Becca McDonald Send Message

I came home from my recent trip toJapan with multiple Lupicia blends to sample. The first I brewed was Carol, a strawberry, vanilla and coconut black tea blend. It smells sweet and has a delicate flavour, not too overpowering or artificial. Much prefer this to other strawberry teas I’ve encountered in the past!

I got this tea as a sample in my last order. It is a sweet, gentle blend of white tea, jasmine and spearmint. The mint is a subtle flavour, not really a strong one – it adds a sweetness to the blend that it took me a moment to place. Delicious, light and definitely a tea I’d purchase in the future!

This tea is one of the strangest experiences I’ve had from Adagio. I got the holiday sampler pack in the little tins and while the tin is adorable I did lose a teaspoon full of tea trying to open it (my fault, but the tin lid spat tea everywhere!)

Admittedly this left me slightly grumpy. My doubts about this tea increased when I opened it to see, not chunks of candy cane like the reviews led me to believe, but tiny puddles of melted sugar with bits of black tea stuck to them. Strange, but the parcel had been left in the post room for a while – it was probably too warm in there and melted the sugar.

Then, I brewed the tea according to the directions on the tin. The smell was unbelievable, and not in a good way. Not at all like candy cane or any discernable black tea, more like melted butterscotch mixed with something bitter.

Ignoring my nostrils, I took a sip and immediately regretted my choices. This tea tastes of a bitter, astringent, cheap black tea mixed with chemical. No peppermint, no sweetness, just cheap flavouring. I gave this one to my husband who also pronounced it ‘undrinkable’, despite loving flavoured teas I’ve not been able to get on with.

I love their chestnut tea and I buy my daily drinking genmaicha from Adagio, so I found this extremely disappointing.

This tea is one that I really, really want to love but there’s something off about the flavouring. The chunks of ginger, apple and orange peel make the blend look reassuringly chunky and fruity, and the tea smells of spiced caramel. Indeed, most cups are a lightly spiced black tea, not unpleasant but nothing remarkable. The problem is occasionally the tea has a very strange aftertaste. I can only assume this is a caramel flavouring to produce the smell. It’s not a tea I would discard, but after my tin is empty, I certainly won’t be repurchasing next Christmas!

I’m currently trying to drink my way through several blends on my shelf that have been a little bit neglected. I chose this and Salted Caramel Lebuchken from Bird and Blend to try and finish, and this tea definitely wins the gingery chai contest.

The dry blend has a very strong scent of orange and ginger, while the tea itself has a much more balanced spice. The base tea is smooth and tasty, with strong notes of pepper and cinnamon within the blend. The only way this could be improved is slightly more orange peel in the blend instead of the sugar sprinkles – it would be lovely for the strong orange smell to come across in the flavour. Still, a delicious warming chai, and I’ll miss it when I run out.

A very tasty and lightly perfumed green tea!

Brewed in a teapot at slightly under 75 degrees Celsius with around 10 pearls in my pot, the tea came out a gentle light green and scented delicately of jasmine. It was a sweet, light tea with a subtle grassiness to it. Delicious!

My favourite herbal blend, Dozy Girl is a gorgeous lavender chamomile and hibiscus blend that is both mouth-wateringly tart and delicately perfumed. I adore lavender flavoured everything, so this blend smells and rates like a dream.

Campfires and Vampires feels like it should be much nicer than it is… Definitely one for cold brewing, because cold brewing allows more of the spice and rose to come out as opposed to the slightly unpleasant green tea. I love green tea, but this one is not a good one. This has been in my cupboard for months so it may be out of date, but the cups I’ve had definitely haven’t been as tasty as I expect from Bird and Blend blends.