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This is one I received in my box o’ tea from Liberteas via teatra.de a year or so back. As is frequently the case with me, my eyes were bigger than my stomache and I’ve only made a small dent in the bounty of tea she provided. Looking for a black tea this afternoon I stumbled across this one and the aroma appealed to me. I’ve only ever had one or two other adagio teas and I remember the black tea base to be very finicky so this got a precise 2.5 minutes, just in case.

The dry aroma put me in mind of caramel or vanilla, which fits with the flavourings this has (rum and cream, I believe?) Anyway, very appetizing aroma in the dry leaf whcih translates well to the steeped liquor. Deep brown and with similarly caramel/cream aroma. There’s an aspect to the steeped scent that makes me think this might get bitter, hopefully that doesn’t come through. From afar the cup puts off an aroma of burnt sugar, almost reminiscent of a creme brulee.

First sips yield a strong breakfast tea taste – not bitter but certainly bold. I’m not much of a ‘breakfast tea’ person as they tend to feature the bolder black teas that I don’t yet appreciate, but this one is muted a bit by the sugary flavours I am getting. I wouldn’t call it cream, but there is a sweetness that presents at the end. There is some distinct maltiness going on here, they might be Indian teas? I am starting to get some bitterness as I get deeper in the cup, this is one that would benefit from a slight stir of honey, I think. I don’t like to add anything to my teas but this one is so bold I think it needs it

Half a straw of grapefruit agave later, I have a much nicer cup though I have definitely changed the composition. I find agave to be super sweet and that is definitely present now, the cream has been smothered by the flavoured agave. The bitterness/maltiness are more bearable but it is still astringent with my tongue feeling dry after sipping.

While this tea isn’t exactly my thing, it is pretty nice and I am infinitely grateful to have tried it. Plus it gave me an excuse to use the grapefruit agave in something other than matcha. :)

As an aside, I’ve been drinking all my tea lately in my Japanese Latte Mugs from Davids Tea which I absolutely love. The first time Davids had them it was $50 for the 4 so I admired them from afar but they came back in the fall/winter for onlr $20 for the set. Yay! I think they’re absolutely wonderful