Adagio Teas

I shall just pretend I waited for the month of this tea to drink it. MAY! It was okay. White tea, apricot flavor… maybe some peach. Decent!

Summer Rose. By Adagio.
Another free sample from the Adagio store in Skokie-IL. I steeped 2.5 g (a rounded 1 tsp) as directed in 8 oz. boiling spring water for 5 min. Having enjoyed Rosy Earl Grey by Tealyra, I was eager to try this. Similar it isn’t, but wow! This was a very fragrant and flavorful tea, amazing rose flavor that was almost perfume-y, like an eau de toilette with a nice long finish, both on the nose and in the mouth. Imagine drinking a dozen of your favorite blossoms (minus the thorns). It was also punctuated by the sharp briskness of the black tea base, which finished more smoothly, having a great flavor, albeit without the characteristics of either a keemun or an Assam. I would recommend and rate this blend at 80.
Lot No. n/a. Best Before: n/a.

Libra. By Adagio.
Picked this up as a free sample at the Adagio store in Skokie-IL, after a day at the Chicago Tea Festival. The store itself was tidy and had a comprehensive tea selection, but did not offer the Selefina spices or Masters premium teas that are available online and at the Naperville-IL store. The helpful clerk was knowledgeable and brewed-up a sample of a different tea for me to taste while shopping. He also helped me decide on this as a sample.

I steeped 1 tsp as directed in 8 oz. boiling spring water for 5 min. I was interested because of my fondness for Strawberry and Chocolate Puer by Simpson & Vail, and this sounded similar. But it isn’t. For sure this was a fragrant and flavorful tea, with chocolate softly dominating a solid tea base, with notes of rose, vanilla creme, and brown sugar cookie—akin to speculoos. The base tea seemed to remind me of one of the black teas used in Adagios Irish Breakfast, which I like. But I could not detect any strawberry at all, so I deduct 5 rating points for the missing flavor. And those flavors I could taste were muted and somehow “off”, as if artificial. So although it was not particularly unpleasant, it wasn’t exciting to me, either. I can neither recommend nor dissuade anyone from trying it if the blend sounds appealing and, if you do try it, I hope it is to your liking! I’ll rate it a net 65.
Lot No. n/a. Best Before: n/a.

I really liked the idea behind this one, but for some reason, (and I have steeped it up for two sessions now), I am tasting lavender and only lavender?  And there should be no lavender here.  And I am all for a good lavender tea, but not when I was expecting something entirely different.   So I don’t really have much else to say here…
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // many minute steep

Got this 23 g sample last fall with an order. Tried it then, really liked it. I had thought at that time to do a taste comparison with another rooibos tea or other, but with the sipdown here I’m more focused on drinking up small amounts than taking the time to compare. I like this tea well enough I know I’m going to order it later in the year, so will do comparisons then.
Because it’s rooibos there’s no caffeine, so it’s a perfect night-time beverage. The dried apple bits float on top as they rehydrate, and are a delightful little treat. I didn’t even sweeten this and it still reminds of baked goods. The scent is somewhat perfumy in a good way: warming but not overwhelming. The cinnamon is forward—it’s in the name, after all—but it blends beautifully with the vanilla and apple flavors.
This is quite an enjoyable tea. I recommend it highly!

AND TWO NIGHTS LATER: I can, and will compare this tea to the DECAF HALLOWEENTOWN LATTE tea (also from Adagio Custom Blends) here. This, the ROOIBOS CINNAMON ROLL is much better. It’s tastier, smoother, and isn’t dependent on sugar and milk to allow one to enjoy it. There you go!

Another oolong blend. This one is definitely quite generic, as peach oolong is a very common combination. Drinkable, but again not the biggest fan of Adagio’s oolong base, which tastes very woody and autumn leaf-y without much depth to it. But it goes well enough with peach flavoring. The white tea was overshadowed to me.

I tried this tea for the first time yesterday following the instructions on the packet. The flavors were very complex and not as sweet as expected. I may try again with a little sweetener.

I kept this one from Herbal / Decaf TTB that was around last year; and I was very happy that I did… but this note is also

A sipdown! (M: 2 Y: 11) and a note #2200 too!

This was just a mellow, nice red rooibos blend, with nutty flavour than was very warming and cozy; and even more pronounced when prepared in the pot — as I did for the last time. There were also a toasted qualites and some fruits that I wasn’t able to point out.

In conclusion, it was a nice surprise after first attempt and nice herbal tea for upcoming spring evening.

Date: 26 February 2026

I have been spending too much time with coffee lately! Lol. Now that I’m back into a routine, I’m working through my sip down pile. I wasn’t sure about this one before brewing it this morning, as I wanted to drink puerh (my go-to on Tuesday & Wednesday), but knew that there are other teas that were in this pile. This was surprisingly pleasant! The tea offers a richly sweet chocolate and malty flavor and seems to be doing well to carry me through the rest of the morning.

Flavor: 85
Texture: 60
Aroma: 88
Rating: 78/100

Backlog

Date: 6 February 2026

I noted on the packet, “Minty and a good comfort mug for the evening.”

Amazing smell but doesn’t deliver on flavor quite as much but the vanilla comes through. This is my first honeybush tea so I’m not entirely sure what it’s supposed to taste like but it’s lightly sweetened and comforting.

Artificial maple on a very sharp and mineral-y oolong base… mehhh! And then there’re the cloves. A shame, because I love a good maple, and the idea of this one is very appealing. But I honestly found it fairly unpleasant to drink.

I received an Adagio sampler as a holiday gift and am finally getting around to trying things! Had this one a couple nights ago and really enjoyed it, even though I’m iffy on banana-inspired teas as a rule. I definitely got that cozy, warm, banana bread vibe. I’m failing to remember many details now but I know I liked it!

I wanted to order a sample of this one to see if it hasn’t changed since I purchased it from Angry Tea Room and it’s the SAAAMMMMMEEE and I LOOOVVVEEEE ITTT. This is like candy cane super powered tea. I just love it. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s a bit creamy and sweet and hella peppermint. SO glad it hasn’t changed after all these years. It’s a cupboard essential!

Out of practice here… have not tried anything new in quite a while. Assam Melody came in a sampler with my recent order. Steeped in glass and metal small cup infuser. Not a lot going on here. Not very complex, no multiple layers of flavors. Not bad, but definitely nothing I plan to buy in bulk. Might have needed a bit more time in the infuser to bring out something more?

Date: 2 January 2026

Not much to say for what it is – I prefer peppermint, but this would be good as an iced or sun tea.

Sip Down

Date: 28 January 2026

I could inhale the empty bag for a long while! Ha-ha. The tea is very sour indeed! I thought I should’ve cut it a little with some sweetener but decided to push through that strong tartness. You can taste the hibiscus and there’s a little bit of the lime flavor lingering on palate. Surprisingly, I noticed the apple pieces making their way through the flavor. I would imagine this working out quite nicely as an iced tea, however, it’s too cold to drink anything other than hot tea (or water). Lol.

Flavor (100): 70
Texture (100): 60
Aroma (100): 90
Rating: 73/100

Date: 27 January 2026

This was another small sample from my August ‘mystery tea’ box purchased with my points. I didn’t get any banana notes in the aroma of the dry material nor in the cup. The mixture of materials made this slightly off putting and I didn’t feel like finishing the mug.
Flavor (100): 20
Texture (100): 20
Aroma (100): 20
Rating: 20/100

Backlog/ Sip down

Date: 9 January 2026

Note: Spices linger on the tongue for a while. No apple notes, per se, but there are the spices one might find in a spiced cider. A little bit of a fruity finish, although I wouldn’t say it tasted like apple.

Sip Down

Date: 17 January 2026

This is one of those rare moments when the base (green tea) stands out against the flavoring (mint).