Toasted Sesame

My first try at this one… I love the smell of it. It makes me crave Japanese food. Like, a lot. Smells so awesome.

Trying it straight first. The smell is milder than the dry leaves which makes me a little sad. But still smells good. Love the initial taste of the sesame. Really good. But then the tea tastes a little bitter after that. Maybe I steeped too long… Added a little bit of sugar (maybe 1/8tsp for my 7oz glass). Okay, that takes away from the bitterness but keeps a nice savory taste going. Much more sugar and I think the taste would be totally thrown off. Still a little hot thought so I gotta let it cool.

Okay, cool now. Oh… Niiiiiice. This tastes like it smells. Like something with a really awesome Japanese glaze on it. Like the glaze on osembe or something. Maybe the sauce on unagi sushi? Which is something I love so that’s a good thing.

I think this tea is going to be directly responsible for me going out to get some unadon today.

Another purchase based upon the weirdness of it … yeah, I do that a lot. But… peanut butter is where I draw the line. (Sorry 52Teas) The smell of the dry leaves is intriguing, it reminds me of sesame oil and Chinese cuisine, and because I’m hungry, this aroma is making me even hungrier!

Because of previous issues that I’ve had with Adagio’s black teas – I found them to be just a bit bitter when brewed for the recommended time of 5 minutes – I chose to brew this just 2 1/2 minutes, which seems to be just about perfect for this tea.

I like it better than I thought I would. It possesses a very unique flavor. Adagio’s black tea base is much more tannic than the average Ceylon. It has a stronger astringency, and a tendency to get bitter if it’s brewed too long.

The sesame is toasty and nutty. However, I think that much of the sesame’s characteristics are overwhelmed a bit with this Ceylon – perhaps it would be a flavor better suited for a green tea? I don’t know… I think I need to taste it a few more times before I can really summarize my thoughts on this tea…

I HAD to throw my lunch away…bleh. Decided to do a 2nd cup of this tho!!! I’m going thru my snack drawer at work – which is REALLY thin – mind you – and found some dehydrated sweetened Pineapple. They are surprisingly good to nibble on while sipping this tea.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the tin is how oily the leaves look, like the whole container was dropped in a pot of sesame oil. The smell made me think of Chinese food, or maybe teriyaki. When I started steeping though, the smell reverted back to being just like a bag full of sesame seeds.

I goofed on the steeping time so I’m not sure how long it was, but it’s probably somewhere around four minutes. When I rescued it, the surface of the ‘tea juice’ (ha!) was covered in a distinct sheen of oil. The flavour is very much like what I’d expect toasted sesame to taste like; so Adagio gets points for authenticty. It seems to also work quite well with the tanins in the tea base.

This isn’t a flavour I’m used to tasting in my tea (obviously) so my tongue is sending my brain rather mixed signals and confuzzling the poor dear. I think I’m leaning towards liking it, but not loving it – further testing is required! ;)

When I first opened this tin, the first thing I noticed was how oily and black the leaves look. The smell was just like toasted sesame, which I absolutely love! After I steeped it, the leaves looked dark brown and almost had a green sheen to it. Very nice. The smell of sesame was faint to me. The taste is very faint sesame but bitter. I added some sugar after tasting it without sugar. I believe it needed it. I don’t have any milk, but it might help to add some milk too. Overall, good tea. I’m not too into bitter though. My mouth feels a bit dry now.

I was so excited to get my “savory sampler” from Adagio yesterday. Sesame was first on my list to try. The leaves smell and look a little like soy sauce. They are dark black and have kind of a dark sheen on them. There are also sesame seeds visible with the leaves. When brewed it smells somewhat like sesame, not soy sauce (thankfully), but the sesame flavor was kind of weak. I’m giving it a 100 rating for the moment, because I don’t really know what I think of it just yet. When I first tried it, I was at work and distracted, so I will make a better assessment when I’m fully focused. Try it! The “savory sampler” is free with a $19 purchase from Adagio. Not sure how long that promotion is running. This tea is definitely worth checking out.

Thanks to Awkward Soul for sending me a bit of this tea! I don’t think it’s particularly well-liked, but I was curious. Toasted sesame reminds me of Japanese desserts, and therefore makes my mouth water, but I’m anticipating disappointment.

The aroma of this one is… rather like a straight black tea. That sort of straight black tea I don’t particularly care for. (I really need to sample black teas from different regions so I can explain this better!) Even with a 4-minute infusion (5 minutes was recommended), I’m getting a fair bit of astringency. I really can’t taste anything but astringent black tea, to be honest. No sesame at all. Perhaps I’ll try the rest of my sample in a 3-minute infusion, but I have doubts that I will get anything good out of it. Ah well. I have a (tasty) 5th infusion of Verdant’s Aged Traditional Anxi Tieguanyin to make me feel better before bed!

Hrm. I feel like I’m being quite the harsh reviewer tonight, but I feel like I’ve had a lot of mediocre to bad tea tonight. Just one of those nights, I suppose!

I had a decently sized, well thought out comment on this tea. But then I got distracted, ate dinner, did some work, watch a little South Park, and realized I never finished or posted the note. And then we had a system update, so it was lost.
All in all it boiled down to this tea tastes like sesame seeds and it was delicious in that sense. But I’m not a huge fan of sesame, so I won’t drink it often.
Also, the dried leaves smell exactly like soy sauce, and maybe a little bit of peanut butter if you stick your nose in there deep and good. They look super oily too. Very odd.

This is one of those really unique teas that I find myself craving every once in awhile. The dry leaves smell really toasty and the tea smells warm and nutty. There is a light sesame seed finish that I wish it was a little stronger. For me, this is basically a nice black tea with a little sesame seed note at the end. A nice tea, but not one that I reach for everyday.

-Dry blend has medium shiny black tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell like toasted sesame seeds. Tea liquor aroma is nutty.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy medium reddish brown color with an oily sheen on top.
-Malty and nutty flavor and finish. Light toasted sesame seed aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Black tea with a toasty flavor.

Auggy sent me some of this tea [because she’s awesome] and I was pretty excited to try it because I enjoy sesame.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to really get any sesame taste out of it. This is what my notes say:

Tastes bitter.
Sweet-ish aftertaste.
Bitter. Bitter. BITTER.
Didn’t get any sesame.
At all.
Boo.
Oh, wait, on the breath…? Yep. A bit. Not enough to be sating.
WTF?
…Am I broken?

I think that pretty much says it all.

I had enough for two cups. I tried the first one at 4:00 minute. The second time I tried this I moved the time down to 3:15.

Thanks for sending it, though, Auggy. Ah, well.