Stash | India This is a very light tea, slightly yellow in color and transparent. There isn't very much aroma but what is there is nice. There is a very pale flavor with not very much going on. There is a bitter and bad aftertaste. This tea isn't very good, maybe it is too bad. This might be old or a bad batch. I will keep this review up and try to get a replacement batch.
Adagio | Japanese I bought this tea a few months ago and it has sat on my shelf always getting itself overlooked. Today happened to be the day for popped rice tea.
from Adagio The Japanese peasants found it difficult to afford much tea, and would mix it with roasted rice, which was abundant and cheap. Thus, they were able to squeeze more cups from the same amount of leaves. A recipe born of poverty, Genmai Cha had now acquired an uptown chic. This tea had outgrown its humble origins to become a favorite of many urban dwellers in both Japan and the West.
That is an interesting concept to set up this tea experience. A tea blend put together by peasants who couldn't afford to drink straight tea so they cut it with popped rice and popped corn. I could get a sense of it right away. This tea was very light and yellow with a slight grain taste. The popped rice flavor dominated this tea. There were many subtle tastes but they were mostly drowned out by the strong flavor of rice. It also has the taste of cardboard. Some teas tend to have this taste, some of the teas I enjoy and some I do not, this was one of the teas I didn't enjoy.
This tea had an unpleasant mouth feel and the aftertaste was just awful. The whole thing smelled like brown rice. I can understand the need for this tea originally but now that there is plenty of available high quality tea this is just a novelty. It might be good for a cup or if you really like popcorn.
Adagio | Chinese To start off this tea is very fragrant. It was very pleasing as I sat next to it waiting for the cup to cool. It has a yellow, orange color and is opaque. Maybe the orange color is why it is also called Orange Pekoe. I couldn't find an explanation for the origin of the 'orange' in Orange Pekoe so I will assume it is the color. This Green Pekoe is a very smooth drinking tea with a great texture. The aftertaste is stronger than the initial taste of the tea and fades really well. Some teas have the tendency to have a bitter after taste or seem a bit hollow. Not this tea, it is smooth and wonderful and the aftertaste might be better than the taste of the tea.
The leaves of this tea are long, thin and a little curly. I have always felt that tea leaves that hold together make better tea. I think it is the way they form a filter for the water not letting any tea-less pockets exist. This cooperation of tea leaves allows for strong but also smooth tea by also filtering out the tea particles that aren't held in suspension by the tea water. This tea did have a small amount of loose tea flecks in the last sip leading to a slightly bitter taste but only for the last sip. This is a tea I will come back to because of the overall smooth flavor and drinking experience.
Enjoy the color of the tea leaves. They take on a wonderful light green color accentuated by the end of the day's sunlight. Wonderful.
