Adagio Teas

This is the last Adagio white tea in my cupboard, and I’m finishing off the sample with another liter of iced tea and one hot cuppa. It’s from a very old order (2017 sometime) but the sampler was still sealed, so at least there was that.

My warm cup is smelling quite floral (but confession, the last thing I brewed was straight lavender to make some scented mists I like to use around Chiya’s kitty boxes) and I also smell mandarin, melon, cucumber, honey, and warm hay. I’m… definitely getting some lavender contamination coming through in the flavor, but honestly? It’s not a bad thing! It’s not a strong oomph of it (I could go deep clean the infuser but probably another use and it’ll be gone, or simply letting it dry overnight… I think it was only using it so soon after steeping my flowers that probably caused the issue) and it’s not at all a bad flavor on this white tea… daresay, maybe I should be adding a pinch of lavender to some of my whites in the future? I do realize that isn’t how it was supposed to be though, and does little for a proper review though. Oops.

Tasting around the lavender, I am getting a hay vegetal flavor, as well as cucumber and melon notes. It seems quite sweet to me, but that may just be the floral contamination. My iced tea, however, has no such issue. It has been in the fridge a little longer than I should’ve kept it, but that aside, I am getting a grassy/hay vegetal flavor, the cucumber note seems a little more pronounced, and there is a subtle watery melon note. It’s very crisp and tastes a lot like a clean green tea iced.

Sipdown (1075)!

Happy to have sipped this down – it was a more mediocre blend IMO, though not unpleasant. I see the appeal it might have to people, but this last mug was dreadfully chamomile forward for my tastes, and lacking in grapefruit. I also just feel like it’s not the best representation of me as a pisces.

Glad to have tried it – relieved to be finished another sample/tin though!

Cold Brew!

Made this one last night and drank it this morning on the way in to work. It’s not bad, but tastes strongly of rooibos and lemongrass with only the slightest taste of grapefruit. It was hydrating on a hot morning, but I do feel like I actually liked it less this time/prepared this way then when I first tried it.

This was another free sample from Adagio – I believe for having my birthday entered on my account? Regardless, I like free things so I was excited to try it…

I’m not entirely sure what about grapefruit/citrus is supposed to fit for Pisces, but oh well. It does smell pretty fresh and effervescently like grapefruit. Almost as if I just cracked open a can of Fresca! Steeped a lot of the grapefruit kind of disappears, and the flavour is much more swallowed up by a sweet, woody rooibos. I actually do like the rooibos base that Adagio uses in their blends – a lot of my favourite fandom blends seem to incorporate it. However, I was sad that I was left with more of a hint of lemongrass and grapefruit and less of the bright and more intense smell I was getting off the dry leaf.

Cold Brew Sipdown (1118)!

Feels good to get another sample out of my cupboard, though this is one that I did enjoy having around for a non-fruity cold brewing option. I’m really happy that I realized so soon that cold brewing this blend was the sweet spot; if I had continued to drink it as a hot tea it would have been alright but definitely not nearly as enjoyable. It’s got some lovely vanilla fondant type notes that just work better for me chilled; somehow less doughy…

Cold Brew!

Sipped on this during the afternoon; I did add a generous splash of full fat cream to my brew after straining it, mostly on a whim. It resulted in a super thick mouthfeel and lush, velvety texture as well as a fatty vanilla/cream note. Really decadent/indulgent and a bit heavy and borderline too sweet but also delicious and a really nice use of this sample imo.

Cold Brew!

This was my morning cold brew for the commute to work, and it was really nice. I’ve been thinking how I might use up this sample since it’s fine hot but nothing that I really crave and I remembered how amazing DT’s Birthday Cake had tasted cold brewed and I thought that there’d probably be significant overlap in the concept here…

It’s definitely a great use of the tea; the vanilla is very forward and creamy and quite smooth and rich without being sweet/sugary. Another win? Well, all the tannin/astringency that I was experiencing with the hot brews doesn’t come through at all, creating a much smoother and enjoyable brew overall.

Pretty sure this is how I’m going to finish off the leaf.

Steeped up a cup of this one yesterday morning, and while the vanilla note was nice I thought the whole cup overall was fairly drying on the palate. Milk would have helped a lot but, as I just said in another tasting note, that’s not an option at work currently…

I need to stop bringing teas to work that require milk, is the main takeaway here.

First cuppa of the day…

I recently placed an Adagio order; my breaking point was the Brigadoon blend since I was very curious about it, but I had been debating one for a while just to get a bunch of BTVS themed teas. I want to try to more actively improve my French comprehension, and one thing that’s been suggested to me by many people has been watching a TV show I have A LOT of familiarity with (Buffy…) with French captions or in French, and so I thought it would nice to have some Buffy blends to drink during my rewatch…

This was one of many free samples included in my order & I believe it was included because I have an upcoming birthday. By some miracle I actually haven’t tried this blend yet so I am actually kind of curious about it. In terms of hit/miss ratio with Adagio, I feel like I have way more misses than hits – but the few things I’ve found and loved I have realllyyyyy loved so it’s worth it for me to periodically keep trying new things (especially the fandom blends which are so fun).

I do think, for a Birthday Cake flavoured tea, that there are so few sprinkles actually in the dry leaf that it almost would have been better to just not include them at all. I know they’re supposed to be fun and tie in the concept, but the sparsity is just sort of sad…

Flavour wise, I wouldn’t say I’m impressed but I do think it’s good. Basically a simple creamy vanilla flavour with a well balanced sweetness. The base tea tastes really straight forward; just like a maltier " breakfast tea" type canvas for the flavouring in the blend. I actually prefer it to be a little more straight forward/simple for this type of blend that is basically just executing one straight forward flavour. Initially it felt a little drying, but as it’s good down that astringency has mellow a lot and the flavour feels smoother and more consistent. It’s not a bad vanilla at all.

Would I seek this out over other vanilla/cake themed blends? No, not at all – it’s not special in any regard. However, if I wanted that type of simple cake or vanilla profile in my tea rotation I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at this one either. It’s got that daily drinker type quality to it where the fact it doesn’t feel special might actually be a good thing because it’s the vanilla profile you feel guilt free about when you reach for it often.

Sipdown 2020! 17/365

This was a sealed teabag sample… so I was surprised when the flavour tasted kind of off. Almost… fishy? I don’t think that’s quite accurate, but it had flavours I wouldn’t normally associate with silver needle, which is typically quite light and delicate.

No idea how old it was, but I would have expected a lack of flavour more than off flavours.

Another Adagio tea from Meowster’s cupboard destash, thanks Meowster! I took this out and stuck it in my sipdown spot last month, but only now am getting to it… ah well. The tea has a nice chocolately-rose aroma, which is one of my favorite flavor combinations, but it also smells a hint musty… I think age has taken it’s toll on this one (I got it in summer of 2018, but I really have no idea how old it already was at that point in time…)

The flavor honestly isn’t too bad considering it may be an older tea, the chocolate is pretty fudgy, if not a touch artificial. The rose is coming through, and I’ve always really liked the rose flavor that Adagio uses (one of the few flavorings, along with their cream flavor, that always hits the mark with me). I do taste a hint of berry, but it is more subtle… the mix of flavors is a good one, the problem I’m really having is the base tea is coming off a bit too astringent for what should be a sweeter, more desserty type of tea. I’ve been drinking the tea straight the last few days but decided to make it a latte this morning (3 parts tea to 1 part vanilla almond milk) as I thought the sweet milk would cut through that astringency and it would work well with that chocolately floral flavor… but my plan failed and even with a sweet milk added, it still had that sort of sour note. It also didn’t taste as chocolately, and I thought the creamy milk would have brought out even more of a chocolately feel, but the latte was just a fail on the whole.

I think this tea could really work for me… it’s hard to tell if age has done it dirty, or if the base tea Adagio uses on this one just sours what would otherwise be a combination of flavors that would work well for me. I’m happy to have had the chance to try it!

This was a free sample that came with my Adagio order.

Anyway, I am loving the maple flavor on this. It tastes like a good strong maple syrup. Mind you, I added a single Splenda to it, but I did so because I felt it might help bring out the maple flavor. It did. It’s a maple syrup flavor with a hint of creaminess. There’s also a touch of cinnamon, and that is what lingers on after the sip. I don’t mind the cinnamon, but it is a bit weird. I don’t usually associate cinnamon with maple.

It’s pretty good. Not great, but good. I’d say B -

Hey Teamail!

My Adagio order was on my doorstep when I woke up today, so I immediately brewed up a mug of this. I am a bit iffy on the brewing instructions, as it said to use boiling water, and there is Silver Needle in this. But, for scientific purposes, we will do it their way first.

Brewed western, 212F/1.5tsp/12oz/4min

Taste is… oooch, let that cool why don’t you! Ok, this has a strong black tea taste with flavors of malt, tannin, and a hint of leather. However, I can also taste the silver needle, giving it a fruity flavor, with notes of melon. It kinda does taste like cereal! But you know what this reminds me of more? If sort of reminds me of that one W2T cake Hot Brandy. Considering that that tea was also a blend of black/white tea, I’m not surprised. Obviously, the W2T tea is much more complex and flavorful, but this stuff is really good as well. The flavor profiles somehow do mesh together well, and I wonder how much caffeine this stuff has. It’d probably be a great wake-up tea for cold mornings like today.

Overall, what do I think? Well, I love it. The different base elements blend together into a lovely cuppa that is both malty and floral. I’m glad I got the big tin of this, not just for presentation effect, but so that I can drink this without hesitation until I can get more. I think I would like to keep this one around. It’s really good.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksHXRKW0pW0

This is the last of the Adagio white teas I got from Meowster’s cupboard clearout a couple summer’s ago (thanks Meowster!). I made the one warm cuppa and then used the rest on a quart of cold brew, like the others.

The base tea of this tastes exactly like the White Pear tea… a bit vegetal, with heavy autumn leaf and wood notes, just without the pear flavor. But I don’t taste any cucumber. I don’t even taste the melon that I get as a natural note out of white tea often, which I find often accompanies cucumber teas. So basically it just tastes like a typical low-quality unflavored Bai Mu Dan. It isn’t bad, but if you are going to drink Bai Mu Dan without the novelty of the flavoring, you may as well drink a nice one, right?

At least with the White Grapefruit tea, I could taste the grapefruit flavor (it just isn’t a flavor that I particularly enjoy), but since I can’t taste this flavor at all, I actually have to rank it lower than the White Grapefruit. (And I see that Adagio currently has this on their “soon to be discontinued” list… I’m honestly not surprised.)

Thanks for the sample, Meowster! I’ve enjoyed having the chance to try these! I only have one more Adagio white in my stash, and it’s a plain white that I purchased ages ago. I wonder how that has held up after all these years…?

Adagio is definitely good at their marketing strategies. They roped me in for sure! I ended up getting 6oz, having never tried it before. Brewed a cup with honey and oat milk this morning and it was quite tasty! Not the best black tea I’ve ever had, but nice and malty, with a distinct ‘cereal’ flavor.

This is another of the Adagio white teas I got from Meowster’s cupboard clearout a couple summer’s ago (thanks Meowster!). So far this has been my favorite of all that I have tried; it was the most pleasant of the different flavored whites I’ve tried as a warm cuppa, and right now I’m drinking it as a cold brew, which I prefer even more.

The berry taste isn’t syrupy or candy-like, which can be the case in a lot of strawberry teas; but it isn’t really a strong, in-your-face sort of distinct strawberry flavor, either. I get a more gentle sort of berry sweetness, and a subtle tanginess as well, that I think compliments the refreshing white tea. This white tea isn’t coming off quite as leafy either, which probably helps (or maybe the flavorings are just covering it up more this time around). It tastes more like damn earth rather than autumn leaves, slightly vegetal, and a bit of melon rind, which comes in more at the front of the sip, but the close is a sweet-tart sort of berry taste; not distinctly strawberry, but an indistinct yet pleasant red berry sort of note. It’s a refreshing iced tea, and actually brewed a nice warm cup, too, while the other flavored whites I tried I really preferred as iced beverages to their warm cuppa counterparts.

Thanks for the sample, Meowster! Just one more flavored white from the cupboard clearout to go!

This is another of the Adagio white teas I got from Meowster’s cupboard clearout a couple summer’s ago (thanks Meowster!). I had enough leaf for one warm cuppa that I made a few nights ago to sip on while I read graphic novels, and then I used the majority to make a quart of cold brewed iced tea, my preferred way to drink flavored white tea.

I definitely prefer this one iced to the warm cuppa (not that the warm cup was bad), but I just find the fruity pear on the white base comes out very refreshing as an iced brew. The base on this white is strongly autumn leaf in flavor, and that strong earthy/vegetal flavor may be why it presents a little nicer to me iced, perhaps. The pear flavor is actually pretty nice — it’s no 52Teas pear flavor, but it’s decent enough. It tastes like pear and isn’t coming off oddly artificial, it just doesn’t taste as particularly juicy as other pear flavorings I have tasted on other teas. I sort of wish the base white tasted more like the hay/melon notes I got from the White Tangerine tea as I think that would go better with the pear flavor than the autumn leaf/wood notes I’m getting from this base… and the more strange thing is I wouldn’t be surprised if Adagio is using the same base and only changing the flavorings/additives.

Thanks for the sample, Meowster!

This is one of the few Adagio white teas that wasn’t from the Meowster cupboard de-stash that I snatched up… I think I got it from my very first Adagio order, making it a very old tea. It is an opened packet, so I must have tried it at some point, but I haven’t recorded it here yet… I used the remainder of the sample to make a quart of cold-brewed iced tea.

Honestly, this reminds me of TeaSource’s Green Tea with Mandarin Orange, having that brisk though somewhat artificial-tasting orange flavor. This is the sort of tea I actually prefer iced, and it is pretty refreshing that way… the flavoring just presents better that way to my palate that way. Since this is on a white tea base rather than a green tea base like the other tea I’m familiar with, rather than grassy it has more of a hay flavor, and a very subtle note of melon. The orange itself isn’t too strong/overbearing, but that could be just the age of my sample now… personally I prefer it that way. It’s more subtle/less citrusy and the white tea is allowed to shine through a little more. I have a feeling that probably isn’t how it usually is, though.

I finally finished off the big bag of Cherry Blossom Green Tea making iced tea, and since flavored whites is another type of tea I tend to prefer iced, I’m going to try to work through all the ones I got from Meowster’s cupboard clearout a couple summer’s ago (thanks Meowster!). This pouch only had a single serving in it though (which isn’t really enough for me to go to the trouble of icing) so I just made a single warm cup to sip on tonight. I normally have a strict “only herbals after 6 pm” rule, so I’m hoping the white tea doesn’t buzz me too much. I know there are some claims it has “less caffeine” than other teas but I’m not one that believes that stuff too much, hense why I avoid all camelia sinensis in the evening…

I’ll be the first to admit that grapefruit is not a flavor a really enjoy… but it isn’t like bananas where I have such a strong aversion that I can’t stand being in a room with one either, and depending on how it is prepared and other flavor pairings, I can tolerate them to varying degrees. This one is actually not too bad to me… there is a little of that citrus bite but it doesn’t have that overwhelming grapefuit sourness that I dislike about the fruit. It is certainly “grapefruit” flavor, but I am tasting subtle notes of lemon and lime which may be why I’m handling this better than most grapefruit-flavored things. If it were any stronger than this, I’d probably really dislike it. The white tea itself is coming off fairly subtle, but I’m getting a light autumn leaf flavor in the background.

Not something I’d ever purchase for myself (again, grapefruit isn’t really my fruit), but I’m glad I got to try this since I am surprised by it. Thanks for the sample, Meowster!

‘Samurai’ Traveling Teabox – Tea #9
An intriguing one to see in the teabox!  It’s not even available on adagio’s website anymore even though the pouch says it’s from 2019.  It’s a Tie Guan Yin leaf that is processed like a black tea. The leaves look like a wiry dusty black tea.  So you can’t tell this is Tie Guan Yin by looking at it. I’m not sure how this is different from how black tea is usually made. The leaf has to start somewhere and it’s all from the same plant.  The flavor is a unique one – light in flavor, though nothing like an oolong.  The flavor is like mixing a Ruby varietal with a Premium Taiwanese Assam.  Very mineral and sweet, with hints of sugar candied almonds. I was worried the second steep would be ruined at boiling, but it isn’t at all ruined.  It tastes exactly like the first steep but slightly deeper.   The third steep also isn’t astringent and starts to taste like some sort of buttery pastry.  I swear it tastes like I added a bit of fig strawberry jam to this cup.  It’s even starchier but in a good way.  I didn’t know why I was comparing it to PTA but that strawberry flavor I usually associate with PTA peeks through on the third steep. I’m glad I didn’t miss that third steep.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 18 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #3  // just boiled // 6 min

Thank you AJRimmer for the sample!
I have never had any adagios teas before so I was excited to try one. It has a strong fruity flavor, but not a typical berry or citrus. It really doesn’t have a strong mango flavor either but I do get some mango. There is some other flavor that is stronger than the mango I just can’t figure it out. I am enjoying how sweet it is, but could probably not have more than one cup in a sitting with the level of fruity sweetness. I will enjoy the rest of the sample nonetheless and maybe try it as an iced tea next.

I got this tea form Izzy, thank you!

I was too lazy this morning so I used all the tea she sent me and prepared it grandpa moreover. So about 7 grams per my fav 300 ml of water. I used as well bit warmer water than she suggested, I think it could be around 85-88°C, as it was not boiling and it was cooled down a bit already (as other family members preapred coffee few minutes earlier).

I knew it will brew strong, but I again felt I kinda need it. I slept much better than last days, but still, it is not great. I usually wake up around 5 am, playing with my mobile afterwards as I am bored, then I feel asleep again and real waking up is around 8-9 am.

The tea, well, I think it is good if you are craving for something creamy and sweet as well. Because it has got both of those characteristics. It is indeed quite sweet (maybe too much for me) and as well creamy. As apple was floating on top of the cup, it was apple flavoured quite heavily as well. But base tea is certainly there too, and naturally it becames stronger with longer steeping. In the end it was rather vegetal than fruity, maybe hints of kale or similar vegetables.

Would I like to try it again? To be honest, I am not really sure. It was sweet and creamy, that’s okay, but the taste don’t suit me well. It is something what I can’t really explain, maybe it is just because of grandpa steeping and my heavy hand with leaves.

You don’t always want something fancy that’s meant to be savored. At $9 for a 4 ounce tin, this is the perfect little treat to have around for when you’re in the mood for a hot cup of something caffeinated and uncomplicated (that isn’t coffee.) I can drink cup after cup of this stuff with how smooth and simple it is. Unfussy black tea of a decent quality with a very real red raspberry note and a hint of cocoa from the nibs. This isn’t a complex tea with notes that are hard to differentiate, it’s a plain old flavored black with a great execution and no bitterness to be found.