Adagio Teas

Adventaggedon Day Twenty Three – 6/6

Felt a bit like screaming when I saw this tea today. It’s basically yesterday’s tea but on a rooibos base and with almond flavouring. What the fuck is up with Adagio’s use of almond flavouring!? I swear this is like the seventh tea in this advent to use it.

The cup itself was okay though. The clove was actually really nice feeling on my throat and because of all the spice inclusions it actually opened up my sinuses enough I felt like I was tasting it pretty properly. It’s a bit more orange forward than yesterday’s blend, and a little less clove. I do prefer the one from yesterday, but only because I like clove so much. And, thankfully, I didn’t taste the almond…

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmhsXY6ut-w/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2ZPQ7y4qQ

Adventaggedon Day Twenty Two – 3/6

Well, I said I wanted more festive and Adagio’s advent went and said “You’ve got it!”. They’re really hitting hard with these last few teas. I mean, what’s more festive that Christmas itself!? How’re they gonna one up themselves tomorrow?

The tea itself was pretty nice though. A very clove forward blend of cinnamon, clove, and orange. Full bodied, brisk, and a bit tannic. It’s a flavour profile that I’ve tasted what feels like a million other places, but it’s one that I enjoy regardless of that fact – and it’s such a wintery combination. Plus, I love a good clove blend and not enough companies release them IMO. It was a solid cup!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmfHdouubWR/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW9isc31JOE

Adventaggedon Day Twenty One – 4/6

This is so painfully, obviously meant to be a replication of DT’s Forever Nuts blend. I have a lot of feelings about that, but I’m going to mostly gloss over them. For a lot of reasons, but a key one being that I just don’t want to write that much tonight.

It’s hard to write a review and not touch on it a little though. What I will say is that this isn’t a bad tea when you view it in isolation. The apple note is pleasantly sweet and bright in a cider-like way and it’s got a nice cinnamon and almond flavour, along with another sweeter note that made me think of maple pastries – like danishes. I enjoyed the cup. But… is it Forever Nuts?

I feel like it’s closer to the kind of tea one might make based on a description of Forever Nuts. Forever Nuts adjacent, perhaps. A little too sweet but also, in different aspects, not sweet enough. Apple in the wrong kind of way. The wrong ingredients to get it to steep the wrong kind of pink. Maybe I’m being unfairly critical, but Forever Nuts is a blend that I know so intimately and I feel like if Adagio wants to play the game of trying to copy it then, well… You open yourself up to the criticism.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmciwMSufdM/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECC-X4pWMFg

Finally something different for the advent samples. Arabica Mocha is pretty good – it has a warm and cozy nutty chocolate flavor. It fits the holiday season, unlike some of the others. At least it’s not yet another green or roobios.

As it cools, this one stays good. Did not need or add any sugars or additives.

Continuing my backlogging, this was Day 17 of Adagio.

They packed so much Roobios in their advent calendar for 2021

I brewed 7 minutes. Not bad. Nutty and warming. Would be good for winter OR fall. The apple and cocoa are a nice background blend to the rooibos with cameral smudge. Definitely get the nuttiness through as it has chestnuts and hazelnuts.

Wow how tastes change… I gave this a 50 a few years back. Comparing it to forever nuts is not true…. however, I get mulled wine vibes this time and I really like it.. time for a rating jump.

I drank it… I didn’t like it but I was able to finish it. I think I was expecting something similar to Forever Nuts by David’s Tea so it was very disappointing.

Adventaggedon Day Twenty – 2/6

I mean… this is basically the same as Brutalitea’s “Rock You Like A Candy Cane” blend. That’s not a bad thing, I enjoy that tea well enough. However, both blends have this thing that just scratches at my brain in an uncomfortable way – they taste fruity. Like, if you made a candy cane tea and then added in a teaspoon of grenadine. Why is it fruity?? Why?? Aside from that, it’s Candy Cane enough.

Also, we’re at day twenty and this is the first candy cane blend in all my advents!? I know I’m doing a lot of more straight tea oriented advents this year so that’s a large part of why there’ve been less festive blends – but I’ve definitely felt the absence. Glad Adagio is sneaking them in here at the last minute.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmZ9_kDukMP/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNJoPJeN8JU

I was very pleasantly surprised at this one. I’m not sure how but i tasted chai.

Day 18 of advent calendar

Day 17 of 2022 Advent Calendar
Nothing wrong with it just not enough flavor for me. If i got another sample I would retry it by steeping it longer

Day 16 of Advent Calendar

I swear I will catch up. Drank this one 2 days ago and forgot to post.

Was actually very good. Loved the baked good taste with the almond. The smell of it made me think of cake with candied almonds on top

Adventaggedon Day Eighteen – 6/6

Definitely had mixed feelings seeing this tea. Part of me wanted to celebrate Adagio including a blend that was more overtly festive (something I’ve felt a little lacking) and another part of me was rolling my eyes hard at getting another sweet and nutty blend.

It tastes fine – present rooibos but not super medicinal/mineral and not too sweet either. But it does really just feel like another rehash of the same almond and hazelnut flavour that we’ve now tasted multiple times in the advent. With the amount of use those flavours have gotten, it’s safe to say that it’s something that clearly works well for Adagio’s customers and if I hadn’t tasted so many other variations of this tea so recently I think I likely would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmU0moLO1Ug/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQ5Vq791y4

Day 15 of 2022 Advent Calendar

Like most white teas… I find this flavorless. Smells good though

Adventaggedon Day Sixteen – 3/6

This was one of my least favourite teas of the day. I’ll be honest, I had high expectations after how pleasant some of the other almond blends have been from the Adagio advent. The almond was the best part of this tea (very Amaretto), but I think I’m just feeling a little burnt out on cardamom – I’ve had so much of it since the start of advent season.

There was also a strange metallic note that bugged me a lot, and I think would have been enough to leave me unimpressed by this tea even if I wasn’t feeling tapped out on cardamom…

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmPqzUnOfl0/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBeRo7xf2Dw

Day 14 of 2022 advent calendar

Love oolongs and this one does not disappoint. Love all the flavors, in particular the tartness of the cherries in this tea

I don’t know why I keep doing this. I am not a fan of smoky teas, or smoky anything really. But I keep trying out flavored teas with it because the idea sounds so appealing.

The dry leaf smells kinda like . . . unsweetened powered Kool-aid mix (the kind where you had to add your own sugar) that had spent a number of days beside a fire. That made me a bit nervous.

The steeped tea smells like smoke. It tastes of whiskey so much that I had to double check there was no alcohol in the ingredients list. It even has that similar bite I would get from alcohol, though in a much more mild fashion. Oh, and it tastes like smoke.

I think there is some astringency though its difficult for me to tell if this is the whiskey flavoring or the tea base. This makes it seem harsher of a drink than I would normally desire.

On second steep its pretty much just the same, maybe a tad weaker.

Overall, I’m not a fan. The smoke is too much as is the whiskey. But honestly I just didn’t have high expectations given my preferences.

Adventaggedon Day Fourteen – 4/6

I was so excited to try this tea when I saw it this morning. I actually thought it might have been new for the advent because I had no recollection of ever seeing it on Adagio’s site, but I see Steepster reviews dating back a few years so that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I have a 50/50 track record with Adagio’s oolong teas – I seem to love or hate them. My favourite (non fandom) blend from Adagio is an oolong though, and in general I tend to really like the cherry flavouring they use. So lots of promise here! I think the name is spot on for the taste; it was sweet yet nutty with a bright cherry note that made me think a little bit of the nostalgic cherry slushies I used to get from the ice cream store when I would visit my grandma in the summer – with a pump of “shocker” (aka malic acid). That sounds like it shouldn’t work with the more mineral and roasty oolong base, but it was great. The whole thing kind of had Amaretto Sour vibes in such a fun and yummy way.

I’m not sure if it’s my favourite tea of the day, since there were a lot of really strong teas today. However, it’s definitely my favourite Adagio blend in the advent so far, and it will 100% be going on my ‘to order’ list for whenever I next end up placing an Adagio order.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKhQbAOFKi/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C8qf2Kv_AA

a number of years ago I had tried Adagio teas and found every single one I tried harsh and bitter. but as time went by, my tastes changed and I like bitter now. So I decided to give them another try to see what I think.

So for this. I’m not seeing any bitter here. It seems rather smooth to me actually. It has a slight spice like taste to it but I don’t know if I would exactly say its ginger, cinnamon, or orange that is shown in the ingredients. Its more like a bland general spice flavor. In fact its so bland that 30 minutes after drinking I honestly can’t remember what it tastes like and have to take another sip to remind myself.

It also does not resteep well. This might be a tea that works better with a single long steep time, which I don’t tend to do. I’ll try that next time I give it a go.

Much more the chocolate comes thru than the Truffle, but there is something else, slight, in there. Comes out fairly dark, rich brown color. I’d call it chocolate tea with a twist, if you’re a chocolate tea fan and want something a bit different. But not one that jumps out as exceptional.

Day 13 of 2022 Advent Calendar

Not sure how i feel yet luckily have another sample

Day 12 of 2022 Advent Calendar

Good, not too much ginger but a little weak for me

Adventaggedon Day Thirteen – 3/5

Steeped this one hot with just a littttllleee bit of added cream. I don’t want to write a lot here because I really found this to be incredibly similar to the Arabica Mocha that was earlier in the advent, down to the same sweet hazelnut type flavour. I thought this was a bit sweeter but also a bit thinner in taste, and between the two the Arabica was my preference.

That said, I’ve had this in Adagio fan blends and enjoyed its inclusion there.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmH8V5nOYdw/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGA5aN-eX6o

Adventaggedon Day Twelve – 2/5

Made this one as a travel mug to drink on the way to work. Not really a lot to say about this blend as the taste was very straight forward. It reminds me heavily of DT’s Super Ginger, but with a hint of non descript fruit taste in the undertones. Very similar intense ginger on the rooibos base, though.

Will say, ginger was a nice warming choice to sip on during my commute though. All the snow has melted here in Montreal and we’re back to (dying) green grass – but it still feels like Winter in terms of temperature. It’s kind of weird.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFXjHXOWrV/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qorSGlQOz9A