A Good "Mail" Day

It's a long walk to our mailbox and sometimes on that walk I can start to dream about just what might be inside waiting for me.  Today my dream came true!

Five unassuming black and white packets of premium, limited-quality, single origin, fine, loose-leaf teas were nestled into this little brown envelope. Let's put the kettle on.

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Masters Tea from Adagio is a new line from an old favorite tea company.  We have enjoyed Adagio Tea for years and even have 3 or 4 original blends for sale on their website.  But Masters Tea is something new altogether.  Read on to discover more.

Tongmu jin jun mei:  This dark amber black tea had fragrance notes of cocoa and caramel.  Beautiful to look at and perfect without any additions.  The taste was oh, so smooth and velvety with a sweet, cool finish.  Hard to beat this one.  A very fine, agreeable Chinese tea.

Ali shan special: This oolong from Taiwan is special, indeed! The tight green balls of tea relaxed into 1 stem with 4 leaves once steeped.  With an aroma of honeysuckle and fruity jelly beans, this straw colored elixir was delicious and sweet with flavors of peaches and creamy coconut.  It felt very cool and clean in the mouth.  One sip and you'd agree, truly something special in this cup!

Shincha gyokuro: ​This tea is in a separate class all its own.  One often hears the expression, a bowl of tea or some even refer to tea as soup.  Well, after trying this selection, we are learning why.  This tea looks vastly different from most, like green/black spiky hair and the dry leaves smelled brothy, like chicken stock.  It took a few tries to steep this one properly but we finally ended up with the palest yellow liquid sporting the biggest flavor profile.  Very savory, salty, bouillon-like...the word is umami and it means a quality of a full, round, perfectly-complete flavor you cannot quite express.  While we did not love this tea, we really wanted to and plan to learn more about it.  Hopefully we will acquire a taste for it soon!
                  All these teas are available for purchase at www.adagio.com