Blog: "Fancy a cuppa?" (Adagio teas review)
If somebody asked me about five years ago, whether I prefer coffee or tea, the answer would have been wholeheartedly tea. I did develop a certain addiction to coffee, and even invested in some of the coffee making paraphernalia.
But my love for tea has stayed strong. It got someone dampened by the fact that I struggle to find a good quality tea in Toronto. Especially, loose leaf. I tried grocery stores, Homesense stories, and speciality tea stores. I am yet to find what I like.
One of the online stores that I like is Whittard of Chelsea, but, sadly, they are a UK company, so shipping to Canada can be a bit pricey. Although the quality is great.
I have heard of fandom teas before. I spent at least 6 years being very active in several fandoms on tumblr, so I was familiar with the concept. I was, however, always wary of self-made blends as I thought that it was difficult to guess the correct (or tasty) blend of ingredients, although I have several online friends who enjoy creating custom blends.
And, of course, I have heard of Adagio teas before.
I was approached by Adagio with an offer to review some of their teas, in particular Fandom Blends. I was very intrigued and jumped at this opportunity, as it had been awhile since I had any good teas.
Here is the list of all the samples that I ordered and the review for each will follow. I went through all of my favourite fandoms but eventually ended up going with Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter fandoms.
Reviews
Shot In the Dark [His Last Vow]
created by Bran Mydwynter
Fandom: Sherlock
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=107533
Ingredients
Blended With Black Tea, Pu Erh Dante, Lapsang Souchong, Natural Caramel Flavor, Cocoa Nibs, Natural Chocolate Flavor, Natural Vanilla Flavor
Teas: Tiger Eye, Pu Erh Dante, Lapsang Souchong
Accented With Cocoa Nibs, Cocoa Nibs And Red Peppercorn
Rating: 2 (of 5) stars
Comment: I liked the description of the tea ingredients (and the title - let's be honest), but I didn’t take into account peppercorn, which was way too strong for me in this tea. If you are ok with peppercorn - then you will enjoy this tea way more than I did.
Earl Greg [Greg Lestrade]
created by Bran Mydwynter
Fandom: Sherlock
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=78894
Ingredients
Blended With Black Tea, Rose Hips, Hibiscus, Apple Pieces, Natural Blueberry Flavor, Orange Peels, Blueberries, Natural Bergamot Flavor, Blue Cornflowers,
Teas: Earl Grey Bravo, Berry Blues
Accented With Cornflowers
Rating: 4 (of 5) stars
Comment: This tea works great, but I love everything with bergamot. The flavour of berries and flowers only adds to it. Will definitely order again.
John
created by Katy B
Fandom: Sherlock
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=103514
Ingredients Blended With Green Tea, Gunpowder, Orange Peels, Rose Hips, Hibiscus, Natural Spice Flavor, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Natural Orange Flavor Teas: Spiced Green, Gunpowder, Blood Orange
Rating: 3 (of 5) stars
Comment: I am a bit on the fence with this tea. I like Gunpowder, and ginger, and hibiscus, but added blood orange was just not for me. I felt as if it dominated the flavour too much.
Worth A Wound [johnlock]
created by Bran Mydwynter
Fandom: Sherlock
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=91273
Ingredients
Blended With Green Tea, Black Tea, Orange Peels, Rose Hips, Hibiscus, Natural Orange Flavor, Ginger Root, Natural Ginger Flavor, Marigold Flowers, Natural Lemon Flavor
Teas: Blood Orange, Citron Green, Ginger
Accented With Hibiscus, Orange Peels And Ginger
Rating: 5 (of 5) stars
Comments: I loved this tea! I was so disheartened by some other samples, that I was taken by surprise after tasting this one. It has the same blood orange that I didn’t like in another sample, but it works perfectly well in this one! Will definitely order more.
House of the Loyal
created by Mallory Walker
Fandom: Harry Potter
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=68297
Ingridients
Blended With Oolong Tea, Chamomile, Black Tea, Natural Peach Flavor, Apple Pieces, Natural Forest Berries Flavor, Marigold Flowers, Raspberry Leaves, Apricots, Raspberries, Strawberries
Teas: Forest Berries, Peach Oolong, Chamomile
Accented With Marigold Flowers And Orange Peels
Rating: 3 (of 5) stars
Comment: I felt really ‘meh’ about this tea. I think chamomile didn’t really go well for me with other berries. Although I liked the tones of other fruit in it.
Sagittarius
created by Kali Levon
Fandom: Zodiac signs
Link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=116131
Ingredients
Blended With Black Tea, Assam Melody Tea, Ceylon Sonata Tea, Orange Peels, Natural Coconut Flavor, Blue Cornflowers, Dried Coconut, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Natural Bergamot Flavor, Natural Creme Flavor
Teas: Earl Grey Moonlight, Irish Breakfast, Coconut
Accented With Cinnamon, Coconut And Lavender
Rating: 3.5 (of 5) stars
Comment: I found this tea rather pleasant - fruity and nice. However, it reminded me of many other teas I had in the past. I might order it again, if I am in the mood.
Sagittarius
I also got a free Sagittarius sample based on my birthday month. Not sure if they changed the size of a sample or something, but it is not the same as the one I got sent (same blend though).
Link : https://www.adagio.com/gifts/sagittarius.html
Ingredients
Blended With Black Tea, Raspberries, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Natural Creme Flavor, Safflower, Natural Raspberry Flavor And Natural Bergamot Flavor
Rating: 2 (of 5) stars
Comment: This tea was too bland. It tasted like English Breakfast tea and I barely tasted any particular flavour. Might do well with milk, but I drank it black and was disappointed.
I also got 2 other freebies with my order.
Cherry (a sachet)
Link: https://www.adagio.com/flavors/cherry.html
Ingredients
Blended With Black Tea, Natural Wild Cherry Flavor, Rose Petals And Dried Cherries
Rating: 2 (of 5) stars
Comments: Very disappointed with this tea. Mostly because the flavour of cherry (that I love) wasn’t that strong and I am not a huge fan of black teas in the first place. This blend is too caffeinated for me. Might be okay with milk, but I definitely oversteeped it when I made it for the first time. I will try it again, but I was not impressed by overall flavour.
Cocomint green (a sachet)
Link: https://www.adagio.com/green/cocomint_green.html
Ingredients
Blended With Green Tea, Cocoa Nibs, Natural Chocolate Mint Flavor And Peppermint Leaves
Rating: 1 (of 5) stars
Comments: I tried two sips of this tea and had to pour it down the drain. No, just no. I am okay with peppermint chocolate but not in my tea, apparently. This was a huge mistake. I want to forget I have ever tried it.
Conclusion
I deeply thankful to Adagio for providing me with a coupon to taste their teas. However, I found that I am a rather picky tea drinker and I need an option of smelling a tea before purchasing it. Some of the blends sounded very good in description but turned unpalatable for my taste. Which is absolutely fair as tastes differ.
There is also a small matter of shipping. Since I live in Canada, the shipping costed me almost $15 CAD, which is a bit steep for a couple of tea samplers.
Still, I consider my experience with fandom teas a success as I did find some that I liked. I heard of Sherlock blends by Bran Mydwynter for awhile and always wanted to try them. Even though I didn’t love all of them, I feel like I might return to Adagio to sample some more.