Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

OH, I GET IT – CHERRY. STILES. CHERRY. Stiles is a virgin. (Don’t worry, Stiles, your sourwolf will figure it out someday.)

In the bag, this tea smells kind of ridiculous and annoying, like cough syrup (or Stiles) but the more you drink it you realize how awesome it is and you want it have it around all the time (like Stiles). Who doesn’t love cherry, almond, & cocoa? It’s like chocolate cherry pie.

I’ve had other Stiles teas, and they’re usually very very green (STILES SMELLS LIKE FRESHLY CUT GRASS TO SOURWOLVES IN FANON, GET IT?) which is totally fine, but I am very amused by the jokey cherry hokeyness of this tea which becomes more familiar and sweet and reminds me of my mom’s cherry pie recipe (with lots of almond extract) in the end. See, memories of mom. How many ways can this tea be tied to Stiles? Let me count the ways. No, really, let me…

“I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

oh Loki.
delicate jasmine flavor, inspired by your pale features no doubt.
and perhaps the mint is a cold crisp stab to the heart.
the gunpowder is your brilliant mind, i know that for sure. dark and solid and swarming with hope and pain.

also i can have this tea later at night and not feel bad about the decision since it’s mostly spearmint and rooibos. and due to this fact, on top of which i love minty teas in the evening, it will probably get drank very fast.

i’m lucky enough to get to split this 3oz bag with jump62359 who had a brilliant idea. because, did you know that Adagio has a separate warehouse on each coast!?!
if they are out of stock of something you love…check with your tea buddy from another time zone! i am so impressed with jump62359 for figuring this out. (because now Brucey will get to join all the other BFF avengers in my cupboard.)

“I believe in Sherlock Holmes.”

if you haven’t seen the Sherlock short that takes place before season 3 begins, i recommend it. i mean, not mind blowing or anything, but lots of feelings. and you get to see Anderson’s beard. it’s the short that made Philip Anderson more than just a one dimensional annoying loser.

so maybe like Anderson, this tea doesn’t seem very popular but i still kinda like it. it will be very easy for me to finish my half-tin sample quickly. so yum.

i like blood orange teas a lot cuz they are a great contrast and variety to the usual chocolate and cookie flavored type teas i tend to drink most.

hooray the beard-o weird-o!
i would totally drink a cup and let Anderson rattle his theories off to me.
and then i’d buy him lunch, cuz he IS , ya know, all unemployed now and stuff.

Holy moly!! I didn’t think I could find a mixture of sweet, fruity, creamy and just such a wonderful blend as the 2 cups I just had. Every cup tastes like a blueberry muffin. Creamy notes hit you first with a blast of blueberry coming quick after, then the longer it steeps you go back for the high quality earl grey. The 2nd and 3rd steep we’re just as good as the 1st!! I hadn’t steeped a tea as many times in a day as this one!! And the other thing that makes it so awesome… In keeping with all things doctor who, the folks at Adagio give you an extra ounce at normal price…because “it’s bigger on the inside”:) definitely a staple in my cupboard!! Absolutely amazing!!

2014-02-13
adagio sent me a new bag and it has all the proper sprinkles and orange peels in it. and just as i’m sure you expected, this tea is totally weird. just like our new Bill Wiggins character. (who reminds me of Super Hans.) (and the actor was also in a few episodes of Inspector Lewis.) (and now i’m wondering what a Wallander tea would taste like… probably loneliness and dust and the leather seats of a car. because that guy is always driving far and away. and that show is pure visual poetry.)

2014-02-07
I just received this tea from adagio, and it doesn’t have the SPRINKLES!!! So sad.
I’m gonna have to message them. And my cup of billy is gonna have to wait :(

sipdown! The rest of this is off to variaTEA for our swap so that she can try it out :) not sad that this one is gone, but i’m glad i got to try it out. Plus i love the tin! :)

Sadly…ten is a disappointment. It pretty much tastes like an average cup of black tea with maybe an echo of banana/chocolate. There’s not much there though, and it’s hard to tell that this is supposed to be a flavoured blend. sigh… how very disappointing. I love 10…but i don’t love this tea.

had the last cup of this one today in an effort to make a little progress on my cupboard today since RiverTeas will be rescued from mail jail this afternoon. While i enjoyed this tea a bunch, i’m still just not a fan of adagio on the whole enough to be buying a lot of their teas.

If you’re going to drink Amy…you really should drink her with Rory. This one might be my favourite of the blends so far, and not just ’cause rory makes me happy. I am a fan of the black/green vanilla with just a hint of sweet potato. Yep…i can get behind this one.

farewell amy! You’re off to visit with other friends now, though i’ve enjoyed the time we spent together. :) Not my favourite of the adagio doctor who teas, but not awful…just not really what makes me think of Amy.

I think i need to steep this one longer. I’m always a little wary of Adagio’s black so I tend to keep the temperature under boiling and the timing shorter. But i think with this one, i can steep it longer. It’s not a bad tea, but it’s clearly a chai ish sort of tea. Because of the under steep, it’s not as flavourful as i want it to be, but it isn’t a bad sort of taste. On the whole, trending towards being good. But i’ll rate this next time when i steep for longer!

Sipdown (211/214)!

Time for the daily backlog of teas now that Tre’s gone to bed and left me with his computer. Not much eventful today, no new listing for me to apply for which was sad though I did fill out a survey for the local University for an ongoing research study on the “transition to adulthood” so that was something.

Also, grocery shopping (which was painful financially but necessary) and I briefly had a friend over but she was ill and left a little early. So, I’m gonna call in a semi-successful day. At least I did something.

This blend was good. It steeped up nicely today, and had a happy departure from my cupboard. It was odd though, I really tasted the orange in this cup and the caramel/hazelnut was doing this odd thing where it sort of tasted like licorice? If I didn’t have the blend’s description and my first cup to go on I don’t think I’d have had any idea this was an Earl.

EDIT: Also, I guess this was tasting note 650. And also, I should really thank the lovely MissB for the sample.

Still yummy, though.

Finally pulling out my sample of this from MissB to try. I couldn’t remember what was in it at all, but I wanted a black and it smelled nice enough, so I figured why not give it a proper blind tasting with no recollection of the ingredients at all.

1 1/2 tsp. of leaf, 8 oz. of boiling water and a five minute steep – which is a little longer than I’d have liked, but I was obsessively checking the mail for my RiverTea order which of course wasn’t there. Although, we haven’t received any mail today, so I’m holding onto hope that it’ll be there later this afternoon.

Of course, I realize there must be orange in this in at least some capacity, since there is orange peel in the leaf. However, I don’t taste anything abundantly orange. I do, however, taste some very mild bergamot (so I guess that ties into oranges somewhat), and something else very familiar but I’m having a hard time placing. I was instantly reminded of my one good cup of HS’s Paris so perhaps it’s something sweet like caramel? Or maybe that’s just me tying together two things with bergamot.

There’s also a little bit of astringency and bite near the end of the sip, but it’s not unpleasant – just maybe a little distracting? Overall thoughts are this is good and I look forward to the last cup’s worth – but it’s not mind blowing and considering the inaccessibility of Adagio teas to me, I doubt very much this would ever be a restocked blend in my cupboard.

Also, I just looked up the tea and yes there is bergamot/orange and caramel as well. There’s also hazelnuts, but I don’t get that at all from the taste and never would have known that.

omg so much horrible mood.
i’m sorry Bofur, even your big fuzzy hat won’t fix today.

who wants a beer and french fries?
Bofur wants a beer and french fries.
me and Bofur, we’re gonna call out of work and go get a beer and french fries
and read fan fic on our kindles.

okay okay that’s not the truth. but i sure wish it was.
i’ll review you again later oh fuzzy Bofur.

mmmm. I haven’t tried oolong by itself yet, so I’m not very familiar with what it tastes like. So i’m useless at dissecting the flavors.

But, I really loved this tea. It was perfectly Cass. Sort of smooth, easy going, melty, pleasant. Not bad :)

Had to dump out my bag, mix it up better, and refill my bag before I made my tea. Got all settled n’stufff.

It was a pleasant tea. Nothing too amazing, though. I had hoped for more… punch. More kick. More apple pie.

The hazelnut is dreamy though. this is a blend for fans of Dean that want to imagine cuddling up to his leather jacket with him. That is to say; not the actual Dean who never gets to really ever eat his pie.

overall I just hoped for MORE. I got a lot of marigold flowers. That’s not very Dean-y.

It’s just 12:30 and I’m drinking tea already!?
Wow. This is different. Very rarely do I drink tea in the morning. And yes, this is considered morning. I legit woke up like an hour or two ago ahahha
But yes. Tea while the sun is still very much alive is very different since I usually drink tea during dinner and then… I kinda just keep going till 2am. What is this. What is my life.

But this tea is good! Smells nice and bright from the Lemon verbena and rose hips. Yes, I see on Adagio that Cara used rose petals but I DON’T SEE A SINGLE ROSE PETAL. I ONLY SEE ROSE HIPS so they are rose hips now.

I’m being a lazy bum and just using my tea filters. I don’t like using them because I don’t think they let my leaves bloom as much compared to making it in a teapot but… teapots require washing and pouring and cleaning and I am just so lazy right now. Just throw the tea into the filters and pour hot water over it BAM TEA WITH EASY CLEAN UP.

Funny how I was able to send a sample of this to shmiracles and I haven’t even tried it yet haha
This is a tea from my roommates collection and I figured I should try it! Since we’re pretty much sharing all our teas (I have about 80, she has like.. 10. Which is still a good number!)
Dry, the gunpowder and ceylon really comes out. Musky and slightly sweet from the rose hips.
Steeping, I smell a lot more of the ceylon, with slight smokiness from the gunpowder. No hints of the Lemon balm or rose hips at all.
Drinking it, you get the nice bright ceylon, yet the smokiness of the gunpowder! And I do get mild hints of lemon and rose :)

And can I just point out that I FINALLY made myself my dinner that I’ve been wanting to make for so long! I have my Chicken Roulade (stuffed with provolone, thyme and rosemary), my rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes, and just some grilled veggies off to the side. Ahh DINNER IS GREAT and I’ve got a nice cuppa Not Dead to go along with it :)

There is a lot going on in this tea! I definitely taste the chai, but it’s more of a spicy chai than a cinnamon or sweet chai…also there is a strong taste of something else I can’t quite put my finger on, maybe the ginger? A good tea overall, but maybe too many flavors in one cup.

“Brainy’s the new sexy.”

this tea is kindof similar to the 221Tea blend. which was very weird but at the same time totally enjoyable.

the cup has an edginess and wispy darkness about it that suits Mrs Adler very well. this blend is almost a balancing act between a clever and feminine flair (honeybush vanilla), a passionate and daring heart (dewy cherry), and a devious and calculating temper (lapsang souchong).

the problem is that this tea has less lapsang in it. but also has just as much hibiscus. it’s very low caffeine since it’s mostly honeybush so it was a good tea for late at night sipping. and the blend itself if very creative because i think anytime anyone is daring enough to add fruit flavors to a lapsang they get points. but i’m glad i’m splitting this sample tin with moraiwe so i get to try it but don’t have to slog through the ounces. (what a great plan we made! we are brilliant!)

“I don’t understand”
“Try to.”
“Why?”
“Because you cater to the whims of the pathetic and take your clothes off to make an impression. Stop boring me and think. It’s the new sexy.”

when i talk about avengers stuff, i call him Steve.

i say “Steve is distressed and resilient and everyone he knew has died.” i say “Steve is such a good man that he can’t be a good soldier.” i say “breakfast burritos are one of Steve’s favorite foods cuz they didn’t have them in 1940 and they are not only delicious but make so much sense!”

mr shmiracles laughs every single time saying he likes how me and the captain are on a first name basis.

if you don’t know anything about the first avenger you probably just think of the suit. it’s garish and flamboyant and overtly patriotic. i agree it’s pretty bleck. but that’s part of the charm. and that suit might be Captain America (blindingly precise strategist and graceful unflinching fighter), but it’s NOT Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers is an immensely caring, sensitive, awkward and stubborn rebel who probably likes a day at the Museum.

this tea!
i’ve accidentally let it oversteep every time i’ve drank it. and every single time it’s still delicious! this tea doesn’t care at all! it loves the steep! must always oversteep! steep away!

hot spiced apples! drink it plain! it doesn’t need anything!
i would have NEVER assumed i would like this tea as much as i do. and see, THIS is why the fandom blends are good. inspired by my admiration of the patriotic meatball, i bought a tea i would usually breeze right past. and i’m so very happy i did. (i wonder moraiwe is gonna like it just as much.)

i’m gonna make this on the stove with milk and just let it simmer. it’s gonna be heart stopping delicious!

let’s just consider that since Steve spent like over 50 years frozen in ice. and substances like caffeine and alcohol have no effect on him. he probably just drinks tea all year round. at very least he probably drink hot drinks. so duh TEA!

I was slightly hungover from drinking half a bottle of wine last night, so I chose this tea! (Yes, I am as much as lightweight as Sherlock & John.) The mint really stood out to me and that was mostly what came through.

Hawkeye.
Hawkguy?
Hawkeye.
Bro, that’s right, I’m Team Hawkguy, bro.

i have Hawkeye on my phone lockscreen. i have Hawkeye on my phone wallpaper.
i have digital copies of the all around awesome Fraction comic series as well as the monthly issues and the then compiled editions because i love the art and i love the story and i love agent barton and i love pizza dog. the comic series doesn’t have any huge action battle scenes. very un-comic book like. but what it does have is lots and lots of panels of Clint’s face. usually confused or stressed or bruised or surprised. he’s just a man. a dude. kinda a mess of a dude. he’s all sore muscles and avoiding phone calls and a haphazard yet easy-going landlord that can’t seem to hook-up his own cable connection. he drinks too much coffee and seems to only eat pizza and is bad with all kinds of relationships. he wears a santa hat and watches Dog Cops and fights the mob.

he’s a human dude with a lot of bravery and vulnerability. and despite all the quippy jokes and clowing around this prankster sometimes makes, i’m not sure this blend seems very Clint Barton to me. my Clint is a mix of damaged yet optimistic fuck-up and confident independent killing machine. and the flavors here are bit too bright to express all his complex qualities.

but OBVIOUSLY i have a lot of Hawkeye feeels so i suspect that maybe just maybe my vision is a little muddied.

the gunpowder wasn’t really noticeable in my first cup, and i hope that comes out more in the future. i’ll brew it for longer next time for sure. on the plus side, the lemon grass and coconut flavors make this a very very drinkable tea overall. so i’ll have no problem enjoying the tea itself :)

“Boomerang Arrow, Kate— it comes back to you in the end. Boomerang. Respect it.”
“Why the hell do you need an arrow that comes back to you after you shoot it, Clint?”
“Because… BOOMERANGS”