Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

I’ve been saving the last 2-3 cups worth of this tea for MONTHS because I like it so much I don’t want to run out. I know, it’s silly. This morning, my partner said, “Tea wants to be drank. Give tea what it wants.” So I did.

This tea is just awesome. I’m amused by the “7% solution” jokes because it certainly FEELS like I’m jacked up way more than your average black tea blend should allow. Given that I’m a big fan of all 3 teas in this blend and like my caffeine kick, I suppose it’s no surprise that this knocks my socks off.

This was one of the first teas I bought from Adagio in my attempt to wean off coffee, and it remains probably the best coffee substitute tea I’ve tried. It gives you a nice smoky hefty wallop that doesn’t make you yearn for coffee’s earthiness, and it’s so delicious it reminds you of all the tremendous variety that tea can offer instead of coffee’s more narrow palette.

I’m at a friend’s place in Boston (just got back from Fenway where I saw Jay Z and Justin Timberlake woooo!) and I found this while rummaging around in her tea collection. I had this iced with a bit of sugar and it was so delicious! I don’t know if I just miraculously ended making “the perfect brew” of this, but it wasn’t bitter at all (even before I added the sugar). I’m sad because it’ll be awhile before I’ll ever be able to try this again but I’m glad I got the opportunity!

Yum yum yum. I love that this tea really changes depending on how long you brew it. Longer, and the black teas leap to the forefront; shorter, and the green gets center stage. I tried for something a bit in the middle this time and was well pleased.

For all these reasons, it’s also one of my favorite “traveling” teas. Being largely a black tea fan with only occasional forays into green, this is a great one to take along because even if the best water you can get is the hot stuff from a water cooler, you’ll still get a tasty (and inevitably surprising) blend of flavors.

3 tsp tea x 12 oz water x 1/2 packet Stevia sweetener (= 1 tsp sugar)

Sometimes, I worry that I’ll be unduly influenced by character blends and think the tea is tastier because I like the character. Though I’m a huge Moriarty fan, that is not a factor in this tea. It is explosive and awesome, by ANY name.

I should note that I regularly drink 100% ginger root infusions, so I have no problems with a huge wallop of spicy ginger. Moriarty WILL burn the heart out of you if you’re not so inclined.

This is one of my absolute favorite breakfast teas. Tasty, with a nice caffeine pop, and just the kind of warming, stimulating experience from start to finish that helps get me going for the day.

1 Tb tea to 12 oz water, plus a Stevia sweetener equal to 2 tsp sugar.

Revisiting this tea after a long hiatus… because I guess, being in the Sherlock fandom, that’s our division. I remember this being smokey and very manly. What I don’t remember is how strongly this tea smells of leather. So much so that all I can think of when I drink this is tacking up my ol’ quarter horse when I was a tween to go trail riding. If you had blindfolded me and then had me smell this cup, I would have told you it was recently used tack. Heavy and western.

After that I think it reminds me more of when Rupert Graves played Riddell in the “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” episode of Doctor Who. Either way, it’s perfect as a character inspired brew, so mad props for that. I won’t be terribly sad when this goes though.

I love how everyone is describing this tea as manly! Maybe I’ll make my guy have a cup or two in hopes that his beard will fill in :P

It really is a nice smoky tea, and I love the balance of green and black teas here. I didn’t pick up on any hazelnut in this first cup. I tried it plain, and then added 1/2tsp of sugar hoping to bring out the hazelnut. No go. I’ve actually never had tea with milk or cream… I might have to give that a try.

After adding a bit of milk and sugar, this tastes just like coconut cream, and I’m totally fine with that, so I thought this blend tasted delicious. A lovely dessert tea, but I also think it works as a sweet morning breakfast tea because of the assam melody.

Mmm, this tasted just like a chocolate-y banana split after I added a bit of milk and sugar. This is a delicious tea, especially as a desert, and I absolutely love it, just like Ten. Careful not to over steep it, as you’ll lose some of the subtler flavors, but over all an excellent blend.

This tasted very strongly of chestnut when I made it. It’s a warm, hearty tea and it’s delicious and perfect as a breakfast tea. I take it with a bit of milk to bring out the chestnut flavor and smooth it out a little, but if I really needed a pick-me-up I’d take it black.

This is a very warm and comforting cup of tea, and it has a nice hint of sweet potato pie in the flavor. I think it tastes best with a splash of milk and maybe a bit of sugar, depending on what I’m feeling for. Good for a cold winter’s evening!

I thought this tasted a lot like scotch and dark chocolate, and that’s a pretty delightful combination in my opinion. I got this in the Doctor Who sampler, but I’m definitely going to buy this one out right, it’s so delicious, just like the good Captain.

let me begin by saying that the arrival of ShortSorceress’s mammoth swap (i know i have never done one on this scale) was perfect. i have had a rotten week. nothing remarkable about that fact, we all have bad stretches, they come… they go… we survive… ideally we thrive. i was late for a doctor’s appointment last friday. it was the appointment where we were going to review the images of the MRIs taken to diagnose my injured right arm. because i was late i was handed a copy of the report by the receptionist and shuffled out the door.

depending on how you weight the value and application of information then i was in both a fortunate and unfortunate position. i have extensive experience with advanced first aid, and i have a neuro-transmission disease, which simply translates to: i know more than most regarding trauma to the vital systems and the nervous system especially. the only doctors that trump my knowledge base are very specialized.

unwisely i read the report (if only i had a tardis and could undo that fact)! the words lesion, lesions, cervical spine, atrophy and dubious were bandied about. this horrible diagnosis, these terrible terrible pictures were me. and i have more than enough education to know how serious everything APPEARED to be.

what about school? what about the future? sleep was elusive. food was disgusting. in a second my life had become a terrifying thing.

it took me a couple of days, but this is generally the way i exist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc (the getting up again, not the booze) that and Concentrated Power of Will. nervous system diseases are always evaluated clinically: your images can light up like a christmas tree, but it’s your physical presentation is what’s most important. i found my feet. sometimes we get knocked about and forget what we know, namely that the piece of paper that i never should have been handed, that i never should have read may be me technically, but it is not at all how i present. the report does not accurately reflect my function.

it is very likely i have been like this for months, even years and the fall poked a previously dormant plaque. it’s the nature of the disease. somehow in my stress i had stopped drinking my tea. my horror had stopped me dead and i strove for a sense of control. tell me friends, how does eliminating a ritual that gives comfort help anything? it doesn’t. i’d like to say that i came to that conclusion myself, but a friend very reasonably pointed it out.

i’ve had teas arrive this last week. i’ve been storing them with the mental note ‘for a day better than this one’. counterproductive! and so when the mailbox door thumped and it became obvious that it was crammed full i retrieved the package from our miss ShortSorceress.

it was meant to be. there was a lovely sample of adagio’s tardis blend. the closest thing i can get in time travel aside from a massive graphic f/x budget or concurrent degrees in thermonuclear dynamics and theoretical astrophysics.

this tea is so smarta**. it will get a nice high mark because it hit so many points all for me. timing: yes, it is getting a nice mark because it arrived when i needed it. i don’t care if that isn’t as a result of adagio. it has a timelord smell palate (bear with me, no i am no crazier than usual, lol)… the dry leaf smells musty, but no unpleasantly so. makes me think of a ship full of rooms that haven’t been visited in a few years but are filled with good things. it also smells like something it really isn’t! for a half second it smells like an earl grey, but then i got a tea based round, orange, autumnal that segued into a berry muscat. so very appropriate! dr. who looks human, but really isn’t…. a perfect tea metaphor for a blend of this name.

steeps up to a lovely amber (again, very appropriate… amber freezes time after a fashion). makes me think of an earl grey/lady grey hybrid with some unseen twists.

i guess the last determining feature are the little blue flowers… they were tardis blue. neat! and then i added water… the became translucent with the flower bases weighted downwards. they looked very much like the opening sequence when the tardis goes sailing into roiling space/time. OH VERY GOOD!

i really can’t thank you enough ShortSorceress… if it had arrived yesterday or the day before it might not have given me what it did which is my first real grin in days. and thank you adagio teas (watch it folks, i intend to spell without stars this time…) for being such outstanding smart asses. the metaphors of taste and smell, the cheeky visual, and an elegant refined taste

btw: i am not normally a fan of earl grey… but this one was truly great.

I’m a huge fan of Cabin Pressure, so I decided to jump and purchase this.

In the bag, the aroma is strongly of cream … that Ceylon likes to push to the front for attention! … but in the background you still get that lemon-y rooibos. The aroma is pretty potent, and I’m curious as to how rooibos and black tea will taste together since they’re so different. At least the water temps are the same (boiling for both).

In the cup, the aroma mellows into a muddled mess of lemon, tea, and sweetness. I can’t quite pinpoint one scent from the other. Hmm. Tasting it is an adventure in itself, as the rooibos leaps forward and says “HELLO! HERE I AM! HI! HOW ARE YOU? PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE BLACK TEA BEHIND THE CURTAIN!” The rooibos reminds me heavily of strawberries in both taste and scent, and while the lemon is there, I’m getting a more fruity than citrus-y note to the tea. I think it might be the combination of cream and rooibos that’s doing the trick.

Also, be warned. The rooibos/black tea combination is a bit strong. I let it steep for 3-4 minutes, but even then, the rooibos is definitely kicking. After a bit, I cut it with a splash of milk and some sugar. Milk mellowed the rooibos, while sugar brought out the cream a bit more.

All in all, this is a strange blend, but for some reason, I think it might be growing on me. It might be spectacular iced, too. I think the cream/lemon would come out really well over the rocks. Worth a try … but not my favorite.

Not as flavourful as last time I drank it, I must remember to add more tea to the pot next time!

I was a little worried if I would like it or not, the smell in the bag was quite lemony. After I brewed it and added milk and sugar it was DIVINE. The lemon taste is sweet and in the background, and somehow it just really blends well. Definitely will buy again!

SIPDOWN! I’m pretty excited to be getting through some teas! It makes me feel like I am making progress. Where am I going, you ask? lol, not really sure. Down the rabbit hole to the mad hatter’s tea party to be forever consumed by my tea obsession I suppose.
On to the tea! This time I did brew it up double. I actually quite prefer the extra strong brewing of this tea. I had intended this to be for the fiance so I super sweetened it, but I was thirsty for something cold that was not orange juice… oh hey look! There’s that iced tea I made. haha. I never out right hated this tea, but I don’t really think I ever got to “wow, I should totally order a bag of this!” Anyway, another tea down!

Backlog from yesterday: I seem to only make this one as a cold brew. This time I passed it off on to my fiance who likes iced tea. He said he liked it, though I definitely didn’t sweeten it as much as he’s used to. I don’t have too much of this left, so I think I might just use up what I have for another iced brew.

ETA: I’m brewing up some double strength to pour over ice, which I rarely do. Normally I cold brew. Fingers crossed I didn’t screw it up.

So before when I made this iced I brewed it double strength and then poured it over ice. This time I cold brewed it. I left it in the fridge for waaaaaay longer than I was planning (it was in for about 20hrs) so I was hesitant wen I tried it tonight. I was pleasantly surprised. That bit of fruitiness is great! I did put a bit of sugar in the glass, about 1/2 tsp as I only made one cup.
Still not sure if it’s enough for me to re-purchase, but for now I’ll enjoy my sample.

Like the description says, best served cold. yumm!!!

Bitter. So bitter.

Lol, but seriously, I didn’t really care for it at first, but then again sometimes black tea by itself can be a bit much for me. It did have some nice citrus notes, but not quite as much as I would have liked. Upon adding some sugar the fruitiness came out a bit more. This time I tried it warm, but it does seem like it would make for a good iced tea so long as its sweetened.

So, like Anderson, I didn’t like it at first, but perhaps all he needs is a touch of sweetness :p

This was a yummy cup of black tea with a nice taste of caramel. I put milk and sugar in and it was delightful! The smell right out of the bag is very caramely, and I was a little concerned it would be overpowering, but when it was brewed it mellowed out quite nicely.

I knew when i looked this tea up that the chances of me liking it were about 1/1,000,000,000, but hey, there was a chance…

But, um, no, not at all. Lapsang Souchong and berries. Not for me.

Loved that I got to try it though, thanks Shmiracles!