Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

This is one of my favorite teas. The chocolate chai makes it sweet on it’s own while the hazelnut and Irish Breakfast make it strong.

A nice strong tea with a good flavor. Can’t taste the chocolate, but the mate really comes through.

I use a steep and go mug during the week, and this is a bit bitter for that.

Not sure if I oversteeped this or used too much, or it’s just that these dogs are really feral but it is a bit overpowering/bitey. Would still recommend, just go easy on the tea:water ratio

Another hit out of the park from Cara. What looks like a hodgepodge of flavors, reading the ingredient list makes me think of mixing a lot of “tea remnants” together to make a enough to brew, but turns out to be delicious.
I know Adagio likes to “ship” their custom fandom teas together, but it really does go well when paired with Cara’s Steve Rogers blend and a tea biscuit.

A pleasant tea, but more rooibis flavoured than I generally like.

A creamy pumpkin spicey sort.

Very coconutty – nice but you have to be in the mood for it.

Lovely strong assam!

Creamy chai-y goodness with an earl grey undertone. Smooth and silky and a little spicy.

Ah, Rory the Roman. I drank this earlier watching the end of DW series 5 and it was tasty as always. My version of this blend is the old one with sweet potato, and I really think that that’s the element that makes this tea so yummy. I’m sad that it got discontinued, because I’d likely keep this in stock if it were still a part of the blend. I didn’t review Amy or 11 when I drank them but I’m finished going through my DW sampler again now. I’ll give more detailed notes on those (and this) later but for now I’m concentrating on my Butiki stash.

Drank with milk and sugar.

Sipdown 74/391!! (I’m still on a no-buy, but VariaTEA very generously sent me a load of samples and it’s single-handedly destroyed my hopes of reaching 400 by the end of the month).

This was a very fitting final cup and a lovely way to part – for now, at least – with this tea. I drank my final cup from my Arthur Conan Doyle mug whilst watching the last episode of Sherlock series 4, and made sure I had plenty of time beforehand to make it properly for once. Either the base has gotten weaker over time or I’m getting more used to astringency and brisk teas, because I drank it without milk and had no inclination to add any. Either way it was really lovely. The Earl Grey bergamot note was much more present this time, and the cinnamon took more of a back seat but was still noticeable, and gave a lovely warmth which grew as I drank the cup. This tea fits John well, and I enjoyed it almost as much as I did the finale. I will most likely buy a bag of this in the future, too, even though Adagio have raised their prices on it by over 20% since the last time I bought it grumbles.

Upping my rating again, this time from 80.

Drinking this again because it’s SHERLOCK NIGHT! I think my second sample tin will be all gone this time next week, sadly. Perfect timing, though. This was weak tonight because I had to choose between a weak cup of tea and missing the start of Sherlock, and well, there aren’t many things I’d choose over tea, but Sherlock is one of them (especially when I’ve drank said tea many times before). I will make sure I brew it properly for the send-off, though. Cinnamon was actually surprisingly prominent and Sherlock was amazing.

Upping my rating from 73 because this tea consistently makes me happy.

I can’t believe I’ve never reviewed this tea! I’ve drank almost two full tins now and I could have sworn I’d written about it. When I first bought the Sherlock fandom sampler, the tin from this tea kept popping open, so I emailed Adagio and asked if it would be possible for them to send me an empty tin for me to transfer the tea into since I wanted to keep them after the teas had been drank. They were good enough to send me another full tin, and so I’ve had twice as much of this than any of the others in the set. Now that I’ve written that, I’m even more sure I wrote a tasting note on it before, because I swear I remember mentioning that story the last time, too… weird…

I’m almost done with this one now, and I have a feeling in a couple of weeks I’ll be completely out. I drank it on Sunday night watching the first episode of the new series of Sherlock (eep!) and again tonight rewatching it with my mam, who didn’t see it the first time. I’m going to miss the second and third episodes because I’ll be working – is watching TV a valid reason to take a night off? – but I’m sure I’ll drink it again when I finally get around to watching them. I can’t wait for the next episode!

Anyway, the tea! Good old reliable Watson. I love how much thought has been put into these teas, and this one I think fits John very well. I’ve drank it a variety of ways, but tonight had it with one sugar and a dash of milk. So comforting. It’s strong, but not too strong, with just a familiar hint of bergamot from the Earl Grey green. The cinnamon note comes through at the end of the sip, warming, comforting, and just a little bit different. Like a striped woolly jumper in a mug.

I’m currently watching The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, so it seemed like a good time to have a cup of River, since I watched Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead at 4am on Christmas morning and didn’t feel like tea. I’ve always really enjoyed this blend, and every time I drink it I wonder why I don’t drink it more often. I don’t think I’ve actually looked at the separate ingredients until now, though – it always seemed like a bit of an enigma, only now that I’ve read what’s actually in it it makes perfect sense, a bit like the character herself. This is first and foremost an Earl Grey tea, but it’s soft and creamy rather than harsh and chemically. The bergamot mixes very naturally with the lemon, and the cream and vanilla complement the coconut. Overall I think it’s a very well thought-out blend. Citrussy bergamot and lemon in the initial sip is rounded out with cream and coconut which though only really present as a creaminess at first is much more pronounced at the end of the sip. The bergamot fades and the aftertaste is mainly lemon, cream and coconut to me. It actually reminds me quite a bit – in aftertaste only – of Butiki’s Lemon French Macaron. I am guilty of frequently overlooking this tea, but I actually think that if it’s still available I might pick up some more when I eventually come off my no-buy.

The more this cools, the less flavourful I’m finding it. This is definitely one that’s best when still hot.

ETA: I drank this with milk and half a sugar. The sugar brings out the lemon note more, and milk tackles the mild astringency and brings out more of the coconut.

Thanks for this one a while ago, MissB! I will be having at least one Sherlock tea for the next three Sundays because of… SHERLOCK. I haven’t actually watched today’s episode yet. Maybe tomorrow. I haven’t actually written a tasting note for this tea yet either, because the grapefruit and Ceylon sounded as lame to me as Anderson. :D Turns out, I don’t love it. Surprise surprise. There is definitely grapefruit flavor here, but I am not a fan of grapefruit. At least it covers up the Ceylon. But I don’t think I mind Adagio’s Ceylon as much as other Ceylons. I only have a little of this tea left though, and I love it for the tin.

Sipdown 58/375 – and that’s the last of them. My cupboard should be up-to-date now.

I love Mrs. Hudson, but this tea was never my favourite (nor was it my least favourite). It was nice and all, but the almond flavour just seemed a bit lost to me. Sure, it tasted slightly biscuit-y, but I always just kind of wanted more from it. Still, it’s going on my wishlist because I want to give it a proper review.

Sipdown 57/375

Again I’m cheating, because this wasn’t in my real-life cupboard and it’s been so long since the actual sipdown that I can barely remember when it was. I LOVED this tea though; it really did taste like cake. I’ve added it straight back to my wishlist and as long as Adagio still stocks it in the UK I will definitely be purchasing more when my no-buy ends (if I ever get there).

Oi, watch it, spaceman!

Oh how I love Donna Noble. Even though I have a lot of love for a lot of the new companions, I think Donna might be my favourite. Don’t tell the others.

I feel like this tea represents more how people that don’t know Donna perceive her rather than how she actually is to those that know her well. Solid and familiar, but quiet and plain at first, with a hint of something spicy hidden beneath the surface that we don’t get to fully see shine, even though we know that the potential is there. Too much detail? Am I overthinking this association? Probably. Anyway, I like the idea that this is pretty much an Irish Breakfast you think you have sussed and then there’s a hint of ‘oh hang on, what was that?’ citrus zing and warm spicy cinnamon at the end of the sip, which becomes more pronounced the more you drink it. It’s a regular cup of tea turned up a notch, so it’s warm and comforting on another level, but imo as a lover of strong teas I think the cinnamon and orange flavours, particularly the orange, could stand to be a tad more pronounced. I like this tea, I really do. I just wish it shone more like the star that Donna is.

P.S. MERRY CHRISTMAS STEEPSTER!! It was a total accident, me drinking this today, but the flavours are perfect for Christmas!

P.P.S. Did anyone catch the Doctor Who Christmas special today?? I was at work while it was on but watched it afterwards. Doctor Who + superheroes = basically my personal heaven.

Sipdown 52/375

There may be a couple more sipdowns like this that have escaped my attention. I don’t know why I never wrote a tasting note for this tea but it’s been gone for ages. Smoky teas aren’t usually to my taste, but I really enjoyed this blend. Something about the combination of spices softened the smokiness so that it wasn’t overwhelming, and my favourite way to drink this was with a teaspoon of honey, maple syrup or agave which I thought rounded it out very well. Of course, this being an Adagio black tea blend, I drank it with milk most of the time because astringency. In fact, I’m almost convinced I can remember writing up a tasting note to that effect years ago (what is Steepster doing to all my notes from back then??). Because I do like a smoky tea every now and again and because of the novelty factor – it really is a good fit for the character it represents – there’s a good chance I might restock this at some point.