Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

Made a big pot of this because Sherlock is finally back and I have been spending the past 2 years trying to convince some friends to watch it. The tea was excellent to have after all the rich food I consumed recently. I just wish I could steep it more than once. :(

I really love this tea. It has been my go to tea before I go to bed and greatly helped me nurse a horrible migraine. My only dislike is that the tea is so light, you can’t steep it again. It’s only good for one steep and it feels like a waste of tea to me. I need to find another that has the tartness of the cherries with soothing chamomile that I can steep more than once.

When I opened the bag, I thought this tea was going to be too sweet for my tastes. Boy was I wrong. Sure it smells almost sickeningly sweet out of the bag, but upon drinking it, this tea is very light. It’s just a hint of tangy sweetness but very relaxing.

I got this as a gift from a friend and promptly made a pot of it for my housemates and me to enjoy. Everyone liked this one! It’s a light tea blend of white monkey, vanilla green, and green chai, with accents of ginger, marigold and…SPRINKLES. The sprinkles add a touch of sweetness, I think, and the ginger comes through as the predominant taste without being overbearing. This is a perfect tea when you want something like chai but not as heavy. Mmm..

Maybe I got some stale tea leaf, but I find this an average little tea. A chocolate black tea. Can’t really detect any guanabana.

Sipdown!! (162)

Backlog from this morning. I am going through my teas a lot faster than I thought I would be. This is 1 of 2 sipdowns today alone. However, it is okay as I picked up 4 of the Celestial Seasonings holiday teas (buy 1, get 1 free!) and my package of many teas should be arriving from my Dad next week.

As for this tea, it was definitely tasty but I don’t usually reach for Earl Greys (except for Marshmallow Snowflake Earl Grey from Herbal Infusions) so I don’t think I will be placing an order for this anytime soon. I am glad I got to try it so thank you Cavocorax for sharing with me :)

Turns out that my non-tea mood was temporary and today I am back to my tea drinking ways. I am enjoying this as my first cup of the day. More than anything, this is an earl grey and a tasty one at that. This blend reminds me of an Earl Grey Cream as the vanilla comes through as a creamy sweetness.

I made some of this to go in my tumbler but throughout the day something happened and this tea just did not hold up well. I had a few sips when I first went out that tasted of earl grey and some vanilla but by the end of the day it was undrinkable.

While playing poker with some friends, I got up to make some tea. When I asked if anyone wanted, one friend started to ask if I had some normal Tetley’s Orange Pekoe but then decided he would branch out and asked to try some TARDIS tea (being a Doctor Who fan it was obviously the standout choice for him). So I decided once I was making a cup for him, I would try it myself.

My friend ended up quite enjoying his cup – he said it was different from what he was used to drinking (Orange Pekoe) but really good. As for me, I found that this tea was a delicious Cream Earl Grey type tea. I did not taste blackberry. What I did taste was a really yummy Earl Grey with a hint of creaminess. Not what I was expecting but still very delicious. It makes me want to try the earl grey bravo on its own to see how that compares to a cup with additional flavors. Perhaps something to look into. Anyways, thank you Cavocorax for sharing with me.

I love that it’s similar to Reichenbach Reunion but not as sweet or as full of bergamot. Doesn’t require close watching so that it doesn’t turn bitter. Just be sure not to think about it it or look at it or in any way acknowledge that it exists…

This is an interesting one. The predominant flavor I’m getting is the sour apple, but I can find the the honeybush vanilla if I look for it (or if I sniff it). I haven’t yet tried snowbud on its own so it’s difficult for me to identify it. I feel like this is one that could vary a lot from cup to cup, since its components are so different in size; I did make an effort to shake it up but the bag is pretty full so there wasn’t a lot of room and I wound up with a lot of apple pieces this time. I might prefer it with a more balanced mix.

As I continue to sip it and search for adjectives, I keep coming back around to “light”. Its flavor is a relatively gentle one that disappears from the tongue quickly. I like having some subtle teas for slow afternoons (or mornings where I don’t need more caffeine) but I feel like it’s easily forgotten (as evidenced by the fact that I’ve had this for months and only drank it twice). It’ll probably get more play as the winter goes on and I get more sore throats like the one I’m attempting to shake off now.

A victim of Adagio’s tendency not to flavor teas very strongly for sure. Effie smells nice and the flavor choices sound appealing, but you just don’t actually get to taste much of anything; it’s really just a mildly sweet generic black tea.

An Ode to Tea challenge – M Redux

I never really wanted to drink this, so I’m glad I’m finishing it now.  It’s not bad, really.  I guess I’m more tolerant of chamomile now, or the ancientness of this blend has mellowed it.  Somehow I’m finishing most of my Adagio teas lately! 
2021 sipdowns: 65

Michelle was kind enough to send over a sample of this one when I bought some tea from her! Thank you! I was happy to see a Sherlock blend included because Sherlock is the best thing ever. January! Can’t wait! I have a feeling that in the new episode, it’s revealed that the trusty Molly had a lot to do with Sherlock’s faked death trickery. I was surprised to find today that this is one of the highest rated Adagio blends. I had to try it today! I waited for the water to cool a while and steeped for around three minutes. Honestly, I’m underwhelmed. I love the idea of this blend (chamomile, white tea, cherry) but it seems like this is more hibiscus than cherry. The chamomile and white tea don’t bring much to the table either. I have no idea why I’m not seeing why this is rated so highly here. Molly deserves a better blend!

This is okay. It’s not my favorite but it’s passable. It does fit Dean, though. It’s a strong, savory blend with an undertone of subtley and softness. Just like Dean.

Usually I wait till after I’ve tried a tea a couple of times to review it. Personally within the first few sips I knew that I did not enjoy this blend. It’s far too sweet for my liking. I was hoping for more of an earl grey flavor. Which this tea did not deliver on. Plus the tea tasted more like cocoa but not in a good way. It reminded me of Tony Stark but not as strong in smell like the Tony tea was. If you like dessert teas then this one could classify as that.

I love this even though it seems dirty to love a blend so.

I’ve had this one in my swap drawer for ages. Terri Harplady sent it my way back in the early days of our tealationship :-)

She has written about this a lot, but for some reason I haven’t tried it. I think because it’s an adagio tea and I don’t often love those. But I need to make some space in my swap drawer for a swap coming from yyz, so time to get to work!

This is actually really nice. Not at all what I expected. Very smooth and drinkable. I can’t see myself reordering, but I will very much enjoy this mug! Thanks Terri!

ETA: As this cooled and I continued with my day while sipping on it, I liked it more and more. Very sad to hear it’s no longer available, would have seriously considered an adagio purchase! But, I can wait for a version from Stacy.

This is a nice savory tea that is smoothed out with the almond and cinnamon. So lovely. I kind of wish I had a fireplace so I could drink it in front of a warm fire.

This tea’s been sitting in the back of my basket o’ teas for a while and I’m not sure why. I really like the mocha nut mate and hazelnut teas and I’m generally a fan of cinnamon in tea, so while it makes sense that I bought it, it doesn’t make sense that I never tried it. My first impression is that this is a nice, flavorful blend, but it could be a bit more full-bodied. As I so often think in my initial tastings of tea, I could’ve used a bit more leaf. One day I’ll learn. I mostly get the mocha nut and the hazelnut and not so much of the cinnamon, which is fine. I’m going to hold off on giving this a numerical review until I try it a few more times, but it’s definitely in the happy face range.

Delicious dessert tea (aka weekend breakfast tea, if you’re me). Perfect with milk and sugar. I should really remember to drink this more often.

sipdown! I had this early today as i need to get a few sipdowns in today since dexter made my cupboard go up a bunch! I think the BBB Box might also be sitting at the post office for me, so there’s another few teas. I REALLY want to stay as close to 150 as possible to make sure i keep my goal of 150 by black friday. Awesome tea friends are making that hard though! While i’m not an EG lover, i do appreciate getting to try this one out so thanks Cavocorax!

thank cavocorax I realised that i hadn’t tried this yet so today is the day! I love me some doctor who but i dislike most earl grey’s heh This isn’t a bad earl grey. It’s got a mildness to it that i like though it’ll never be a favourite. Thanks for sharing though Cavo! It’s pretty decent.