Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

This tea tends to linger in the back of my cupboard. I’m starting to think that this is mostly due to the fact that you have to brew it a) at such a weird temp. and b) it must be brewed in a bag or else it goes everywhere. It’s difficult to get excited about a tea that can be such a mess and I’m a picky individual when it comes to leaves in my tea.
This tea tastes mostly of the mocha nut mate and that was actually a pretty damn tasty tea so I do enjoy this one. I only wish that there was more cinnamon! I have used the kusmi cinnamon in the mix in the past and this really helps perk up the blend and the two flavors together are very tasty. I would only recommend this tea if you loved the mocha nut mate and didn’t already have some in your cupboard.

I’m loving my new strainer mug! :) Hardly any mate floaties are getting through. I thought I’d have an early cuppa and start studying for my anth. final. :) I’m not too worried about it. Mostly I’m just getting nostalgic! I only have one more day and then I’m off for 3 months. I am going to really miss some of these people over those 3 months.
I brewed this extra long today, 5 min. This is very nice. It has a very distinct note of mate-ness today; most likely because of the extra long steep. It has plenty of nut flavor and I love that! No cinnamon to kick a rock at though, so I’ll be adding my own on the 2nd steep to spice it up.

Since I ordered this one I keep wondering why they don’t post the percentages of what teas are in these blends…I had tried the mocha nut mate before, but I don’t think I would have ordered 3oz of this had I known that most of this tea would be that blend.
I’ve been making this at 150 instead of boiling per the mocha nut instructions. It is very nice with toasted notes and some chocolate. The nut flavor is there, but it feels like it is predominately due to the base of this instead of the added hazelnut tea. The cinnamon is non-existent in my bag of this, unfortunately because it could have rounded this out a bit.

In the bag I can tell that this tea is predominantly the mocha nut mate, which I actually really enjoy. The brewed tea smells far more like cinnamon than it did in the bag.
This tea is very tasty! I love the mocha nut and it is dominate in this blend. It tastes very roasted and nutty. The cinnamon is there, but it is kind of faint. I’d like more of that to stand out so I’ll continue to play with the temp/time on this.

How have I not done a review of this? I’ve had it at least 2 or 3 times. This was given to me in a swap by Michelle, so thanks again!

I really like this. I like that I can drink it in the afternoon without worrying about a whole lot of caffeine, just whatever the lapsang brings and based on the leaves there isn’t a whole lot. However, what little there is brings a lovely campfire smell to the tea with hints of cherry and a honey base. Yum. The tea looks light but has a solid feel. Cara picks these blends really well, all of the ones I’ve had of hers just have perfectly mingling flavors. They are hard to describe but it works wonderfully.

Tea: 2 heaping teaspoons
Water: 16 oz
Additives: None

Initially, I’d worried that the spice might be too strong, but this is perfect! With a little milk and sugar, it tastes exactly like a spiced cookie. That’s all that needs saying about it, I think: delicious. Like gingersnaps and snickerdoodles. And how appropriate for Mycroft, too!

This tea is such a good fit for Jim and Sherlock it hurts… but I just can’t get my head around its conflicting flavours. It’s very strong, and very smoky. Because of that, the apple gets a bit lost behind the chai and lapsang souchong. I’m very glad I got to try it, though— this is one of those teas you could sip all day, and still be perplexed and fascinated by the end of it.

I will start off by saying that I am forever in awe of how character-appropriate Cara’s Sherlock teas are— this could not be more Sherlock if it tried! The chai spice and hint of smoke from the lapsang souchong complement each other perfectly. It’s like warm chai over a campfire at night, or a quiet and contemplative conversation with a worldly stranger. Love this one.

This one smells heavenly! Not quite like a batch of cookies out of the oven, but pretty close. It didn’t really taste like anything special without milk or honey; after adding them both, though, it was incredible. I’m still trying to figure out exactly why that brought out the best flavours in it. In any case, this makes a delicious, comforting dessert tea. I wish I’d had more of it in my sample pack.

My first foray with lapsang souchong. I was a bit nervous at first because of the smoky smell, but I made about two cups of this for a travel mug. Following some advice from a review on Adagio, I went ahead and added a bit of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar.

The smell was wonderful, smokey and with a hit of spicy. I didn’t taste it as much when I actually drank it, but that might have been the milk dampening it. Still, quite pleased!

This is very fitting for Sherlock and Irene. Cara wasn’t kidding when she said it tastes “complex”… I had two cups before I could decide how much I liked it! This was my first taste of lapsang souchong, so at first, I wasn’t used to the smoky flavour. I do like it, though. Steep it for longer if you want to bring out the strawberry notes.

Received this in a swap with someone. I don’t remember who, so if you were on here, I’m sorry! I just reorganized my tea collection, and what little semblance of “order” I had before is gone. Of course, now it’s much easier to find things. (http://bit.ly/Obi0Vy). It goes, in descending order, Black, Green, Herbal, White/Oolong, Fruits/Flowers/Herbs. Whew.

This is my study break. I had class until 10, and then I was in high school from 11-3. Run to a voice lesson, practice my Bach, grab food, back to the room, it’s time for Psych, Disabilities, Shakespeare and Drama. AND TEA.

I had this pre-bagged because I thought I’d have time to stop for water. Not the case. Sigh. But I’m drinking it now.

It’s okay. It’s sort of like a spicy black. There’s a little bit of the bergamot from the Earl Grey Green, and that’s chased with the cinnamon. It’s a strong Irish Breakfast base too. It’s not my favorite, but it’s good.

And now back to psych notes. Sigh. Leave me love :)

This is lovely! I really like the combination of almond flavour and the floral notes from the osmanthus. It’s fragrant and sweet, but not overwhelmingly so— a perfect match for Mrs. Hudson. Definitely one of my favourites so far.

This truly is a very manly tea— not to mention the perfect character tea for Greg Lestrade. Hazelnut and pu erh taste wonderful together, deliciously earthy and nutty, and gunpowder green tea rounds out the flavour nicely.

Cookies, anyone?

That’s basically what this tea smells and tastes like when brewed. Sugar cookies, if I had to be specific about cookie types. (Note that I didn’t have this with sugar or milk, so it was more like an unsweetened cookie, but still cookie-like all the same).

At first, I was worried that the Earl Grey would overpower the hazelnut and caramel, but they all mesh together into a wonderful, soothing tea that is perfect to drink when comfort is needed. The Earl Grey is the easiest flavour to pick out, but the caramel and hazelnut seem to subtly balance out the bergamot.

If drinking tea is like a conversation, this tea would basically be a very big hug!

I definitely forgot about this and overbrewed it. Luckily the flavor wasn’t much affected. I think it was just a little more…cream? than I was wanting this morning, between the earl grey moonlight and the coconut.

Cara captures yet another character perfectly. Smooth, yet exciting. A promise of adventure, whether you like it or not.

The creamy earl grey moonlight is perfectly complemented by coconut. The rooibos barely comes out, but the lemon is there very lightly. All in all a great tea. I think my brewing on it could do with some tweaking.

It’s been a while since I had this. After having a pretty hectic couple of days, this is exactly what I needed.

This morning I’m putting together some tea swap packs and listening to the Indie Morning playlist on Songza on my new speakers. The kitties are sitting by the open door, enjoying the fresh air. It’s making for a fantastic morning. So a few sips of my favorite tea are in order!

Just a rounded teaspoon of sugar for two cupfuls this morning, less than I often use for this tea. A few more leaves than usual. My senses are in heaven. Fantastic morning, really. Everything just feels right.

I decided not to use sugar this time. The raspberry was significantly more evident than the lavender without sugar. I’m pretty meh on it as far as that goes. I will probably not do that again for a while.

Sipdown! This has been a really great blend. It is very assertive in the bold department. It can be bitter if brewed for too long. I would suggest storing the tea in a separate container then the bag because the rooibos always goes to the bottom and the blend tastes much better when mixed. Overall this has notes of black tea, spice, and mild jam; not really a sweet tea at all.

Less jammy today than other infusions and much more heavy on the black tea/spice punch. I could use some more vanilla this time. This is a heavier black tea which really feels like something you’d drink to wake up.