I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter
A couple months ago, Adagio.com gave me a gift certificate in exchange for some social media love about their teas. I already like their teas, but I took the opportunity to order some teas I hadn’t tried yet.
TL;DR—Jasmine Silver Needle was the favorite, cold-brewed at 2 heaping tablespoons per 2 quarts of water, and my second favorite was White Peach (loose-leaf, not iced tea pouches), cold-brewed at 2 heaping tablespoons per 2 quarts of water.
Adagio sells loose leaf teas as well as teabags, but I bought some of their Iced Tea pouches. Basically, it’s their loose leaf teas pre-measured in a pouch that you can use to cold- or hot-brew iced tea.
I first tried their White Blueberry Iced Tea pouches. There’s approximately 3 tablespoons of tea in each pouch, and the instructions say that one pouch is for about 1 quart of iced tea. I cold-brewed the tea—I steeped a pouch in a quart of water in the fridge overnight. However, I found that the resulting tea was a bit strong for my taste, so I diluted it with 1 quart of water to make 2 quarts of tea.
The white tea in the pouch is really nice when cold-brewed—smooth and sweet. However I wasn’t nuts about the blueberry flavor until I added the juice of one lemon to the iced tea. Then suddenly the blueberry flavor seemed to really perk up. It reminded me of the lemon blueberry muffins I love to snarf on.
Next I cold-brewed the White Peach Iced Tea pouches. As with the Blueberry, there’s about 3 tablespoons of tea per pouch, and I found that one pouch in 1 quart of water is too strong, so I diluted it with 1 quart of water.
The peach flavor is super awesome! The white tea makes the peach flavor very pronounced.
Thirdly, I cold-brewed the White Peony white loose-leaf tea. I used 2 heaping tablespoons per 2 quarts of water. It was a nice white tea, very mild in flavor. I tried using more tea, but it became more bitter rather than more flavorful, so I think the mild flavor is the norm.
Fourth, I cold-brewed the Jasmine Silver Needle white loose-leaf tea. This was by far my favorite out the teas I purchased. The Jasmine flavor was subtle without being too florally, and the white tea was mild and even a little sweet. The Silver Needle white tea was much smoother than the Jasmine Chun Hao green tea that I usually cold-brew. The Jasmine Silver Needle tea was especially refreshing when I added some lemon to it.
(On a side note, I was looking at the Adagio website and noticed a Jasmine Jin Hao green tea that I’ve never tried cold-brewing yet, so I will order that and try that sometime as a cold-brew.
Next, I cold-brewed the two Oolong teas I had ordered.
The Peach Oolong Iced Tea pouch was WAY too strong when I used one pouch in 2 quarts of water and cold-brewed it, so I cut open the pouch. I brewed 2 Tablespoons of the peach oolong tea in 2 quarts of water, and I also tried 1 Tablespoon of tea in 2 quarts of water, and I found that I preferred the more dilute cold-brew.
I’ve had the peach oolong as a hot-brewed tea before, but I tried it again here to compare with the cold-brewed tea. Hot-brewed, the peach oolong has a strong peach flavor and a rich tea flavor, not as malty as a traditional black tea but definitely a stronger tea flavor than a hot-brewed white tea.
Cold-brewed, the peach oolong becomes more floral and slightly malty in flavor, but with the same peach flavor. I think I prefer the cold-brewed white peach tea over the cold-brewed peach oolong tea, but it might also be dependent on my mood. I definitely prefer the hot-brewed peach oolong over the hot-brewed white peach tea.
Lastly, I cold-brewed the Jade Oolong Iced Tea pouch. Like the Peach Oolong, I found that I preferred to cold-brew 1 Tablespoon of tea (I cut open the pouch) in 2 quarts of water. The cold-brewed Oolong flavor was nice, a little malty, and not tannic at all. It especially tasted good when I added some lychee jelly (like the kind they put in boba tea) and a splash of milk.
Whew! That was a lot of tea. It takes me 2-3 days to finish a pitcher of tea, and I had tried different tea/water ratios for several of the teas, which was why it took me so long to write this review. Bottom line: I loved the Jasmine Silver Needle white tea and will definitely be trying that again. However, it was also one of the pricier teas. My second-favorite was the Peach White iced tea (they sell it loose-leaf, which is what I’d use rather than the iced tea pouches).
TL;DR—Jasmine Silver Needle was the favorite, cold-brewed at 2 heaping tablespoons per 2 quarts of water, and my second favorite was White Peach (loose-leaf, not iced tea pouches), cold-brewed at 2 heaping tablespoons per 2 quarts of water.
Adagio sells loose leaf teas as well as teabags, but I bought some of their Iced Tea pouches. Basically, it’s their loose leaf teas pre-measured in a pouch that you can use to cold- or hot-brew iced tea.
The white tea in the pouch is really nice when cold-brewed—smooth and sweet. However I wasn’t nuts about the blueberry flavor until I added the juice of one lemon to the iced tea. Then suddenly the blueberry flavor seemed to really perk up. It reminded me of the lemon blueberry muffins I love to snarf on.
The peach flavor is super awesome! The white tea makes the peach flavor very pronounced.
(On a side note, I was looking at the Adagio website and noticed a Jasmine Jin Hao green tea that I’ve never tried cold-brewing yet, so I will order that and try that sometime as a cold-brew.
Next, I cold-brewed the two Oolong teas I had ordered.
I’ve had the peach oolong as a hot-brewed tea before, but I tried it again here to compare with the cold-brewed tea. Hot-brewed, the peach oolong has a strong peach flavor and a rich tea flavor, not as malty as a traditional black tea but definitely a stronger tea flavor than a hot-brewed white tea.
Cold-brewed, the peach oolong becomes more floral and slightly malty in flavor, but with the same peach flavor. I think I prefer the cold-brewed white peach tea over the cold-brewed peach oolong tea, but it might also be dependent on my mood. I definitely prefer the hot-brewed peach oolong over the hot-brewed white peach tea.
Whew! That was a lot of tea. It takes me 2-3 days to finish a pitcher of tea, and I had tried different tea/water ratios for several of the teas, which was why it took me so long to write this review. Bottom line: I loved the Jasmine Silver Needle white tea and will definitely be trying that again. However, it was also one of the pricier teas. My second-favorite was the Peach White iced tea (they sell it loose-leaf, which is what I’d use rather than the iced tea pouches).
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