Tiger Eye

I have wanted to like this since all those years ago when I tried it first. Back then, this was massively bitter and harsh. Now I find it a lot smoother. This is a plus, likely due to my change in tastes. My issue is the flavorings.

Mostly I just don’t detect much. There are cacao husks on the ingredients list, but I don’t see any in the tea. I frequently make a tisane out of nothing but cacao husks so I know what it should taste like and its just not here. I can smell/taste a little bit of chocolate but honestly it makes me think more of artificial flavoring and not actual cacao.

There’s also supposed to be caramel in here as well and it also seems rather light/bland as well as tasting like artificial flavoring.

I’ve had issues with another Adagio tea that I thought tasted bland so I will likely try this again another time with a longer than I usually do steeping time.
I used about 1 Tbsp of leaves for ~8oz of water steeped ~2m.
Next time will increase that steep time to 3-4m and see if it has any positive affect.

The first few sips of this one didn’t excite me. I thought it a fairly weak black, and the flavor profile vague and not at all what I expected. Too fruity? But by the time I had finished my mug, I changed my mind. The flavor seemed to grow on me, gaining strength and definition. I was now picking up a lot of the chocolate and caramel advertised, and enjoying it thoroughly.

I tried a second steeping with some added Chestnut. This is turning into my go-to strategy for all the Adagio blacks, and it hasn’t let me down yet. The combination was fantastic. Is there anything that doesn’t pair well with Chestnut? If so, I haven’t found it yet!

Ugh. One day I’ll remember how much I hate caramel/chocolate teas and I’ll stop buying them. I don’t know why I bought this.

It’s not the worst with a little bit of cream and sugar. Kind of like a caramel latte that way. I’m unsure about it. I’ve had way worse “dessert”-flavored teas, though.

I was half awake while making my tea this morning and just randomly was digging through my samples. When I got to work and opened my thermos I was like ‘whoaaa, what’s this? CHOCOLATE!!!’ But it’s not Valentines?

This tea is indeed to my senses very chocolate and malt. It reminds me of Whoppers… without all the sugar. =D. It did Ok grandpa brewing. It is a heavier tea than I usually prefer for an all day steeper, but it didn’t do too bad.

Also, when I say grandpa brewing, for me that also means vacuum thermos and 195*F water and a few ice cubes, just to cool it enough to drinkable temperature in the initial brewing. Then I cap it and keep adding more water through the day when it drops to about 3/4 empty. The first ‘steep’ from when I add water to when I get to taste it is usually 1-2 hrs.

This has been my mother’s favorite tea for a long time, so after looking through her cupboard today, I decided to finally give it a shot.

In the bag, it smells delicious. The caramel/chocolate-y aroma wafts up and reminds me of Girl Scout cookies or freshly baked chocolate cake. I was really impressed and excited to try it, so I steeped it for 3 minutes at just under boiling temp.

In the cup, the sweet deliciousness from the aroma somewhat disappears. The black tea base comes out pretty strongly, making the cup almost bitter, and adding milk only seemed to water it down rather than cut the bitterness (disappointing). I haven’t tried it with honey or sugar yet, but I hope a half teaspoon of rock sugar or brown sugar would help bring out the caramel and chocolate without ruining the nuances of the tea base itself (which I like tasting…but not in a “in your face!” sort of way).

The chocolate I can taste pretty easily. It’s the first thing that sweeps across my palate when I take a sip. However, the caramel needs a little more coaxing because I can hardly taste it right now. I think sugar would help that.

Overall, this is a tea that tries really hard to be lovely, and I think it has great potential to be a nice dessert tea without the added calories. However, it’s not quite there for me, personally.

I was afraid from the smell that it would be too overpowering, but it was just right, and the base black tea was really smooth going down, too. It’s a really great dessert tea.

This is the tea I drink when I’m craving a frilly coffee drink but don’t want the calories. It’s dark and rich, but doesn’t really taste good without sweetener. A bit of stevia made it lovely, and a splash of milk or cream probably wouldn’t go amiss.