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Another sample – this was one I got for Lindsey. Want to make a note even though I didn’t try it myself. It smelled really good, and she finished the whole thing without comment, so I’m assuming it was acceptable but not anything to write home about

(Sample 5/19)

I had this last night and don’t remember exactly what it tasted like but want to make sure I make a record for future referece. I definitely enjoyed this tea, but not enough to remember it very well I guess haha! The jasmine smell was a lot stronger than I expected and the green tea was way stronger than what I’m used to too. Easy to oversteep and make really bitter. If I was expecting the biterness I might have enjoyed it more though. Anyway, this one was interesting and I would recommend it to my future-self if I start wanting stronger green tea with my jasmine
(Sample 4/19)

Brewing another portion of my sample in my teapot this morning. This tea is just so cool. Very light and very fruity. It’s so crazy that so many different types of flavor can come from what is essentially the same plant. I might have to get some more of this once my sample runs out :)
Flavor I can’t find but am currently deciding this tea is: Papaya

Sample 3/19! It was so fun to watch the leaves expand in this one! At first I was really surprised by the smell. There was a sort of chemical sharpness (which might just be what strong green tea smells like), but then also, I could’ve sworn it smelled like pineapple juice. Not completely of course, but definitely a hint of something like pineapple juice. Overall, this tastes like a really strong green tea to me. Very bitter, but with interesting lighter notes that my refined palette can only describe as “like pineapple juice” haha. It’s a little too bitter for my taste, but I’d definitely try it again.

Update: steeped a couple more times for less time and got all the flavor without the bitterness, so upping the score :)

Here goes sample 2 out of 19! (can you tell I’m excited?). This one smells really strong and roast-y. While it was brewing, I smelled popcorn, nuts, barley, and, of course, green tea. After 2 minutes, it’s a dark-ish amber color. In taste, it reminds me a lot of the genmaicha tea bags I tried earlier. The smell also reminds me of dried seaweed chips. I appreciate the novelty (for me) of the barley/roasted nuts flavor and smell, but overall, this one’s not my favorite. It’s probably also the reason I don’t like stouts and other heavy beers. Very happy I got to try it, though!

I was very excited to receive samples from Adagio and Verdant tea today. I did Verdant’s 5 for $5 and adagio’s single-steep samples for 75 cents each. All together, I got 19 different teas for $14. The white monkey was a free sample I got for buying samples on Adagio’s site, haha.

I wasn’t super optimistic because it seems cheaper than most adagio teas and, of course, I assume I have expensive taste! But, this has been a very pleasant surprise. Very mild and sweet, not bitter at all. It 100% smells like freeze dried strawberries to me, or maybe blueberries or mangoes.. papayas? Definitely some kind of fruit. I might be imagining it, but there’s a slight tartness with the fruitiness. I had to look it up again to make sure it’s not scented or flavored at all. A very interesting tea I will be happy to try again later!

This tea is really fruity, sweet and tart in a way that I enjoy. The fruity/tart/sweet-ness doesn’t come out so much in taste though, more aroma. The black tea is very mild and tastes slightly earthy and like unsweet honey to me. It’s nice overall but seems too mild. The website says it should be dark red in color, but all I’m getting is a dull orange. I wonder if maybe I need to use more tea and steep longer than they suggest? I don’t know, will try again!

I started up a pot of this after lunch. I’m having a hard time waking up today so decided to treat myself to one of my favorite (and of course priciest) teas.
My girlfriend came into the office (where my tea nook is), and said “why does it smell weird in here”?
“I don’t know, I just ate wasabi almonds, maybe it’s that. Surely, it’s not my fancy tea,” I said.
I handed her the tea filter, full of beautiful aromatic milk oolong leaves. To me it smells like a sweet dessert. She leaned in to smell it and immediately gagged. “Ew!! That’s it!” Hahahaha. There is now a candle lit in the office. I feel really bad about it, but it’s so crazy that two people can smell things so differently!!
Anyway, this tea is excellent as always :)

Martin: This is one of the teas I sent you a few days ago, hopefully it doesn’t smell bad to you!! haha

Giving this tea another shot this morning. I remembered it being kind of weak last time so tried to leave it steeping for longer in less water and probably ended up oversteeping, but oh well! I definitely got more flavor this time, but unfortunately I did get some sharp soapy-ness. I also got a light honey aroma that I don’t remember from before. The lemon/citrus flavor is still strong. Even with the slight soapy-ness, I preferred it brewed this way (probably more than 3 mins but less than 6).

Really good black/pu-erh blend! Just wanted to make a note to myself to remember I like it. I’m a big fan of the orange-vanilla combination :)
Watching Joe Biden start to speak now – hoping it goes well!