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.

A story I need to share

This is another one of those non-tea posts that I just had to write. Thank you for bearing with me. I sincerely hope you'll read.

On July 1st, the Johnson family was in their van enjoying the first day of their vacation in Georgia. They had traveled from Florida, had just gone to watch fireworks and were stopped at a traffic light in Blue Ridge. Mom, Dad, and the four kids had no idea that a 16-year-old boy was speeding up behind them. He crashed into the back of the truck pushing their van into the car in front of them. The Johnson's 6-year-old daughter Hannah was killed in the accident. It is thought that alcohol was involved.
 
Mr. Johnson had only minor injuries; Mrs. Johnson, who is pregnant, was airlifted from the scene, but thankfully she and the baby are okay.

Their two other daughters were seriously injured spent 8 days in the hospital (four of which were in the PICU). One has a broken leg and a broken arm. The other has two broken legs, a fractured pelvis, and a broken wrist.

The youngest, a 3-year-old boy, faces the biggest challenges now. His spinal cord was completely severed, very high up, leaving him quadriplegic and dependent upon a ventilator. They will soon be moving the whole family to another location for his inpatient rehabilitation.

My heart is breaking for this family. I don't even know them personally. (They are friends of a friend.) Their need is going to be incredible - physically, emotionally, and financially.

I ask that you consider sending a donation to help them with the medical bills and the other expenses they face now and will face in the future. You can contribute here: http://navistudios.net/donate.html

If you are not able to contribute money please send your positive thoughts their way. This is a family that needs to know that people are thinking of them. And please, please remind your children never, ever, under any circumstances, to get behind the wheel if they've been drinking.

You can read more about the family here.

Stop stealing my tea!

I've been writing this post in my head for weeks and then I was scooped by another tea blogger. Harumph. What's worse is that he's a really, really talented writer. Hate that. I suppose I will still provide the link to his blog, although I refuse to approve any comments that say things like, "Wow. His post was so much better than yours." So, go check out Lahikmajoe.

Now, here's my take on a related topic:
I need people to stop stealing my tea. Okay, no one is stealing my actual tea, but they are appropriating the word and I don't like it.

Awhile back I set up some Google alerts for stories about tea - I have one that alerts me to posts using the word "tea" or the phrases "tea pages" or "tea reader." I thought it would help me stay up on tea-related news stories I might have missed as well as mentions of my blog or my book. The problem is that, as pretty much anyone who has done a web search for the word "tea" will attest to, 90% of the returns related to a certain political movement. Grumble. And, of course, I can't exclude those words from my search since, well, then there would be no search.

OK, so I try to ignore those entries. Then, inevitably, there are entries for TEA - the Texas Education Agency. Seriously?

Finally I get down to the one or two entries that are ACTUALLY tea related. This is how it's been for months. Until last week.

Unfortunately for my fellow tea searchers a three-year-old phrase has now come back into vogue - "The Teacup Generation." These are, apparently, the children of so-called "helicopter parents." (Cue the hate mail from helicopter enthusiasts.) The idea is that they have been so entitled and protected that they break, like a teacup, under pressure.

It's not that I don't find the topic interesting. I actually write about parenting issues in addition to my tea writing. BUT I really just need everyone to leave the word "tea" alone for awhile. Let it live in peace.

I suppose I'm fighting a losing battle. Those thieves of language aren't going anywhere. I guess I'll just go make myself a cup of t*a.