Adagio Custom Blends, Rachana Carter

Backlog:

I’m not sure how long my sampling of this tea was in my stash, but, it managed to hold up well. I enjoyed this blend. I’m not always a big fan of Adagio teas but I find that I prefer the custom blends that the customers create versus the straight up flavored teas. I don’t know what it is about the blending process that manages to lighten the harshness of the black base … but, I don’t notice as much of the harshness with the custom blends as I get from the unblended flavors.

Sweet, creamy flavor with a nice minty taste. It tastes a lot like someone melted a scoop of peppermint ice cream in my black tea.

Backlogging I got some of this from TeaEqualsBliss thank you very much. I mostly taste orange and tartness with abit of chocolate and black tea. This is good tea, but abit more tart then I prefer and of course more chocolate would be nice to.

I got this awhile back from a buddy. I am not normally a chai person,but I decided to give this a chance. I did not steep this a very long time but just strong enough. This does taste like chai but I taste abit of caramel and perhaps vanilla on the end. This tea Is pretty good.

Thanks to Rachel for sending me some great samples. This was the first I tried. I drank it before looking up what flavors went into it and swear I could taste some cherry apricot wonderfulness in the fruity sweetness of this tea. I thunk this blend would be better iced, it had a tad too much going on for how I enjoy my green teas.

Backlogging a pretty pleasant tasting peach tea with too much almond for me.

Another custom blend from Rachel and no surprise – I love it. It is rich and creamy with just a kiss of coconut in the background. Very nice.

Thanks Rachel for this one, too! :) I have been wanting to try this one of yours!

This holds true to Adagio’s Candy Cane tea but it’s creamier and more relaxing. It’s a great twist! Mint Ice Cream in the form of a tea…pretty much sums it up! I like this one quite a bit! A wonderful follow up to funky aftertastes, too! The Fresh and Clean Lingers! Ahhhhhh!

Thank you Rachel for sending me a sample of this!

I am by no means an Earl Grey fan, so I wasn’t expecting to like this one at all. The cream and vanilla flavors really help smooth out the bergamot. Pretty good overall, just not really my type of tea. Prepared with stevia.

Nice and Smooth. Very good. I don’t think I have the right steep time/temp just yet, but I can see this one being great as a clean and refreshing afternoon tea. Yum-a-num!!

Another blend from Rachel, by Rachel! Thank you so much for sending me so many great teas to try!

So…I was never a girly-girl growing up. I didn’t have tea parties, or play with dolls, or want to wear dresses. I pretty much just wanted to read books and dig for dinosaurs (and, yes, I did have an excavation going on at the playground across from my house…complete with markers to section off the different digs). Yes, I was a geek, and still am.

So the name of this ever so slightly grates on me, and reminds me of forced play dates with other girls my age who wanted me to wear pink and walk around in their mother’s heels for fun.

But the taste is really good, all strawberry and vanilla. The rooibos isn’t woodsy at all, which is really nice. I can definitely see serving this up to my pseudo-niece at her next “Fancy Nancy” party. But for now, I’ll just enjoy it whilst watching a show about the Mayan 2012 prophecies. Nagana had princesses, right?

With a semi-official verdict of 4 inches of snow (and, still, it keeps pouring down), today is a perfect day for this blend by Rachel. Thanks so much for sending me some of this to try!

Having never had the chestnut blend by itself, I can’t tell exactly what flavor it brings here (but I’ve got a bit of it from Meghann, so I can have it later and compare!), but this blend is really nice. I can taste the caramel, and a hint of the cinnamon (though I think I’d like more cinnamon), and a rich, nutty taste that I assume must be the chestnut. Mostly, though, it’s a solid, strong black tea base that holds up well to the flavors and isn’t overpowered by them. It makes me wish I was snowed in at my mom’s house, with her making beef stew or chicken & dumplings for lunch and watching marathons of Most Evil or other crime shows on the ID channel whilst we craft.

Ah, rum! I was seriously considering a pot of David’s Buttered Rum, and then remembered that the lovely Rachel had sent me some of this to try!

This is great!! I can taste everything: the rum, the lime, the mint, the green and black teas. I would never have thought to mix lime and peppermint together, but they’re really great together! I’ll definitely have to get some of this from Adagio when my cupboard’s under better control (or I simply can’t stand to not have it on hand, whichever comes first).

Rachel, thanks so much for sending me some of this to try. Love it!!

I’ve already been kicked out of the kitchen. Can’t say that my feelings are hurt. I’ll just have to sneak in the kitchen from the other side to make more tea.

The lovely Rachel sent me some of this blend. The smell is fantastic. I love the taste as well: smooth vanilla with the spiced apple chai. This is definitely great for a fall morning (though the current temperature is anything but fall-like). I think this would be good steeped for longer as well without harm.

I am delving into my swap boxes this morning (and I need to do so for quite a few mornings to come). This lovely-smelling blend is from Rachel, and is one of her own creations, too. Thanks so much!!

Had just enough for a pot this morning, so am sipping-down as well!

It’s delicious. Spicy-warm without being too bold, gingerbread-cookie tasting with a vanilla finish and some caramel notes. It’s a tea that your grandmother would treat you to if you popped ’round for a surprise visit, and serve with shortbreads. A shortbread cookie dipped in this would be amazing.

Rachel, thanks so much for sending me this!

Thank you to Rachel for sending me a bit of this to try!

This is yummy. Fruity and not overwhelmingly “rooibos-ish.” It has a lovely strawberry and cream flavor to it. It would be PERFECT for a little girls (Princess) tea party!

Thanks to RachanaC I get to enjoy a few cups of this.

This is a great morning cuppa. It’s minty herbs, bold black tea, a hint of a sweet rum and almost cake-y goodness. Very nice hot cup to enjoy this morning. Happy to have enough to try the next cup iced, as I can see this being quite the refreshing drink. Thanks for all the fun samples Rachana!

Thanks to a swap with Rachel I am trying this tea. Also, thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for posting that it was really awesome brewed double strength.

Brewed double strength this is just the eye-opener I needed this morning. It’s like a shot of adrenaline in waking me up and giving me energy…although maybe a little too much energy according to my sleepy husband. I love that the earl grey bravo isn’t the only player in this tea, it is still there in flavor, although not as creamy as alone, and is added to with the other blends. Great morning cup. May try with a splash of cream next time.

Now if only Adagio would open their retail location so I could go and play with my own blend creations….I’ve heard a tentative date of tomorrow, but not sure on any updates.

Thanks Rachel for sending some of this my way. This is a sweet tasty morning treat. I taste a lot of the ceylon base, but am getting notes of caramel and slight nutmeg. It doesn’t taste like a flavored tea, it tastes like the leaves were meant to have this flavor to them. Very nice smooth blend. I tried this without additives, although I’m sure it would hold up well to cream and sugar. Very nice all by itself.

Thanks Rachel for sending me so many wonderful teas. I am finally getting back around to trying more of them. The name of this made me grab it tonight. I’ve been watching Vampire Diaries season 1 all day and thought this would be a good way to enjoy the show.

The blood orange in this scared me a bit, but it plays a small part in the flavor of this blend. The CHOCOLATE is the biggest part I taste. Mmmmm chocolate. There is just a bit of rum goodness in the background.

Another winner from Rachel!

I thought that this tea was fitting since today is September 1st and the 1st day of classes (although I personally don’t have class – haha). Although at 91 today is anything but autumn weather.

This tea was very good. It reminded me of creamy black tea and spiced apple chai which seems to be what it was going for. I throughly enjoyed it. I love tea with spices in it and I love tea with sweetness in it so this tea was a good match for me.

Thanks for the opportunity to try this tea Rachel!!

MMM… good rainy Monday morning cup. Speaking of which I could probably use some more rainy day tea – haha. Thanks Rachel!

Backlogging from yesterday. This has a nice cinnamon scent and a flavor I am assuming is chestnut. I don’t know that I have ever actually had a chestnut. I am not getting much caramel, but it has a nice sweet flavor. I enjoyed it. Thanks Rachel!

Thanks for this tea Rachel!!!

I needed something this afternoon to wake me up a little bit in the midst of a lot of laundry. I thought this combination of flavors sounded invigorating! And I was right! It really woke me up and had a great combination of flavors!! I thought all the flavors were there in the right amount too, no flavor was overpowering. It was a very unique and awesome cup of tea!