Adagio Custom Blends, Cara McGee

I must admit that this tea tastes much better today than my first crack at it. I have a sneaking suspicion that tea is yet another food item that when shipped to my state, needs to “relax” before the flavors are right. I brewed this at a much lower temp. for a much shorter time and the hazelnut flavor came out in a much greater way. Before this was more leathery-pu’erh tasting. Now it is more grounded with the hazelnut.

I have to admit that I am a huge Tumblr and Sherlock fan. I’ve been wanting to try some of these blends for a very long time. This was the only Sherlock specific tea I ordered at the moment; but I do plan on more in the future. I have to say the first thing that I thought when I opened this was “mmm manly!”
This first cup will be without milk/sugar as I usually take my tea. This brews up far darker than I would have at first expected. The first sip of this was very interesting! The nut aspects are totally there. It has a certain smokey-ness to it that was pretty enjoyable. I think that this is a pretty nice blend. I think something about it screams “wake up blend.” I think that this tea is much more strong than ones I normally choose for myself, but nevertheless it is excellent. I think that this is a perfect “character tea.”
I must admit that these Adagio teas are very excellent for the price/amount. I am very pleased with the quality of flavor I’m getting from these. I’m going to be trying this tea with milk/sugar tomorrow just for reference.

This tea feels like being wrapped in your favourite snuggly jumper by a fire. It wraps you up and tucks you into the corner of the sofa and kisses the top of your head. It’s so incredibly smooth despite the cinnamon flavouring and nothing beats it in the early hours of the morning or just before bed. Though I normally take any Earl Grey with a slice of lemon, the Irish Breakfast balances it out enough that it’s absolutely lovely with a splash of milk. When brewing the smell of cinnamon is strong, but not over powering. The Earl Grey green is really what blends these flavours together and makes for the perfect cup of tea that can appeal to anyone who enjoys a lovely cup of tea.

You can certainly smell (and taste) the cinnamon, and the combination of flavours is…different. It’s powerful, and I feel almost like I need to try this again before I decide if I like it or not, because on my first go around it almost felt like there was just too much going on flavour-wise for me to pay attention to the richness or enjoyment of the tea. I thought there was some…mint involved somewhere— I find it a bit odd there isn’t.

Spicy and jammy is the best description of this tea. When you open up the bag it smells immediately like berries with a bit of a sharp edge. Once brewed, it’s amazing. It smells warm and sweet and doesn’t lose the sharp spicy bite. Adding in a spoonful of honey sweetens it up just enough to make it into a dessert tea. However if you pass on the honey, the chai spices blend with the berries beautifully and create a flavour that works for early morning with a blueberry muffin.

The moment you tear the top off the bag and open it up you know this tea is going to be a lovely, decadent treat. The spice of the vanilla chai and the chocolate mix fantastically to create a warm blanketing scent. Unsurprisingly when it’s brewed it smells even lovelier. While this tea is wonderful plain without anything added, I do take my chai with a bit of milk. I find this makes the taste a bit smoother and really gives it that chocolate-y dessert feeling. This tea really does embody everything I adore about Mycroft as a character. Sweet like the treats he loves so much, like the soft inside he clearly has when dealing with family. Yet, spicy like his snarky comments and demeanour.