Adagio Teas

Sample from a TTB. This one is pretty enjoyable. It’s mostly biscuity with hints of maltiness and raisins. I enjoyed it sweetened with milk, and though I wouldn’t order it, I’d drink it again.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 14th, 2023

Ugh, a decaf black tea? I’m not even a fan of Adagio’s standard black base, so a decaffeinated version is scary indeed lol…

It’s definitely extremely bland, even compared to the caffeinated version. It tastes a bit like cardboard, and then there’s a hint of sweetness that I suppose is coming from the “cream”. To me, it almost tastes more like almond extract?

Sad bland almond cardboard tea. :(

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 13th, 2023

I do like the orange flavor here, it reminds me of those orange slice gummy candies that are coated in sugar. Definitely not a natural orange, but sweet and candylike.

Not a fan of the base tea though, which I think is generally the case with me and Adagio’s flavored black teas. I feel like it has all the negative attributes of a strong, brisk black tea, without having a lot of the flavor. Maybe it would be nicer with some creamer…

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 12th, 2023

This is an interesting concept, like a Moroccan mint tea but with Darjeeling in place of the gunpowder.

Unfortunately, it just tastes like a pile of peppermint, complete with the wet rag undertones. I don’t taste the Darjeeling at all, and I think I would believe you if you told me this was a plain peppermint tisane…

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 10th, 2023

Okay, time to catch up on communiTEA… I actually drank this one on the 10th, but since then I’ve just been keeping each day’s sample to drink later. Mostly I was too lazy to write notes and keep them in some backlog.

I found this just as disappointing as most other peppermint bark themed teas. Why do they always add cinnamon?! It makes no sense to me and yet it’s there every time… It really takes away from the whole candy cane idea, and makes it taste more like a generic herbal blend.

Anyway, boo hiss at yet another lame interpretation of this flavor profile… :(

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 9th, 2023

This is a very cute tea for Easter, with little pastel chick and duck sprinkles.

It doesn’t taste like much though, just a somewhat sweet green rooibos. There’s a hint of creaminess that gives a slight impression of marshmallow, but the herbaceous, woody flavor of the base definitely overpowers it.

Still, fun to try, and one that I’ve been curious about in the past.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 8th, 2023

Seems like Adagio’s version of DT Buddha’s Blend?

It’s a very light peachy white tea for the most part. I don’t taste a lot of jasmine or green tea in here, but I do get a little bit of the pineapple. A bit too light for me overall, but inoffensive.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 7th, 2023

Adagio seems confused on whether this is a green tea or a puerh. It’s in the puerh section on the website, but the sample is in a “green tea” labeled packet. I assume it’s a sheng, but they make it more confusing than it needs to be…

It definitely tastes like a mild sheng. A bit of barnyardy hay, a touch of tart apricot. Some greenish notes. I find sheng difficult to describe, really. Almost like a funkier Chinese green tea?

Anyway, it’s okay but a bit bland in my opinion.

Cold steeped.

I was surprised to find this one a bit bland compared to the other similar tisanes (like Wild Strawberry). It tastes a touch watered down, even though I used the same amount of leaf and water. But the raspberry does make for a pleasant and zingy combination with the hibiscus, and it’s still a very refreshing blend. There’s a little touch of mustiness at the end, which made me think maybe there was raspberry leaf in here as well, but apparently not.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 6th, 2023

Not a whole lot to say about this one, it’s a rather generic hibiscus-heavy apple-based tisane. I’m not sure I would guess raspberry from the taste, mostly I just get hibiscus and tartness. I guess I could see a bit of tart raspberry fruitiness in there?

Regardless, I’m not a fruit tisane fan in the first place and this one is painfully generic.

Super lightly flavored but delightful, a stash staple for a few years now, a light creamy citrus green tea blend.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 5th, 2023

Surprised to see another plain black tea so soon after the Assam a couple of days ago.

This is a nice enough tea, I can taste the savory sweet potato-y notes of the Yunnan black tea, and also the slight briskness and raisin of the Assam. Seems nicely balanced between malty, fruity, sweet, and savory.

Not sure I would order it as I think I prefer a plain Assam or a plain Yunnan, but still a very pleasant tea. I did expect it to be stronger and harsher, maybe my understanding of Scottish breakfast teas is wrong.

This is underwhelming mint and mildly savory/herbacious. If I squint really hard I can find the lemongrass note. I think shou and peppermint would seem more comforting to me. Nice to try, but don’t need this in my cupboard.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 3rd, 2023

A plain Assam today. Sipped this straight up, though the description recommended it with milk and sugar. It’s quite a full leaf tea, with some golden tips as well, so I don’t find the additions are needed.

Has a strong malty, caramelized flavor with a touch of vegetal adding some savoriness. I do get some of those raisiny notes, but I would like more from an Assam. A pleasant tea, but nothing to write home about.

Adagio CommuniTEA – April 2nd, 2023

This smelled really good in the packet, a nice mix of turmeric and golden fruits.

However, it tastes really bland to me. I only used 8 ounces of water because there wasn’t a lot in the packet and it’s quite fruit-heavy. Even still, it tastes weak. I can taste turmeric and a little of the ginger and black pepper. There’s a hint of artificial tropical fruitiness, along with a hint of orange. Something is giving it a somewhat soapy aftertaste, I assume it must be the flavoring since I don’t see another possible source.

Not a winner for me.

Been drinking this one over the last few days as an attempt to clean some of these samples out of my stash.

I had a thought. This might be a good starter black for those who have only had store bought tea bags and are turned off by their bitterness and/or astringency. It really is smooth and seems pretty forgiving of longer steep times and full boiling water. Smooth enough with a hint of sweetness to not need any additives, but strong enough that it could hold up to them in moderation.

The sample packet was open, so I must have tried this before but looks like I dind’t make any notes.

Its not bad. Its mild, no harshness that I can detect. Maybe a teeny bit of an odd aftertaste if it goes cold, but otherwise a rather basic nothing special, inoffensive black tea. I’ll happily drink what I have, but unlikely I’ll buy more.

Very nice creme flavor with big chunks of apple, very enjoyable sip

Tried again. Maybe its more powdered ginger than fresh ginger?

Still an element that makes me think of plastic more so than ginger or tea. Tossing the rest of this. Just not my thing.

Adjusted rating for new system.

The dry leaf smells like the plastic packet the sample came in.
The wet leaf smells like . . . I’m not sure what. It rings a bell somewhat but I just can’t seem to identify it. Nothing like tea or ginger however.

In the cup there is a faint scent that you might call ginger if you knew to expect this to be ginger. The taste is a little ginger like, but again, if I didn’t know it was supposed to be ginger, I might not actually identify it as ginger.

Honestly the cinnamon I tried was pretty similar, but it was more pleasant while this not so much. Its not bad, but feels underwhelming. I was hoping for a little more punch from the ginger. Its also not as smooth like maybe its conflicting with the base maybe?