The Friday Review....Adagio Teas (part two)

Hello there,

Happy Friday! We hope you've had a fab week!

So, another Friday is with us and this week on The Friday Review we're featuring some more Adagio Teas. If you popped by last week you'll know that the kind people at Adagio Teas recently sent us a rather cool cup and infuser, along with a selection of loose leaf teas. Last week we tried the White Tropics tea...this week we have another three teas to try...

The three teas are a pu erh hazelberry, a jasmine silver needle and a thai chai.

Let's begin with taking a look at the pu erh hazelberry, which combines the flavours of strawberries and hazelnut with the earthy smoothness of a Pu erh tea.

The leaves have a really mouthwatering nutty aroma which burst from the packet when you open it.  The tea once brewed is a dark brown colour and has a very nutty aroma.

I tried this tea without milk first and I found it a very unusual flavour. It had a smokey taste with a vaguely nutty hint to it. I also tried the tea with milk and thought this improved the flavour, as it added a slightly more creamy flavour.

Next lets take a look at the Jasmine Silver Needle white tea....

Jasmine Silver Needle white tea is made up of young tea leaf buds with a whisper of jasmine aura. 

This tea had a delicate fresh jasmine aroma and was a pale yellow colour once brewed. The flavour was light and delicate, making it a rather refreshing cup of tea.

Finally  lets take a look at the thai chai....

This is an alternative to a traditional masala chai and includes black tea, coconut, cinnamon, ginger root, cardamom and lemon grass. I could really smell the cinnamon and hints of ginger in this tea.

This is a really lovely, warming cup of tea. It had a cinnamon aroma with a slightly sweet cinnamon flavour.

To find out more about these and the other teas in the Adagio Teas range pop by their fab website. 

We'd like to thank Adagio Teas for sending us these teas to try, its great to discover new tea ranges. But please remember that this has not effected our taste buds at all, and all opinions expressed in this article are our own.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review....The Tea Makers

Hello there,

Happy Friday! So, I bet you've been wondering....what has Rachel and Lorna been drinking this week. Ok, well you probably haven't been thinking that...but we're going to tell you anyway!

This week we have sampled two teas from The Tea Makers of London, who are loose leaf tea specialists. Their teas are sourced from tea estates around the world such as China, India, Sri Lanka, Japan and Taiwan. They have a large range of teas, from Green Tea, Black Tea, White Tea, Oolong Tea, Pu-erh Tea, Special Blends and Fruit Infusions - something for everyone!

We were lucky enough to be sent two of their tea range - Supreme Earl Grey Tea and Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea. The teas can be bought in various ways, including these lovely tea caddys....

Let's start with the Supreme Earl Grey Tea which is a blend of Ceylon teas selected from tea growing estates in the Nuwar Eliya and Dimulla regions of Sri Lanka. The Ceylon leaves are scented with Bergamot oil and infused with the cornflowers....

The Tea Makers give brewing guides on their website for perfect home brewing. For this tea they recommend using 3-4g of tea in a 200ml cup. The water should be 100°C and the leaves should be brewed for 3-5 minutes. 

Once brewed the tea is a beautiful rich amber colour, which is matched with an equally rich but well balanced flavour. It's a very aromatic blend, which you can enjoy with your nose as well as your taste buds.

Next, lets take a look at the Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea which comes from comes from the Fujian Province in China.

A little tea education for you - Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea is created by hand rolling specially plucked long silver velvety shoots into little tea balls which are naturally scented multiple times with fresh, aromatic jasmine flowers. Jasmine Dragon Pearls Tea is named after the shape of the tea like pearls. Let's take a look at those little pearls.....

To make the highest quality tea alternative layers of fresh jasmine petals and tea leaves are layered until jasmine scent is fully merged with tea leaves. Then the petals are removed, and the tea carefully dried again. Each pearl will blossom when put into water.

Brewing recommendations for this tea are as follows - you should use 2-3g tea in a 200ml cup. This time the water should be cooler, at 80°C and brewing time is only 1-3 minutes. 

As you can see this brew produces a beautiful champagne coloured tea, but what you can tell from this photo is how fragrant the tea is. The tea is light and delicate - very refreshing. 

To find out more about these teas and the others in the Tea Makers range please visit their website.

We like to thank The Tea Makers for sending us these teas to try. Although we have received these teas to review, please remember that this has not effected our taste buds and all opinions expressed here are our own. 

Have you tried any of the others teas in The Tea Makers range? We'd love to hear what you thought!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna