I have something I need to share: I’ve never had coffee. Not a sip, not a slurp. Never. Ever. Nor do I want to. Honestly, the smell alone drives me crazy (in a bad way). I’m what you’d call “a tea person.” It started with just a cup of tea, a couple cookies and a novel after dinner but it’s somehow progressed to a full-fledged addiction. Both my husband and I are seemingly tea-addicted. We’re way past bagged tea and onto the loose stuff. I thought share some of our favorites and not so favorites.
For Christmas a couple years ago, my husband surprised me with a selection of loose tea from Adagio. It was a total surprise and I really enjoyed it. It took us a long time to get through those teas and we’ve made a couple of re-orders since then.
The Irish Breakfast is a strong tea. The taste is very strong with a hearty flavor. I also have a theory that the caffeine in it is quite high as it seemed to be keeping me awake. Caffeine doesn’t usually bother me, so that’s saying something.
Undoubtedly my husband’s favorite is pu erh poe and he makes no secret of that. I was a little turned off by it because it has a very…unusual smell (not unlike a rabbit’s cage). I quizzed him on it and he threw out key phrases like “king of teas,” “the coffee drinker’s tea,” and “very dark.” He likes to drink it with milk or whipped cream.
Yunnan Gold isn’t the strongest, either visually or tastewise. It’s not overwhelming and isn’t bitter.
Keemun Rhapsody is mild with a strong earthy flavor. The tea itself is long, fine leaves.
Earl Grey Bravo is very fragrant and floral. For that reason, I’m not really a big fan. The scent of citrus blossoms is just too overwhelming for me but my husband likes it with milk or whipped cream.
The Vanilla Greenwas one that took me a while to enjoy. The vanilla aspect doesn’t seem terribly natural but it’s light and soothing. The tea itself is large, wide leaves, very different from the black tea.
Also, not to be forgotten is Ceylon Sonata, it’s a favorite of mine and a good standard black tea to have in supply. It’s what I always brew when we have guests. Unfortunately I don’t have any in stock at the moment to photograph but it’s a not-too-strong, not-too-weak black tea that’s very smooth.
While preparing this post, I noticed on Adagio’s website that they let you send a free $5 gift certificate to your friends via social media. Head over to my Twitter account in order to get the gift certificate code which is only good for the next 24 hours.
