Adagio Makes a Liar of Me

I have one big problem with the blog lately -- too many things I want to write about. I guess the only solution is to get to work! (AFTER I finish that other article I'm working on. Don't worry boss, it will be done. Early in fact. I hope. I expect. No, definitely early. "Do or do not. There is no try.")

Just so you know what is next to come, since I know you're waiting in breathless anticipation, is a review of Laura Schaefer's book "The Secret Ingredient," reviews of some teas from a brand new shop -- Tea & Jazz House, some long overdue reviews from Tiesta Teas, and another little (hopefully) provocative editorial about why we should love the "big guy" tea companies. Really. You'll love it. Or hate it. Either way.

Now on to today's post and how Adagio has made a liar of me.

In general I've been someone who feels that it is pretty rare for a company to make a memorable tea bag. With a few very notable exceptions (like those made by my friends at Tea Forte*), I find most tea bags just can't make a cup of tea that comes close to that made with loose leaf. Some of it is purely psychological, but some of it is also a function of the bag. The old school square paper bags with a string just cannot hold anything but pretty fine pieces of leaf and they do not have any room to really move within the water. More companies are moving toward "silken" sachets and pyramid bags but in many cases the actual leaf just doesn't make a very good cuppa. I keep some on hand for guests who cringe at the thought a stray tea leaf might make its way into their cup, but I just couldn't picture choosing a tea bag for myself. And that's when Adagio made me drink my words.

I recently received two boxes from Adagio from their new Gourmet Tea Collection. These cream colored paper stock boxes have a lid that flips open to reveal six compartments. Each compartment holds five individually packaged tea sachets. The graphics on the packages are really clean and bold. There is a purity that I really appreciate along with an emphasis on the ingredients.

The first box was the "Sweet Medley Collection" - Vanilla Rooibos, Citrus Green, Peach Oolong, Blueberry White, Peppermint, and Earl Grey. I started with this because I've generally felt like flavored/ scented teas are Adagio's strength. They've launched a range of interesting flavors in the past which definitely appeal to the "dessert" tea crowd. Overall I was pretty pleased with these and any critique I had was related more to the tea just not matching flavor profiles I prefer versus the tea's quality. The peach oolong was the one big miss for me. I really have a hard time accepting flavored oolongs. There are very few I like. The flavors must be subtle and must compliment that really special oolong flavor not mask it as I felt that the peach did here. I wouldn't have known it was oolong if it hadn't said so on the package. The peppermint was a nice mint infusion (no tea in this one.) The Citrus Green was refreshing and the Blueberry White was shockingly pleasant. I'm generally anti-blueberry in my tea. I grew up in Maine with those perfectly sweet and boldly flavored Maine blueberries so most blueberry teas just taste artificial to me. This one did not. I actually found it very enjoyable. The Vanilla Rooibos was the biggest surprise. I'm not a huge rooibos fan but the vanilla really mellowed the flavors nicely but didn't make me forget it was a rooibos. This is a pretty strong collection if you like flavored teas and infusions.

The next box made me more worried. It is the Artisan Comfort Collection of Wuyi Oolong, Silver Needle, Oolong Goddess, Dragonwell, Golden Yunnan, and Jasmine Pearls. These are some of my favorite tea types so my standards are pretty high. And, again, we're talking about a tea bag versus loose leaf. Adagio knocked my socks off. I haven't sampled the jasmine or silver needle yet, but the oolongs were excellent. The Dragonwell was nice and smooth and the Golden Yunnan was like the Yunnans I remembered from a few years ago that I've had a hard time finding again.

Is this collection BETTER than loose leaf? No. Is it as good as many loose leafs? Absolutely. I'm tossing all the other tea bags in the house. From now on any guest who wants a tea bag can only have Tea Forte or Adagio.



* I should note that I have done writing work for Tea Forte so I cannot be seen as completely objective. But I loved their tea and pyramids before I worked for them, while I was working for them, and now, so I stand by my statement.