Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

:P So this was the 200th tea that I rated – I went back to check because I just went over, and it looks like I didn’t even log it!

It’s crazy to think I’ve tried 200 types of tea. A few years ago I probably would have been surprised to hear there were that many types of teas out there!

This tea is quietly lovely, which is fitting for time spent among books. I never know which Adagio blends I’ll keep going back to, even if I love them at first, but this has become a comfort blend I will have to buy again soon because it is almost gone. Soft pu-erh with warm, clean assam and the barest hint of sweetness.

I’m rating this tea… which means that I finally watched Farewell Ponds. ;___: No surprises there.

Well maybe a few. I knew what was going to happen, I knew that the episodes leading up to this were hinting at endings, yet I still teared up during a few moments of the show. OH MAN I AM A SUCKER FOR DOCTOR WHO.

I want to buy some TARDIS tea as well. Why does it have to be so expensive to ship to Canada. Basically $9 of tea will cost me $31 with the shipping. WHUT?!? So I won’t be getting any time soon, and I won’t be getting any Farewell Ponds either. I liked this tea as a nice mild blend but I was too busy watching the episodee to really enjoy the tea.

I’ll update this when I try the last bit of my sample. :|

And guys, don’t hate me, but I am happy to see Amy and Rory go. They were great. I love them, and I like that they spent 10+ years with the Doctor in their lives. But I’m afraid that it would have gotten very stale had they kept the Ponds in the show for much longer.

D:

Let’s be honest: I got this because there was super-cute artwork on the front and last year I rediscovered earl grey as an actually good tea. (Early experience with Lipton Earl Grey had me convinced that it tasted like Pine-Sol and was to be avoided.)

I really liked this! The fruity blackberry smell is strong in the bag, but the flavor mellows out into a great accompaniment to the bergamot when the tea cools down. I’m nearly to the bottom of my bag, and I have a few other earl greys in my cupboard I’m going to try first, but I’d definitely order this again or buy it for the tea-loving Doctor Who fans in my life.

I didn’t really care for this one. Had a very strong marzipan-y smell out of the bag and it brewed up the same. Almond was overpowering to me and I couldn’t smell or taste much else.

Backlogging this one. I’ve been saving it for the return of Doctor Who~

I made a pot of this to enjoy during the premiere and immediately garnered the interest of all my non-tea drinking friends. That’s quite a feat, as they normally are indifferent to my tea habit. That’s how fantastic this smells. Sweet and fruity~ It still tastes very much of earl grey, even with all the fruity vanilla overtones, but that’s how I like my earl grey. Tastes just like a delicious blueberry muffin. I also made it into a latte on Monday and that was fantastic~

Anyways, new season of Doctor Who! Bring it on! Allons-y!

The irish breakfast in this comes out STRONG, with a nice kick of chocolate flavor. The guanabana flavor might as well not be there because I am not picking it up at all. I guess it might help if I knew what guanabana tastes like, but this is the first time I’ve even heard of it. I’m a l m o s t tasting a citrus flavor?

Now, as for this reflecting our beloved 10th Doctor, I’m not sure. The color reminds me of his suit/coat, and I know that chocolate should definitely be in there…There is something very comforting about it as well. But I almost want something a little more quirky to give this tea some sass. I guess guanabana is quirky because who even knows what that is? But taste wise, it’s not making me go “WOOOOAH THAT’S 10!” It’s more like “yeeah ok that’s passing for 10”. But yeah, it does taste good.

So, when I found out that River will be returning for next week’s finale episode, I did a little happy dance! And then I promptly brewed a cup of this tea to celebrate. :-)

See previous tasting notes.

Okay, had another cup of this today, and managed to get more lemon bits in there. This time it was great without any additions! It was a much more well-balanced cup.

I have found that it tastes best when hot – after it cools down, the Early Grey (read: bergamont) becomes almost overpowering,

I really enjoy this blend and the fun illustration on the packaging! It’s light, yet substantial at the same time and the lemon adds a little bit of a tart punch to the smooth cream background. It is like River Song, after all!

Steeping & serving notes: When I tried this one plain, I wasn’t super impressed – it just screamed “lemon & bergamot!” at my taste buds. But it smelled so wonderfully, I knew it had promise. I played around a bit with steeping (I only leave it in there for a couple minutes, now) and added a splash of almond milk and one piece of rock sugar… and it’s great! It enhances the creaminess and cuts down on that super strong bergamot taste (to which I tend to be sensitive).

Okay, I’m not going to lie… I just bought this one purely because I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. And the artwork is great.

This smells divine! I know it’s supposed to be blackberry, but it smells like blueberry! Like blueberries and vanilla and black tea. I just opened the package, took a big sniff and told my coworker (I have all my tea packages sent to the office) that I wish I could have a shampoo that smelled this good. She, who hates tea, agreed that it would make an awesome potpourri.

But it’s not for smelling, it’s for drinking, gosh darn it! So I steeped up a cup. I wish the berry taste was as strong as the smell. Honestly, all I can really taste is Earl Grey. I was able to tease the berry out a bit by adding some rock sugar, but the strongest flavor is still Earl Grey. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wish the other flavors would stand out more.

I’ll have to experiment more with doctoring it up at home.

At first I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t really know what to do with this tea, and just added a little sugar and left it at that. However, with some experimentation with a little more sugar and brewed with a touch of milk, this becomes an out-of-this-world tea. The berries are bright and sweet, but don’t overtake the EG taste completely. The bergamot is balanced nicely, and the tea is a fantastic flavor-burst to start the day. On mornings when I don’t have the time to do my Thai Chai (and any other day I really need this one), this is my go-to tea when I get up in the morning. Staple status.

Had a sharp clove-y smell out of the bag and I was afraid it would brew as strong as it tasted. While I definitely tasted the chai spices, it isn’t as strong as it smelled and not strong as other blends I’ve tried, which I’m glad of. Don’t really get the chocolate much, though I’m wondering if that’s because I made this in a paper filter and the chips couldn’t properly melt into the tea. Definitely will make this next time in just the mesh to see. It’s alright plain, but I added some cream and brown sugar and it was excellent. Will definitely keep this around for when I want something a little different

I got a Breville tea maker with my money for Christmas! Good news about it is I’m making a lot more tea! Bad news is it’s very sad watching all my teas dwindle down, especially since I was used to only making one cups worth before. I still love it though.

ON TO THE TEA THOUGH! I recieved this as Christmas present and admittedly was VERY intimidated to crack into it since it is described as a strong flavored blend. I love black teas, but I usually add milk and sweetener to them. Keeping that in mind I was very aprehensive to just try this without any addatives.

After brewing it the tea smelled almost fruity, but nutty at the same time. Maybe fruity isn’t the correct way to describe it.. It smelled sweet in any case. This was reassuring for me, and taking my first sip did not disappoint at all. The apricot is pleasant, and like the smell, this tea has a natural sweetness about it that makes not not require to add anything at all!

To sum it up, I thought this was going to be an overpowering, strong, black tea but it was not the case at all, and I love it.

This is, surprisingly, a very delightful tea! I recieved this (and Thor) as a christmas gift and was very aprehensive to try it due to it’s minty smell. Between the jasmine and mint this is a very refreshing blend. I normally hate mint drinks but I really love this.

It smelled stronger than expected and appeared darker than expected. Again a mix of things I’d never tried before, I liked the second cup better. And as always, I added a bit of sugar to it to counteract the kind of smokey, nutty tastes. I may add a little milk next time too. Overall it’s not bad. Not good for my sweet tooth cravings, but good for just a strong tasting, “solid” tea.

This tea is super yummy. At first when you open the bag it smells like a blueberry muffin, sweet with a nice bit of berry. On steeping this tea is when I really started to notice the fruitiness of it, the tea doesn’t taste how I thought it would, it’s better!

Tasting notes:
1.) The bergamot oils are really mellowed down by the vanilla and berry.
2.) This tea is good steeped a little stronger than most EG teas.

How I brewed it:
Temp: 200f
Time: 4 minutes

It grows on me more with time, and a tiny dash of milk.

You can definitely taste the spice. The first time around, minus the milk, I could really taste the orange. It wasn’t overpowering but it was the main focus for me. Now I can really taste the spice of the cinnamon and rest of it (I added a tiny bit of extra sugar too). Still searching for the chocolate though.

I’m really liking my adagio teas so far!

Soft. Smooth. Sweet (because I put in a little too much sugar). I don’t usually enjoy these weaker teas too much. I lean toward black and herbal (and let the latter steep a little long) but this one’s good.

I don’t really know what the snowbud or cream taste like on their own so I can’t place them. But there is a subtle and enjoyable hint of peppermint that I quite enjoy. Overall I think the three combine into a delectable little treat. And I’ll add that my putting in “too much” sugar really just made it better for me. I love my drinks sweet.

It’s also fitting that I’m drinking Jack Frost today, since it snowed over a foot last night!

My first Adagio order arrived last night; I essentially ordered a box full of samples so that I could play kitchen scientist. I took to the Adagio site for inspiration and discovered that the I had the ingredients for this blend, so I measured three teaspoons of each tea into a small jar and set it aside to enjoy this morning. I’m pleased to report that my “homebrew” version was absolutely delicious! I drank this as I do most teas with chocolate notes, with a tiny amount of beet sugar and a splash of half and half. The flavor notes were all well defined and I was surprised that no one taste overpowered the other. (Especially the cinnamon, which can knock you out when sniffed in the bag.) I even got a second steep (brewed for five minutes rather than three) for my travel mug. I would not hesitate to purchase a full bag of this once my individual sample teas are depleted.

When I opened it, all I could smell was gingerbread. When I steeped it, gingerbread. When I drink it, gingerbread. And when it fades to the aftertaste? You guessed it; gingerbread.

Gingerbread isn’t bad, mind you. It’s just not what I was expecting. I can’t really taste anything else. I guess it’s the really strong and slightly bitter Chai? I’ve never had it before, so maybe I just have to adjust.

But the first time I brewed it for 6 minutes and it was almost too bitter to drink. I had added a little sugar but it was too much (though the gingerbread aftertaste was nice)! My fiance couldn’t handle it either so we added honey to dull the taste. Then I tried it again, going for 3 minutes, and mixed with milk and sugar. Still needs more sugar. It’s not that sweet, just… gingerbread.

That’s all I can really taste! Still, I’ll finish my 3oz bag. It’s not bad; pretty good, even. Just not expected.

Edit// Tried it again this morning. Added milk and a little extra sugar. I’m drinking gingerbread. The bitterness is gone and it just tastes like cookies, and it’s amazing. Definitely not regretting this purchase!