Soooo I got 2 samplers from Adagio before they pared down to 6 tins and I figure I’d better at least start trying them. Lol. So today I decided on the Doctor Who one, mainly because I’ve technically tried most of the teas in the ‘Tales & Tea Leaves’ set, so these are all new to me.
Nine is my fav doctor so it was only fitting that I tried his tea first.
Dry this had a sweet, roasty sort of smell, but nothing else really stood out to me.
Brewed I can kinda smell the anise, but again, it’s kinda just there. I ended up brewing it way below the recommended temp of boiling since I’ve found that most Adagio blacks turn almost undrinkable when steeped at boiling. And this one had gunpowder, which I didn’t want to burn either. So I gave this a shot a 195* because why not? XD
Everything kinda comes out in the taste. I get anise pretty strongly right off the bat. It reminds me of the sassafras that I get at the RenFaire, which is actually a shame because I don’t actually care for sassafras. Lol! I get a bitter note, but I’m kinda used to that because it happens so often with Adagio black tea blends. And I’m getting a light smokyness from the gunpowder. It’s also middling on the astringency scale. Not bad enough to make me want to pour the cup out, but enough there so I notice.
After adding some truvia, it didn’t get sweet persay, but the anise toned way down and let other flavors come up. I’m not sure if this is one I’d order a large amount of, but I’ll definitely finish the tin worth eventually.
195 °F / 90 °C
2 min, 30 sec
2 tsp
12 OZ / 354 ML
