Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

Heavenly smell of light peppermint and white tea—this is a blend of snowbud white, peppermint, and lemon balm. I mix this one with a bit of raw honey for a touch of sweetness, but it’s good on its own. Very light-tasting and refreshing. The lemon and mint balance with the white tea nicely, and it resteeps well a second time.

I don’t like Dr. Who but I was able to try this fandom blend. I wasn’t impressed. It tasted like Earl Grey that was watered down with berries. There was nothing exceptional about it and I felt like the flavors stacked on top of each other rather than truly blending together to form a complete profile.

A sample from MissB.

I have no idea what this tea is supposed to taste like, but it’s good! Strong and sweet, all on its own. I’m having it with no sugar or milk (GASP!), and enjoying it a lot. I used 2 tsp in a new 12 oz mug, so I did overleaf a bit.

Oh! Cinnamon, ginger, hazelnuts, cacao nibs. Interesting.

I’m really glad I got to try this tea.

I’ve been drinking Moriartea regularly for the past four days. I find it a soothing chai without much of a bite, but then I love ginger. I will probably buy more of this because it is soothing for me.

I steeped this for only 3 minutes, yet I think it’s too much. It definitely tastes like cookies – the kind you’d get at McDonalds, the cheapo chocolate chip ones that I haven’t had since I was a little kid anyway, so maybe I’m out to left field. However, it tastes like burnt, cheapo chocolate chip cookies. It’s bitter. It’s astringent. If it weren’t for those two things, I’d wholeheartedly recommend this tea to any gluten or grain -free person who misses their “real” cookie fix, because this is pretty darn close.

Will try steeping this again for only two minutes next time and see what happens.

I think I prefer this made as a chai, or at least I did today. It was quite lovely, even if I forgot about it for an hour so that the cream went all.. well, undrinkable. :$

Oddly, I thought I’d tried this one out already. It seems I’ve just parsed out some to the lot of you. ;)

This smells a lot like the TARDIS blends. It’s definitely got an EG feel to it, plus some caramel and perhaps a nut of some sorts for good measure. It’s creamy, bright yet full, and I like it, even if there’s something in it that’s missing for me. Perhaps it’s that I just love TARDIS so much.

I swear this is what I brewed up earlier today (properly) before heading out of the house. I swear… and yet… the reviews say hazelnut and caramel. I’m really getting a creamy Earl Grey with black licorice. Which is nice, and I quite like it, I just taste licorice and little else. Holding off on a review until I can be sure this is what I’m drinking. Also, for the record, there’s zero licorice or anise in here, so I’ve likely messed up somehow.

This tea smells lovely, like a cup of potpourri. The taste is very floral as well, a bit too much at times. It has a tendency to taste like floral scented soap when it cools. Maybe I got a strange batch.

Sipdown (188/192)!

And that’s one less fandom blend in my cupboard, which makes me a touch sad, I’ll be honest. That said; I don’t think I’ll miss the tea itself. The Blackberry is finicky and EG isn’t really my thing a whole lot to begin with – I just need one good EG in my cupboard to be happy and right now I have two, so I’m more than OK.

Thanks so much to both Shadowfall and MissB though! Both provided me with some of this and it kept me going for quite a while! For the most part I enjoyed my time with the TARDIS, but I wont seek her out again.

Made up for work! By the time I got to it, it had mostly cooled down in the timolino. I guess it was sort of “Lukewarm(ish)”.

Work went very smoothly today; no problems with anything during the shift or with cashing out/doing paperwork tonight. We even got out a little bit early. Morningstar, my coworker who is also a Keyholder, and I make a very good closing team (closers are always two keyholders); not that the other keyholders aren’t good at closing. It’s just that she and I have a rhythm and set of strengths/weaknesses that really compliment one another.

Anyway – this was super light on the bergamot, but that didn’t mean it was weak in flavour. The cream/fruit elements were very strong in this mug! Although, disappointingly, the fruit was mostly a generic “berry” kind of vibe – not expressly blackberry. Still, I very much enjoyed this mug and the switch up from the usual flavours I experience with it.

My tea went cold before I got to it (I was distracted by my bowl of popcorn, and TwitchPlaysPokemon: Emerald), but this is still really good regardless.

I’m noticing a thickness in the mouthfeel that I’m not sure if I’ve observed/made note of before, and there’s a very rich vanilla creaminess to this cup: I must have hit a “perfect” steep time too (I wasn’t actually timing it so I’m not sure how long it steeped) because I can taste a distinct blackberry flavour in the end sip/lingering aftertaste. I’m sure this is how it’s supposed to taste/the flavoues Cara intended: not just a ‘subtle fruitiness’ like is most often observed.

Yummy!

Morning cup of Earl Grey since I was definitely in a black tea mood. Not much new to report, but this cup is a little more fruit and a lot more astringent, which sort of just evens out in my opinion.

Does anyone remember the TV Mini Series The 10th Kingdom? I remember first watching the DVD set when I was like 12, maybe? I decided yesterday that in between job hunting I’m going to rewatch the whole thing, and I’ve just absolutely fallen in love with it, again! I had the biggest crush on Wolf my first time watching it, and I have to admit I still find him pretty attractive this time around, lol. Although, I totally get more of the innuendo/adult humor now…

Anyway, this was breakfast tea #2! For whatever reason I’ve developed a minor “quirk” if you will where I’ll only ever reach for an Earl Grey/Bergamot heavy tea during the earliest part of my day. I’m not sure why, but I seem to only crave that flavour as a “breakfast” sort of tea.

I actually have two samples of this, one purchased from Shadowfall and one given to me from MissB. This particular cup comes from Shadowfall’s sample. My parameters were 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for about 6 minutes (it may have been a little less than that). As far as the dry smell goes, I just smell a sweet Earl Grey, and steeped up it smells like a very light on the Bergamot Earl.

Taste wise, I was right about the Bergamot being pretty light. Like, it’s there and if you were just picking up a mug of this without knowing what it was, you would totally be able to taste and identify the Bergamot – it’s not that light. It’s not just too heavy or bold. Personally, I kinda like that. I also really get a sense of the vanilla in the mix. There is an additional fruitiness to the tea, but if I wasn’t reading “Blackberry” from the ingredients list then I would have no idea that’s what it was. I think many people have encountered that.

So overall, it’s a really nice light Earl Grey but I don’t get Blackberry notes from it. That said, I’m going to quite happily finish off my sample(s) and if I had an easy way (curse Adagio’s outrageous shipping prices to Canada) to get more, I think I would over some of the other EGs I have – partially because of the taste and partially because of the namesake ;)

I purchased this from the fantastic Shadowfall and was very excited to try it, especially after starting to watch Doctor Who this last week. However, I didn’t actually make this cup for myself. Instead, it was made for my brother Liam. He’s a huge Whovian as of late, but greatly despises tea. This one or Weeping Angel were the only ones he would even try…

I picked this one because it’s Earl Grey and most non tea drinkers seem to enjoy Earl Grey, so I figured it was a safe guess. I steeped 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf in boiling water and handed him the cup with the tea ball still in it. I told him to take it out after three or four minutes, but an hour later the cup was sitting on the table untouched with the tea ball still in it.

I didn’t want the tea to go to waste, so I took the teaball out and begrudgingly drank it – though like expected in was incredibly bitter and I really didn’t taste anything but bitterness, astringency, and a little bergamot. So, on that note I’m holding off rating this until sometime I can sit down and properly drink it myself (maybe while watching Doctor Who). Thankfully I purchased enough to still have several cups worth.

It was an interesting first experience with Adagio, though…

Need a pick me up STAT. I’ll drink black tea in the morning when I’m super groggy still from waking up and need to get up and out ASAP. Right now I’m doing last minute studying for my exam tonight. Thankfully it’s tonight and not 8 am like my tax midterm.

I steeped this too long so it’s stronger than normal. I don’t hate, nor do I like this tea. It’s just ok so I’ll probably continue drinking through the rest of it. The few black teas I enjoy, earl grey is one of them to get me going in the morning. It’s either earl grey or sencha tea but that’s due to nostalgia from when I was in Japan.

Perhaps it’s a good thing I brewed this too strong because I was up late last night finishing up homework so I could study for my last midterm on Monday. I own’t have much time tomorrow because I’m getting my hair trimmed and dyed. :) I am itching for a new look after finally get riding of some bad mojo from my life the past few months. I also haven’t done anything to my hair in 8 years because I had a horrible diy experience that led to a color correction and having to grow my hair out.

I just finished working out so this tasting note will be pretty lazy. I don’t know how else to describe it, but when I drink this tea my mouth feels dirty. I don’t get much of any of the flavors except a teeny tiny bit of citrus.

I really need a pick me up and chose this tea.. but I think I need to steep something else. I don’t hate this tea but it doesn’t wow me either. I think it’s because the earl grey isn’t the best quality. I love H&S’s imperial earl grey and Lupicia’s. They’re very flavorful and this doesn’t taste as good. And again I can’t pick up any of the other blended flavors in this tea. All I get is earl grey which isn’t as good as other’s I have in my cupboard.

Great breakfast tea. I can pick up on the earl grey immediately but the blackberry and vanilla sweetens it up a bit. It doesn’t knock my socks off though. I wish I could taste more of the blackberry and vanilla but the earl grey really overwhelms it. Don’t get me wrong, earl grey is my go to morning tea, but I was hoping to taste more of the blackberry and vanilla.

I think this tea goes bad fast, or I received some that had been sitting around in its bag for a while. I wanted some spice this morning and brewed this tea. It tastes… weird. And no, it’s not because I brushed my teeth prior to consuming this tea. I poured myself another cup and something is off about it. This tea has become less tart and more bitter. I may need to retire this one, I do not enjoy bitter flavors in my tea.

Drinking this quickly while it’s hot is the way to go. I do love this tea but I wish it didn’t taste so watered down.. I will need to mess around with how much to measure out. Anyway I’m watching the Goodbye Matt Smith special and I don’t have any of 11 so the Ponds will make do.

I’m knitting gifts and I let a cup of Amy Pond slightly cool. Man does this tea get bitter when I let it cool off slightly! This tea is very warming and the spice picks me up when it’s hot, but once it has cooled off the orange takes over and makes it bitter. I’m not too sure if that makes sense, because it could be the cranberry or rather the combination of the two. I did not oversteep either because hot it was still delicious. I think also my venture with Mariage Freres teas have made me realize what good, high quality tea is suppose to taste like. So maybe this tea is disappointing me because it’s lower quality and quickly became bitter once it cooled down.

The perfect blend of spice and sweet. I honestly believe this is my favorite tea ever. Opening the bag, the smell is strong of the orange and cranberry, but after brewing the rooibos vanilla chai takes it back and creates a perfect balance for me. I think I’m turning into a chai fan because lately I have really enjoyed teas with some spice. This tea definitely warms me up on a cold night.