Valentines

I won this tea in an fb contest. but now I have so much of it! This was my first time trying it- very bitter, I didn’t think I steeped it more than 3 minutes, but I must not have been paying attention. The chocolate smell is very strong- many of my office mates walked past and asked why they were smelling chocolate! I don’t really smell chocolate covered strawberry, more like a fake chocolate smell that reminds me of scratch n’ sniff stickers from when I was a kid. I’ll have to try this again with a shorter steep. milk may help as well.

I was very excited about this tea – guess I am in the Valentine’s spirit! This did not dissapoint. I really enjoyed the aroma and subtle taste of chocolate, berry and black tea. It was a nice combination and not one flavor was too overpowering. It definetly smelled more of chocolate than it tasted, for sure. Overall I found it very enjoyable.

The smell of this was really amazing! I opened the tin and didn’t even need to lift it to my face to smell the sweet, savory aroma. With a smell as good as that, I really expected something spectacular. It certainly tasted good, it just wasn’t as good as the smell led me to believe. I’ll order this again, because I really did enjoy it.

This was the first tea I sampled from a large (for me) shipment I received today. I’m so excited to try the rest, so I’ll probably be logging pretty frequently, especially since I have 4 days in a row without class. Maybe I’ll taste something that will replace Golden Monkey as my favorite!

This is one of my favorite teas from Adagio. Chocolate in a tea rarely works for me, but when coupled with the strawberry of this blend it tastes wonderful! The strawberries aren’t cloying or screamingly artificial, as sometimes happens in other strawberry-flavored teas.

Note: This is not a tea that ages well. Order it fresh and drink it up; the flavor difference between a fresh batch from Adagio and old leaves that have been around the house a year or longer is really, really noticeable.

Not having much luck with Adagio’s flavored black teas, my expectations aren’t high with this tea. But how could I resist chocolate covered strawberries?

The dry leaf smells like chocolate to me, with some faint sense of strawberry. Brewed, the strawberry aroma is enhanced.

First sip is very disappointing… there is that bitterness that is all too common in Adagio’s flavored black teas. Behind it are the strawberry and chocolate flavors, but very faintly. Could be that my tastebuds just can’t get past the bitterness to appreciate. Oh well, live and learn, eh? : )

Upping my rating to 90. This stuff is awesome.

Steeped for 3 min this time rather than 5 (which led to some bitterness), that was perfect. Takes milk very well and is such an awesome afternoon treat. This is really very tasty, so well balanced. The floral and fruity tastes are present but not overwhelming as with other teas. This stuff rocks.

This tea awesome! Its like a dessert, but totally better. I’ve always been a huge fan of chocolate and any sort of fruit and this taste so spot on I’m definitely drinking it by the potful.
The chocolate is more like a dark chocolate to me than milk, which complements the Ceylon and the strawberry very well. The strawberry notes are well defined and have the authenticity to them that make me glee. I over-brewed it a bit, as the bitterness was a touch out-of-balance, but not unbearable. A slight bitterness I feel would accent the chocolate, but I missed my mark by about 30 seconds.

Another thing that might be related to over brewing is that the mouth-feel was off. I really wanted it to be super moist, not as drying as it was. Another downside is more to due with the name perhaps, but this tea really makes me miss having a girlfriend. Ah well, thats what tea is for.

I am impatiently waiting to take a sip of this, it smells A-MA-ZING! It smelled pretty good when I opened the package, I could smell both strawberry and chocolate, but not in a fake-y way. After a 3 min steep I can honestly say this is one of the best smelling teas I have tried yet, and I am dying to taste it……….first sip was kind of a letdown, way weaker than I expected. Second sip, I am starting to taste more of the strawberry and I do like the flavor but the aftertaste is pretty bitter. I’m going to try adding Very Vanilla Silk next cup and see what that does.

Update: Sadly I have noticed a pattern of headaches after drinking this tea, either straight or mixed in with other teas. No more Valentines for me….

This was not my cup of tea—pun intended.

The smell in the bag is like DAMN SON DAMN sticking your nose into a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

In the cup, this tea is really, really sweet. Like obscenely. No sugar needed, and it probably tastes like a desserty dream with any kind of milk. dairy, nondairy, whatever—just be careful of adding a flavored milk because with all the other action happening in the mug, your palate just might explode. This is a dessert tea to the core. The only reason you’d drink this is because you missed out on the actual heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day and now you’re making it up to yourself because you deserve it, dangit. If any tea will make you forget you’re drinking hot, steeped leaf matter, it’s this one. Very escapist. The artificial aftertaste really brings home the box of chocolates metaphor, as it gets you thinking of the Valentine’s gifts you’d find at your local drugstore, wrapped in red or pink cellophane with a plastic rose glued on top. Sugar addicts will fall in love with this tea, but the rest of us may find better satisfaction with an actual box of chocolate.

More reviews can be found on the Snooty Tea Blog at snooteablog.com.

This is a guilty pleasure of mine, and one I like to keep in my cupboard all year round.

The flavor, while not exactly like a chocolate covered strawberry is very reminiscent of one (in fact, I get more of a raspberry, with just a hint of a cocoa coming in and out of focus). It’s a comforting and indulgent flavor, just the perfect thing for someone to drown their sorrows in when they’re stuck at home alone (or not… maybe that’s just me…).

Either way, it’s a flavor worth trying.