Sorry Adagio, not impressed.
I haven’t been drinking a lot of Adagio lately for whatever reason, When I read @Cynthia Carter’s log yesterday I thought to myself, “Self, this might be a good time to try this one.”
I also have a UtiliTEA and Adagio recommends 180 degrees, so I set the dial near the top of the green region and brewed a cup. The first couple of sips were overwhelmingly salty. Then it was like what @CC said – bath water. And then I wasn’t getting enough flavor, so about halfway through the cup I tossed it and moved the dial back.
The second try was a bit more mellow, though more flavorful. However, it still isn’t doing anything for me. The taste becomes a little bit more obvious as it cools, but…
Okay, here’s the thing. There are moments when I think that this could be a tea that I would really like. The scent has this nice roasted quality to it, and the finish is enjoyable, but getting to that point is not at all fun for me. The beginning part of this for me has a hint of bitterness [which I’ve gotten accustomed to from some of the greens] but it’s accompanied by this distinct blechy taste that’s almost sour. It reminded me of this time when I drank water out of a glass I hadn’t rinsed very well and still had some dishwashing liquid on it. So I resteeped the leaves in a new cup, just to be safe. Still there.
The tricky thing is that the aftertaste on this makes me think that I drank something good. It’s got that nice grassy sweetness that is in many of the greens I enjoy, especially when I breathe air in over my tongue. So I keep picking it up and sipping it. Even as I’m writing about how I’m not a huge fan of it. And there’s the dishwashing liquid.
I think I’m going to have to shelve this and try it again sometime when this experience has faded and I’m feeling up to it again. [If anyone has any suggestions I was at 1 tsp leaves, 8 oz. water at 170-175 degrees. Ish.]
Ironically, though, this has my curiosity piqued, so I think I’m going to try Tavalon’s dragonwell and see what happens.
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I’ve found that some of the vendors’ temperature estimates for green teas tend to be standard for all the green teas they sell, but some green teas really need to be treated more gently than others. Dragonwell seems to brew best for me steeped for two minutes at around 70C (158F). One time I wasn’t thinking about which green tea I was brewing and steeped it at my green tea default temperature, 77C (171F). It really didn’t taste anywhere near as good as it should have that time. So yeah, I’d suggest lowering the temperature next time and see if that helps.
Sweet. Will do. This made me pretty sad.
Thanks takgoti – I’m glad it’s not just that I am woefully ignorant of green tea – it’s reassuring to know someone else tasted this and said “Blech!”
That said, I think I will try the lower temperature as well. Thank you for the suggestion, Luthien.
Fortunately i never came across a bad dragonwell, but this one sounds like it. I agree with Luthien about the temperature. But even between the dragonwells there are differencies and you need to test what temperature is the best. I steep the dragonwells usually for 50-60 seconds. Until 1 min. they don’t have a slightest bitterness. Also the leaf quantity gives you very different experiences. Usually the dragonwell requires some more leafs for rich flavour. Can’t tell you how much to use because i don’t use a spoon, i usually cover the bottom of the tea pot with a approx. 2-3mm thic layer of leafs. Also, sometimes when i want some more flavour i do it via gong fu cha using a gaibei(gaiwan). I this case i use it approx. in ratio 1:4 (leafs/water). This is creates rather a strog beverage, but no bitter. So you really need to experiment a little bit.
Your experience with this is sort of an exaggerated version of my experiences with Chinese greens. I do use a lower temp (160-ish) for my greens so I think the “ick” isn’t as strong for that reason but yeah. Salty is pretty much what I taste and I never really got Dragonwell to a point where I liked it. Just where I didn’t have to pour it out.
@Cynthia Carter No worries! Hopefully we’ll both learn from this!
@mr. base Oh wow, thanks! I’m getting all excited about trying to make this tea good now. I think there will be a fair amount of experimentation going on this weekend.
@Auggy Hmm. Maybe I just don’t like Dragonwells. I’d say maybe I don’t like Chinese Greens but I think I’ve had a decent number of them and they’ve been okay to me thus far. Now I’m pondering. Looks like it’s going to be a green tea weekend.
I’m not a huge Chinese green fan personally but I’ve found some decent ones. Honestly, Rishi’s Jade Cloud is my favorite but I tend to like it best after it gets a little older – smooths it out for me. There was one from SpecialTeas (Clouds and Mist or something?) that was awesome on the first steep but after that not so hot. But yeah, that’s pretty much it for me. I keep trying them though!
OK, so I’ve taken on board a lot of what you folks have kindly suggested – lower temperature, more tea leaves, a brief steep. I doubled the amount of leaves I was using (farewell, little sample tin!), set the temperature on my UtiliTea to the lowest green setting, and steeped for about two minutes.
The best I can say is that it is somewhat improved, and I think the largest difference came from increasing the amount of tea brewed. My palate is accustomed to hearty blacks, or delicate Darjeelings or oolongs, and I suspect this tea is just a little subtle for my tastes. In short – just not my cup of tea.
As I sip my 20th infusion, this makes me sad…
I’ve found that some of the vendors’ temperature estimates for green teas tend to be standard for all the green teas they sell, but some green teas really need to be treated more gently than others. Dragonwell seems to brew best for me steeped for two minutes at around 70C (158F). One time I wasn’t thinking about which green tea I was brewing and steeped it at my green tea default temperature, 77C (171F). It really didn’t taste anywhere near as good as it should have that time. So yeah, I’d suggest lowering the temperature next time and see if that helps.
Sweet. Will do. This made me pretty sad.
Thanks takgoti – I’m glad it’s not just that I am woefully ignorant of green tea – it’s reassuring to know someone else tasted this and said “Blech!”
That said, I think I will try the lower temperature as well. Thank you for the suggestion, Luthien.
Fortunately i never came across a bad dragonwell, but this one sounds like it. I agree with Luthien about the temperature. But even between the dragonwells there are differencies and you need to test what temperature is the best. I steep the dragonwells usually for 50-60 seconds. Until 1 min. they don’t have a slightest bitterness. Also the leaf quantity gives you very different experiences. Usually the dragonwell requires some more leafs for rich flavour. Can’t tell you how much to use because i don’t use a spoon, i usually cover the bottom of the tea pot with a approx. 2-3mm thic layer of leafs. Also, sometimes when i want some more flavour i do it via gong fu cha using a gaibei(gaiwan). I this case i use it approx. in ratio 1:4 (leafs/water). This is creates rather a strog beverage, but no bitter. So you really need to experiment a little bit.
Your experience with this is sort of an exaggerated version of my experiences with Chinese greens. I do use a lower temp (160-ish) for my greens so I think the “ick” isn’t as strong for that reason but yeah. Salty is pretty much what I taste and I never really got Dragonwell to a point where I liked it. Just where I didn’t have to pour it out.
@Cynthia Carter No worries! Hopefully we’ll both learn from this!
@mr. base Oh wow, thanks! I’m getting all excited about trying to make this tea good now. I think there will be a fair amount of experimentation going on this weekend.
@Auggy Hmm. Maybe I just don’t like Dragonwells. I’d say maybe I don’t like Chinese Greens but I think I’ve had a decent number of them and they’ve been okay to me thus far. Now I’m pondering. Looks like it’s going to be a green tea weekend.
I’m not a huge Chinese green fan personally but I’ve found some decent ones. Honestly, Rishi’s Jade Cloud is my favorite but I tend to like it best after it gets a little older – smooths it out for me. There was one from SpecialTeas (Clouds and Mist or something?) that was awesome on the first steep but after that not so hot. But yeah, that’s pretty much it for me. I keep trying them though!
OK, so I’ve taken on board a lot of what you folks have kindly suggested – lower temperature, more tea leaves, a brief steep. I doubled the amount of leaves I was using (farewell, little sample tin!), set the temperature on my UtiliTea to the lowest green setting, and steeped for about two minutes.
The best I can say is that it is somewhat improved, and I think the largest difference came from increasing the amount of tea brewed. My palate is accustomed to hearty blacks, or delicate Darjeelings or oolongs, and I suspect this tea is just a little subtle for my tastes. In short – just not my cup of tea.
As I sip my 20th infusion, this makes me sad…