Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

First cup of the afternoon – no additions. Today I’m getting primarily sweet potato and cinnamon notes, which are delicious. I don’t think there’s cinnamon in this blend, though? There is supposed to be vanilla, but I can’t taste that at all. Either way, I’m enjoying this one. Sweet potato is totally nommy, and the light cinnamon spice works really well with it. I should neglect this one less!

This is another of my older teas, so I have the original blend with the sweet potato. I consider myself lucky. I’m a little wary of black/green blends, probably because I’ve messed them up royally before, but I think I’ve worked out how to treat them now. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I figured that would be okay, since there’s not a great deal of green tea in this blend as far as I can see. The scent of the brewed tea is sweet with a hint of spiciness lurking behind.

To taste, I’m picking up strong initial notes of sweet potato. It’s wonderfully creamy, sweet, and almost a little starchy in flavour. Underlying, there’s the thicker maltiness of the irish breakfast, with just a hint of something cinnamon-like. There’s also a very slight edge of sweetness from the vanilla, with just a touch of dankness from the green tea. It sounds odd, but it’s actually a combination that works pretty well in practice. It’s a really great autumn tea, with its delicious sweet potato notes and creamy sweetness. I’m not entirely sure where the spiciness is coming from, but it seems to build with successive sips and leaves a pleasant warmth at the back of the throat. I really enjoyed my cup, and I’ll savour the rest of my sample tin over the coming months. This might become my cold day go-to for a bit.

After yesterday’s success with Rose Tyler, I was more than up for another earl grey blend this morning. River Song has a base of Earl Grey Moonlight, which is Adagio’s vanilla/cream earl grey. It also contains Rooibos Lemon Cloud and, looking at the dry leaf, it’s about a 50/50 split between the two. There are a few strands of toasted coconut running throughout as well. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up pretty dark, so I added a splash of milk.

I wasn’t sure about this one when I first read the description, which is probably why I’ve left it until now to try. I’m really impressed, though! The initial flavour is coconut, and it’s a smooth, coconut cream kind of flavour, with none of the soapiness I sometimes get from Adagio’s coconut blends. The lemon emerges in the mid-sip, and is bright and citrussy, but also a touch creamy in the way of lemon mousse. I can detect a touch of bergamot right at the end of the sip, but it’s barely there and by no means overpowering. It does cut through some of the rich creaminess, ending on a sharper citrus note, which is welcome after a few sips. Mostly, though, this is a lemon and coconut cream blend, and it’s as delicious as that sounds. A real tropical dessert tea! I didn’t expect to enjoy this one so much, but it just goes to show I can still surprise myself. An unexpected hit.

Raspberry Earl Grey sounds pretty good to me, and yet I don’t think I’ve ever tried/come across one before. Not that I can remember, anyway. The dry leaf smells pretty good, in a sweet, candy-raspberry sort of way. I can see pieces of dried raspberry, cubes of dried apple, and a scattering of lavender, so it looks pretty good too. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in boiling water. The lavender is a lot more prominent in the scent once brewed.

To taste, raspberry is definitely the main flavour. This is a good thing, to my mind. It’s nicely done, with a pleasant sweet/tart balance, and it’s not too candy-like. It’s not exactly dead-on fresh raspberry, either, but it’s close. I’m also enjoying the earl grey aspect, with it’s mild notes of bitter orange, and lightly floral, lavender edge. Neither the bergamot nor the lavender have become overpowering, which is a relief. They’re not my favourite flavours, but I’ll concede that they work well here.

This one made for a pleasant mid-afternoon cup, and it’s made me wonder whether there are other red-fruit flavoured earl grey blends out there that I’ve not come across. This could be the start of a new obsession.

So I’m finally getting around to writing notes for the remainder of my Adagio Doctor Who teas, which I’ve been drinking my way through for a little while now, but apparently not logging. Hmm. I’ve had two cups of Captain Jack this morning – he’s that good. Adagio’s Ceylon base isn’t my favourite – I find it a little thin and a bit over-citrussy, and it has a tendency to become bitter. It’s not bad here, though – I think the addition of rooibos helps to tone it down a bit. Equally, the ceylon stops the rooibos from being overpoweringly woodsy, so maybe it’s a good pairing after all. It works, anyway. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in boiling water. The kitchen smelled deliciously chocolatey, so I added a splash of milk because that’s the kind of mood I’m in – I want something creamy, decadent, and warming. It’s cold today, and I put my winter boots and coat on for the first time this morning – that must mean it’s comfort tea time!

Anyway, the main flavour I can taste here is chocolate. It’s a dark, slightly bittersweet, cocoa-heavy chocolate, the kind that would taste a little dry if you were to eat it. There’s a touch of almond, too, but it’s not strong. The nuttiness is a nice counterpoint to the chocolate, at any rate, and pairs really well. It takes this one from being an ordinary, fairly unremarkable chocolate tea and makes it into something a bit more special and dessert-like.

I enjoyed this one. It’s smooth and seductive, like the Captain, and it’s one I’d consider repurchasing if I ever get my cupboard back under control. Total yum.

This is one of my all time favorite teas. Great for waking up in the morning with Irish Breakfast, and the spices really give it a nice kick.

This has to be one of the best blends I’ve had. Even if you’re not crazy about Peppermint, the vanilla and slightly lemony characteristics help make it less overbearing. Even when I serve it hot it leaves this slightly cool sensation in the mouth. A lot of people look down on big blends due to the focus being on the flavoring rather than the tea, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to enjoy a little frivolity in your tea. I serve this one with a little vanilla froth on top and add a little honey, legitimately just a little or it can get cloying as with any tea.

A very nice tea with a good peach flavor. I received this as a free sample at a tea party. I’m not a huge fan of peach, so I probably wouldn’t buy this by itself, but it was pretty good!

Following the suggestion of other reviewers, I reduced the temperature and steep time dramatically, and it’s really an improvement! (Previously I was doing boiling, 10 min.) Used a heaping teaspoon again since the pieces are so large.

Molly is my favorite character on Sherlock, mostly because I identify with her a lot so I bought this tea. This is a really nice tea to relax with. The pieces are large so I usually wind up with a heaping teaspoon. I steep for 10 minutes with boiling water (shorter is too weak a flavor), but I’m seeing other reviewers treat this as a white tea so I will try that next time.

An Ode to Tea challenge #2– D

additional notes:  I’m not sure why I went with a chai on this hot day.  Probably because it started with ‘D’ I guess.  It was a nice comforting last steep session – LOTS of nutmeg, which I’m not sure I noticed was even here before?  Warming and sweet, not chai really.  Definitely a lot of that roasted wuyi oolong here, but it’s probably faded more now with age, so I probably like it more now. Reading my older note, I think it’s a completely different tea now. Great, now I’ll miss this blend when I didn’t even rate it that highly.
2021 sipdowns: 93

Sherlock tea! Thanks, MissB! I actually like this one. It kind of tastes like baked goods or something, which incidentally in my dream last night, Benedict Cumberbatch was packing up pastries for me in a bakery. What a coincidence, but the dream is kind of why I had a Sherlock tea today. This one is a combination of Adagio’s Mambo black, Chocolate chai and Almond. It’s tasty – a sweet cup. More enjoyable than I thought it would be, though I know I love the Mambo. The chocolate in the chocolate chai doesn’t seem to be very chocolate, and the spice of the chai seems to be mostly cinnamon. The almond is plenty present though! Overall, this one tastes like an almond cinnamon roll of some sort.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4-5 min

Yesterday at work was the busiest shift I’ve ever done, and I came down with flu in the middle of it and had to work through until the early hours of this morning. So I’ve spent today curled up in bed watching Torchwood and feeling sorry for myself. I haven’t drank much tea because it hurts to swallow and the flu is making everything taste funny, but I just watched the saddest episode of Torchwood and needed some comfort. It’s not tasting as good as normal partly because I underleafed and partly because I’m ill, but it is making me feel a little better. I wish I had a Ianto tea, but this will do.

Mmmmh, drinking this whilst rewatching Torchwood, for no good reason other than I fancied me some John Barrowman. 3/4 teaspoon of sugar and a splash of skimmed milk. I’d prefer it without the milk since it masks some of the chocolate almond flavour, but it’s better than drinking it astringent without. The base black tea is really the only letdown here. Still tastes like chocolate marzipan bread and the scent still fills the whole room.

I’m really surprised I haven’t logged this one already! I should really be working through the EU TTB teas before going back to my own, but there’s a lot of unflavoured teas in that box and everyone’s talking about Doctor Who because it starts on Saturday and drinking Doctor Who teas and I wanted it okay? Maybe I shouldn’t be drinking tea this close to bedtime, but it’s half rooibos which in my mind makes it practically caffeine free. The description says you can take it to bed but it might keep you up all night, which is pretty accurate. Despite having caffeine, it’s very relaxing and definitely a good drink to have in bed while I read a bit and catch up on steepster before I go to sleep. It’s smooth and silky and seductive and a good fit for the captain, I think. I left the tea brewing and went to get changed. When I came back, the whole kitchen and utility room were filled with the delicious intoxicating chocolate scent. Because of this, and because it’s bedtime, I added half a spoon of homemade vanilla sugar and a splash of skimmed milk, and it became quite decadent. It was good on its own too, with a dark chocolate taste dominating, and the base teas working well together. The black base masks the moodiness of the rooibos, and the rooibos masks the usual bitterness of the adagio black tea base. With the additions the almond comes through a little better, though the dominant flavour is still the chocolate, which is more of a milk chocolate flavour now. It’s a fairly robust cup of tea considering that it’s half rooibos. I’ve just reached the bottom of my cup and would quite like another. If it weren’t 1:30am I would probably have one. I’m getting excited for the new series now!

This was a sipdown today. I had the choice between two weaker cups and one stronger one, and in the end I went for the stronger option and threw in all of the remaining leaf. I’ve enjoyed this one for its caramel flavour, but I was hoping for at least some sesame maybe some of the time. I got none. Still, you can’t win them all.

This tea is actually one of three sipdowns I’ve achieved this morning. The others were River Song (also from the Adagio Doctor Who fandom tea sampler) and David’s Organic Egyptian Chamomile. I’m going to try and finish my sample of ESP Emporium’s Lime Deluxe (from the EU TTB) this afternoon as well. At least it feels like I’m making some progress on my cupboard, even though it’s grown again recently!

Yesterday’s post contained another two tea orders – one from 52 Teas (inspired by the Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha I drank last Friday) which contained 8 taster pouches, the other a David’s box set that I picked up on Ebay – so another 8 in there. I’ve got one more order en route, from Liquid Proust, which is probably the one I’m most excited about. My cupboard will explode if I go over 300 (I will not allow this – I think it’s only happened once!), but that order was inevitable. I might sneak in another Bluebird before Christmas, but I have to promise myself that I really will stop there.

I really will stop there.

I think.

Last night’s early evening cup, to accompany the Great British Bake-Off on TV. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up pretty dark (darker than I was expecting given that this one seems to be pretty much 50/50 assam to rooibos), so I added a splash of milk.

To taste, I’m mostly getting the sweet maltiness of the Assam followed by the even sweeter creaminess of caramel. I know there’s supposed to be sesame in this one, and that’s one of the reasons why I was excited to try it. Sadly, I didn’t even get a whiff of sesame – I guess it was overpowered by the assam/caramel, which are pretty strong flavours in their own right, or maybe the milk drowned it out. Either that, or I need to shake my tin up a bit. I think next time I’ll maybe try it without milk (maybe a shorter brew time), and see if that changes things at all.

If it doesn’t, I won’t be too sad. I mean, it’s a pretty good caramel tea as it is at the moment, and I like caramel tea. It’s not the best one I’ve ever tried, but it’s rich and creamy and sweet, with a decent base, and not at all thin tasting. That in itself is all right with me.

One of my favourite blends ever.

First tea of the day. I’m glad this week’s finally over – it’s been a long and difficult one for sure. I tend to gravitate towards Chai or Earl Grey when I’m tired – maybe it’s a comfort thing. This one was sitting out waiting to be tried, so it finally got its turn. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk.

The first thing I noticed about this one was the underlying sweetness. At first I thought cherry, but it’s not quite like that. Cranberry is more like it – just a little tarter. There’s also a distinctive creaminess, which is more than the milk I added. Vanilla maybe. There’s a touch of orange in the aftertaste, but it’s kind of “orange squash” artificial. The chai spices are fairly subtle here, but there’s clove, cinnamon and caradmom for sure. It’s not an overpowering blend, so it allows the fruit flavours to shine. A really nice, distinctive chai. Just the thing for a lazy summer Saturday.

This is my favorite tea right now. It’s so comforting without being weak- unlike a lot of the other comforting flavors adagio offers. I was given the 3oz bag as a christmas/graduation present and happened to discover that it is particularly perfect on rainy dull mornings when you just want to stay in bed but you can’t. (It’s uplifting without being harsh.) I would drink it every day if I weren’t worried about running out of it before I can afford to order a 6oz tin.

Additional notes: Had to drink a Sherlock tea today as I was planning on watching the last episode of this season (or was it forever?) today. This season was cray cray. I just loved how the seasons were each set up, very well done overall, even the adrift Abominable Bride episode tried to solve Moriarty’s return while still leaving a question. It’s been a fun ride all these years. I NEVER usually sit in front of TV and flip through channels randomly (I usually know what I’ll be watching) but I think it was very much fate when I found the very first airing of the very first episode all those years ago. I know Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson have bigger careers now, but I wish they would keep the show going for a few more years. It’s something special. I remember hearing that Cumberbatch never wanted to be on lunchboxes, so I hope he doesn’t let those lunchbox projects stop Sherlock. (Though isn’t Sherlock probably on a lunchbox by now? Should be!)
This tea is better than I remembered, it’s a little syrupy now, unlike Mrs. Hudson’s badass middle episode of the season this year. I’ll raise the rating from a 68. Next time this will be a sipdown, but I’m hoping Sherlock the show isn’t a “sipdown”!!