[Tea] Harney's - Wenshan Baozhong

Smell: floral, almost honeysuckle *Harney's website says jasmine/gardenias. 

Taste: soft, semi sweet, floral, smooth, mild, rich. Almost honey like.

Verdict: Delicious!!!

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Hojicha

Smell: roast y, earthy, hojichay. Nostalgic. 

Taste: roasty, earthy, a little cocoa-y and a little nutty. Not bad! 

Verdict: Not as good as yunomi. Also i had salmon for dinner so not sure if that influenced my taste. 

Stars: 2/5

[Tea] Adagio - Jade oolong

Smell: pleasant, a little sweet. 

Taste: 

Verdict:

Starts:

[Tea] Adagio - Jasmine Silver Needle

Smell: jasmine-y.

Taste: jasmine-y. Mellow, nice for a jasmine. Honeysuckle-y.

Verdict: It's a jasmine tea. Can't taste the silver needle at all. 

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Adagio - Sleeping Dragon

Smell: faint pleasant floral smell. 

Taste: hard to describe. Green but not green, so faintly floral, faintly sweet. You can definitely tell its a green but it isn't a typical grassy flavor. 

Verdict: It's surprisingly pleasantly tasty! I really like it!

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Peach Oolong

Smell: peachy and sweey

Taste: Tastes like those peach ring candies.

Verdict: Too much peach, not enough oolong.

Stars: 1/5

[Tea] Adagio - Coconut

Taste: The coconut is not too overpowering. It blends well together with the black tea. It's actually quite enjoyable. 

Verdict: It's ok but not wowza. I like that the coconut is subtle and not in your face. It's pretty pleasant. 

Rating: 3/5

[Tea] Adagio - Maple Creme Oolong

Smell: mapley, cinnamony, comforting. Maple oatmeal.

Taste: Mapley, but not overpowering. Also a bit creamy. I guess the oolong was overpowered by the maple. 

Verdict: It smells comforting, homey, fall like. But the oolong didn't come through. 

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Adagio - Coconut Grove Pouchong

Smell: heavily of coconut, overpoweringly so. 

Taste: kinda floral, kinda coconutty. In theory, it would be nice but it's a little overpowering and kinda tastes flavored (I could be wrong). 

Verdict: it's good, but it would be nicer if it wasn't so overpowering. 

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Ohio Tea Company - French Blend

Smell: Smells heavily floral. 

Taste: Bitter is my first note. Floral, too much jasmine. 

Verdict: Gross af.

Stars: 1/5

[Tea] Adagio - Earl Grey Bravo

Smell: kinda vanilla-y or sweetish/lemon-y. No overpowering bergamot smell. 

Taste: reminded me of fruit loops on very first sip. The bergamot is an aftertaste, just a hint of it. The citrus taste is also not overpowering or unpleasant. I keep getting fruit loops vibes with every sip. 

Verdict: Fruit loops earl grey - yes!

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Dragonwell

Smell: vegetal

Taste: grassy, buttery, smoothe, tasty

Verdict: prettydecent dragonwell

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Mango Black Tea

Smell: sweet

Taste: pleasant, not bitter, smoothe. Doesn't taste straight up like mangoes, but tastes good! Surprisingly good. 

Verdict: I like it!

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Tearunners - Orchid Aroma Black

Smell: flowery, almost prune-y

Taste: a prune tasting black tea with a hint of floral notes at the end. Sweet, but in a floral/honey kind of way. Complex! Found out it is grown in the Wu Yi mountains  - no wonder I love it! 

Verdict: I love it! The sweetness from the floral/honey undertones is not usual for me and I really enjoy it. 

Stars: 5/5

[Tea] Adagio - Vanilla

Smell: sweet

Taste: slightly bitter, like a sugarfree version of a syrup rather than the good shit. Very disappointing and almost unpalatable to drink. MUCH better when we added cream to it. It took out the bitter edge and fake flavoring taste. 

Verdict: Without cream, it tastes awful to me.

Stars: Without cream: 1/5. With cream: 3/5.

[Tea] Vienna tea

Smell: black tea smell

Taste: black tea taste

Verdict: very black tea-y

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Adagio - Earl Grey Lavender (May 1st CommuniTEA)

Part of Adagio's communitea - for May 1st, Jett's birth. It is earl grey lavender.

Smell: highly bergamot. 

Taste: Bergamot, of course. It is an earl grey. The lavender and orange is a nice touch. The lavender balances out the harsher tones of bergamot so that it is smoothe. I bet this would be good with cream.

Verdict: Pretty yummy, as for earl greys. I like how the lavender compliments the bergamot and basically chills it down.

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Citron Green

Smell: citrusy

Taste: citrusy, and not a pleasant citrus taste. Perhaps taste more like a peel. 

Verdict: I don't like it lol.

Stars: 1/5

[Tea] Mariage Freres - Sencha

Smell: grassy/vegetal, beautiful classic sencha smell

Taste: light, vegetal, tasty! A slight astringent bite to the end of a sip that levels out to a beautiful aftertaste. (Matvei says he steeped it too long and it shouldn't be so bitter).

Verdict: really delicious, even if it was steeped too long. Probably one of the best senchas I've had. 

Stars: 4/5 (just because it was a little bitter) 

[Tea] Adagio - Creme

Smell: sweet and decadent, almost vanilla-y.

Taste: black tea that isn't bitter or overpowering. It's smoothe and cozy. It's predominantly creamy and tastes pretty sweet. 

Verdict: Pretty decent! It tastes creamy and sweet.

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Stash - Portland Blend

Smell: It smells very subtly fruity, I thought like maybe prunes or plums. More dominant was a classic black tea smell. 

Taste: Again, mostly a classic black tea taste. But then, it also has a very subtle fruity, raspberry taste. It also has a very slightly chocolatey taste. It's like a dessert tea but the dessert part isn't the foremost flavor. 

Verdict: Pretty good! Could be a daily drinker. I love the raspberry part of this tea the most. 

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] T2 - French Earl Grey

Smell: It smells a bit floral, a bit lemony. The smell is absolutely delicious. 

Taste: The bergamot is so faint, in a delicious way! No bitterness or astringency at all. A little sweet, a little floral. It tastes so light and refreshing (I drank it cold but it was brewed warm). 

Verdict: I didn't like this tea when I was pregnant but now that I'm not, holy smokes is it delicious! Tbh, it's now one of my favorite earl greys. 

Stars: 5/5

[Tea] Adagio - Hazelnut

Smell: hazelnutty! It smells delicious and warm and comforting. 

Taste:

Verdict:

Stars: 

[Tea] Adagio - Fujian Rain

Smell: a perfect mineral, roasty smell with a sweet undertone. One of the best oolongs ive smelled. 

Taste: mineral, roast, a slight sweetness on aftertaste. Not really what I expect when I saw this was a shui xian. Not as sweet. 

Verdict: It smells amazing, the taste is lovely. Still not as good as the shui xian from harney's. But for what it is: it's good. I would buy more as a daily drinker.

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Tiger Eye

Smell: chocolate, caramel, sweet and sultry

Taste: Chocolate is the first flavor I taste, and surprisingly, vanilla wins out. I don't really taste any caramel. I mostly taste it in the aftertaste, which is pleasant. It isn't too strong. Very mellow, which is nice. I can imagine this tastes heavenly with a bit of milk/cream and sugar. 

Verdict: Great for a desserty tea if I was dieting. It tastes great as is, but seems like it'd be extra tasty with milk/cream and sugar. It's chocolatey with a caramelly aftertaste. 

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Formosa Oolong

Smell: bold, oolong-y, roasty

Taste: kind of a plain, generic oolong taste. Similar to oolongs you get at Chinese restaurants. A darker, slightly roasty oolong. Maybe a bit barleyish? Or something wheat-y. It is very bold in its flavor though. Adagio says it has a raisin, ripe fruit aroma - I didn't get that. Autumn leaves, maybe, but I didn't taste any sweetness in the way we brewed it. Maybe a similar barley-type sweetness in its aftertaste, but that's it. 

Verdict: The more I drank it, the more I'm reminded of Chinese restaurant tea. Or a very muted/distant cousin to barley tea from my fave Korean restaurant. It was okay for what it is. Would I buy more of it? Sure, maybe, but it isn't what I'd reach for. It's good but not wow. 

Stars: 3/5

[Tea] Yunnan Sourcing - 2018 High Mountain Tu Cha Black Tea from Wu Yi Mountains

Yunnan Sourcing Link

Smell: kinda prune-y, black

Taste: not bitter, not typical black tea flavor. More roasty and prune-y, muted plum flavor. Definitely a whisper of a sweet flavor in there, though I can't point out what. Reminds me of a laoshan black. Aftertaste is coyingly semi-sweet and pleasant. 

Verdict: Quite good! I've been on a black tea lull lately, yet this was not offensive to me! One of the better blacks that isn't too strong from yunnansourcing. 

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Golden Flower Oolong

Smell: floral

Taste: light, refreshing, honey  honeysuckle, floral. It smells more floral than it tastes. Once brewed, the floral notes are like an afterthought. It tastes creamy and slightly sweey and slightly floral. 

Verdict: I really love this tea! I liked it more than I thought I would. I normally don't go for floral teas, but this one only smells floral and isn't overpowering in the taste. 

Stars: 5/5 would buy again!

[Tea] Adagio - Masters Collection Ali Shan

Smell: floral, a bit sweet

Taste: semi sweet, light, refreshing, kinda floral, maybe clove-y? or cinnamon-y? Some kind of spice idk what to put a name with. 

Verdict: Quite tasty and refreshing. This is Matvei's favorite from the masters collection. Light, sorta sweet, slightly floral, just pleasant. 

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Genmai Cha

Smell: heavily of roasted rice, yum! Typical genmai cha smell! 

Taste: I was expecting a slightly sweeter taste when I first tried it. It tastes very much like roasted rice with a nice complex of green tea behind it. The tea is overpoweringly roasted rice flavor. Probably the most toasty I've had so far and leans towards the savory spectrum on genmai cha. 

Verdict: I would buy this again. I think I might have a slight preference for Harney's, but this was a good contender and a nice cozy cup tp drink. I'd probably consider it for a "staple". 

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Tea Runners - Ancient Snow Sprout

Smell: wet grass, budding greens, faintly sweet. Smells similar to a white tea. 

Taste: it smells better than it tastes. Definitely tastes like a white tea. The aftertaste is more pleasant than the actual taste. Matvei thinks it tastes like if olive oil and roasty tea had a baby, that's what this would taste like. 

Verdict: i would not buy this again, but it smells super pleasant. 

Star: 1/5 

[Tea] Adagio - Almond Oolong

Smell: slightly almondy, kinda like an almond cookie. Smelled strange at first but reminded me of almond enough to guess that's what matvei brewed me.

Taste: It kinda tastes like what I'd imagine almonds strained eith water would taste like. Or homemade almond milk. Or even my breastmilk. There seems to be a slight spice flavor to it, too. 

[Tea] Adagio - Peach Black Tea

Smell: peachy, and kinda floral. 

Taste: strongly tastes of peach. I drank it when it was too hot and it tasted too strong and a little bitter. I waited for it to cool off and it tasted a lot better. I think it would be really tasty iced as opposed to hot. It has a lingering astringency kinda. The aftertaste is a nice gentle peach flavor. 

[Tea] Adagio - Earl Grey Moonlight

Taste: bergamot, creamy. Reminds me of a stronger version of the milk earl grey from 99 Ranch. Pleasant aftertaste that is a sweet muted flavor. Would probably be good with cream. 

[Tea] Adagio - Wu yi Ensemble

2:30 @ 190 F in teapot

Color: beautiful amber color 

Aroma: roasty, a hint of cinnamon

Taste: roasty and minerally. Almost a rocky taste to it. It isn't overpoweringly roasty, but enough to be pleasant. The aftertaste is wonderful. It has a hint of sweetness and cinnamon. There are a ton of layers to this tea which makes it very complex. I'm sure it would be great gong fu too! 

Verdict: I really loved this! It has the roasty, minerally taste I tend to love. I would for sure buy again - it isn't overpoweringly roasty like some of my oolongs. It has a nice balance of roasty and subtle sweetness.

Stars: 5/5

[Tea] Adagio - Chocolate Truffle

Ok, this one surprised me haha. I initially wanted to try the flavors sample box for something else and teased Matvei about the chocolate truffle flavor but... it really surprised me!

Color: beautiful dark reddish color.

Smell: deceptively sweet. Smells like candy. 

Taste: it doesn't taste like any truffle I've had, but you can definitely taste chocolate on there. It isn't overpoweringly sweet, but has just enough of a choco (maybe dark choco) flavor. Almost dark chocolatey with a light caramel taste, perhaps? 

It strangely makes my throat more dry after I drink it, though. A bit astringent afterwards. 

Verdict: I surprisingly really liked this one! What started out as a joke flavor to tease Matvei turned out to be a winner, imo! It was sweet but not overpoweringly sweet; a dark chocolate taste with maybe a dusting of caramel. I would buy this again and enjoy it. Very dessert-y tea.

Stars: 4/5

[Tea] Adagio - Milk Oolong

I love milk oolongs and I'm on a quest to find my favorite one. So during my sample box splurge, I asked Matvei to get me the milk oolong from Adagio and he did! 

Color: a mix between a dark and pale amber color.

Taste: It was bland as heck! It had none of the vibrant milky, buttery taste I've come to love from a milk oolong. The taste was there, but it was a muted taste. Like a whisper of a milk oolong. It was the La Croix of milk oolongs. 

Verdict: I wouldn't buy this again. I have other favorite milk oolongs and this doesn't even hold a candle to any of them. It was okay-ish I guess, but that's all the praise I can give it.

Stars: 2/5

[Tea] Smith Teamaker - Fez

We had an old tea bag we took from the Portland hotel we stayed at, so I decided to kill it off. 

Color: Pale yellow

Taste: It smells like a grassy green, so when I went to drink it, it was a disappointment. It tastes strongly of mint, but not as strong as my favorite Morrocan mint. I couldn't really taste any grassiness or greenness past that. 

Aftertaste: Not very pleasant, feels a bit heavy in my mouth and the mint makes me feel thirsty. Tastes a bit bitter. 

Verdict: It smells deceptively like some other green I'd want to drink but the taste falls short of the nice smell. If I had nothing else to drink I guess I would drink this. 

Stars: 2/5 

[Tea] Adagio - Gyokuro

We got a green tea sampler box from Adagio, one of them was Gyokuro (#7 in the sampler). 

Color: Pale yellow/green

Taste: Grassy, a little sweet (Matvei thinks it is weak for a gyokuro). I preferred it cold as opposed to hot. Matvei also thought he tasted apricot pits, a bit of bitterness. It is mild. Back of the tongue felt a little fresh, aftertaste is good. 

Verdict: Probably would not buy again if Matvei says there are stronger gyokuros out there. I thought it was fine but it didn't stand out. It was okay. 

Stars: 3/5 (Matvei 2/5) 

[Tea] Verdant Tea - 2018 Shi Feng Dragonwell

2018 Shi Feng Dragonwell

I'm not sure if I got the 1st or 2nd picking. Also, now that I recall, I can't remember if I bought 2018 or 2017. Matvei threw away the tea sample before I could get to it. 

Apparently this is a black tea and I never knew? I tried it once when Matvei and I started dating, but left the rest to enjoy brewed on my own (he brewed it for me the 1st time and I think I wanted to experiment with the second steep). I let him steep the second one for me because I was tired and breastfeeding, so c'est la vie. 

As a result, it was a little bit bitter (he steeped for 3 minutes; directions said 2-3 minutes). 

Taste: a little minerally, very slightly roasted, malty-ish, bread, maybe a little nutty? 

Aftertaste: pleasant, not too harsh, minerally; leaves a whiff of a malty flavor at the back of the tongue

Look: medium to dark brown

Smell: Roastier than it tastes

Verdict: Would I buy again? Maybe? I didn't anticipate this was a black tea. It wasn't bad, but I think expectations of its taste profile skewed my perception of it. It wasn't bad, by far, but it was just "okay". 

3/5 stars