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Shanie O Maniac drank Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart by Adagio Custom Blends, Sami Kelsh

201 tasting notes

delurks in the middle of the night so nobody notices

Um, yes, so I’m still here. Sorta. I’ve been… well, since Miss Rona came around, I’ve been drinking next to no actual tea. In fact, zero is a pretty accurate number if you don’t count K-Cup or Starbucks chai lattes. So imagine my surprise when tonight I had a whim of “hey, I want tea!”

So this is one I bought as part of that leap year order and never reviewed. I’m warning now, I just eyeballed the leaf amount as the little tin it came in isn’t conducive to scooping. So we’ll go with 2 teaspoons to 12 oz of water. I’m certain I overleafed it but, eh, what can you do.

Taste plain is…meh. It’s bitter, which is to be expected. It is an adagio black after all. And the addition of the Tiger Eye doesn’t help until sweetened. So, I added two splendas (my usual for tiger eye)

Much better. I’m getting a nice play of the caramel (and a teeeeny touch of cocoa) off of the Ceylon base. The tea smells similar – like someone took a Mars bar and melted it in a mug of black tea. Actually, I doubt that combo would smell this good. Scratch that. But it’s nice. I must admit, I don’t see what the fruit brings to this? I don’t really taste anything fruity here. Maybe the passion fruit as a late late aftertaste. As in, so late it shows up a full minute after having a sip. It’s really weird, but that’s how it is. Because of this, I really think this would have been better without the passion fruit. That pungent leftover flavor is offputting.

Yeah. The pineapple and passionfruit flavors build at the back of your throat after you swallow and they aren’t the best. They certainly don’t go with the caramel creamy smoothness of the tea itself.

Overall, what do I think? Well, it’s ok.I really wish they hadn’t tried to add fruit to this, and especially not tropical fruit. It doesn’t work well. The primary flavors of the tea – the chocolate, Ceylon, caramel, and cream, are a wonderful match, and I bet if it were more noticeable, the strawberry would fit in there as well. But the tropical fruit is harsh and doesn’t blend with the rich dessert flavors. Maybe it’s a statement on how the Brig himself could often be harsh and unforgiving.

But personally? Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart should have something much smoother.

Flavors: Caramel, Cream, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Tropical

Preparation

Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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Nattie
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I think we’ve all been thrown a little off-kilter right now. Glad you’re still around!

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Nattie
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I think we’ve all been thrown a little off-kilter right now. Glad you’re still around!

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HELLO! My name is Shanie and I love tea!

While I have always loved various types of tea, for a very long time it came exclusively from a grocery store. It’s only been a year or so now that I’ve gotten into loose leaf. As such, there will likely be tasting notes I do for bagged tea as well as good quality (and not so good quality) loose leaf teas. I’m still learning as I go so have patience please!

Right now, I am on a massive Earl Grey kick. So if a ton of my notes are just various varieties of EG, that’s why!

Some of my favorite flavors include: Cocoa, Malt, Bread, Honey, Earthy, Sweet Citrus, Caramel, Apple, Spices, and Cinnamon.

Some flavors I don’t like: Licorice, Coconut, Bitey Citrus (like Citric Acid), Licorice, Sour, Smoke, Overpowering Fake Vanilla, Stevia, and did I mention Licorice?

NOTE: I am Type 2 Diabetic. As such, I can really not have sugar added to tea without suffering problems. This prohibits me from using either plain sugar or honey. Instead, I use Splenda as I found my system can handle it well and I like the flavor. I try to avoid stevia as I’ve found it often ruins the flavor of tea. However, not all teas require sweetener, and some are better without. Because of this, if I add sweetener to a tea, I will mention it in the tasting note and say what kind and how much. Usually, I sweeten flavored and herbal teas but leave true teas unsweetened. There are exceptions, but this is a general rule of thumb to go by.

Almost all of the tea I brew is western style. I occasionally do grandpa, but pretty much never Gong-fu. I do own a Gaiwan, but it never gets used. Considering I don’t have a “sip setting” when it comes to beverages, it’s really hard for me to get into any sized amount less than 8oz at a time. I know that probably makes me a tea-heathen, but so be it. I like my mugs.

I have decided to try and make a scale for my ratings. So here goes.

As of January 2020.

100-91: These are my go-to favorites. I will likely go out of my way to always keep these on hand, including going on third party websites to obtain out of season.
90-81: This is a tea I really did enjoy, and I will likely purchase again. However, I wouldn’t go to the ends of the earth for it, and it isn’t my all-time favorite.
80-71 This is a tea that, while I may have somewhat enjoyed, something is holding me back from making it a mainstay. Maybe the flavor profile isn’t the best. Maybe there is an offputting aftertaste. It varies. But while I did like it and will continue to drink it, I don’t absolutely need it in my life, and while I will likely finish what I have, I may or may not get more.
70-61: This is a tea which I drank, but I didn’t like it. However, I didn’t hate it either. It wasn’t bad enough to dump, and if it is the only thing available to drink, I would likely drink it instead of plain water. But in the end, this is just not my literal cup of tea and I will likely not get this again.
60-51: This is something that I didn’t like much at all, but for one reason or another, refused to dump. If I squint hard enough and use my imagination, I can almost BS myself into thinking they are decent, and I suppose I can choke it down and not waste it. These are teas that I will not be buying again, and may not even finish what I have.
50-41: Yeah, whatever this is, I there’s a good chance I dumped it. At this level, it’s pretty bad stuff with either weak flavor, nasty flavor, or all the wrong flavors, It has few redeeming qualities, and I likely won’t reach for this one again. On the bright side, it isn’t sewage water, so there’s that.
40-31. On it’s best day this tea has no redeeming qualities. This not only got dumped but the package it came in either got thrown away, traded, or shoved to the back of the cupboard to never be touched again. Not the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, but darn sure close.
30-Under: The worst thing I’ve ever tasted. This not only has no redeeming qualities, but it is gag-inducing. “Teas” in this range are so bad I not only will never drink them again, I really don’t feel like offloading them onto anyone else because they are just that bad. Actual sewage water.

Location

Pennsylvania, US

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