Adagio Custom Blends, Sherlock Ward

TTB tea! This was actually quite nice the first time I tried it! Just the right amount of tartness, mostly bright and fruity. The second time, it tasted metallic and overly tart. It needs a short steep time. The third/final time I tried it, it was just pretty average, which makes it a difficult one to rate.

Strange VariaTEA TTB #27

I was pretty surprised when this blend steeped up pink! Despite all the tropical-sounding teas that went into this tea, it had more of a berry/hibiscus flavor with just a bit of pineapple and coconut coming through. Thankfully the hibiscus was mild enough not to overwhelm the other fruity flavors, but this was still a bit of a letdown for me, as I was definitely hoping for more of a pina colada vibe.

#SVTTB Round Two – Tea 6/???

Cold Brew!

The dry leaf of this blend smelled a little weird and funky but not in a sour coconut way, so I decided to give it a shot. I’m drinking it currently and it’s still pretty well with me. Definitely strong pina colada vibes, which makes sense looking at some of the blends used in it – like the Kona Pineapple. I like that it leans more fruity, with notes of strawberry and hibiscus to go alongside the heavy tropical vibes. The hint of creamy coconut in the finish is just enough to give that cocktail kind of feeling, without it feeling gross given all the tart hibby pucker that’s present.

Happy to have tried this as it’s a fandom blend I never would have picked out for myself.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: This one kind of reminds me of a light sparkling strawberry raspberry fruit punch without all the sweetness.

That being said, the adagio teas that were added to this blend were named pina colada and kona pineapple so I was expecting it to be more yellow and orange tropical fruit tasting. So this isn’t really that at all. Even at a small amount the rose hips and hibiscus give this more of strawberry raspberry taste. Not bad but not quite what was expecting after being away from it for so long.

I was drinking this for my mango sip down theme for July and I am almost tempted to label it “fruit punch or sparkling rose” and stick it back in my cupboard for a little more time and find something that has a stronger mango flavor… TBD

Working on sipdowns but more evenly spread than one specific tea at a time. The upcoming months will be harder to sipdown as much as April mostly because I sipped down most of my small samplers and nearly empty teas. I think I will have a much smaller number in May as I have a lot of full containers and bags left.

Preparation: Western (no additives)
Tasting Note: This tea is a nice balance of sweet and tart. I think the strawberries, apples and flavoring do a lot to take the edge off the hibiscus and tart fruits. It is a rich tea that reminds me of a red wine blend possibly. I haven’t had the tea cold brew yet but hot it is really nice.

Total side note: This was blend for Todoroki from the anime My Hero Academia, I didn’t really think it captured the character’s personality at all but it’s a good tea blend. (shrugs)