[leadership]

I’m not going to make a recommendation on this one, as it’s my own blend and that would be cheating. I merely want to set out a bit more detail in the creation process than Adagio’s fields have room for. My whole Chrono Trigger fandom came about in early 2014 when I tried Amy Zen’s Firefly fandom and found nearly all blends to be overpowering and almost undifferentiable chocolate-chai variants. I wanted to try a set of my own, based on characters I knew and loved, and embracing the range of leaves and subtler accents available to create blends which were truly differentiated without heavy flavorants.

Crono was one of the first few I pinned down. He isn’t a very personality-strong character; more the reliable, vaguely-Japanese fits-in-anywhere balanced type. Jasmine and oolong were on my mind as bases, but those were almost too bland. Rummaging through my stash, I tripped over hojicha, a toasty Japanese green tea treatment that fit the bill perfectly and brought in a hint of Crono’s thunder magic. Fujian Rain, another favorite, played off similar flavors and mixed quite well (unfortunately, Adagio can’t seem to get it in stock anymore, despite high demand). I brought the jasmine back in as a supporting role to complicate the flavors enough that the base ingredients wouldn’t be patently obvious, but a trio of mild greens still left it lacking that extra pixie dust to really stand out. I experimented with a few other flavorants and visited Adagio’s local brick & mortar a few times to mix other blends and finally tripped over lemongrass as the perfect light final touch. Crono is probably the mildest blend in my set, but I’m still quite satisfied, and enjoy brewing up a pot now and again when I’m in the mood for something light.