Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee
See All 132 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
In a last ditch effort to clear out small quantities, & a get my count down by the ‘end of the the month’, I came across this one. I’ve had this for awhile, since TTB-A made it’s first round last spring!
It’s actually not bad, although I’d prefer it without the mintiness.
Sipdown!
Drew made a pot of this while we made breakfast & I drank a cup.
We made Paleo pancakes, coconut milk whipped cream, & berries.
This has been finals week for both of my sons, & they both had today off, so a fancy breakfast together was in order!
Honestly, I haven’t really been a fan of this blend. I’ve tried it plain, I’ve tried it sweet. Although I like the idea of it, & the ingredients all sound like they’d work, it’s not for me.
There is enough to make one more small pot, & I’ll probably try it that one more time, & then it will be gone.
Mmm paleo pancakes: with almond flour? Or coconut flour…or…?
Almond flour! I don’t really stomach coconut flour real well…
The recipe I use is http://www.elanaspantry.com/silver-dollar-pancakes/
Only I add a heaping tsp of cinnamon & grate in a little nutmeg. Also, Maple syrup instead of agave.
It’s the best gluten free pancake recipe I’ve found so far.
Occasionally I make them without the spices & maple & use it for sandwiches too :)
Leif & I had breakfast together, & this was his selection for our shared pot of tea. Lightly sweetened with stevia, this is a tasty blend of coconut, assam, apples, & vanilla. Leif added enough tea to reach a nice level of boldness, & the other flavors were enhanced by the stevia. It was a nice start.
Drew drank the last of this, so I’m logging a sipdown for him.
However, we re-ordered, so he’ll have more by the end of next week.
Not my favorite Adagio blend, as the coconut flavor makes me think of suntan lotion, but I wasn’t the one drinking it, so it’s all good.
Just finally getting around to reviewing this, mainly because my son Drew made a pot of it to go with his breakfast & I pilfered a (small/stingy) cup from him. The main flavor is coconut, with black tea in the background & a little vanilla & a hint of apple. He spiked the whole pot with stevia, & it is sweet & pleasant, though maybe not as bold as I would like. Right now the coconut is making me think of suntan lotion a bit… :p
Hmmmm. This is vanilla chai with cream? I’m not getting that at all. There are some chai spices, but it’s pretty muted. Maybe I needed to steep this for longer in order to get the full flavour.
I know Mycroft is mysterious, but this blend requires too much puzzling for me. Let’s see how I do with my second steep.
Preparation
Another Sipdown, this time it was Leif’s. This is a pretty tasty blend of Irish breakfast, spiced apple chai, & some Hazelnut. Leif & I both enjoyed this one, but we didn’t choose to re-order. By far the best Hobbit blend was the Bilbo Brew (Irish breakfast, sweet potato, cinnamon…I think I’m leaving something out, but it is quite tasty, especially with breakfast).
This evening I got in a few more hours of gardening, still working on weeding the gazebo so that I can replant it. After I came in a storm brewed up, & our power went out for a few hours! Leif had just made a pot of this tea, which is an interesting blend of black tea, chai, apple, & hazelnut. The boys & I sat around drinking tea by candlelight, & it was really very nice.
That sounds like a lovely evening:)
It was really kind of nice! I rather enjoy a power outage once in awhile, so long as it doesn’t last too long! We keep a pretty heavily stocked deep freeze!
haha at the moment we just have the freezer above the fridge so we can manage in most cases :)
Sipdown!
The boys & I are enjoying our final pot of this Clara McGee fandom blend. It’s been a fun blend: lemony, sassy, a little creamy.
We’re also contemplating our next Adagio order, reading about the 3 Clara Oswin Oswald blends, & finishing our breakfast.
Next up: out into the garden! So much work to do!
This morning while I was getting ready for my gig, my son’s Drew & Leif fixed breakfast! Leif steeped a large pot of this tea, which he refers to as ‘Lemon Song’, to go with breakfast. It’s a mix of earl grey moonlight, rooibos lemon cloud, & coconut. It’s a bright & lemony brew, I don’t really taste the coconut. Purchased because of our love of Dr. Who, of course! :)
Leif & I have been enjoying breakfast together (Drew is at a summer college class). We’ve also been perusing the Adagio Site, planning our next order. So far it looks like we may go with the following:
Bilbo Brew – re-order
Tardis – Re-order
One of the Team Fortress Two’s fandom blends for Leif
Avada Kadavra (I just have to have it because of the name…lol)
More Cowbell (gotta have it!)
I have to remember to send a $5 off coupon to a friend. Anybody else want one? :D
Regarding Kili – it’s a blend of Ceylon Sonata, Vanilla, Oriental Spice, & Ginger. It’s not bad, nicely gingery. Leif likes it with creamer. Decent with breakfast, especially a sweet breakfast like pancakes, but we both prefer Bilbo Brew, in part because of the Assam base, but also just because it is tastier!
I picked this to drink because of the ginger root. It’s been on my shelf since my last Adagio order, when I picked out several of the Hobbit blends. I am a fan of Cara McGee’s blends so far, & this one is warming with spices, kind of like a Chai, but different.
The birds informed me that the best time to eat homegrown berries is while you’re picking them, which I did this morning.
Then I fixed a Frittata for breakfast, & the boys picked Tardis to go with it.
Earl Grey Bravo, Blackberry, & Vanilla.
Not really feeling it today.
This tea goes better with pancakes.
when i was a kid i went strawberry picking with my sister and my governess. we picked for hours but only had small buckets to show for it. the attendant had no idea what to do and grumbled that maybe she should put my sister and i on the scale. they taste better when you save them from a life of plastic captivity!
It’s true!
I’ve been bringing them in & making (gluten free) muffins with them, pancakes, & throwing them in salads. Today I just wanted to eat them. :)
I always graze on my scuppernong grapes out at the vine. They rarely make it into the house to be washed and eaten! The first year we moved in this house, the rich scent brought the memory of getting caught in a bear trap under my aunt’s vines flooding back! I had nearly forgotten! I didn’t get hurt, just stuck, as the trap was old and rusty and closed on my Sunday shoes! But I couldn’t get my shoe off, and Dad had to “rescue” me. The trap was there because the vines were right beside the chicken house and bears like both!
Wowza! What a story Ashmanra! Wow!
It’s been a busy day!
First, I actually left my house at 8:30 in the morning to meet with the new principal of the Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) middle school in St. Louis’ Magnet school system. For about 12 years I worked there part time teaching Harp. I had 10 students per class, with 3 classes (6th, 7th, & 8th grade). During the time I was there I had some really awesome kids, some of whom still keep in touch with me from time to time, & some who continued their studies with me at the VPA high school, & are currently studying Harp in college (Ball State, Webster University, Lincoln U). Sadly, the program began to fall apart, as we got a new principal who had no interest in the arts & set out to remove the “smart through the arts” emphasis. I quit, as it was a miserable environment. So now there is a new principal, who attended the VPA program years ago, & his big goal is to get the school back on track. He would like to start my Harp program up again, among other things. We had a nice visit.
Then I played at the nursing home, then at another event. I knew I’d be out & about for awhile, so I brewed up a strong batch of Tardis & then iced it down. I carried it around with me all afternoon in my venti sized double walled starbucks cup with a straw. It stayed nice & cold, & it is delicious as an ice tea, SO good. Leif agrees, he had some too.
Sounds like exciting stuff in the works! Music is essential!
School without the arts should be a crime! I try to work in art and music as much as I can with my first graders, but there is no formal curriculum. Sad!
St. Louis’ VPA program was really awesome at it’s highest point, with 2 elementary schools, a middle school, & a high school that all included a wide array of arts. At the elementary everyone learned to play an instrument, & got a chance to try out various other arts. At the middle school they could choose 2 arts: music (vocal, string, band, harp, piano), dance, theater, audio visual, 2 different art approaches (one more focused on sculptural mediums like clay, the other more focused on drawing, painting). We had the top jazz band, flags & stuff like that in the district. The high school included all that, plus a fashion design program & who knows what else. All the music teachers were top notch musicians, performing locally on the jazz scene, or as soloists, or as part of some ensemble or other. I won’t go into the many reasons the programs have gone downhill, but it is a shadow of itself & a shame.
This is a group Sipdown!
Leif suggested we make a big pot of this to finish it off, so we’re all enjoying is blackberry-ness! The boys & I have a goal to polish off all our Adagios, so we can order some new ones (plus refill a few that we really love). This is definitely one of my favorite Adagio fandom blends, although I like Bilbo Brew even better.
A tasty bold treat!
Now it’s gone.
