1120 Tasting Notes
I got this as a belated free birthday sample (I made an order near my birthday, didn’t get it as I thought I might, and emailed Adagio to find out that my birthday wasn’t added to my account! It became a free black friday sample.)
Adagio’s flavored blacks are pretty hit and miss for me, and this one is pretty middle of the road. It smells nice, both the dry leaf and the liquor — reminiscent of cake, or at least a cheap cake you could buy at a grocery store. I sweetened it almost instantly as it’s a double whammy of dessert tea and flavored Adagio black, which both tend to need sweetener in my mind. Once it cools down a bit… pretty nice. It’s just what it says on the tin: generic black tea with sweet vanilla and caramel with no real frills or complexities beyond the faint taste of sprinkles. Add a splash of milk, and the caramel stands out much more… but the tea taste is covered up, which might appeal to a tea newbie but is only a con to me.
Not recommended, but I’ll drink the rest of this sample.
Preparation
This is a nice tea. It’s pretty straightforward, with a vanilla flavor that’s clearly present in every sip but not overwhelming; I’d say I’m getting about 60% vanilla taste and 40% green tea taste. Whatever technique that was chosen to add the flavor was a good one, because it harmonizes better with the base than I’ve come to expect from flavored teas, especially inexpensive ones. The green tea they used isn’t overly complex, but there’s still a nice flavor, one that’s a touch grassy and buttery.
I’ve had a couple of blends that utilize this tea, and it’s very good for that purpose as well. I feel like, in general, these simple flavored teas from Adagio are best for blending; this is one of the few that I’ve tried that works wonderfully both ways (although I prefer it in blends).
