1473 Tasting Notes
Hey, Wallace, do you rock or suck?
Wallace is the last stop in my Scott Pilgrim sampler journey. It’s been a good journey with some high points and some really low points. But I’m glad for it, if only for the awesome tins ;).
Wallace is hands-down my favorite character of the series. He’s great and reminds me of a friend back home. He’s a gossipy bitch and I adore him for it. I also love that he’d gay without it having to be overly stated or addressed. He’s simply Scott’s gay roommate. Every time I get drunk, I have to say “GUESS WHO’S DRUNK?”, find some keys, and throw them at my wife.
She puts up with a lot, folks.
As for this tea, I’m apprehensive. Chocolate and passionfruit? And I find Adagio teas too bitter and astringent, so I’m a little scared of their irish breakfast.
Dry, it smells like dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chips. Steeped, it smells…dark. I dunno. Rich and heavy and an undertone of chocolate.
Okay. Wow. It’s a complex sip. At the front of the sip is strong black tea, overwhelming everything, but then the passionfruit begins to peeks though. The flavor left on the tongue is chocolate with a hint of fruit.
It’s…interesting. But it doesn’t really blend well. I can see the chocolate mixing with the irish breakfast, or the irish breakfast and the passionfruit, but the mixture of passionfruit and chocolate chip is a little stomach-turning.
That was a test, Wallace and you failed. Boo.
Preparation
Stephen, I dearly hope you taste better than you smell.
Stephen is great. Always panicking, a nervous wreck, he can’t even decide if he wants to be with Julie. Which, please. Aubrey Plaza? You want to be with her, trust me.
The scent of this tea dry is spicy pumpkin spice, heavy on the spice. Steeped…well. It smells like sweet potato that’s been left out for a day or two. So I really hope the taste is much better.
And it is! Thank goodness. You can really taste the spices and the toasted mate, and the aftertaste is all sweet potato. It’s not great, but it’s better than it smells. It would probably be good as a latte, but I don’t like to keep teas that are only good as lattes, as I don’t usually have milk in the house.
Stephen Stills, I know you suck.
Preparation
I was so excited about Ramona that when I got up to make this tea, I also put a mason jar of her in the fridge to cold steep.
And that came out sounding way creepier than intended >.<
My favorite Scott Pilgrim quote (and by that I mean the one I quote incessantly to my poor wife) is a tie between “Bread makes you FAT?!?” and “You know what sucks? Everything.”
Scott, Scott, Scott. You’re a loser and a bit of a jerk, but I love you. Your life is a long story filled with sighs and I wish I could live in it. I did live in it for a while! For three months I lived on the couch of the best gay roomie ever (who actually reminds me of Wallace), who helped support me when I didn’t have a job or a direction in life.
The scent of this is juicy and fruity dry, but brewed you get the undertone of caramel. On a purely visual note, the osmanthus in the leaf brewed up so pretty, a million little flowers.
Taste-wise….meh. It’s caramel and peachy, but Adagio’s black tea base brews up so, so bitter, even at a lower temperature. This might be one I save for cold brewing. It uses more leaf and it keeps the tea from getting too bitter.
Boo, Scott. I had higher hopes for you. If this tea had a face, I would punch it.
Preparation
I heard Ramona sing…
Ramona is a girl after my own heart. Like me, she’s an American living in Toronto. At one point in the movie she has pink hair, like me. And, you know, she has, like, eleven evil exes…like me XD.
And, the girl has a butt-ton of tea.
“We have blueberry, raspberry, ginseng, sleepy time, green tea, green tea with lemon, green tea with lemon and honey, liver disaster, ginger with honey, ginger without honey, vanilla almond, white truffle, blueberry chamomile, vanilla walnut, constant comment and… earl grey.” (Though girl lives in Toronto and needs to up her looseleaf game)
So when I looked at the ingredients and spotted berry and cinnamon, I fell in love. Two of my favorite flavors, I just hope they play well together. The scent of the dry leaf is all cinnamon, but the steeped tea smells like blackberry. Hrmm.
Oh my glory. It’s blackberry pie in a cup. I always add a pinch of cinnamon to my blueberry pies and this reminds me of that. But it’s not a generic berry, it is very firmly a blackberry flavor. The flavor seems to take over and fill your entire mouth and oh my god I am in lesbians with it. (I know it’s an obvious joke, but it needed to be said). If you are on the fence about trying the Scott Pilgrim sampler set, get it for this tea alone.
Preparation
Man, I only have 2 evil exes. 2 evil, 2 who self sabotage thinking it is the world that is against them, 1 narcissist and 1 who weaves parts of books he has read into his own life story. The rest are all normal and that isn’t nearly enough to make an interesting story line!
Do you have to buy the whole set to get this tea or is it sold separately?
Evil exes are the freakin’ worst, man.
You can get it by itself, which is very, very tempting. I will definitely be getting more when I can. https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=33326
They are the worst, but afterwards they make for some great WTF stories and lessons learned!
Hmmmm… I might try this one. I still haven’t ordered from Adiago before. Their selection is a bit overwhelming!
So if I have any more caffeinated teas, I’m going to bounce right off the walls, so I reached for one of my new herbals instead. I love these tins, I love love love them. And I’m also very pleased with the sachets inside…they smell so good. Definitely going to pop a few of these into my purse for steeping on the go.
Next time I’ll go for a longer steep, but this is still lovely. So lovely. It’s not overly floral, nor is it artificial-tasting. It’s delicious and juicy and just the littlest bit tart. A lovely way to end this tea-filled day.
This is impossible.
How can this be?
No, seriously. How is this not a cinnamon chai? His attack is fireballs. Maybe I’m too obvious, but that’s the tea I think of when it comes to Matthew Patel, and I think of Matthew Patel a lot. He’s my favorite evil ex (Roxy is a close second), and for the longest time “Slick” was my ringtone. It’s the first part of the movie that makes you stop and go “what….the….fuck is happening?”
Anyhoo, this tea smells good, all nutty and orangey and, well, christmassy. The taste follows through, it tastes like a good tea to have around the holidays, all warm and inviting and comforting. But it’s not Matthew Patel to me and I have more than enough Christmas teas.
Preparation
That’s awesome that you’re a Scott Pilgrim fan! We were just driving around Toronto a few weeks ago and I was just amazed when we drove by a few of the key locations in the books. :O I wanted to go on a SP tour. :P
Full disclosure: I’ve never had a lapsang. I cook with it all the time, but I’ve never sat down and had a cup. Also full disclosure: The only thing separating me from this tea is the two minutes it’s gonna take to kick your ass.
I’ll stop with the Scott Pilgrim quotes eventually, I promise.
It smells smoky and sweet…I’m kind of excited!
Holy cow. I just…yum. So yum. Orange and smoke and so yummy. I’m a believer! I need to try some of my Davids Lapsang. I want to cook with this, but I’m not sure what. Regardless, I might fight my wife for the rest of this blend.
Lucas Lee, you are one of my least favorite evil exes, but so far you are my favorite tea from the sampler.
Preparation
Poor, poor Knives. I’ve been that girl. I’ve been in looooooooooooooooooooooooove. My seventeen year old self strongly identifies with her…luckily I’m twenty-eight now and know better.
Cherry vanilla? I hope it’s good, because my wife will be very happy. Cherry is her thing.
It smells kinda good, but…mostly fake.
It tastes kinda good but…mostly fake XD.
I like the vanilla, but the cherry…ugh. So artificial.
Not the greatest.
Edit: I avoided this until it cooled, and cold you can taste the green a bit more, but it’s still not great.
I have distressing news. (“Is the news that we suck, because I really don’t think I can take it.”) (Scott Pilgrim is my life, hush)
No, I had to take a tea break! It was upsetting my stomach. Damn you, Gideon! shakes fist
I am very excited to try Kim because her voice is my inner voice. It’s sarcastic and dry and makes me chuckle. I really hope her tea lives up to it.
And it does! It’s fiery but creamy and soothing. Like that sassy friend who is always on your side, except for when you are clearly in the wrong. Yeah, this tea absolutely says Kim Pine to me. Gingery and spicy with a sweet undercurrent.
Edited to add: As time moved on and the tea cooled, it grew incredibly bitter and the ginger took over in a bad way…kind of like Kim XD. But not something I care to drink. It might be good as a latte?
I am excited for this lemon-blueberry tea, though I’m a little iffy about the almond. Hopefully it will come together to make a yummy blueberry muffin-ness.
I love Gideon because he is so unapologetically evil and utterly annoying. I liked him more in the novels than the movie, but movie Gideon holds a special place in my heart too.
If anything, I’ll enjoy these teas for the happy feelings they give due to loving this series so, so much.
So onto the tea, it’s…okay. More rooibos than anything, but I do get a hint of lemon and blueberry, but it’s more like a generic berry. But yeah this is rooibos with just a bit of other flavors. Maybe the cold steep will be better.
I GUESS WALLACE.
Dork. <3
I may be a dork, but you’re totally my bitch forever.