Adagio Teas

This was an Adagio sample pack that I received from Nicole – many thanks!

I wanted a caffeine free cup of tea that would be a nice follow up to a bowl of ice cream. This sounded dessert-y and fulfilled the requirement of having no caffeine. Much to my surprise I really liked it – enough that I will probably order it for a friend who is having trouble with caffeine.

This is banana bread with chocolate chips, and spot on. I didn’t expect so much chocolate flavor, but it isn’t too much. Everything here was really just right for what this tea is supposed to be. I bet it will be great with milk and sugar for a cozy winter cup of tea, but it was super good plain.

Sharedown

Forewarning – I generally don’t care for chai. I don’t like much ginger in tea, I am not a fan of much clove or really heavy cinnamon use, I don’t love black pepper in tea, I try not to add milk or sugar because I have plenty of sugar elsewhere in my diet. So take this tasting note with a grain of salt if you love chai.

I had it first for breakfast, served with an omelet and buttered English muffin. The omelet was made with a fresh olive egger egg with a lovely green shell, cherry tomatoes from our garden that I dried last summer, and chives and German thyme that I picked this morning.
With all that going on, the tea had to compete.

It wasn’t horrible. I didn’t hate it. The chocolate seemed almost chemical-y at first but I decided it might the ginger adulterating it. It was fine and I drank a small pot of it with no problem.

This afternoon I thought I would give it a fair shake and prepare it a little more how chai is intended to be served. I steeped it western style and then added milk and sugar. The chocolate aroma now seemed much more natural and more prominent. It smelled a bit like a chocolate eclair. But it was still a type of tea I don’t love and adding milk and sugar did not turn it into the cozy comforting cup I was hoping it would.

I am rehoming this to my neighbor who I think will like it very much indeed.

At first, I quite enjoyed this one. The cream really comes through, and the decaf black base isn’t bad at all. With sugar and milk, this becomes a desserty tea. The resteep was strong too. My mistake was buying 3 oz, and I unfortunately got pretty tired of it since it’s a simple flavor profile. The cream just started tasting thin and fake to me.

Yesterday I received two amazing boxes of tea in the mail from our Nichole. Thank you so much!

I am shocked that this tea wasn’t already in the database because I think it is the best tea from Adagio that I have ever had.

The aroma of the dry leaves is fruity and the bergamot and pomegranate are so balanced that you don’t get a snootful of bergamot sharpness but rather a bright and exciting fruity scent.

The steeped tea is rich and the caramel and vanilla come through more here than in the dry leaf aroma.

This isn’t an exact rehash of the popular Paris by Harney and Sons. Instead of blackcurrant we have pomegranate and the bergamot is lighter in this to me.

It is delightful and deserves a place on shelf for breakfasts as well as solitary sipping cups sans food. Would definitely purchase this.

Picked up a sample of this one the last time I ordered from Adagio. I’ve been enjoying cold-brewed fruit tisanes lately, and since this is a limited Spring flavor I figured I would try it while it’s available.

It’s a nice enough mixed berries & hibiscus sort of blend. I did add a bit of sugar to the pitcher, as I usually do with hibiscus-heavy tisanes. I taste blueberry and blackberry in fairly equal measure. Strawberry gets a bit hidden by the stronger, darker berries, but is subtly present in the background. I don’t really get cream though – there is a bit of a smoothing of the edges, but I wouldn’t specifically call it creamy.

Good but nothing special to my tastebuds, and I already have some other berry and hibiscus blends that are similar, so not a reorder for me.

Another single serve portion that I got from cards.

This was pleasant enough. I could’ve sworn I was tasting cream flavor, but I guess that creaminess must’ve just been coming from the white tea. It was giving me a peaches ‘n’ cream vibe, but with apricot. The apricot was a bit too subtle for my tastes though, I would’ve liked a more juicy and concentrated flavor. Otherwise, a light and pleasant tea with the soft hay notes of the white tea and a touch of honeyed chamomile. I didn’t seem to notice the lemongrass, but the sample was so small that it’s possible the ratio of ingredients was off.

Not something I would order, but has me thinking about finding myself a tea with apricot and cream…

Not counting this as a sipdown since it was just a single serving. Adagio doesn’t offer samples in their zodiac teas for some weird reason, so I’m always happy when I have an opportunity to get one of the single portions, usually through cards. I don’t even like Adagio much, generally speaking, and yet I feel compelled to try all of their zodiac teas. (shrugs)

This one is fine, if a bit generic. It’s a very mild chai, and the base tastes a bit thin as well, even though I only used 8 ounces of water. But it’s smooth and likeable enough, even if the black tea is a bit bland. Cinnamon is the strongest to my palate, followed by the clove and ginger. Not picking up on cardamom at all. Fine and pleasant but not something I would order, and I feel like a spiced tea is a bit cliché for a fire theme/sign. :P

Sipdown & Backlog April 28, 2024

Maybe I’m built differently because this blend works due to the lemongrass, coconut, and pineapple. Back in the days of working at Teavana, I’d have plenty of cups of their version of the White Ayurvedic Chai or the Samurai Chai. Thankfully, Adagio Teas has seemed to get the recipe spot on. I’ll probably get a larger amount of this one during the Fall/Winter on the account of that being the peak season for chai in the home. The aromatics alone make me long for wearing a sweater again! However, we are now sitting in the 80s, which is grand. Anything hotter than this, I’ll be staying inside (unless I’m in the woods hiking and carrying an insane amount of water in my pack).

I still miss CuppaGeek, and the green and lemon tea was my favorite. This comes really, really close. There’s a little orange and some apple bits tossed in there, which make the lemon a little less lemony, but the vanilla and marigold give it that pillowy, marshmallowy flavor that is really making me miss my mom’s pies.

Sipdown

This was a subtle cup with mild flavors. It didn’t capture my attention too much. Was it good? I guess.

From Meowster a while ago! Thank you! Despite its age, this is a flavorful oolong. Neither too delicate and light or too roasted and harsh. I actually steeped it four times (rather than my usual three with most oolongs) as I was getting along with it so well. The flavor notes are hard to find, but it’s agreeable and tasty. It’s GOOD OOLONG.
Steep #1 // 23 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 3 min

I taste a lot of cardamom, though the base itself is a bit thin. I also may taste a bit of ginger and hints of other spices. I got this sample in a TTB, and only about 1.5 teaspoons remained, so maybe I should have put in even less water than I did. Average, though enjoyable.

I’m not really a fan of anise but I like everything else in the flavor.

Evening cuppa enjoyed outside with Ashman. This was in the free Communitea sampler included in my Adagio order.

There were two caffeine free samples left but the other had red rooibos so I opted for this.
The aroma is quite strong. The blend is mixed chopped browns and reds.

I have never had plain honeybush on its own but I have enjoyed a number of blends made with it. This has thin body but lots of hazelnut flavor. I enjoyed it. I think it could be quite decadent made as a latte.

I think it was last night that we split this sample from the Communitea sample that came with my Adagio order, but it may have been the night before that. Yesterday was so busy that I have lost track.

I made a valerian tea for Ashman years ago when he was having issues with insomnia, but it had lots of licorice root and other herbs that somewhat masked the smell and taste. When I handed him this tea, he paused and then said, “This tea has a…..smell. A really strong….smell.”

“No, sir,” I told him. “This tea has a stank. There is nothing else to call it but a stank.”

In spite of the stank, it went down okay. It did have a kit of chamomile flavor that made it through the stank. As to whether it helped me sleep, I am not sure. I feel that my sleep was pretty much normal, although I have had some vivid dreams lately as it creeps toward time to get up.

I would not buy this for the taste or aroma, but if it really helped me sleep when I needed to, I would drink it.

This tea was a sample with my Brigadoon Breakfast order.

The aroma of the dry blend was heavenly. I prepared myself for a super fruity treat on this warm and sunny spring day of outside yard work.

The steeped tea is quite different, though! Now it smells like cinnamon candy, the kind that is so strong that it tastes like clove. Because of the drastic change, I sweetened it and put it in the fridge to chill and drank it with lunch instead.

It wasn’t bad, but I am not a cinnamon candy fan, and I was so looking forward to the tropical fruit flavors I smelled in the dry blend. I am glad I got to try it, but I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

When I ordered Brigadoon Breakfast, Adagio sent me a one week sample box from their Communi-tea subscription. You also get a one week membership in their Communitea group that drinks the same tea each day. Subscription boxes have thirty teas each. I was pretty excited to get this one week sample!

I was less excited with the first tea because of the type. I just don’t like red rooibos but I decided to give it a go anyway.

My sample had a couple of pieces of dried apple in it. The peach aroma was pretty subdued by the rooibos aroma. I have more success with flavored rooibos as a sweet iced tea so that is how I prepared this.

It resteeped well for a combination of the two steeps giving me a quart jar to which I added sugar and put in the fridge to chill.

Aroma and taste of the tea is heavy on the rooibos but the peach flavor is nice. Anyone who likes red rooibos would probably love this tea. I can get past the rooibos enough this way to drink it over the next couple of days.

Thanks to our encourager and enabler ashmanra, I have fallen toes-over-teacup in love with Brigadoon. I think it’s the cornflower that gives it the little extra starchy sweetness that distinguishes it from conventional breakfast tea.

I’m trying to enjoy it while it’s fresh and new. But since hoarding is hard-wired into my DNA, I was reluctant to shell out enough teaspoons to make iced tea with it. However, it is delicious cold! Smooth and inherently sweet.

There has been enough of a lull in May Missouri monsoon season to dry us out and make it possible to sit in the glider without the wet cushions soaking you clear to your skivvies. To celebrate, I broke out the good stuff! I’m still pondering which element in the blend is the one that makes me smile every time I sip it, but it may be the cornflower which adds a little sweet starch to the Assam base. Doesn’t have the caffeine kick I need on workday mornings, but for a leisurely Sunday among the tomato plants…perfect.

Fine. I am marking my calendar for February 29, 2028 NOW. This is a marketing gimmick and a half (only available on leap days), but it’s also a really smooth and sophisticated breakfast tea. Assam is my love language, and the addition of cornflower/silver needle lightened it up a little—I kept getting hints of Lucky Charms marshmallows in the cup this morning.

Thanks, ashmanra … I laid your little sample packet out last night because I knew I was going to need something special to get me up and moving on Daylight Savings Sunday!

Sipdown!

I didn’t want to hoard this tea for the next four years, waiting for it to come back. Ashman was enjoying it so much that I am determined to find a good breakfast tea he will enjoy equally. His Bailin Gong Fu is sometimes not as strong as I want at breakfast but I don’t want a pure Assam unless it is smooth enough to drink plain without hurting my tummy.

We had a big pot for breakfast, hot with no additions. At lunch I iced what remained. For afternoon snack, I made the last little bit and added some lavender syrup that I made yesterday from my absolutely ancient stash of Harney and Sons lavender that I bought by the pound and will absolutely buy again when this batch is gone. I love it but it can end up being neglected when you have too many teas on shelf and you are the only one who drinks it. But Ashman is enjoying the blend of iced Brigadoon with lavender syrup, so maybe he is coming around to some new floral teas!

March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a breakfast tea

I have been eagerly awaiting this tea. I broke my buying ban because I fell for the gimmick of releasing this tea only on Leap Day AND for the really good reviews I have seen, beginning with Nicole’s review on Sororitea Sisters blog.

It is everything the most favorable reviews said. It is Assam, Keemun, silver tips, and blue cornflower, but the main aroma of dry leaf and steeped tea is Assam. Since Assam can give me a stomach ache if it is too harsh, I gave this a three minute steep. It has all the strength of Assam but none of the stomach irritation. Think of it as a top notch Scottish or Irish Breakfast blend.

Since I had to wait for the post to bring it to try it, I was having it in the afternoon with Fortnum and Mason Florentine cookies and they were very nice together, but tomorrow morning it will definitely be my breakfast tea!

I am really glad I bought two bags, and almost wish I had bought three. And they sent an amazing sampler box of six or seven different loose leaf teas with it!

The cardamom is strong with this one. I don’t hate it but I find it to be a flavor that reallly need to be balanced well. Like cilantro. Of course, cilantro also tastes like soap to me so… Ew cilantro tea…. gag. Anyway, this one is… okay. the rooibos is a bit subdued and I’m not really sure I like the addition of the cocoa nibs. But ultimately it’s the cardamom that keeps winding all the flavors back to it.

Was hoping this would cut my afternoon candy craving. Not so much…like many chocolate teas (disclaimer: this is a year-old sample) it comes across as artificially boozy. Doctored with the contents of a honey straw, it’s drinkable and the mug is keeping my hands warm, which was my secondary MO for steeping this cup.