Adagio Custom Blends, Aun-Juli Riddle

331/365

Finally there, with the last of the Game of Tea fandom sampler blends! This one’s a blend of Masala Chai, Tiger Eye, and Gunpowder – which strikes me as a pretty odd combination.

To taste, the gunpowder is more prominent than I’d have liked it to be – it’s a little dank tasting in the way it sometimes can be. Like stagnant water in a well. It’s not quite bitter, but I feel like it’s getting there…and I’m pretty sure it’s not my brewing parameters since I was careful, knowing gunpowder not to be a favourite of mine generally.

The chai isn’t a fantastic combo with this particular type of green tea, I don’t think. I can almost see it working, but I entirely for the wrong reasons – I appreciated it most because it was a distraction from the gunpowder, and not because I thought the combination was a pleasing one. It’s spicy, so yay for dragons this time, but not overpoweringly so. It would take a lot to overpower this base tea, though!

There’s a generous amount of cinnamon, which I can appreciate, but I can’t taste the Tiger Eye at all. In hindsight, that’s probably a good thing – I’m not sure caramel would have helped here, and possibly it would have been a step too far.

This one was okay, but I don’t think it was the greatest combination and I didn’t like it much personally. Having said that, it was probably the spiciest of all the blends from the sampler, and that’s what I’ve been looking for all along. Perhaps I’m just hard to please?!

328/365

Almost there with the Game of Tea fandom sampler – I’m pretty sure there’s just one more left to try after this one. This one’s a blend of Masala Chai, Almond, Tiger Eye, and Coconut. Initially, I thought it tasted a little bitter – there’s quite a lot of spice, which makes it taste pretty dry. It’s not especially fiery, but there is a pleasant background warmth. I can enjoy that in a chai. The almond is also quite prominent, although I think it might be contributing to the bitterness. This isn’t a marzipan-esque almond flavour, but more like one of those odd rare almonds that makes your lips go numb.

I can’t taste any coconut at all, although that’s not much of a surprise given all the other flavours it’s competing with. There’s not really much caramel from the Tiger Eye, either. I found this pretty average, on the whole. It mostly tastes like a regular chai, but with a little extra nuttiness and a whole lot of bitterness. There are definitely better chai blends out there, although I do appreciate this one for the fandom connection. I just wish it was more…well, dragonish!

This is my first experience with Adagio. I quite enjoyed this one. I drank it black and found it chocolatey and creamy on a mild enough black base. Pleasant. I could see this one growing on me.

Thank you, VariaTEA.

So yesterday my sister took my to a furniture store and they had candy EVERYWHERE. Mostly they had those chewy caramel squares which I snuck into my sister’s purse. When I ate one in the car, it tasted like cardboard and caramel. This tea tastes like that caramel cardboard.

Hello Tiger Eye! The chocolate and caramel is strong with this one. I don’t love Adagio’s black teas and this is no exception as the flavoring is artificial and processed but it has more flavor than I anticipated. I don’t get any pineapple though and there definitely was a chunk of it in my filter. Oh well.

Latte Sipdown (317)

This tastes like chocolate. Chocolate and cream. I haven’t loved it the few times I have had this before but it makes a pretty good latte. For those that have this tea on hand, I would definitely recommend this brewing method. This was a good way to say goodbye and I will bump my rating because of it but I don’t think I need more of this.

This is okay. A little creamy. A little chocolate. A little astringent. A whole lotta Adagio black tea flavor. It is alright though not my favorite.

Very cozy and comforting and the spice is well balanced. It is a good tea that won’t distract from your book (or whatever else you need to be focused on). Great for people who want something enjoyable that doesn’t require conscious attention to enjoy fully/properly. Excellent for reading/studying.

HHTTB

First sip: Bleeeech! Hibiscus?!
Second sip: Yuck. Hibiscus.
Third sip: Hibiscus… WHY?! Why would you do that?!
Fourth sip: Hibiscus and… coffee? I don’t get it.

Fine.

If there were dragons on every chai tin I’d probably drink more chai.

Based on the pungent aroma of the dry leaf, I was expecting this one to brew up stronger than it did. The cinnamon and cloves were definitely present, but there was equal weight given to this caramel-like flavour. The aroma of the liquor is swelling with caramel and vanilla notes, and I wish that was developed more in the flavour profile.

Still, this wasn’t a terrible dessert chai; I thought I would like it less than I did. Maybe I can draw out some of my favourite aspects more if I tweak the parameters .

cavocorax gave me this one and i’ve been saving it because it sounded terribly delicious to me. that being said, once i brewed it up, the citrus is a little too over powering. I am relaly loving the caramel smell and taste, but struggling to find the harmonious balance with the citrus in this tea. That being said, maybe that’s why it’s a good hannibal tea since that show is messed up lol. Still enjoying it, though i wish things were a little more gounded and balanced :)

Got this from the T&C TTB and I was so excited when I saw it. I love Hannibal, and I was very curious to see what this tea would be like. Reading others’ reviews, I can’t help but to feel like I’m not having the same tea as everybody else, because my cup had strong notes of caramel, with a nuttiness and cinnamon. It was slightly toasty as well. I was like “WOW :o:o” when I took my first sip. I think these are the strongest caramel notes I’ve gotten in a tea.

T&C TTB#9: Well, when wet the leaves smell strongly of cinnamon, spice and orange. It tastes more like just cinnamon to me. A little orange maybe in the background. It’s okay, but I’m not really a spice tea person unless it is in a chai latte.

How appropriate!

I’m reviewing this tea while I read the revised script for the last episode of Hannibal S2. (no spoilers – I’m not allowed to say anything, but I WISH I COULD. :O)

I’m in a total Hannibal mood right now – listening to this awesome music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WP6_m9rRlI&feature=youtu.be) inspired by the show. NBC heard the song and asked to collaborate with the artist to make a official music video and the final product is quite lovely and haunting! Some spoilers for Season 1 there. I don’t think anything important from S2 is in it. Just, give it a listen!

Also, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that we made a ravenstag at the shop. I helped glue the fur and feathers on. Pretty neat!

Anyway, on to the tea review: I think Aun-Juli nailed it. This is show that takes subject matter that churns the stomach and makes it antithetically pleasing. Never has cannibalism looked this good, right? The show is sophisticated and treats it’s audience intelligently, and turns the victims into art… This tea does the same. (See I was going somewhere with this…)

you know. I wanted to really love this tea. I did. But it’s just sort of ok. The pomegranate adds a bit of a fruity feel to this, but the dominant taste is the oriental spice. I was hoping for more of the spice mixing with the cocoa and the caramel but mostly this comes across as a slightly fruit chai sort of spice tea. I don’t hate it..but i wanted more. Thanks for sharing though Cavo! :)

I chose this because Hannibal is on again tonight, and I would be an easy sipdown before passing the rest to Sil, but…

but then I turned on my computer and got my notification from DAVIDsTEA. My tea is outside the house! So this will be the last cup I drink in my fall leaves cup!

Now that I’ve unpacked it, I have to say that the color changing thing is a little weird. Maybe I would have liked the Perfect Mug more? It basically looks like the whales are stickers just stuck on top of the lid. I can even see a bit of white lining the sticker on the whale that’s on the mug! (http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2hdpgde&s=8) Maybe that’s just how it works with the changing color mugs? And I never noticed because my Fall leaves cup had delicate lines every where so they felt like they were actually part of the mug? Either way. I’m not disappointed yet. For the most part, my leaves are in tact, so I’m sure I can care for my whales.

Whaaaaaaaales!

Oh, also, Hannibal… This is an odd tea. I actually don’t like it at first but I do after a few sips. It’s just spicy and surprising. I can taste the pomegranate, ginger, and the cinnamon mostly.. A lot of cinnamon. And that’s surprising.

I wonder why the blender chose Cinnamon? Is that muskiness going to be the last thing you smell before he kills you? Hmmm…

(sipdown 190 – woah what happened to getting to 150? lol)

My teas from Aun-Juli arrived JUST IN TIME. Today is the premiere for Season 2 of Hannibal. You guys – watch it! Set your PVR’s or whatever and check it out!

I love the show, and I want to keep working on the show, so lets get the ratings up there so we get Season 3 and more!!!

To celebrate I am drinking my Hannibal themed teas.

First off, the man himself… This is an interesting tea. It’s black, it’s dark, there’s spice, and a little bit of sweetness. It’s complicated. Thought provoking. Contemplative. Also, maybe just a little not right. But I’m still compelled to drink a little more…

And more…

Who’s consuming whom?

Oh, btw, Mads was on Twitter and Tumblr last night to help promote the show. It was his first time and he was awesome. He loves us Fannibals! :D (even though NBC showed him fanart, and fannish/pornish art and the Fannibal fandom basically exploded with shame and fear, and he was totally cool with it all!)