Saturday, July 01, 2006

All Teas are not Created Equal

I have to tell you all a funny little story.

Remember how I said I was head over heels in love with Adagio Teas? Remember how I said I've been trying to lose weight? Well, I decided to try some green tea since it's plastered every where you look these days that green tea helps promote weight loss. I researched to see what specific types of green teas were best. The answer? Sencha. So I checked to see if Adagio has sencha tea. Turns out they do. 2 different types. I, being of the "if it's more expensive it's got to be better" mind set ordered up a 10oz container of premier sencha. $44 for 10 oz of tea. Gotta be great right? My order arrived this morning and I couldn't wait to brew up a little pot of this tea. I opened the container and was immediately hit with the smell of rotten seaweed. Seriously. I thought, "it can't really taste as bad as it smells" and went right ahead and brewed a pot. Guess what? It really can taste as bad as it smells. Not only that, but it can leave that really bad taste in your mouth so much so that you have to brush your teeth AND gargle with Listerine to get rid of it. It was that bad. Now I must admit to never having had real green tea before. I've only ever had the diet Lipton bottled green tea which is quite tasty. Maybe it's a taste that you have to acquire. I can't ever see me growing a love for rotten kelp.

So, while I'm still in love with Adagio Teas, the honeymoon is over for me and the green tea. It's currently boxed up (along with a 4oz tin of dragonwell...not even willing to go down that highway) waiting to be brought to FedEx on Monday to be exchanged for some of their black teas I know I love.

Oh, and just out of curiosity...does anyone REALLY drink this shit???

5 comments:

Shelby said...

A few months back, Starbucks came out with their green tea latte. I was SO excited and couldn't wait to try it! The first day it was available, I was there in the morning and got a Grande, skim green tea latte. I tasted it and almost spit it out. Not only did it taste like grass, it had a sour taste to it (the pump of melon flavor). I seriously have to wonder who drinks this stuff...and what was Starbucks thinking when they created it!??

Good to know the green tea isn't great there too, I was hopeful that it was just a fluke. I even tried the green tea latte twice more in the hopes that it was an acquired taste. For me, it definitely is not! I'll stick to black teas. And btw, I tried the cinnamon flavored one this morning, and it was really good!

Anonymous said...

mmm. i love green tea. and i really like pungent, grassy ones. a serving of green tea has as many antioxidants as a serving of veggies.

Tammy said...

I don't think it's supposed to taste like seaweed. Good idea to get it exchanged!! I've had some and it's not too bad, not something I'd drink all the time though.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you didn't brew it at the correct temperature. If you brew green tea at the boiling water temp like you do with black, it will make it have a bad bitter taste. Green tea is meant to be brewed at a lower temp, which is usually included on the package of the tea. It makes a HUGE difference in taste. My guess is that is what the problem was. Good luck :)

NikolaAnne said...

FYI: I love Green Tea but hate Black and Oolong teas.

No, it isn't supposed to taste or smell like seaweed! It is also supposed to be drunk with no milk. What was Starbucks thinking about when they made Green Tea Latte?!?

IMHO, The "best" Green Tea tastewise is Jasmine Green tea. In the UK, Jasmine Tea is usually what is served when you have Tea in a Chinese restaurent. If you have a chinese grocer near you, just go buy a box, it should be very cheap! :-)

Whitards do a nice Green Tea as well. :-)

And yes, as obversed above, you make it like Coffee, with "off the boil" water. :-)

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