Adagio Chai

By now, most of you know what tea vendors are talking about when Chai is mentioned.  Sure the word “Chai” means tea in many languages, but most of us relate to Chai as an often spicey/sometimes sweet/always aromatic/great tasting black tea that originated in India – known as Masala Chai.  You can find Chai at your local grocery store or online tea shop in the following types: powder form, liquid concentrate, standard tea bag, and loose leaf.  Many tea vendors keep evolving their product lines and now you can find chais that use green tea and rooibos as its tea base.  These alternatives to the traditional Masala Chai give the consumer more variety.  Adagio has recently started its own line of Chais.  I was fortunate to try all of the selections.  Chai is a fun tea that is full of character.  It’s not for everyone because it is packed with intense flavors and aromas.

Adagio Chai

Adagio’s Masala Chai (black tea/caffeine): This is a solid effort at the traditional Masala Chai.  You can see a mix of cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, and ginger mixed throughout the Ceylon black tea.  Of the 6 chais I tried from Adagio, this one had the most intense flavors.  If you like chai that makes your tongue tingle, this is the one for you.  The dominant flavors found in the mix of spices blend to create a very powerful flavored black tea.  If you’re new to Chai, the flavor comes from the spices.  The quality of the spices and tea used by the tea vendor are crucial to the end result.  My only complaint about this version is the use of Ceylon tea.  I would have preferred an Assam black tea base.  Assam black tea (in my opinion – especially CTC) supports the flavors of the spices better and it can withstand longer steeping times without tasting bitter.  Having said that, I enjoy Ceylon teas – just not as the base of the chai.

Adagio’s Thai Chai (black tea/caffeine): Thai Chai just might be my favorite in the bunch.  It was the one that I found myself picking over the others.  It has a creative and inviting personality.  It tastes and looks like they left the clove out of the batch and inserted coconut and lemongrass.  The addition of the coconut and lemongrass gives the chai a sweeter flavor and silkier texture.  It’s a bit more tame than the traditional Masala Chai.  Thai Chai might be more suitable for the casual black tea drinker.  Although the tea is not as spicey, that doesn’t mean it is any less flavorful.  In fact, this tea bursts with flavor.  The aroma of this tea is mouth watering.  The lemongrass gives the tea an excellent finish.  If you enjoy lemongrass in your black tea, I definitely recommend Thai Chai.

Adagio’s Bengal Green Chai (green tea/caffeine): Very similar to the Masala Chai, but you will find China green tea in place of the Ceylon black tea.  All of the same fiery spices are present in this Chai.  I really like this…  The texture of the liquid is changed simply by substituting black tea for green tea (very smooth).  There is a slight vegetal flavor, but it’s quickly masked by the spices.  This tea has a very clean finish to it with a pleasant aftertaste.  If you are more of a green tea drinker than a black tea drinker, this is your obvious choice to enjoy spiced Chai.

Adagio’s Spiced Apple Chai (black tea/caffeine): I thought the apple flavor paired well with the chai spices; which made it an incredibly warming beverage.  This is perfect for a cold evening.  I haven’t tried it iced, but you might be able to sweeten-up the tea to make a tasty iced chai.  The apple flavor is certainly present, but it’s just an accent to the already powerful blend of spices.  I think it’s an excellent compliment, but you still have to like Chai to enjoy this tea.  Simply liking apple flavored black tea might not be enough to enjoy Adagio’s Spiced Apple Chai due to the spiced nature of the Chai.  The aroma of this Chai is sure to get your attention and anyone standing within 10 feet of your cup – very aromatic.

Adagio’s Chocolate Chai (black tea/caffeine): I love chocolate, but I wasn’t thrilled with this Chai.  It lacked the same zing as the other flavors.  It does have a pleasing aroma – sweet chocolate, but the flat flavor really brought this one down.  With the Ceylon black tea used as the base, Adagio’s Chocolate Chai simply tasted like a flavored version of black tea.  It wasn’t bad, I just couldn’t get into the chocolate flavoring while still considering this to be a chai.

Adagio’s Rooibos Vanilla Chai (herbal-Rooibos/caffeine free): This is a great offering for people trying to avoid caffeine.  Rooibos is a South African shrub that is loaded with antioxidants and it’s naturally caffeine free.  I was really surprised to be able to taste the silky-sweet Rooibos through the mix of powerful spices.  The addition of vanilla is a tasty compliment to the Rooibos.  If you’ve never tried chai spices with Rooibos, this is a good place to start.

Have fun with Chai.  Sweeten it to your liking.  Add milk or soy to give it more of a creamy texture.

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Anteadote Green Tea

If you are a green tea drinker and you are looking for a convenient way to take a refreshing, organic, unsweetened green tea on-the-go, Anteadote has an option for you (16.9 fl oz plastic bottles).  I’ve been drinking unsweetened iced teas for a while and it’s fun for me to finally get to try Anteadote.  For the most part, I enjoyed the green tea.  Green tea is such a general term so it’s important for me to try to define the characteristics of this green tea.  It reminds me of a Dragon Well without the sweet buttery flavor.  It has a strong flavor that is slightly grassy with a light bitterness.  At times, I can really pick-up on a vitamin flavor and scent (vitamin c is an ingredient of Anteadote).  I wasn’t very impressed with this tea, but I’d have no problems drinking a couple of bottles on a hot day.  There’s no doubt that the filtered water and unsweetened green tea makes for a refreshing beverage.  Without the preservatives, the green tea tends to quench my thirst more than a sweetened beverage.  Green tea lovers will appreciate this beverage, but I was left hoping for a more defined green tea flavor.

Visit Anteadote – Adagio Teas for more information

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Rishi | Xiang Mei Premium

Words like “quality” and “premium” are often loosely used when describing teas.  Having said that, when Rishi says a tea is premium, they mean it.  With high expectations, I put a teaspoon of leaves into my Gaiwan and poured water (just cooled from a boil at about 180 degrees) on the premium green tea leaves  and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes.  As soon as the first drop of water hit the leaves an aroma was released that instantly soothed me.  I knew I was in for a pleasant experience.  The spring like scent that rises from the steam in the cup is so calming – it’s a unique experience.  Nearly every quality I enjoy in green tea was present in this cup.  There were creamy-buttery notes, a natural sweetness, oceanic attributes, and a long finish. My high expectations were exceeded.

Rishi supplies the following background on the tea: “The small leaf tea varietals of Southwestern Hubei, China produce assertive, lively green teas. Rishi’s Xiang Mei is classified as Chaoqing: pan fired in a process similar to traditional Chun Mee green tea. Xiang Mei is of a much higher quality than common Chun Mee, which is typically produced during the summer harvests. Xiang Mei was harvested in late March, and the tender two leaves and a bud are skillfully pan fired in small batches with strict control. This prevents smoking or burning of the leaf such as is apparent in many Gunpowder or Mee Cha grades available in the market. Xiang Mei is perfect for the green tea drinker that likes a strong, energizing cup with a nutty, toasty aroma but without the strong, smoky or bitter edge found in most pan-fired green teas.”

You can really taste the freshness and quality of the tea.  As Rishi discusses, there is no smokiness in the flavor of the tea due to the skillful preparation of the leaves.  This allows for a pure and smooth cup of green tea.  The flavors really stick to your tongue.  If you enjoy green tea, this is a must try.  This tea is too good to continue drinking by myself.  I have to share it with others so they know what a premium green tea tastes like.  The fact that it is Organic and Fair Trade certified makes it even more special.

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52 teas | Shamrock (green tea)

Twitter has been a great way to keep in touch with other tea enthusiasts and many tea vendors.  I’m twitter.com/organictea if you want to follow my tea adventures.  Anyway, a company called 52 teas uses the popular social messaging utility and they caught my attention with their offering of Shamrock Tea which was timed around St. Patrick’s Day.  52 teas offers a unique tea suggested by tea consumers on a weekly basis.  This is a very interesting way of offering tea.  I’m not sure how they keep up with it or handle the inventory, but I applaud them for their unique approach and customer interaction.

I’m a huge mint fan.  Mix it with a little green tea and you now have my attention.  This variety is extremely minty.  We’re talking a powerful blast of spearmint and peppermint (it really opens my sinuses).  The Chinese sencha that is visible in the mix is just along for the ride.  In this case, I’m ok with that.  I detect a slight green tea flavor, but the mint clearly dominates the cup.  This tea blows you away with its powerful minty scent.  To smooth out the flavor of the real peppermint, spearmint, and green tea, another favorite flavor of mine was added  – vanilla.  I thoroughly enjoyed this tea.  If you enjoy minty tisanes, you would love this tea.  You can literally smell the minty aroma lingering from about 10 feet away – very strong.  It’s a great after dinner tea – definitely freshens your breath.

Check out 52 teas and see if one of their tasty options works for you.

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Adagio | Emerald Green

Emerald Needle gets its name from its long and thin shape and dark green color.  The leaves are plucked while they are still buds just before they would have opened.  The needle-like buds give the tea a pleasing dry presentation.  The shiny emerald colored buds look very inviting piled on a tea tray.  I’m picking up a licorice and pineapple scent to the dried product.  The sweet scent almost makes you forget that this is a green tea.

Steeping: Make sure the water cools to around 180 degrees before steeping this tea.  It will get bitter quickly if the water is too hot.  I found the key is to let the water cool and steep the tea for just a few minutes.  When I use a Gaiwan, I shorten my steeping time.  The goal is to get the flavor you expect from the tea – experiment and have fun with it.  This is one of those teas that stands on end as it steeps (interesting if you have a glass or clear steeping pot). The fruit flavors continue to shine through the classic China green tea flavor.  In addition, there is a floral component to the flavor.  There’s still a vegetal bite on the back-end with this tea.  I like variety when it comes to tea.  Emerald Needle is a tea that I can drink every other day or early in the evening after a meal.  I don’t think this tea is for everyone, but I enjoyed the variety of flavors it offers.

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Lately, I’ve been trying to find affordable organic green teas to recommend to friends and blog readers.  Fun, flavorful, organic, and affordable are important factors to me in a tea and I’ve been told they are important by others.

Zhi offers a green tea that meets the above criteria.  Zhi calls the China green tea | Cloud and Mist.  It’s from Zhejiang Province.  I’ve had several cups and each one was very enjoyable.  The flavor is oceanic and vegetal with a well-defined natural sweetness.  It’s very friendly to the palate.  The aftertaste pleasantly lingers many seconds after a sip reminding you just how good it was.  The tea does have a slight bite to it (slightly astringent), but that just adds to the character of the green tea.  I can drink this tea year round.  I consider it an everyday green tea.  I enjoyed making this tea in my Gaiwan.  I can easily get 3 flavorful steepings from the tea leaves.  The aroma pretty much mirrors the flavorful.  You get a spring-like vegetal aroma with an almost flowery sweet scent.  Another important characteristic to this tea is the fact that it is authentic.  I recommend this tea to both experienced and new green tea drinkers.  It’s the kind of tea that helps new green tea drinkers appreciate a type of tea without added flavors or enhancements.

Zhi describes the tea as: “In our search for superb and unique organic China Green tea we stumbled across this gorgeous delight from Zhejiang Province. Nestled in the Tian Mu mountains lies a pristine tea garden that lovingly creates this outstanding organic tea. Stylish, long and wiry emerald leaf produces a light green infusion which is slightly astringent and quite herbaceous, with distinct honey/peach notes. This is a very savory and luscious tea full of body and charm. Simple, yet elegant.”

Zhi’s website is very well designed and it makes the checkout process very simple.  I had no problems with my Zhi order.

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Wow, special thanks to two leaves and a bud for offering such a wide variety of teas. I was very foturnate to get to try several options.  From the dark and mighty Organic Assam to the berry-blasting Alpine Berry herbal.  All the teas have been enjoyable. Most recently I’ve sampled the Organic Orange Sencha green tea.  This was very interesting.  The delicious vegetal flavor was present throughout the Sencha and the Italian red orange flavor was very subtle creating a pleasant aftertaste.  With so many organic tea options and delicious teas from single geographic regions, two leaves and a bud is well worth a try. Now that I’ve narrowed down many of the samples, I’ll start to blog on the remaining options one at a time.

Two leaves and a bud work directly with tea gardens to select the finest teas grown using traditional organic methods.  The teas I consumed were packaged in biodegradable tea sachets (mug size).  The packaging allows the consumer to see the tea leaves throughout the steeping process.

Green Tea: Organic Orange Sencha

Black Tea: Organic Assam

Herbal (caffiene-free): Alpine Berry

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I’ve done a few blogs about The REPUBLIC of TEA’s ready-to-drink beverages.  I’m very impressed with their attention to detail. The curvy bottles are not only stylish, they contain a beverage that is fresh, flavorful, and refreshing.  The glass bottled teas make excellent gifts. I think they’re great to serve during a formal dinner with family or friends.  It’s a premium product.  In my stocking this past Christmas, I found my first plastic bottled RTD tea from The REPUBLIC of TEA.  It’s smaller than the glass bottles.  The glass bottles contain 16.9 oz, and the plastic bottles contain 12 oz. If you’re watching calories, you’re in luck. These beverages are totally unsweetened.

The Raspberry Quince was a flavor that I didn’t personally pick-out. So I wasn’t sure I would like it as much as the other teas. When I opened the bottle, I could smell the natural sweetness coming from the fruit and tea combination. The water that is used for this tea is so pure. The raspberry flavor was subtle yet present in every drink. The black tea flavor balanced the beverage. The black tea had a classic Ceylon flavor to it. I really couldn’t detect the quince flavor and to be honest I haven’t had many foods or beverages flavored with quince. The Raspberry Quince was just another excellent selection offered by The REPUBLIC of TEA.

Moving on to the Acai Green Tea…The aroma of the acai hits you immediately. The berry flavor was both sweet and slightly bitter. Acai reminds me of a mix between a blueberry and a grape. The color of the green tea was a bright red-violet. Although I found this beverage to be refreshing, it did lack a tea identity. I could not detect the green tea. The berry flavor was welcomed, but I was looking forward to at least a hint of green tea.

It’s amazing how these beverages taste so good without any sweetener. The beverages may not be as authentic as a homemade iced tea made from loose leaf tea, but the beverage certainly has its place in the RTD market. The premium product demands attention and delivers with its quality.

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