Valentines

Once upon a time, Ninavampi didn’t know much about tea. She wondered around trying things that sounded tasty, mostly super sweetened to help her get through studying. This tea in particular was a tasty favorite. NInavampi prepared it dark and sweetened and sipped away at it through the night in a dorm room with her roommate and today, best friend. Time has passed and Ninavampi got a job and refined her tastes in tea. Sadly, for a long while she forgot about this tea. Now, on a tea-intense weekend, Valentines has been revisited by NInavampi. Ninavampi still thinks that it is delicious.

Ok… Enough with the third person narration… hahaha… Sorry!

Seriously, sweetened, this tea is delicious. It may taste a wee bit artificial, and in my opinion not entirely like chocolate covered strawberries, but it is really tasty. Dry, it smells sweet and a lot like a strawberry Tootsie Roll pop.

Once it is brewed, a bit of the chocolate smell peaks out. I don’t get much strawberry. Sweetened there is a vague strawberry-chocolate flavor that is much like trying to remember a dream. The more you think about it, the less you can place it. Even though I don’t feel like Adagio’s description of it is 100% accurate, there is something overall pleasant in this tea. It has the ability to smoothly coat your mouth and leave you wanting more. I had to brew two cups of this today before I had satisfied my sweet tooth.

This is really worth a try. I don’t think it is a tea for everyone, but for those of us who like to indulge in something sweetened once in a while, this is a scrumptious treat.

Valentines tea, Ninavampi, and her dog Sencha had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday afternoon. : )

Just received my package with a little over $50 dollars in samples from Adagio, so I have lots of new teas to try out in the next few weeks. Yay!

This was the first one I picked out of the bunch to smell, and now the first one I’m actually steeping. The smell is exactly like chocolate covered strawberries, no mistaking it. Not strawberries plus chocolate, fighting with each other, but specifically chocolate covered strawberries. The first few sips of this, I was unimpressed…typical Adagio ceylon base with that dull bitterness it always seems to have. I wasn’t sure how strong the chocolate-strawberry flavor was going to be, after reading *Ricky*’s review (and others), but I could actually taste them quite strongly. Anyway, at first it seemed average, like nothing special. I added a little milk and Splenda, and it was still average. But all of a sudden, I had finished my cup and I wanted more. I actually was craving more! I get bored with tea flavors easily, so that rarely happens. Perhaps the bitterness left on my tongue from the first few sips faded away. Whatever it was, this is good, and a little on the boring side, but I’m glad I tried it.

Editing to add, second steep isn’t worth the effort.

With all these updates I’ve been forgetting to drink tea!!!! (I hope you’re all happy)

I looked at some of the other reviews of this one and I’m afraid I don’t get it. Or maybe I just have a long way to go with my tea preparation knowledge…

Absolutely love the aroma! That’s the saving grace of this tea. Open the tin and you get hit in the face with chocolate (not literally). Some people probably wouldn’t like that but I do. But after that amazing nose, I only get slight hints of those flavors in the liquid. There’s a slight maltiness, but I don’t get strawberries. Maybe a bit of sweetness for strawberries…but I think that’s stretching.

Oh, and since situational drinking descriptions seem to be the trend now…I’m sitting in my apartment working on Steepster listening to 3Oh!3 (also from Boulder). Fatty (cat) is sleeping on the couch and Dexter (dog) is sleeping in his bed – real lively bunch.

Anyways, I’m really doubting my tea drinking skillz…where my Steeps at?
said in a high voice choking back the tears

I do not like. I’m thinking I need someone who’s purchased a bunch of Adagio teas to give me the heads up on a fairly popular one that enough people have loved haha. So far, while I haven’t hated the adagio teas that I’ve tried – they’re kinda of in the ‘meh" basket. As in, I’ll drink them if someone offered them to me but I wouldn’t spend my money there with all the other great options out there. Then again, maybe it’s just the black base that I’m not liking. I didn’t really taste the strawberries and the choclate was muted.

I tried this tea at 3 minute steep with boiling water and a splash of cream. It didn’t work for me. Got a dark orangish brown cuppa creamy looking tea, but the flavor just wasn’t speaking strawberries and chocolate to me. I think adagio’s ceylon base is alright, but I prefer other strawberry flavored blends to this one. Thanks Doulton for letting me sample this. I know it’s been quite some time since I reviewed a tea from the wonderful samples you sent my way. I may try this with a longer steep to see if more flavor comes out. I just get afraid of bringing out the bitter ceylon taste.

Whoa! Okay Steepsterites, explain this one to me: I made an 18oz pot of this, steeped for 5 minutes, then promptly poured into 2 separate mugs – one big pour for each mug, then a little bit here and there to top off each evenly. One mug (mine, lucky me!) tasted as I think it should – the other (my unfortunate bf’s) is waaaay too bitter to choke down. …What happened??!? As a side note, the roads in MN are so bad today, my boss called me this AM and told me to stay off the roads and “work from home”. I can’t believe I’m out of school and still getting snow days!!! :D

Good morning, Steepsterites.

I got this one from TeaEqualsBliss, and actually tried it for the first time a little while ago. I took backlog notes then, so this post is going to be a combination of three different sessions with this particular tea.

The first time I had it, I paid attention to the aroma, something I neglected to do with the other two times. It actually smelled like milk chocolate. Not cocoa, like so many supposedly chocolate-flavoured teas do, but real chocolate that you could eat.

I found the flavour to be sort of hazel nutty and chocolate-nutty, but no the same sort of milk chocolate that I had found in the aroma. That was a little disappointing. It had an ever so slightly flowery note which makes me wonder what those orange bits in the leaves are. Given that it’s a valentine’s blend, my first instinct is rose petals, but orange rose petals? Anyway, it was possibly a little oversteeped as it had turned ever so sllightly bitter. And as for the strawberries, uh, where exactly were they? I couldn’t find even the smallest hint of fruit in either aroma or flavour.

All in all, I wasn’t particularly impressed and would have given it around 40-50. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t good either.

Second session was last night when I decided to take a cup with me to bed while reading. Not really sure what I did. I used the regular amount of leaf and boiling water. Then I winged it on the steeping time and eventually poured a cup, suspecting that it had had just a wee bit too much.

That was a whole other story! The chocolate-y bits of the flavour and the slightly floral bits were more milk-chocolate-y this time but otherwise the same as before. But THERE! There they were, the elusive strawberries. Very very clearly. A fruity sweetness just underneath all the chocolate-y notes.

Much, much better, but still not something that I would say was amazingly awesome. Based only on this session I would have gone up to 65-70 points.

Encouraged by the second session I decided to make up another pot of it this morning. I wanted that sweet strawberry and milk chocolate again. Just a shame that I didn’t actually know how I had really brewed it the day before. I used standard amount of leaves and boiling water, but when it came to the steeping time I had no clue. So I had to wing it.

And guess what I got. First session again. Slightly bitter, very hazel nutty and not even remotely sweet or fruity. Apparently this is a tea that has to be steeped just so to be at its best.

I’m rating it as a compromise between these three sessions.

I’ve been avoiding this one. Definitely not because I won’t enjoy it, but because it reminds me of my ex fiance. So I figure just dive in, finish it up, and order some when I’m in a better place emotionally. I have enough for 2 cups! Yay!

2.25g/6oz water. I was completely dead set against rose teas when I started my relationship w/ teas, but even then thought raw tea w/ rose mixed in was very pretty. The dark ceylon is a good contrast. I just wish there were more.

Wow this steeps up dark! Just like coffee. The aroma is definitely sweet due to the chocolate/strawberry combo. The flavors hit my tongue in the order I like- black tea, chocolate, strawberry… but… no rose! I’m gonna cry:,(. I love the idea of this so I think I’m going to do my own experimentation. 1.12g strawberry, 1.12g chocolate and .56-1.12g dried rose petals. This would have gotten a higher rating from me if they just would have eliminated them because I wouldn’t have been anticipating them. Serving suggestion: 1tsp-1TB white chocolate creamer.

Another Backlog! Again, thank you to Amanda!

This was pretty nice! I think that it’s really comparable to Love Tea #7 from Davids, but I think I like that one a little more. This one was good but it was rather unremarkable to me. The chocolate was nice and had a sort of….. nutty? flavor that I can’t really put my finger on, but it was good! The strawberry wasn’t very strong, which was kind of disappointing because I’m still searching for a chocolate-strawberry blend that I really like!

I’ve had this one sitting in my cupboard for a some time now. I decided I’d finally drink the rest of it and just let it go for good. The last time I drank this I thought “ew, this isn’t very good”. But now I’m thinking “woah! Why haven’t I drank this?” It’s actually pretty good now. Black tea with subtle tastes of chocolate and strawberry. It made a nice pot while cleaning.

I received this one from Madeline Alyce
I’m sipping this one as I cannot get the smile of the firefighter I met yesterday out of my head (I guess my sipping this- Valentines- is appropriate) even typing about this guy my stomach is flip flopping.
The dry notes smell of chocolate and strawberries. Once steeped the chcocolate comes out at the forefront and I’m not really getting any strawberry flavour. As it cooled a bit and I added a bit of honey I got a bit of strawberry flavour, it’s more of a candied version of chocolate covered strawberries. Overall it’s a good tea, but probably not one I would keep stocked.

Valentines was yesterday, but it happened to be on Sunday so I had to wait till the next day for my Adagio package. I am just starting to try flavored teas, and I have to say, at first I was intimidated by the strong scent. It did smell like chocolate covered strawberries, sweet with a slight sour tang, it smelled like. It was screaming dessert, so I added milk and a sugar cube. With the additions you can taste the flavors pretty well, and it makes a nice dessert cup. I don’t know if I’ll try this straight, because I liked how milk rounded things out… and to drink this straight wasn’t my original intention.

First cup of the day. I purchased a sample pack of this, didn’t think much of it, and it got moved to the bottom of my tea drawer. Maybe I’ll like it better today? The dry leaves and tea do smell very enticing – warm milk chocolate with just a hint of sweet fruit. I’m such a sucker for anything that smells even remotely like chocolate! Ugh, this is horribly bitter! I steeped it for exactly three minutes, but it tastes like it’s been steeped for an hour. I can taste a little of the chocolate flavor, but absolutely none of the strawberry or rose. Adding milk and sweetener covered up some of the bitterness and brought out a little more of the sweet chocolate, but it’s still not that great. To it’s credit, it does become less bitter as it cools, but saying it tastes like chocolate-covered strawberries is a huge stretch. I could try playing with the steeping times but I don’t think it’s really worth it when there’s so many better teas out there, you know? I don’t like fighting with my teas. Haha, oh now I remember why I don’t care for this tea! :)

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves with pink and yellow rose petals.
-Dry leaves smell like milk chocolate and black tea. Tea liquor aroma is of warm chocolate with a hint of sweet fruit.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Slightly bitter and malty flavor with a wispy chocolate finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. Somewhat bitter chocolate tea. Little strawberry or rose flavors noticeable.

“You can’t drink this in July,” shouted the fluttering cupids in my imagination. “Hot tea is out of season!”

“Silence, you cupids,” I shouted back. “Chocolate-covered strawberries have no season! And put some clothes on! This isn’t Rococo town, where anything goes as long as it’s associated with slightly-naughty shepherding and pastels!”

Temperamental conversations with imaginary cherubs aside, Adagio’s Valentines tea is, hands down, one of the most called-upon teas inside my cupboard. Even now, at the height of summer, Valentines calls to me in the cool of night: drink me (it seems to siren-sing), for I involve the merest of calories and the maximum of soft confectionery flavors.

Delicately strawberry-flavored, lightly chocolatey, and with the scent and underlying “taste halo” of rose, this is an appropriately-classified dessert tea that can actually quiet my cravings for far more fattening fare. One could say it’s a little too light in flavor, but I kind of like that. It seems smoother, somehow; I’d call this one a more cost-effective version of Teavana’s Azteca Fire. Add sugar-free sweetener and a little skim milk, and you are in calorie-watching dessert tea business. Well, I am. I don’t know about those cupids, though, who are always more rotund than any babies should be. Four words, cupids: early-onset childhood diabetes.

(I fear I’m running the risk of looking like a hopeless Adagio-phile, what with all the thusly-branded reviews I’ve posted so far. Then again, again, I do own a lot of their teas, not only because I was easily bitten by the personal tea-blending bug, but also because this brand tends to be affordable and easily-procurable. Color me poor, indolent, and introspective, I guess.)

Tea satisfaction + gentle snark = two tea-haikus for this one:

Sweet chocolate-covered
strawberry Moses! And it’s
constantly plural!

Be mine, valentine,
and drink some dessert with me.
Pass the cherub spray.

I wouldn’t say this one is my favorite from Adagio, but it’s not my least favorite either. I enjoy the playful chocolate-covered strawberries taste, but agree that there is a bitterness to it. I can’t figure out if it’s bitter because of the rose petals or because of the ceylon base, although I didn’t steep any longer than 3 mins. For me this is a fun tea to enjoy in February to get in the V-day spirit. (My wedding anniversary is Feb. 13; I didn’t get to pick the date, I won a wedding in Vegas, but that’s a story for another time.) I recommend as a fun tea, but don’t take it too seriously, or think it represents chocolate tea everywhere.

By not overdoing on the dry leaf and keeping steep time on the shortish side, I’m getting both the chocolate and strawberry flavors (which seem to be missing, one or the other, in other reviews). Suddenly I’m craving Russell Stover fruit cream chocolates…

The tea smells very chocolatey while it’s brewing, which makes me miss my Adagio Chocolate Chip tea. *sniff *

At first it tastes quite chocolatey as well but I’m also getting the strawberry at the end of each swallow and it sort of lingers on the tip of my tongue. The rose petals were nice to look at, but they didn’t really add much to the tea IMO. I think this tea would be nicer with a better base. As it is I think the bitterness of the Ceylon base Adagio uses is drowning out a lot of the flavour.

Backlog —
A very interesting blend of flavors. Has a pretty smoky taste with some strawberry brightness in the background. The milk chocolate flavor definitely comes through as well. The floral smell of rose petals is a bit overwhelming to me, but that’s not a flavor I’ve ever been fond of so YMMV. Sometimes the smell is fine, but other times I find it off-putting. It took a few cups for me to come around to this, but it’s not all bad I guess.

This came for my January/February Tea of the Month club from Adagio. So far I’m enjoying it.

Opening up the bag, the tea just whaps you one in the face with the smell of chocolate covered strawberries. Really so. As it steeps, the scent mutates into a sort of creamier version of the same. It’s really very pleasant.

Drinking this really hot, I mostly pick up chocolate and a bit of floral which must be the rose petals. As it cools, the strawberry comes out much more and combines to make a really nice tea that really does remind me of Valentine’s day. Adagio did a good job with this one.

And the flu that I’ve had for the last week is finally going away. My cats (all 5 of them) will be sad that I won’t be spending another week at home on the couch napping all the time but I must bring home the money to keep them in the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed. I am glad I’ve gotten over this now though, because I fly to Orlando Florida next weekend to go themeparking with my sister. I just bought tickets for the both of us (being the less poor of us, and it being my idea, I’m picking up the tab). It will be fun, hopefully. I haven’t been on a roller coaster in more than a decade…

Free sample from my last order for sharing stuff on Facebook, hey I’ll take it! Curious about this because I loved DT’s Love Tea #7 (thanks again for that sample Emilie!).

This brews a nice deep red and has a light smell of chocolate covered strawberries, however I’ll be sticking to Love Tea #7 for my chocolate strawberry tea needs (apparently I have those). It’s not bad, but the flavors just aren’t where I want them to be.