I was super excited for this tea, yet super afraid. I absolutely love candy canes and anything mint related, so I of course had to order a sample of this one. And yet, I’ve had not so stellar results in the past from Adagio flavored black teas. I’ve always found the smell so tempting, but the flavor lacking and needing sweetener and/or milk, which I’m not opposed to doing sometimes, but still…
Well, the smell, like I expected, is definitely tantalizing. It’s everything I would want a candy cane tea to smell like – nice and minty combined with comforting, creamy vanilla.
So I sit here, waiting anxiously to get my mint fix, and then I finally taste it… Go away black tea, you’ve ruined it! Ah, I had my fears. Believe me, I absolutely love black tea of all kinds, but maybe not so much flavored – or maybe not so much from Adagio – or maybe not so much when it interferes with mint.
Either way, maybe it’s a taste that will grow on me, but the bitterness that comes from that base is rather disconcerting. I’m going to try to add some cream to this next time. If that fails, I’ll add some peppermint to it. And it if that fails, too, I won’t be too far away from finishing the sample.
Meh, I wanted to like you Candy Cane. I really did. I’ll try to work on fixing you, okay?
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
Have you tried a shorter steep time? I never steep my blacks for more than 2 minutes.
Yeah, I should probably try doing that next time before going the cream/sugar route. I generally don’t have a problem with 3:00 for most black teas, but I swear it’s an Adagio thing.
I’m the total opposite of Rita, you could try more time- I do most of mine 6 min. Also a fair amount of leaf- 1 heaping teaspoon.
If the black tea flavor is too strong, how would a longer steep help?
I could always try a longer steeping time with milk and a shorter steeping time plain.
Rita, I had the same question when steeping blacks… someone here in some tasting note (how’s that for fantasatically citing my source? lol!) said that sometimes over steeping can make tea taste “dull”. Or something to that effect. In this case though, it might also bring out the flavor more- and since a candy cane is sweet, it may sweeten the base. I do also think milk would be amazing in this. I’d of course up the steeping to 7 min (for my own personal tastes)
It is an Adagio thing. In my experience, their black teas are rather harsh. I usually go with 3 minutes for their black teas, this keeps the harshness to a minimum.
Have you tried a shorter steep time? I never steep my blacks for more than 2 minutes.
Yeah, I should probably try doing that next time before going the cream/sugar route. I generally don’t have a problem with 3:00 for most black teas, but I swear it’s an Adagio thing.
I’m the total opposite of Rita, you could try more time- I do most of mine 6 min. Also a fair amount of leaf- 1 heaping teaspoon.
If the black tea flavor is too strong, how would a longer steep help?
I could always try a longer steeping time with milk and a shorter steeping time plain.
Rita, I had the same question when steeping blacks… someone here in some tasting note (how’s that for fantasatically citing my source? lol!) said that sometimes over steeping can make tea taste “dull”. Or something to that effect. In this case though, it might also bring out the flavor more- and since a candy cane is sweet, it may sweeten the base. I do also think milk would be amazing in this. I’d of course up the steeping to 7 min (for my own personal tastes)
It is an Adagio thing. In my experience, their black teas are rather harsh. I usually go with 3 minutes for their black teas, this keeps the harshness to a minimum.