Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

This tea runs dangerously close to being lackluster, but manages to have just enough sparkly juice to keep me entertained. All of the core flavours are gentle ones, and mix up into a kind of dozy floral-fruit broth that has effectively shut my brain off for the night.

Drowned out white leaves with notes of cucumber and grass, along with bland apple-accented chamomile, form up this mixed base. The cherry flavour is both tart and sweet and makes the tea pop. I don’t usually care much for cherry flavoring in tea but I think it’s needed here.

Taken with milk.

I went in skeptical, but I’m pleasantly surprised by this tea. The base and flavours aren’t fancy or deep, but that doesn’t stop it from being a lot of fun. Blue raspberries, cotton candy, blackberry danishes, and bubblegum ice cream are all good things in my book. So are blackberries. I could drink so much of this tea, all the time..

It tastes like the colour blue.

Second to last one from my Doctor Who sampler. I just have a retaste of Jack to do and I’ll have gotten through all of them. I’ll more than likely have to do a retaste of this one too since I made it and then got some depressing news/had an equally depressing realization about my job and just wasn’t in the right mindset for this tea anymore. I just needed something comforting right now instead of new.

But what I did taste of it before setting it aside was slightly lemony. And while the dry tea smell was a fairly strong bergamot with maybe a hint of coconut lurking in the background, but I don’t really get either of those tastes very strongly in the brew. The bergamot was there kind of as a perfume at the back of the sip, lingering with the coconut as more of a ‘hi there. just passing thorough.’ than a ‘HEY!’ sort of taste. Lol. Which I don’t mind that much since I don’t really care for bergamot in my tea. It got a bit more zingy lemony when I added a bit of truvia, but after that I couldn’t really give it the attention it should have.

So what I did have wasn’t as bad as I was fearing considering all three of the individual teas are ones that I would never consider drinking since they’re all teas that I rather dislike. I’d try it again.

(1.5tsp used)

Another Adagio sample from Cavocorax!

This one I’ve been wanting to try for awhile.

I enjoyed it more than the Jane Austen Mafia one which has similar ingredients, but this one had the bergamot, so it’s more of a flavored earl grey. I do love earl greys.

Problem is, it’s still the same mediocre black tea base, and they went way too light on the bergamot for my tastes. I REALLY love earl greys.

Overall it’s just a very lightly flavored earl grey tea. Honestly I would expect a Tardis tea to pack more of a punch! I am clearly in the minority though. But I can’t help wondering if half of the love is more for the Doctor Who association than for the actual tea. Maybe it’s just my newfound pickiness in regards to flavored teas…..getting pregnant changed how I feel about most of my old favorites too! And post-baby I have all new preferences. Or perhaps that’s just my tastebuds changing and adapting naturally on their own.

I have enough to try more, so I may add extra leaf to see if that helps up the flavor at all.

After a couple more Adagio samples from the lovely Cavo, I will be done this taste testing experiment of mine! I think I’m coming out on the right side of it too, because my conclusion is one of total “meh-ness”, which makes my wallet very happy considering I already have TTC, Butiki and Teavivre orders on my future wishlist!

Thanks again, Cavocorax. You’ve saved my bank account!!

SSTTB: Pick #8

Don’t you hate when you notice that a tea you thought was added to your cupboard actually isn’t, so your number is off? I just had that happen with DT’s Vanilla Orchid. Apparently I forgot to add it when I picked up 50g of it. Logging Long Life Oolong just now reminded me of that… Blerg.

But anway; I made this for work today. I actually have no idea who the character is so this is one fandom blend that really didn’t get me interested because of the character association – I just took a whiff of it and thought it smelled decent for a Chai and was curious.

Is it just me or is The Box very Chai heavy?

It was ok; the base was light and came off smooth so I guess I didn’t push the steep time too much. Coconut was very dominant in the cup, and then a mix of ginger and lemon grass. Those last two are not really favourite flavours of mine but it worked out ok. It served its purpose at the time and was nice enough but I could go without ever drinking it again and be fine with that.

A rich chai. The puerh makes a bit of a difference, I think.

Would possibly buy again. :) Thanks so much for the sample, Shmiracles!

I sniffed this one and it smelled cinnamony so I decided to give it a go.

Solid food is still iffy, so I’m supplementing my all-fruit “ice cream” with tea. (I still need to make congee…)

Floating apple pieces, you make me lol. Sadly the flavour just isn’t enough when I’m sipping it. It pales in comparison to my favourite chai, and it’s not different enough for me to want to keep it around. Maybe I should have steeped it longer.

Thank you for the sample, Shmiracles! Definitely one I wanted to try, so I’m sad it didn’t live up to my hopes and expectations. :)

Sorry. I’m not sure if Shmiracles or VariaTEA sent me this because both have sent me a ton of Adagio teas, and BOTH have reviewed this. Huh. Sorry? But thank you to whoever it was. This tea is actually really great. Really great! i didn’t expect much, but it’s light and creamy, and minty and just delightful. I think I can actually taste the barky notes in the white tea and that grounds it a little bit, but it’s nice and sweet!

And I really need to watch Rise of the Guardians. That’s a good reminder! (168)

Another Adagio sample from Cavocorax!

This one I brewed up in my Contigo mug which I’ve learned must be used for flavoured teas only, on account of it carrying around the scent and taste of all teas it has contained before.

I brought it with me to the movies, hubby and I went to go see How to Train Your Dragon 2 because we loved the first one so much.

So, since I needed to bring a travel mug,I knew it had to be a flavoured tea and this one won! I put some milk in it because I’ve learned that’s how I prefer these desserty Adagio blends.

Admittedly, upon first sip in the theatre, I was a bit put off, because it was soooo spicy. I was like “Oh, I’ve made a huge mistake.” I may not be a tremendous fan of chai.

After the first few sips, though, I enjoyed it. I guess my tastebuds just had to adjust to the idea of spicy tea. It’s still not my fave.

It was nice to try though!

And, a funny aside, up until the moment I just looked this tea up on Steepster to write my review, I had no idea who “Destiel” was. Ever since Cavo gave me the sample I’ve been trying to wrack my brain to remember which character that was. Until I saw the fan art for the tea and clued in. Duhhhh, Dean and Cas! That’s how far removed I am from this fandom stuff.

I’m the type who loves to watch the shows but stops at the point where other people are apparently writing homo-erotic fan fiction about the main characters.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, it just makes me feel like an old lady because I literally had zero clues who Destiel was.

This story possibly sums up my ability to (with a sigh of great relief on behalf of my wallet) dismiss Adagio teas…. I think the concept is really cool but I’m not so mental over drinking my favourite characters that I am willing to spend money on and drink “meh” tea.

However, thank you to all you sample senders who have helped me figure this out! Truly appreciated!!

Unexpected sipdown! Just in time for me to add a bunch of Boxing Day sale teas to my cupboard…

This is a finicky tea for me. I tend to think of black tea as being more flexible just because the ones I have on hand can typically be steeped in boiling water with no problems. This one, however, steeped in boiling water for 3 minutes is beyond bitter. Two minutes at 200F seems to be the sweet spot.

The first steep of this is smooth and lacking in astringency. I don’t get fruit or vanilla notes, but I think that’s what’s cutting the astringency of the black base. Upon the second steeping, the tea gets a little bitter, but still a decent, drinkable tea.

I finally got around to placing my first Adagio order late last week. It’s getting close to my birthday and my fiance just got a third (!!!!) fish tank, so I figured some tea was in order. If my apartment is going to be slowly taken over by aquariums the least I can do is compensate by ordering lots of tea. Really, I see no other solution.

I got a sample tin of this tea because I love Earl Greys and Earl Grey + fruit just seemed like a winning combination. I steeped this at work (so, I have no idea how much tea was used, how hot the water was, or an approximate steep time .. oops) and added a bit of sugar. It’s not bad, maybe not my favorite Earl Grey, but I love how smooth it is — no need to add milk! The fruit flavor is vague but there, and makes this tea just a little more special. Probably not something I’ll reorder, but I’m really glad I tried it.

The last of my Dr Who sample teas from Sil!

This one was just meh. A weak chai, and I’m not sure I like chai enough to drink a weak one.

I feel like the whole Adagio “oh, she’s a spunky character, I will make her into a chai tea!” fandom thing gets old fast, like there’s only so much they can do.

I’ve reached the conclusion that so far I haven’t loved any of their teas enough to buy them. Except Kaylee I think, the rosey Firefly one. But I do have a few more to try, from Cavocorax, so I am looking forward to those!

Thanks Sil, for helping me reach that conclusion without buying tons of tea that I didn’t love!

Another sipdown from this weekend.

I actually enjoyed this one!
I can clearly taste Adagio’s caramel flavouring in any tea of theirs that contains it, this was no exception. But luckily I do like it.

I’m not sure I was paying enough attention when I drank this last night to notice the sesame, I hadn’t read the description til now. I’m sure it added a bit of a unique toasty note.

I can’t really comment on whether or not this particular blend would be an accurate representation of Martha Jones, if she were a tea….but I’m starting to realize that though I think the whole idea of fandom teas is neat, I’d rather just drink good tea instead of spending money on a gimmick.

Thanks for letting me try this, Sil, it was a decent cup!

Ugh, I’m so behind on my notes. Stayed at a cousin’s cottage over the weekend, brought a bunch of tea with me that I wanted to sipdown so I guess I made a little bit of progress, though I logged nothing.

This was from Friday.
I don’t get why the blender felt the need to mix rooibos with black tea for a bunch of these Dr Who teas, but luckily the black tea made me not really taste the rooibos.

This one was not overly impressive. Weak base with hints of chocolate and almond.
I was not a huge Captain Jack fan anyway but I don’t know that this tea would remind me of him. I haven’t yet been really impressed with an Adagio tea.

Sipdown achieved!

Thanks for sharing, Sil!

Teeny Tiny TTB

I couldn’t not taste this one due to the name and I was hoping that since the ginger was pretty low on the ingredients list, it wouldn’t be too offensive, but that’s really all I could taste, even after sweetening it. A pity, since the other ingredients seemed lovely. Back in the box it goes.

Sample sipdown!

This one was drank in the middle of a frantic cleaning rush, I had to microwave it because I let it get cold at some point.

It was decent! Nothing special…. Just a weak cinnamon black tea with a vague hint of orange, not nearly as spicy as I’d imagine a Donna Noble tea should be! That woman’s got spunk.

Thanks for the sample, Sil! :)

Thank you Sil for sharing this with me! I steeped it for 4 minutes and that seemed to be the right way to do it. This tea is a mild chai, with hints of orange and vanilla. I wonder if I should have steeped it even longer? It’s nice, with a bit of punch but Amy could definitely be punchier. :P Maybe Rory mellowed her out a bit?

And with this cup done, I am at 186! (and as Sil would like to point out, with all my incoming orders I’m more like 208), but that’s ok. I’m topped up on Butiki, WP, RiverTea, Adagio, A&D, TTC etc so I can’t see how anyone else could tempt me with a sale now! issues you a challenging stare

Sample sipdown!

I actually really enjoyed this…. I’ve never eaten a chestnut before in my life but judging by this tea, which was really nutty and toasty and comforting and I’d probably enjoy them.

I didn’t even get the typical Adagio bitterness!

Thanks for sharing, Sil!

So I’m having this now because it was between Martha and Ten and Ten won for my morning tea, so Martha is for my night tea.
I’m not a fan of rooibos blends. I don’t like the taste of rooibos straight, but I can usually stand them mixed into a blend in small doses. This one was deceptive in that it looks like only a smidge of rooibos in the blend, but when I measured it out, it turned into mostly rooibos with a smidge of black tea leaves.
So strong caramel sort of scent to it, but not really any sort of other scent to indicate the sesame that’s supposed to be in the blend. Brewed the caramel smell is there but it doesn’t translate very strongly taste wise. It’s there, but not in the sense that would make me think ‘Caramel!’ on the sip. There’s a strange other taste that’s kinda…hard to describe. Kinda bitter? Sharp? Musky? I can’t really put my finger on it. And I’m not sure if it’s the rooibos or if this is the sesame coming up in the sip. It’s just strange and vaguely unpleasant to be honest. Also, the astringency on this blend has to be the worse out of all the other Doctor Who blends I’ve had from the set so far. Or at least, bad enough that I’ve actually noticed it.
I tried it with a bit of Truvia mixed in and while it takes some of the bitter edge off and turns the caramel into a sort of dark/toasted/burnt caramel sort of taste, it’s still an unpleasant enough blend that I don’t forsee me brewing this up again, not with other blends from the set that, even if they’re not my favorite, are still tasty.
Also, I’ve held off on giving this a rating since I’m not sure if it’s my dislike of rooibos that makes this blend so unpleasant, or if it’s the blend itself. XD

First it should be noted that this is a review of the original blend with the guanabana (which Adagio has since discontinued due to unpopularity), from the 10 tin sampler set (which Adagio has also since discontinued….for I believe cost issues). XD
So another one from my sampler. I’m almost all the way through, with this one being one of four left. Technically I have three since I’ve already had the Jack Harkness blend before, but the blend in the tins smells so differently than the blend I had gotten then (Not as in-your-face almond) that I’m planning on giving it another try. I also think I’ve forgotten to review most of the other tin blends since, like I said, I’m almost through with the sampler but there’s only reviews for 4 of them. Lol! I’ll have to go back and retaste the blends then review them since my memory is kinda foggy on them. But I digress. Onto the tea.
It’s got a funky sort of fruity smell in the package that actually kinda reminds me of Ten’s quirkiness on the show. There’s also little chocolate chips mixed into the blend, but ultimately I think this added nothing to the brew aside from looking tempting in the dry mix.
Taste wise it’s a kinda funky banana/fruity taste to it with a strong base of basic sort of black tea taste. Not funky bad, but funky in that it’s banana but with a little something extra that’s hard to put my finger on. This was without sugar. With a bit of Truvia (a little more than I’m used to using, but still less than a tsp, the blend pops a bit more with fruitiness and gets pretty damn tasty. Lol! I definitely prefer it with added sweetness than without. It’s kinda just blah straight.
I’m not sure what the current blend is like, but I imagine that it’s totally different from this version, and possibly not in a positive way. The guanabana adds that extra little quirk to what would possibly be a normal, boring sort of blend. Not at all appropriate to Ten’s character. Lol! Maybe I’ll try to swap for the current blend mix to compare. I’ll be drinking the rest of what’s in the tin, but I don’t expect an order due to the change in the blend.

This is a favorite custom blend from Adagio from a ridiculous facet of fandom. It is spicy and warm from cinnamon and chai spices with smooth vanilla/almond flavors. A great low-caffeine blend that warms you up and gets your blood pumping… just like John’s Red Pants.

Another sipdown from Sil & Smiracles
I picked this one because I recognized the name of the character from teen wolf, & most of the other adagio fandom blends left in the box are characters from god knows what.
I didn’t really care much for this, but that’s really because most of the time I don’t care much for cherry flavored things. Still worth trying.
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Another sample from Sil & Schmiracles.
Another sipdown.
I used to drink a lot of gunpowder green & mint together. It’s very refreshing, especially iced. I’ve never tried it with jasmine added, & since I like jasmine sometimes, it’s a nice addition. Not something I’d want to keep in my collection, but nice to try.
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