 balls to brew a one pint pot this morning. I decided to try a longer steep, to see if I could get a stronger brew that way. Sorry, just my cheapskate nature showing. Anyway, the tea tolerates a long brew well, and did not develop any bitter or acid flavors. I drank my first cup with milk and sugar, which is not the usual way I take my tea but I was in the mood for it, and it was absolutely delicious. The second cup I took black, and it, too was delicious. Then I prepared a second steep, again brewed for six minutes. It was a touch weaker, but still good.

It makes sense to me that a longer steep would work well with this tea, as it takes some time to unfold, and thus for all of the leaves to come into contact with the water. A shorter steep might very well require more tea to make a tasty cup.

All gone. :(

Nothing super new to say except that when resteeping it really helps to have the right temperature of water! I used to just use whatever was in the kettle, at whatever temperature. However, I now have my zojirushi to use! It’s super awesome. Can’t wait to use it for gong fu cha. I got three cups out of the leaves so far, not sure I’ll push for four. Woo!

Let this one steep for a few extra minutes, and that really helped bring out the flavors. I still can’t put my finger on exactly what the taste is, but it’s smooth and smokey and I like it.