This tea is a robust cup of comfort. The smell of the dry leaves is surprisingly sweet, undoubtedly due to the honeybush hazelnut, but the wet leaves smell more like earthy black tea.
To brew a strong cuppa, I added one-and-a-half spoonfuls of tea to one cup of water that had only just stopped boiling and let it steep for five minutes. I, of course, drank this with skim milk, as I do with most of my black teas. The mouthfeel is smooth—other reviews on Adagio refer to this as “creamy,” a term with which I must agree—and the assam and Irish breakfast teas give it pleasant body.
I recommend this tea for a rather dreary afternoon, when all you really want is to climb back in bed. This tea gives you a kick in a lovely cuppa.