Scott Cranfill

Delightful aroma, both dry in the tin and brewed in the cup. Classic earl gray with pleasing berry overtones.

One must be extremely careful not to steep this too long. It can’t handle a typical 5-minute black tea steeping, despite being mostly Earl Grey. I typically do 3 minutes, and even going to 3:30 I notice some bitterness creeping in.

But when you do it just right, it’s a wonderful cup, and the only Earl Grey blend I’ve ever found that doesn’t ruin the Earl Grey-ness of its base tea.

Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

I drank this. I literally had no reaction to it, positive or negative. Hence, the smack-dab-in-the-middle rating of 50.

Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

This tea used to smell and taste very strongly of Fruit Loops, as others have mentioned. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’ve had it for almost a year now, but this cup definitely doesn’t have that.

While I found that flavor a bit too strong previously, the cup seems to have hardly any flavor at all now. This one seems hard to get right, no matter the conditions.

Steeped 4 minutes at 180°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Nice and robust, without being as strong as a black tea. Like it very much.

Steeped 5 minutes at 212°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Delicious blend of chamomile and some light fruit notes. Complex without being overwhelming.

Steeped 7 minutes at 180°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

This is my second cup of this tea. First time, I used 4 balls. This time, I went with 5. The flavor is definitely better, more intense with 5, but it doesn’t seem remarkably complex. Maybe my slightly-congested nose is masking some subtle notes, though.

Steeped 6 minutes at 212°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Pretty good, but not strong enough. Will steep longer next time.

Steeped 5 minutes at 212°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Delicious, delicate flavor. More vanilla than raspberry, though, perhaps because I didn’t get any raspberry bits in the teapot. Hard to get a balanced scoop out of a little sample tin.

Steeped 4 minutes at 180°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

I brewed this without remembering what the blended components were, and I paid dearly for it. The aroma was extremely coconut heavy, and I am not a fan of coconut at ALL. It practically made me nauseous. I was able to fight through it to take a few sips, though, and amazingly, there isn’t that much coconut in the palate.

Steeped 3 minutes at 180°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Wonderful aroma, subtle but noticeable flavor, simply delicious.

Steeped 5 minutes at 212°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.

Very nice. Vanilla not overwhelming as the dry aroma predicted. The rooibos really makes a mess in the teapot, though.

Steeped 6 minutes at 212°F. Prepared in Adagio IngenuiTEA teapot.