Lately I have been trying some of Adagio sample sizes of their flavors so I decided to make a series of post going over their vast tea selection. Most of all the teas I will be reviewing can be used to make your own custom blends. I hope my reviews help you choose which teas you want to use to mix your very own tea creations!
Tea: Various
Company: Adagio.com
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Tea: Guanabana
This was such an interesting tea. I love that the flavor comes through strongly, yet I still can taste the tea base. Many of their flavored teas can be on the week side. I would agree that it tastes a lot like bananas, but it is more of an over-ripe banana flavor. It is VERY pungent. The pineapple and strawberry help add some sweetness to it. It can also have a dry, slightly sour after-taste. I recommend this to people who like pungent over-ripe fruit or want to try a truly exotic flavor.
Brew Time: 2:00 min; 2:30 min
Temp 190F-200F
Tea: Osmanthus
This was an unique flower herbal tea. It smelled strongly of sweet summer peaches. The first time I over brewed this a bit, since it had a VERY sharp after taste, so be careful not to over brew this. When I did brew it properly it had a pleasing sharp/sour initial taste of under-ripe peach’s that mellows into a dewy, fruity peach flavor, and leaves a nice sweet thick coating left on the tongue. I recommend trying this unique herbal tea. Tastes great iced and blends well with white tea.
Brew Time: 3-4 min for best taste without the need for sugar
Temp 190F-200F
Tea: Dewy Cherry
I have been wanting to try this tea for a while now, since I use it in some of my most popular blends. The initial smell of this tea is interesting. It reminds me of a certain candy, but I can’t think of what one. It does have a slight medicinal smell when brewed. Luckily the brew itself is very good. It has a nice tart, but sweet Kool-aid quality to it. When a pinch or more of sugar is added it becomes more juice like. Overall it is a very good fruit herbal blend for ice tea or to use in your blends to add some cherry flavor.
Brew Time: 4 min
Temp: 200F
Tea: Cream
This is a nice basic lightly flavored sweet tea. Unlike some cream teas which try to give a fake creamy texture, this one just focuses on the flavor. It tastes like frosting or really, really sweet cream. It makes a nice dessert tea and works great in blends to add a nice sugar-cream sweet flavor. Best to keep the brew times short or the tea base can over power the flavor.
Brew Time: 2:00 min; 2:30 min
Temp: 190-200F
Tea: Vanilla Oolong
This was pretty good. I didn’t really get much of an oolong flavor; then again Verdant Tea spoils me. It tasted more like a black tea minus the kick and bitterness with some floral undertones. The flavoring is good though. This smells exactly like sugar cookies and the vanilla was strong and present as well. What is nice is that since the flavor is strong you don’t need to use sugar and just a little bit is needed if wanted. Blends well with Adagios’ Cream flavored black tea.
Brew Time: 3:00 min; 3:30 min; 4:00 min
Temp: 190F
Tea: Honeybush Vanilla
This is my first time trying honeybush and I LOVED IT! The base was nice and sweet with a woody flavor and was backed up with warm brown-sugar like vanilla. You don’t even need sugar in this one, though it makes it all the more sweeter when you do. This would work great to add a sweet honey-vanilla flavor to your blends; especially with chamomile. Make sure to try it iced.
Brew Time: 5 min
Temp: 212 F
Tea: Hojicha
This was my first time trying Hojicha. I really liked it’s flavor profile. It has a sweet grassy matcha taste mixed in with a bit of smokey-roasted flavor. I just wish that the latter part was a bit stronger. This would work great in a blend to add a nice warm, toasty, grassy flavor.
Brew Time: 2:00 min; 2:30 min
Temp: 185 F
Tea: Apricot Green
This tea was a gift from Amanda Tillman. It is a pretty good flavored green. It has a sweet fruity, floral smell which translates well to the brew its’ self. It didn’t overpower the base and it was a nice fruity-floral flavor. You don’t even need to add sugar. the base was like a Ceylon green; basic and clean. Flavor was nice as well. This would work great in a blend to add a nice lite fruity-floral flavor.
Brew Time: 2:00 min; 2:30 min
Temp: 185 F
Stay tuned for more tea review for adagio in the future as I go through all of the teas that you can use to combine into your own personal blends.
Tunes 'N' Tea 