Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green, Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
In the lair, a dragon dreams sweet, sweet dreams of glittering treasure, ponies, and those who lurk. And destruction. This warm and spicy brew is full of musical depth and fire.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The other day I walked in my living room to see my boyfriend had the second Hobbit on TV. . .again. . for the 10th time. . and I of course had to watch right along with him. My 9 year old son came in a little after and he was also drawn in to the movie. He had never seen it before so it was fun to enlighten him on all things Hobbit related. His eyes lit up when Smaug came on the screen and was rooting for the dragon to destroy the merry band of traveling warriors. Yep. . he is totally my kid.
While we were watching the movie, I remembered that I had this blend and hadn’t tried it yet. This one was created as a Fandom blend for the Hobbit. Honestly, I am not a fan of the Adagio teas on their own, but I do really enjoy them when they are in the Signature Blends.
This one is a interesting and different blend. Green Chai, Assam Melody, and Cinnamon (black favored tea). Not flavors I would have paired together. It smells very much like a cinnamon cake. When brewed up, it tastes like a buttered up sweet potato with cinnamon on it and a tart like finish. Maybe even some sort of sweet potato pie.
It is a unique flavor. That is for sure. I did overleaf it after I checked out some other reviews about this blend on Steepster. A lot of the other reviews said it was bland and “meh”. If I hadn’t dumped in about 1 1/2 tsps more I can see that being the case. I did brew this up at work with my coffee pot water spout and then dumped the tea into ice for a iced green chai. Maybe if I messed with the steeping parameters more I could bring more flavors out. As it is, the cinnamon and spices don’t over take the tea like some chai blends I have had before. It is a very subtle and enjoyable chai blend with a rich buttery sweet potato finish.
Two Dragons and a Pearl from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
When you brew Two Dragons, two arms of jasmine and globe amaranth petals will slowly expand upwards cupping a single marigold flower – and so it is given the name of Two Dragons and a Pearl. Thanks to the jasmine and amaranth, this tea has a wonderful sweet, flowery aroma and taste. The taste is long-lasting and will survive 2 or 3 infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the third and final tea from my Steepster Select box from February: Year of the Dragon. It is a very slow-to-open blooming tea from Teavivre. It’s fun to watch it slowly unfurl to reveal the beautiful flowery display tucked inside the handcrafted bulb.
The instructions suggest using boiling water and 2 minutes steep time. However, I couldn’t bear to pour boiling water over these bulbs, I was afraid I’d burn them. Instead, I heated the water to 185°F, and steeped for 2 1/2 minutes. Only a few leaves opened away from the bulb, so, I infused it a second time, adding 1 minute onto the steep time. With the second infusion, the bulb expanded more, revealing hints of the colors of the display, but, still did not open fully. 
It wasn’t until the third and final infusion that the bulb fully opened, revealing a beautiful orange flower at the base of the leaves, and jasmine “arms” that reach up to hold a gorgeous red flower. The photo to the right doesn’t begin to do justice to how lovely this bloom really is.
The tea from the first infusion was a very gentle flavored tea, with notes of jasmine and hints of fresh grass and hay. It was delicious, but I do think it could have improved with a longer steep time. Perhaps a hotter water would have produced more flavor as well, but again, having scorched more than my share of green and white teas in my past, this is something I do not wish to repeat.
The second infusion provided a much more flavorful cup. The flavor is sweet and floral, and the tea tastes fresh and even a little creamy. Very smooth, with no notable astringency or bitterness. The third infusion was a little less flavorful, but still was quite enjoyable … and even though the flavor had waned a little, the splendor of the bulb finally opening fully made it worth the effort to steep it a third time.
Another lovely tea experience from Teavivre. I’ve come to expect greatness from them, and they’ve yet to fail!
