Adagio Sencha Overtures Green Tea Review
Fruit-flavored green teas are a popular variation of the ordinary green tea drink. Although green tea is a staple drink in China and Japan, and consumed there free from any added flavorings by the majority of people, the distinctive green tea “grassy” or vegetal taste can seem a little odd to the unaccustomed palate. Many people in the west are now switching to green tea because of its health benefits, and yet often struggle with adapting to the unusual flavor. As a result, many tea sellers now offer a huge range of fruit flavored teas, so that people can enjoy the benefits of green tea with a taste that's more familiar to their tastebuds.
Adagio Teas is one such company, and they offer a large range of flavored green teas. The Adagio Teas Apricot Green Tea is quite a popular one, often recommended for anyone new to drinking green tea. The apricot scent upon opening the tin is very distinct, even before brewing the leaves. And the infusion, too, emits a strong, fruity apricot aroma. However, the flavor is not overpowering, which comes as a surprise given the strength of the fragrance. In fact, it's actually delicate, and not at all artificial or “fake” tasting. It really does taste like fresh apricots straight off the tree.
Green tea on its own obviously doesn't taste like the regular black tea that most westerners are accustomed to drinking. The whole point of this kind of tea is that the leaves are much fresher, so the goodness of essential nutrients has not been affected by the oxidization process that makes black tea. Naturally, this means that there is a distictly more vegetal taste to green tea, particularly in Japanese varieties. Although there is considerable variation in the strength, aromas and flavors from one green tea to the next, all of them share a generic green tea taste. Taken as it is, it is completely free from any impurities, and full of natural nutrients that make it incredibly good for the health. But there's no harm in trying to bring in a few extra flavors for the benefit of those to whom the grassy taste just does not appeal! Loading it full of sugar and artificial additives is somewhat counter-productive, cancelling out the majority of those green tea benefits, but Adagio's teas don't do that. The Apricot Green Tea is fresh-flavored and natural-tasting, and a good alternative to pure green tea.
It's not a tea for green tea purists. This one is all about the apricots, and there's pretty much no sign of traditional green tea flavors anywhere to be found. However, for green tea novices, or anyone who finds pure green tea too vegetal or bitter, this is a great choice. You won't encounter a grassy flavor or vegetal taste, but the flavor of the apricots is not too sickly sweet, either. It's a delicious balance, creating a full-flavored yet light and refreshing drink. Adagio recommend preparing their Apricot Green Tea both as a hot beverage and an iced drink – and the sweet, fruity flavor would indeed work very well in a cold, thirst-quenching drink. You can buy it online here.
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