Adagio Custom Blends, Amy Zen

Whaaaat weird.
This is the last of my Firefly teas from Cavocorax via Variatea, and I saved this one for last because I fully expected to hate it, on account of it’s rooibos.

I’m pleasantly surprised that I don’t really taste the rooibos in this one! I actually taste the lemongrass, apple and blueberry, with a tartness that I presume comes from the hibiscus. And isn’t entirely delicious, that part.

Sooo yeah! Not terrible! Which is high praise coming from me, as far as rooibos goes.
Thanks ladies, for sharing!

I sadly have to say that I finished watching Firefly the other day, sadness. I plan to watch Serenity with the hubby this week, so at least there’s that to look forward to.

I’m ashamed that it took me this long to watch it, the huge Joss Whedon fan that I am. It was way less juvenile and cartoony than I expected (based on Buffy and Angel, which I loved loved loved)…. I totally see why people were pissed when it was cancelled. So sad.

Now I’m up to my eyeballs in season 2 of Orange is the New Black season 2….. SO MUCH AWESOME.

Sipdown (156/162)!

I thought finishing with the Captain might be nice (though technically I still have Serenitea left) so this is the last of the character teas that VariaTEA sent me. At first I thought the flavours in this one really didn’t match the character, but Amy Zen’s description really sells it and now I see how this is a very fitting blend for Mal.

Taste wise, I’m finding it the tiniest bit bitter, and I think the fruit flavours in this one come off as very thin – but the chocolate is definitely thick, rich and indulgent and the best aspect of this cup by far. It kinda baffles me that there’s hibiscus in this: I don’t get any familiar hibby characteristics.

So overall not a bad blend; definitely befitting of Captain Malcolm Reynolds – but as far as chocolate/orange blends go I think Butiki’s Three Friends blend definitely trumps this one by a landslide. But if you’re really into the character and don’t mind chocolate or orange then having 3 oz. of this might not be a terrible thing.

Now that I’m reflecting on character blends I think that I’d really like to see ones for Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda/Whatever her name is (juicy red fruits like cherry?) and one for Niska as well. Even though they’re only in a few episodes each I think there’s definitely enough to go on for a character blend…

Sipdown (157/163)!

Out of all the Firefly teas Zoe’s blend is the one I am/was most terrified of. I took a sniff of the dry leaf when I first got it and immediately scrunched my nose right before having a sneezing fit. It smells like solid ginger – and that makes me really uncomfortable because fuck ginger, that’s why.

But I’m gonna have to get this over with eventually so we’re finishing this one off sooner rather than later. As predicted, I don’t much like it; it tastes pretty solidly like ginger to me and I’m finding it rather bitter to. However, the caramel and the cloves are small redeeming factors in this blend so I wont be as harsh and critical as I would like to be. It is drinkable; but barely.

Also, I can’t deny that this is a really good match for the character so there’s that. Like, if any of the characters were going to be “spice heavy” it’d be Zoe. Personally, I didn’t like her at first but she grew on me. She is a fiery, strong willed and independent woman and who can’t respect that? Plus the dynamic between her and Wash is so perfect, and cute.

Goodbye Zoe; I’d definitely not seek you out again but I can see why others would love you!

Sipdown (159/165)!

Nothing like starting your day with a hot cup of Lapsang…

I have to say, out of all the Firefly blends I have this one definitely seems like the most accurate to the character. And I just love that the blender, Amy Zen, didn’t take the cliched route of adding Gunpowder green tea to the manly/“soldier” type character. Woot! But the description and what she did use seem super on point. And the apple pieces this is accented with were such a nice touch! I really feel like this one was the most thought out in regard to the character.

Jayne was a favourite of mine from episode one, but largely because of my already existing love for the actor who plays him – Adam Baldwin. I’m very happy to be able to say though that I really did find a connection with the character. Jaynestown was one of my favourite episodes, if not my favourite episode. I adore that he stayed gruff, and I think him turning on the team and ratting out Simon/River was such major character development because the act itself was such a Jayne thing to do but then how he reacted to it showed some major growth.

Plus, he was such a cutie in his silly orange wool hat!

I’m not the biggest Lapsang fan though, which is probably the sole reason I put this off for so long. It definitely was strong; but I think the cocoa helped a bit to sweeten it up so I was able to finish the cup and it was pretty palatable. I got fleeting apple notes and fruitiness, but nothing strong or consistent – so I guess that matches the character too. I’m rather sad because I would have liked to have gotten mint or candy from this but I found those flavours completely absent from my cup.

Overall, I have to rate this high just because of how solidly this matches the character – but I also want to rate it fairly high because, for a blend with Lapsang in it, I thought it was really good too. I would be tempted to pick up the full 3 oz. of this – but I already have The Woman and that blend also includes Lapsang; and I definitely DO NOT need two Lapsang heavy blends around when it’s a flavour that I do not largely crave. And overall I think The Woman did taste better…

Sipdown (160/166)!

I might be done watching Firefly, but I still have some Firefly teas to get to because I break out Serenitea to drink alongside Serenity! So I made this one up last night; honestly I wasn’t looking forward to it – mostly because of the Rose and the green tea in the blend. These last few blends I have left seem like the least promising ones to me.

But this wasn’t bad; it just tasted like a straight up Cream Earl Grey to me. No Rose, no Green tea – just smooth EG. I can get behind that and I enjoyed the cup, but honestly it wasn’t at all special so I wouldn’t order it just because of the character name – especially when, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really like River that much.

It wasn’t so much that I disliked her; I just felt like her character didn’t progress or develop at all: there were no significant signs that she was getting better at all and it was harder to relate to her over many of the other characters. However, the sad truth is probably just that Firefly probably just never got the chance to explore her more and to show any real progress of her getting better because it was cut short.

It’s a shame.

Anyway, thanks VariaTEA for the sample. This was a nice EG to wind down with, if nothing else.

Second last Firefly sample from Cavocorax
Thanks for passing it along!

Weird, I thought I’d hate this, based on the ingredients description. Sounds to me like a bunch of stuff thrown together randomly and the tea blender was daring us to drink it so she could laugh.

Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point of view. Hazelnuts and mint? Wtf?

But it was actually comforting in a bizarre sort of way. It kind of seemed to work well, despite the varying personalities of the individual flavours….wait a minute.

Well played, Amy Zen…well played.

Sipdown (162/168)!

Also made this one while Tyrell was over, and I kinda felt like I had to fight through just how terribly bad it was because he was over. Like, for whatever reason I felt like if he saw me just dump it that would have popped some might illusion he has about me being this “Tea Saint”.

But really, this was bad. And that makes me really sad because as I watched Firefly Wash definitely grew on me a lot which is awesome because first few episodes he just seemed so boring to me. But how can this be his blend!? Seriously, what’s the reasoning?

Because I steeped this one up and instantly I was all “Oh, it’s just like a black version of DT’s Jessie’s Tea blend – I suppose I can get on board with that flavour wise even if I don’t think it fits the character”. But no, I can’t get on board with it. It’s like Jessie’s Tea on fucking steroids. Like, I took one sip and it was like I was drowning in overly floral lavender hand lotion.

Worst one I’ve had so far. Wash deserves better.

Sipdown (166/172)!

So I’ve now finished Firefly; I absolutely adored it and I of course hate where it ended. I still need to watch Serenity, but I’m going to wait until I’ve finished off all the character blends first and then finish this kind sampler from VariaTEA off the the Serenitea blend and Serenity movie. Something about that just seems, I don’t know, “Serendipitous”? Just a touch.

However, when I had this one I had not finished it off yet. I think I was on episode nine to be more specific? I feel like I definitely got to know more about Simon’s character in those last few episodes though; especially in regards to his relationship with Kaylee. I wonder if I’d think this was more accurate to the character now? Although I thought it was a good fit before; I just couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe I could now? Not the peaches really; but more the ginger.

I hate ginger, so personally the presence of that in this one was a bad sign; as well as the peach; one thing I hate and one I’m fickle towards didn’t look too promising. Wasn’t actually so bad though. I think the gingerbread was a nice touch for the character though; to me gingerbread says “comfort” and the holidays/family and that seems like a good way to reflect Simon’s relationship with River.

But yeah taste; (I feel like I’m jumping around; also the j and the h keys are way too close together) I didn’t dislike it so that’s good – I feared I might. But I wasn’t in love either. I think overall I really just felt like I could love it but I’d need to try it again to really pull my mind together (there’s a horrible pun somewhere in there…) and I can’t see that happening soon.

But here’s what I typed in my notes:

- Lots of ginger initially (WHY DOES THIS BLENDER USE SO MUCH GING’)
- As it cooled more peaches/cream and molasses (Gingerbread?)
- Oolong held its own with the black

There ya’ have it. That’s my very jumbled take on this one.

This is a sample sipdown! Another one from Cavocorax :)
I have to go count my number because it’s gone down a bit lately.

I admit I almost forced myself to brew this one because I’m still watching Firefly, I only have like 4 episodes left :( so I felt like continuing to drink my way through the Firefly crew!

Honestly, I was not expecting anything good, after the last one. I haven’t been overly impressed thus far with my Adagio trials.

After the spicy Inara tea, I was left curious as to whether or not I would consider myself a chai fan, it’s not really something I seek out, ever.

So this one.

I’m impressed. The addition of the caramel makes for a real smooth, sweet chai blend!
I added milk and it’s like drinking a spicy, creamy dessert.

I’d actually consider buying this one, assuming I ran into more teas I’d want!

Thanks again Cavo!

PS – Christina Hendricks?!

Sample sipdown!

I, uh, I really really hated this.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m not a huge fan of spicy teas, but if this is an example of chai then maybe I’m just not a chai fan.

It rubbed me the wrong way big time.
I found drinking it felt like someone just took a bunch of random spicy things and threw them all together and called it a tea.

“Exotic” is one word for it. I get what they were going for as far as the character of Inara but blehhhhh.

I agree with RoswellStrange that it certainly LOOKED pretty. That’s about the only nice thing I can say.

It also got super bitter and gross, just like the last one I tried. I may be learning I’m not a big Adagio fan, good thing I didn’t order from them!

Thanks for sending this my way, Cavocorax! (No, really, it’s appreciated! :))

Sipdown (170/176)

So it appears whatshesaid and I are both embarking on our Firefly journey alongside one another as we both drink Adagio’s character inspired teas!

We also both had this one tonight, though I think I had a very different experience with it than she did. I should note that I added milk to my mug of it because once I saw it had Strawberries in the blend I thought this would be awesome with milk!

For me, I picked up heavy notes of strawberries and cream as well as notes of chocolate although they were more background notes. The hibby in this was really hard to detect for me; not that I’m complaining. Something about hibiscus and chocolate just doesn’t sound right to me. Drastically different from whatshesaid (and apparently everyone else who has reviewed this) is that I got a lot of licorice taste in this! Huh. I’m wondering if maybe there was some flavour contamination? Although I can’t think what possibly from. I don’t know; I thought it tasted good with the weird licorice notes, anyway.

This seems like a good blend for Kaylee; I like how flavourful and fun it is. Plus, I’m only on episode four and already they’ve focused on Kaylee eating strawberries twice. This tea kinda reminded me of her ruffle-y pink and white dress too which kinda looked like a strawberry and cream layer cake.

Anyway, pressure’s on to finish the series because I told Tyrell that if I finish it by Sunday I’ll start watching Game of Thrones with him, and he seemed really excited about that.

Next up I think will be one of the Tams or Captain Mal? I don’t know; I guess we’ll see tomorrow night. Thanks again VariaTEA for the sample! I liked this one better than Inara.

I was going to just sit back and enjoy this without analyzing it, but I realized I couldn’t pinpoint any notes within so I had to look it up.

I guess I can tell that it’s chocolate and strawberry but there’s a weird sour note that is turning me off – I can see now that it’s the hibiscus. Whhhhyyyyy would that be added?!

Yuck.

I am glad I got to try this though! I started watching Firefly last night for the very first time!!
Thank you to Cavocorax via VariaTEA!

Sipdown (172/178)!

So I pretty much got the whole Firefly sampler from VariaTEA only I had never seen Firefly and felt kinda guilty drinking the teas with no point of reference to the characters, so I’ve begun watching the show (I’m on episode three right now as I write this) and will be trying to drink the teas alongside watching the episodes.

Of the teas, this is the one that I thought smelled the best/most intriguing when I opened VariaTEA’s package – and I’m really like Inara’s character so far (I’m hoping the background between her and Mal is explored more because there’s definitely a weird and highly intriguing dynamic between the two) so I started with this!

I paired the tea with cinnamon waffles with homemade raspberry syrup and I thought the two paired pretty nicely! But the tea on its own was a bit less than stellar to me. The big thing was that I felt I was drowning in ginger. Oh God, why all the ginger!? Other than that I guess it wasn’t so bad for a chai. I didn’t taste the coconut much at all, and that’s the one ingredient in there that could have really been redeeming to me.

I feel like I don’t know Inara well enough yet to attest to whether the flavours are accurate to her character, but one thing is certain; aesthetically this tea is beautiful! The colours in the leaf just pop so much and seem so exotic and compelling. I think that maybe that is at least accurate to Inara as a companion? But of course I’m learning very quickly that she’s much more than a pretty face.

Another Adagio sample from Cavo, through VariaTEA by the looks of it!

I actually really enjoyed this one. I didn’t think I loved floral teas but perhaps rose is the exception (between this and Fauchon’s Naissance which I haven’t reviewed here yet)

I have to admit, I hang my head in shame because though I consider myself a Joss Whedon fan girl, I’ve never watched Firefly. I tried watching Serenity once but wasn’t feeling it. Probably because I hadn’t watched the show first.

Maybe this fall I will watch it!

And this is a tea I’d order if I ever put one through to Adagio, if so, it will be near Christmastime, likely.

Thanks to Cavocorax and VariaTEA for passing this along! :)

Another one from Cavocorax !

Happy to get to try some Adagio teas, finally!

This one was decent, not bad chocolate orange flavours…sort of reminds me of a way crappier version of Butiki’s Three Friends.

The flavours weren’t super potent, but nor did they taste particularly fake, so that’s good.
There was just nothing that really stood out about this cup, not the flavoring nor the base.

I gulped the rest of my cup down quick because hubster came home with a maple latte from Second Cup for me after work.

Which, incidentally, is a good indicator of where I am with tea again…. I was secretly like “ohhhh…that’s one less cup of tea i can drink today…” Rather than being tremendously excited like I would have been a month or two ago when I was still living for my daily (two or three) coffee(s)

:)

Thanks for passing this along, Cavo!

Sipdown!! (174)

The blerg and lavender are strong in this one. Oh how I wish I could love this tea as much as I love Hoban. Alas, it is just not for me. Though, I have washed out the tin and will put it to good use, housing a tea worthy of the wonderful Wash himself. Hopefully those I sent this to have better luck :)

Today, the orange has truly come out to play and it is 100% peel. Blech.

Cold brewed this blend and I think I far prefer it this way. The lavender is much more muted though there are notes of it floating around in the bottle. I am also picking up hints of caramel I wasn’t finding in the hot brew and a fair bit of orange. Weirdly, all the flavors come together to sort of take on a biscuit-like quality. An unsweetened orange biscuit.

Cavocorax was pretty on the ball when she declared this tea “interesting”. However, interesting does not necessarily equal good, nor bad. Just interesting. I was expecting something similar to a Jessie’s Tea given the rooibos, coconut, lavender combination but there is more to this than that. Luckily I am not picking up on the blerg but there is a thickness to one of the components that I am just not loving. I think it is actually the coconut in the blend that is producing a lotion-eqsue quality. Also, the lavender is strong and a little spicy at the end of every sip which is not for me. Ultimately, I find myself wanting to love this as I love the character who inspired this tea but alas it is disappointing. Perhaps it might be better as a cold brew? I will have to try that out…

Sipdown (97)

This is supposed to be peaches and cream and ginger but as an iced latte this is somehow tasting like chocolate and cream. It’s good but off from all the other times I have tried this. I’m wondering if that has more to do with flavor contamination than with the tea itself. It’s a great way to finish this off but certainly not true to the tea that I have had.

Adagio really had a good idea when they thought up these fandom teas. Seriously. I mean, none of them sound all that appealing but when you name it after something or someone we all love, all of a sudden it is in demand. A prime example is this tea. I would never have bought this based on description alone given I hate oolong and this has an oolong base. However, as a Firefly tea, I find myself more open to the idea and even more accepting of flavors I would usually ignore. Does anyone else have this problem?!

Anyways, the tea itself does actually have a fairly strong oolong flavor. I am also getting a fair bit of ginger in this particular cup which when the two are combined, it is creating a sort of drying taste (feeling?). With that said, there is also a nice amount of peachy type flavoring that balances out the cup and keeps it from being too earthy. On top of all that is just a splash of cream which combined with the drying is a tad bit strange but still not unpleasant. All in all, this isn’t my favorite tea out of the sampler, just as Simon was no where near my favorite character, but I don’t find myself rushing to get rid of this sample either like I anticipated I might. Perhaps I want to hold on to everything Firefly for as long as I can because I really miss the show.

In other news, I really need to stop watching old television shows on Netflix that I know will never come back. Every time I do, I am sad it is finished. That happened with Firefly, Dollhouse, and Buffy (can you tell I am a Joss Whedon fan? :P). Most recently, that has happened with Roswell. I finished it last night and I am going through Michael Guerin withdrawal. So much so I have been debating rewatching the series just for him. Although, the longer I sip on this tea and think of Firefly, the more I think I should rewatch that instead. If only it could be like watching shows for the first time, every time you watched because it is just not the same when you know what is coming. Luckily, I still have Supernatural (which a friend might have just reminded me came back last week so yay for two new episodes!). Anyways, I will stop whining now and enjoy my tea…

A little peachy, a little creamy, and just a hint of oolong. This is a pretty alright cup. I don’t know if I plan to stock up on it anytime soon but I am also not looking to give away the tin as I feared I might given the oolong. So far I am actually quite pleased with the Firefly blends I have tried.

Sipdown (299)

Though this cold brew was less bitter than the hot cup from earlier, it still tasted like potpourri.

Oh River, you have been hiding in my cupboard for many moons now. I made this hot and set up a cold brew for later which used up the last of the leaf. Probably for the best too since age has not served this well. This tastes like potpourri. Blech. Fingers crossed the cold brew is better.