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Nattie drank Vanilla by Adagio Teas

681 tasting notes

I will do another review of this tea later when I’ve had it hot, but I’d like to tell you all that this is MY FIRST attempt at cold brewing! I had an essay due in at midnight, so at lunchtime I made up my tea in a regular water bottle and put it in the fridge, ready to take out as a treat once I’d handed in my essay. I used the vanilla because I thought it was a pretty basic tea to try cold-brewing for my first go, and it would hopefully be a nice sweet treat. Also I had to use like double the tea, and I really didn’t want to let go of that much of one of my fandom teas (they’re just the samplers). I tried a glass of it last night at about 2AM, after steeping for 14 hours, and was very surprised with how little tea I could taste. The vanilla was there, but no discernible tea taste. I have also come to the shock conclusion that maybe… Just maybe… I don’t really like vanilla?

I like it just fine with other flavours, but on it’s own, I’m not so sure. All I know is I struggled to finish the glass, but poured the rest of it this morning, after almost a whole 24 hours of steeping, and the tea taste is there now and it’s SO much better. Like seriously. So after a day in the fridge I think I can say that my first cold steep experience has been a success, I just wish I had used a different tea. (The vanilla hint is still a little too strong for my liking).

I’m glad I only got this as a sample, but if anyone is a vanilla fan (which I think most people seem to be) I think this would be a very good tea to cold-steep, as from memory I don’t remember tasting too much vanilla in my hot brew of this. I probably won’t be drinking the rest of this sample, if anyone in the UK wants it, I’d be happy to send it on down, although I’m not really expecting anyone to care too much about it. But there you go.

Preparation

Iced 8 min or more 4 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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I first got into loose leaf teas when a friend of mine showed me Cara McGee’s Sherlock fandom blends on Adagio a good few years back, but they weren’t on sale in the UK so I started trying other kinds instead and have been hooked for almost three years (and have purchased several fandom tea sets including the Sherlock one I lusted over for so long).

Flavoured teas make up the majority of my collection, but I’m growing increasingly fond of unflavoured teas too. I usually reach for a black, oolong or white tea base over a pu’erh or green tea, though I do have my exceptions. I will update my likes and dislikes as I discover more about my palate, but for now:

Tea-likes: I’m generally easily pleased and will enjoy most flavours, but my absolute favourites are maple, caramel, chestnut, pecan, raspberry, coconut, blueberry, lemon, pumpkin, rose, hazelnut and peach

Tea-dislikes: vanilla (on its own), ginger, coriander/cilantro, cardamom, liquorice, pineapple and chocolate

I am a 25 year old bartender, English Literature sort-of-graduate and current student working towards finishing my degree. I am hoping to one day complete a masters degree in Mental Health Social Work and get a job working in care. Other than drinking, hoarding and reviewing tea, my hobbies include reading, doing quizzes and puzzles, TV watching, football/soccer (Sunderland AFC supporter and employee of my local football club), music, artsy weird makeup, and learning new things (currently British Sign Language).

I should probably also mention my tea-rating system, which seems to be much harsher than others I’ve seen on here. It’s not always concrete, but I’ll try to define it:

• 50 is the base-line which all teas start at. A normal, nothing-special industrial-type black teabag of regular old fannings would be a 50.

• 0 – 49 is bad, and varying degrees of bad. This is probably the least concrete as I hardly ever find something I don’t like.

• I have never given below a 20, and will not unless that tea is SO bad that I have to wash my mouth out after one sip. Any teas rated as such are unquestionably awful.

• This means most teas I don’t enjoy will be in the 30 – 50 range. This might just mean the tea is not to my own personal taste.

• 51+ are teas I enjoy. A good cup of tea will be in the 50 – 70 range.

• If I rate a tea at 70+, it means I really, really like it. Here’s where the system gets a little more concrete, and I can probably define this part, as it’s rarer for a tea to get there.

• 71- 80: I really enjoyed this tea, enough to tell somebody about, and will probably hang onto it for a little longer than I perhaps should because I don’t want to lose it.

• 81 – 90: I will power through this tea before I even know it’s gone, and will re-order the next time the mood takes me.

• 91 – 100: This is one of the best teas I’ve ever tasted, and I will re-order while I still have a good few cups left, so that I never have to run out. This is the crème de la crème, the Ivy League of teas.

I never rate a tea down, and my ratings are always based on my best experience of a tea if I drink it multiple times. I feel that this is fairest as many factors could affect the experience of one particular cup.

I am always happy to trade and share my teas with others, so feel free to look through my cupboard and message me if you’re interested in doing a swap. I keep it up-to-date, although this doesn’t mean I will definitely have enough to swap, as I also include my small samples.
Currently unable to swap as I’ve returned after a long hiatus to a cupboard of mostly-stale teas I’m trying to work through before I let myself purchase anything fresh

I also tend to ramble on a bit.

Location

South Shields, UK

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