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So from what I can tell, are goons too elite for Adagio?  Because I've been buying from them and have zero complaints about the quality of the tea (although I have little reference) and as a bonus, their stuff is fairly inexpensive. Do you guys think Adagio is at least good enough for becoming acquainted to all the different types of tea? It's hard to pass up $2 samples.
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Oct 19, 2011 05:11
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tirinal posted:I don't know how you can call them fairly cheap if you compare them to something like Upton Teas. I was referring more to the sample sizes. I found Upton's site ridiculously hard to navigate so maybe they really are cheaper and I'm too stupid to realize it, haha. Additionally though, Adagio's low shipping fee is what got me in the first place. I hate overpriced shipping, especially since I'm usually not buying a whole lot of tea. And thanks for the validation, Durian  you're right, I'm still in that period of learning what I like and dislike, so I guess I shouldn't feel bad about getting my stuff there.
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Oct 19, 2011 05:54
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Because you all inspired me to get into loose leaf tea, I thought I would post some pictures of the most interesting types of tea I have so far. The quality of the pictures isn't great but you can definitely see the unique qualities of each one. Sadly these are all from Adagio but they are pretty good to my as-yet-unrefined palate. Golden Monkey Just got this today. It smells slightly like my pu erh, which was a little off-putting, but the tea itself is fruity and light and delicious. Supposedly, it's one leaf/one bud whole leaf tea but I'm not sure I buy it.  Yunnan Gold I have not tried this stuff yet but you all said that Yunnan blacks were good, so I have faith. Definitely looks like buds only, very velvety.  Genmai cha I have only tried it once, and I think I may have brewed it too strong, but I didn't really like it. I wish I could chalk it up to Adagio being somewhat plebeian but I can't imagine they could mess up what is supposed to be "poor man's tea." Still, it was cool to open up the bag and see what looked like tiny popcorns in there   Pu Erh Dante The first time I smelled it, I liked it even though it is kind of stinky. When I tasted it, I found that it tastes better than it smells -- at least at first. In my humble opinion, this stuff has to be drunk while it is still very hot or else it gets really gross. Probably the weirdest thing about this tea, to me, is how super-dark the liquor gets. I did a double-take when I first poured it into my white teacup.  Gunpowder Holy crap is this stuff good. I first tried it when a friend got it as a sampler and didn't like it, passing it off to me. It's seaweedy and stinky and awesome. I can get 3 good 2-minute brews out of one batch of leaves. I seriously love this tea, if I could take one kind of tea with me to a desert island it would be this one. If anyone has any suggestions for retailers who have a really good/cheap gunpowder, I am all ears. 
Hummingbirds fucked around with this message at 19:30 on Nov 8, 2011 |
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Nov 7, 2011 22:42
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aldantefax posted:A couple of things you could try: Thanks for the tips! I tried it again with a 90-sec infusion (had done 2 minutes the first time) and it's much better now. 
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Nov 8, 2011 19:34
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Devi posted:I think I'm going to go to Adagio tomorrow since I'll be in the neighborhood and I'm ashamed of not visiting it earlier. Does anyone have any recommendations? The jasmine chun hao is very light and floral, and all of their fruit-flavored blacks are good if you're into that kind of thing. I also really like their darjeeling #22 but I am positive there are way better places to get a darjeeling. Also, I love the gunpowder but again, there are probably better/cheaper retailers for that.
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Nov 9, 2011 03:32
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KarmaticStylee posted:I've checked out a few of the sites in the OP and I feel overwhelmed by the amount of options. So far, I really like basic green tea and avoid anything that is "sweet". Is there a good, everyday green tea that is recommended? Gunpowder! Cheap and delicious, not sweet at all. You can also resteep it several times, so if you're drinking a lot, it's very cost-effective.
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Dec 5, 2011 04:56
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Manuel Calavera posted:Any Rooibos you recommend in particular? I think those are the ones with the most caffeine, right? I need to get tea sometime in the future, I started drinking mine again. It's a year or two old, but still good. And it will disappear at some point. Rooibos has no caffeine, are you thinking of mate?
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Dec 13, 2011 04:08
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Personally I like teapots with infuser baskets because they're really simple and clean to use (and don't seem to affect flavor negatively if the pot is filled), but it might be blasphemy to suggest something that's not loose-brewing. However if that's something that interests you, this is pretty cheap, although it may not be fancy enough. The rest of Adagio's teapots are pretty cheap as well although not all of them come with infuser baskets.
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Dec 14, 2011 17:47
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This also is a bit over your budget but I just got it and really like it so far. It is accurate to +/- 2 degrees by my measurements.
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Jan 3, 2012 05:54
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Just so everyone knows, Teavana is having a 30%-70% sale on some teas right now, there are a lot of blends available for like $2 for 2 ounces. I think I spent ~$14 and got five different kinds of tea and a few free samples I'd accrued over time and never ordered.
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Jan 8, 2012 16:41
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Not sure, but it says the sales are for discontinued teas so I'd assume so. I don't usually shop there.
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Jan 8, 2012 21:08
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Hawkgirl posted:I know I just made this recommendation myself, but has anyone tried the herbal tisanes from Adagio? I have their peppermint tea and it is great. I'm a little interested in their fruity blends. I get home late on weekdays and caffeine really fucks up my sleep, so I don't get to enjoy tea as much as I'd like. I think I tried the blood orange and it was delicious. So is wild strawberry. As long as we're talking caffeine-free, the honeybush mango is the best flavored rooibos I've had.
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Jan 10, 2012 05:11
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dik-dik posted:Good to know! Earlier today I managed to do the same thing to some green tea I was brewing and I was worried that I'd started going crazy or something. Every gunpowder I've tried has a seaweedy "fishy" taste. If you really think something went wrong you could try steeping at a lower temperature or for a shorter time. As for pre-heating, I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to always do that.
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Jan 19, 2012 03:05
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aldantefax posted:!? It's not at all unpleasant, I guess "spinachy" would be a more palatable way to describe it. I know the second suggestion wasn't directed towards me but gosh that sounds good. Wonder if catnip would work, as that's the only plant in the mint family I've ever had success in growing.
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Jan 19, 2012 04:32
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Just wanted to tell you guys about a discovery I made. I know people have been drinking hot toddys forever, but I had some Kraken spiced rum that is a bit too flavorful for me to stand on its own. Tonight I made some chai with milk and sugar and this vanilla-extract rum actually tastes pretty good with that. Makes sense though, spiced tea and spiced rum. Probably would be even better with a light spiced rum.
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Jan 28, 2012 04:32
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Forumpost posted:I've been drinking a lot more black tea at work now that I bought a good water heater that can actually get water to boiling, I bought some of this: Sorry for not replying sooner, I have that tea and since you're already buying adagio, their darjeeling #22 (I believe it's a second flush but could be wrong) has that same muscat taste but it's a bit milder than the Golden Monkey. I love this darjeeling but if you are going to buy some, go for Upton, I bet it's better.
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Jan 31, 2012 23:17
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If I want to make iced tea from herbal or rooibos leaves, can I brew it hot and then chill? I mostly want to avoid having to use 2x leaves for cold brewing.
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Feb 12, 2012 22:33
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Thanks. I was checking because I seem to remember people in this thread saying "always cold brew black tea if you are icing it."
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Feb 12, 2012 23:04
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 Teavana has free shipping today!! Use code TREATYOURSELF
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Feb 14, 2012 20:15
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Cizzo posted:I really want to think this is a Parks and Recreation Tom Haverford reference. http://tomhaverfoods.com/ I bought four ounces of peach oolong for ~$5 bucks! e: not from Tom Haverfoods, Teavana. Hummingbirds fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Feb 15, 2012 |
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Feb 15, 2012 02:55
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enthe0s posted:So I got into tea a couple of weeks ago thanks to one of my friends and I bought a few different types of tea to try and learn what I like and don't like. However, I would like to greatly speed up the process of trying all the different "styles" of tea (not really sure what term to use), so are there any "standard" teas I should try? That is to say, can I get recommendations for tea that exemplify a certain type of tea so I can see if I would like that kind in general? You might like a yunnan gold or Adagio's golden monkey; to me they have a similar character to Darjeeling although the flavor is not as delicate. Don't discount green tea so quickly -- in my opinion it is the hardest to brew correctly. What temp/time did you brew it at? As for the sediment, maybe go for something with less dust (perhaps jasmine pearl?)
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Mar 3, 2012 05:47
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Etrips posted:Any recommendations on a water heater / kettle thing to get perfect temperature waters? It's a little expensive but I have this and love it.
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Mar 6, 2012 03:42
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pork never goes bad posted:Try http://www.lifeinteacup.com/ AHHH thank you!! I just got to try ti guan yin for the first time because of this. Here I was, thinking I didn't like oolong very much. drat. And I'm only on the first infusion.
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Mar 24, 2012 18:19
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Wedemeyer posted:Milk with tea tastes like Yuck and Gross had a baby. How can I enjoy milk with my tea? Is there a trick like add more sugar? Maybe the problem is that I'm using two percent milk.... Try chai, in America at least it's typically drunk with milk (because it would be terribly bitter/spicy otherwise).
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Apr 18, 2012 02:54
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Fryhtaning posted:I was thinking of trying out a bunch of samples from a few places, but I thought I'd see if there were any goon recommendations first. I love the Golden Monkey (black) and the Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong (oolong) from Teavana, and pretty much everything else there tastes weak or fruity to me. Any good specific or general recommendations based on that? Recommending a darjeeling if you've never tried one.
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Apr 26, 2012 19:40
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I don't know what your budget is like so I thought I'd throw in a suggestion for Tea Forte. It is the best bagged tea I've ever had, but is pretty pricey (I received a huge box of it as an xmas gift last year or else I never would have tried it).
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May 17, 2012 18:34
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Japanese tea ceremony, kombucha, tea leaf reading(?)
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Jun 1, 2012 01:57
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Wedemeyer posted:Speaking of things with strong smells, is honeybush tea supposed to smell like pickles/rubber? It's so overpowering I can't even taste the tea. ...It should not. It should be mildly grassy and a little sweet. I think you got some bad tea.
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Jun 8, 2012 14:36
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I use a cheap insulated coffee cup for taking tea to class but this is a great all-purpose bottle that I usually use for ice water, but it keeps tea hot for hours. As an aside, $20 might seem excessive for a simple thermos like that but it's lasted me 3 years, so.
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Aug 21, 2012 05:32
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Orange blossom? Don't know if it's available where you live but it's pretty light. Grew up with that stuff as I'm in Florida.
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Nov 15, 2012 18:08
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I like green tea plain (with perhaps a pinch of sugar if it's a tart fruit-flavored green) and black tea with some sugar. No milk unless I accidentally overbrew it. But generally I'm of the opinion that people should drink tea however they want to drink it! e: for nice black teas like darjeeling, I don't add sugar.
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Nov 25, 2012 05:44
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d6r9b posted:Or should i just stick to an electric kettle with a temperature setting? I will never stop recommending this: Please don't get her a kettle that she has to brew 1L of tea in if she wants to use it. I've been using the stainless steel cuisinart for a year now with no complaints whatsoever.
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Dec 8, 2012 16:35
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bewbies posted:apologies if this has been asked or discussed recently... Buy some, it's super cheap. Genmaicha evolved as a way to stretch out one's tea supply so it's cheap by nature.
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Jan 16, 2013 06:35
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You could try some citrus-flavored rooibos? I got something like that at a teavana sale (think it was called lemon lime kampai) and it was pretty decent even though I'm usually a black/green drinker. No caffeine either.
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Mar 8, 2013 05:49
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I usually brew white teas at 185 and I've never had them come out badly.
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Apr 6, 2013 04:11
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Molten Llama posted:If anybody else is interested, Verdant Tea's currently running a 5 for $5 special for new customers. Hell yeah, thanks for this.
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Jun 24, 2013 20:38
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Mizufusion posted:I got mine yesterday morning and so far I've only tried the tieguanyin. It's pretty good, but I don't think I used nearly enough for my pot. One of these days I'll get some sort of scale and actually measure my teas properly. The only thing I've tried of my Verdant samples was the Yunnan white jasmine and drat, it is good. I am absolutely going to buy some. It's so perfectly floral and sweet and smells amazing.
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Jul 6, 2013 20:02
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DanManIt posted:Just a tip for anyone looking for good ways to store their tea: use small mason jars. For like $8 you can get a dozen at any hardware store. They look nice enough and do a great job of keeping your tea in good condition If you go through tea really really fast, I could see that working, but I seem to recall it's not a good idea to expose tea to light more than necessary. Just a word of caution.
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Jul 15, 2013 16:11
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Swagger Dagger posted:I'm drinking Verdant's Laoshan Black and there are just a ton of tasting notes on the website that I'm not getting at all. I followed their instructions to the letter (just boiling water, 3 minutes), but I'm just not getting any of the flavors it mentions. I don't have any advice but I honestly thought the Laoshan Black was absolute poo poo. After trying the amazing incredible wonderful Yunnan white jasmine, it was sort of a shock. And black tea is my favorite, this is the first time I've ever outright disliked a black tea. Maybe I got a bad batch. edit: This came off way more confrontational than I intended, I don't mean to demean your tastes. If anything I'm disappointed in my own taste irt the laoshan black. Hummingbirds fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Aug 4, 2013 |
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Aug 4, 2013 07:25
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Lady Truck Driver posted:I got several teas from Verdant during their sale and the Laoshan Black is my least favorite so far. I really wanted it to taste like cookies, but it was just malty and weird. I'm more of a green tea person anyway, and I, too, am bad at pulling out the listed "tastes", so maybe those has something to do with it. The ones I like the best from them so far are the Laoshan Green, the Zhu Rong Yunnan Black, and the Sun Dried Jingshan Green. The Silver Buds Yabao tastes like almost nothing to me - very faintly tea-flavored tap water. I can get 3 infusions out of the yunnan white jasmine. Have you tried using a thermometer to see what temp the kettle actually is when you pour the water? I have one of those Cuisinart heaters, its "white" setting is at 185 F. If your water is significantly less than that I could see there being a problem.
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Aug 4, 2013 18:22
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