Adagio Custom Blends, Christa Y

Sample from a TTB. This one is quite nutty and a little smoky. I feel like it reminds me of a toned down version of their chestnut tea, though it’s been many years since I’ve had that one. It’s decent with some milk and sugar, but I think I prefer their chestnut blend because I enjoy its boldness, and I don’t love the extra bit of smoke found here (though that flavor could be my imagination).

S is for… Squirrely.

My phone is away for the day and I’m spending this Sunday sitting outside with a small pile of books and a cup of tea. I asked Michelle if I could try this one and she sent several cups worth. I’m so glad now that I’ve tried it because it’s delicious. Strong maple/maple candy aroma before steeping. Solid base and caramel flavor. It’s very rich, full-bodied, and overall a well-rounded blend.

Second Steep
6 ounces water + 212 degrees + 20 minutes

The second steep smells of tobacco, so I think much of the flavoring may have been used up in the first steep and now the base is free to shine a bit more.

No, I take that back – I can still taste the caramel in this second steep!

Nutty, thick, rich cup of tea that can be steeped 3 times. Syrup notes at the end and smoothness throughout. All this and cute squirrels on the package!

From the Overboard TTB. Thanks to Beelicious for sticking this one in!

I was expecting more nuts from the name honestly. It’s a smokey roasted coffee chocolate tea. Good as a breakfast type I would assume. I would totally be loving this tea if not for the smokiness of it, but because of that I only finished half the cup.

Thanks to beelicious for this sample! This one has a lovely caramel and nut aroma—sweet and toasty, something like caramelized pecans or candied walnuts. (Neither of which are in the ingredients, oops!) The tea base of this is a tasty Ceylon, with a touch of that sweet, crisp, fruity note. It helps bring out the caramel flavor nicely. The nutty flavors are a little weaker in the brewed tea, but that’s okay, it’s one of those flavors that I would find overwhelming if it was strong. Overall, it’s a cheerful and cozy blend.

Finally, I don’t think I can review this tea without mentioning kissing squirrels—they’re in the description, packaging, and every review so far. Cute!

Screw you, Starbucks! I can have pumpkin spice in July if I feel like it!!

It’s actually chilly in Louisiana, and it’s mid-July! That calls for a breakfast of yummy hazelnutty pumpkin spice tea!
This stuff is delicious. I just bought it this week, enticed by the thought of hazelnut and pumpkin spice together. It certainly delivers.
I’m drinking it with steamed milk and a tiny tad of honey. At this point there won’t be any left when fall actually arrives.

Another Adagio tea to try…another lukewarm reaction from me.

I didn’t pay too close attention to this while I drank it, admittedly. But I’m finding a lot of these Adagio blends are starting to taste the same to me, probably because of the base, which I’m not a huge fan of.

I’ve been holding out on trying the Tardis one, really hoping to like it based on the reviews, but not wanting to hold my breath. I will try it next though!

Thanks again, Cavocorax!

Kissing squirrels – how could I resist???? However there is just something about this tea that I don’t quite like, I mean yes, it should be quite tasty what with the chestnuts and the almonds and the caramel and all… you know what it is… it tastes just a tiny bit chemically… boo. I think I’ll give this another try a little later in the day and see if it grows on me.

Fandom Tea Day – Tea #1

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” (One of my favorite Jane Austen Quotes)

This tea is lovely! I am so thankful that cavocorax sent this as part of our swap! I think I might have to think about keeping a stock of this from time to time.

Blackberry hits my taste buds first, followed by a lovely vanilla finish. The black tea base is mild, and never overpowers. YUM.

Some more backloggin. I decided to try this since cavocorax and I (possibly along with variaTea) will be placing a group order with adagio, and I figured I’d better start trying some of the samples that steepsterites have so thoughtfully shared with me. This one comes to me via shadowfall, so thank you!

I was really intrigued by this blend. Not necessarily because I’m an Austin fan (I’ve only read one of her books), but because the combination of flavours seemed to be fail-safe. Blackberries, cream, black tea? Sadly, I didn’t pick up on much in the way of berries either in the scent or the brew, even after I added my requisite milk and sugar. Keep in mind though that I tried this tea while my taste buds were a mess and my throat was living in the pits of hell, so that might have affected my ability to pick up on much. Mr. Keychange had a sip though and also couldn’t pick up on much in the way of berries. I’m going to try it again though, hopefully under better conditions. It really did taste just fine as a black tea; I just didn’t get much more out of it than that.

A sample from Shmiracles. I think this is actually the first Adagio custom tea I’ve tried, although I have a few in my stash. This is one I wouldn’t have got to try if it wasn’t for Shmiralces, so many thanks to her for sharing this with me!

It’s an interesting one. Dry, I can smell mostly chocolate, and while brewing I mainly pick up Adagio’s black base. To taste, though, it’s a different story. Blackberry cream, with just a hint of chocolate, and a pleasantly robust, slightly malty, base. I could happily drink this for a good long time — it’s one of those teas that’s easy to sip on and easy to like. A very tasty treat! Hopefully Adagio expand their custom range in the UK soon. If they did, this is one I’d definitely look to restock.

I get apple, I get something berry-ish (kind of?), I get a hint of caramel more in the aftertaste and how it blends all together, and I get a decent black tea base. A truly unusual blend, one that’s got me cocking my head to the side and going, "Hmmmm?

Having said all that… like many of the teas I’ve brewed today, I oversteeped this as well. Which blows because I had just enough for a large Timolino-full, and it was a gift from the lovely Cavocorax. Sigh. Well, I am very, VERY grateful I got a chance to try it, so thank you muchly for that!

Sipdown!! (156)

Thank you Josie Jade for the chance to try this tea. As I said last night, it is definitely one of the better Adagio teas I have tried. Alas, I got distracted and let this steep for an additional 15 seconds and the astringency is already creeping in :(

Thank you Josie Jade for sharing. This is truly a tasty cup. The blackberry is the most prominent flavor but the vanilla and cream are detectable as well. There is no astringency and the base is mellow and in the background, as it should be. This is certainly one of the better Adagio blends I have had.

Thanks again for this one cavocorax! Sipdown (162)! While i’m not focusing on sipdowns today – just enjoying drinking what i want, i have managed tod ecupboard a few things today and most importantly, my oldest teas (ignoring puerh) is from March of last year! And there are only 5 in my cupboard from March – 1 from april so i might even be able to start January with my oldest teas being from may! maybe hehe…

i an enjoying this one today.

thanks cavocorax! Admittedly, i am not an adagio fangirl. While i love the packaging, i find 90% of all the teas of theirs that i have tried, to be pretty much meh. I don’t like the base for their black teas and on the whole, for the time and effort involved in getting their teas to canada, i have sooooo many other options that are easier.

all that being said, (of course) this is a tasty blend. I wish the base was a little tastier but i can deal with that. blackberry, vanilla, cream this is! :)

this is an addendum to my review yesterday. ‘james, how many rules can you break with one blend?’ answer: ‘lots!’

1) doubled the leaf
2) doubled the steeping time
3) added some xylitol
4) added some cream

‘but why james? why can’t you just follow instructions?’
‘meh, instructions are overrated…..especially when i want my tea to taste the way it smells!!!’

GOT IT!!

vanilla/mallow blueberry/blackberry black tea. very nice. NOW it gets numbers =0)

hello, who are you? certainly neither mr. darcy nor elizabeth bennet…. not that that matters, i will strive to evaluate sensibly and without prejudice (just too many opportunities, sorry, well kinda).

Cavocorax has sent me a mystery! dry scent: a blue hued black tea with notes of mallow. twisty mallow though…! very cool. jane austen would be horrified…. i have images of booberry cereal floating through my brain!

i like this! i want a longer steep, and i want to try it with cream…. then i will will add numbers.

i really do get blueberry marshmallow….. let’s see what happens when i break some rules….. =0)