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Vanilla from Adagio Teas

Steepster Score 32 Ratings Rate This Tea

67/100

Vanilla

Black Tea by Adagio Teas

According to the International Ice Cream Association, Vanilla is by far the most popular flavor, getting a full 23% of all ice cream consumption. Inspired by this love of vanilla, Adagio has created Vanilla Tea. Combining the delectable flavor of sweet vanilla beans and premium Ceylon black tea, I’ll scream, you’ll scream, we’ll all scream for… Vanilla tea!

34 Tasting Notes

Ninavampi

86

Ninavampi 3 tasting notes

I am surprised that I haven’t written a tasting note for this one yet. For a while it was my morning tea, nearly everyday.

I really enjoy vanilla. While it is one of the most simple flavors, it is also one of the hardest ones to actually get right. I have had quite a few vanilla teas, many that taste too mineral or too artificial. To me a good vanilla tea has to be creamy, very strongly flavored, work well with milk and sugar and not over power the tea. Wow… Those a lot of requirements…

The leaves of this tea are dark brown, so dark that they seem black unless you stare at them for a while. The scent is sweet and inviting. The tea base smells dark and woodsy. The Ceylon used as the base tea tends to be “moody”, Adagio black teas are way too easy to over steep. So, after a bit of practice the 2 tsp for 12oz of water for 3min was just right.

As the brews, the scent makes it evident (in a 3m radius) that you are steeping vanilla tea. I love this. My kitchen smelling like vanilla is glorious.

The resulting brew is dark brown with a reddish tinge to it. Sadly, all of my glass Bodum tea cups have shattered and I am drinking out of a dark blue mug. I miss being able to look at the colors of tea while I drink them…

Unsweetened, the tea is very creamy followed by evident astringency from the Ceylon. While I have enjoyed it straight, this is a tea that benefits from being sweetened. The sweetness enhances the vanilla making it taste a lot like a hot vanilla ice cream float made in Ceylon! With a dash of milk (or even better, condensed milk or vanilla soy milk!) it is delicious and rich. The vanilla is strong enough to hold up to the milk and make it an easy cup to enjoy.

While it is rather simple, I really enjoy it. I dug it up this morning and remembering how much I used to love it made me smile. I am on my third cup of it today. This is one of my comfort teas. Nothing spectacular, but always there to make me smile. : )

2012-01-15 10:51:02 -0500

195 °F / 90 °C

3 min 0 sec

Every once in a while I think that the best recipe for happiness is a hot cup of an old favorite tea next to a beloved dog who just wants love. Today I had a really long work day, and I don’t foresee my work days getting any shorter than 12 hours in the near future… So my moment with my cup of vanilla tea is both delicious and thoroughly enjoyable.

As I have mentioned in my previous note, this particular vanilla black is one of my favorites. Maybe because it is one of my first or maybe because my tongue really likes it… Either way, I am enjoying it black at midnight. Appropriate if I were a tea drinking vampire. Sadly, I am not… So I have to manage to go to sleep and wake up in the next few hours.

As for the tea, it is still smooth, vanilla creamy and sweet. The tea base astringent and more so today that I have not milked it. Tough it is sweetened. It is sort of like the equivalent to eating really dark sweet chocolate. I actually really enjoy it. The vanilla is smooth and heavily present while the black tea base cuts through the sweetness. The sharp astringency works well to balance out the creamy vanilla cutting through the silkiness.

Milked and sweetened it is a decadent treat and just sweetened it is a relaxing companion!

Still up there with my favorite teas! And my go to tea to sip and relax! :)

2012-07-18 00:22:07 -0400

Once again I have been absent from steepster for a while… But this time I come back with quite a story to tell. I will warn everyone that this is more a brief summary of my eventful past 2 weeks more than a review… Though the vanilla tea I am sipping does play a major part! : )

Last weekend, I went to Cuyabeno with the boyfriend and my family. Cuyabeno is an Eco-Lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle. By Eco-Lodge, they really mean ECO. There were no doors or glass windows. No electricity. No internet. No cellphone service. And lots and LOTS of bugs, frogs, snakes, and lots of other animals that you really don’t want to wake up next to (or find taking a swim in your toilet… as I did multiple times during the trip…). Anyways, I took a bit of this tea with me on my trip and would make it with boiled water that they would give us at the lodge with dinner. It was great to have a strong vanilla tea that tasted creamy without needing milk to accompany me in the dark while I listened to the noises of the jungle and shared stories with the guides and locals. It is one of my comfort teas, so having its company helped my courage before closing my eyes to sleep surrounded by creatures of the night…

Once I got back to my house, I only had one week left before the big non-for-profit race that I organize (Ruta de las Iglesias). I had a whole lot to do, and it was sorta crazy and hectic. Getting everything ready for 8000 people to receive their competition chip and package as well as make sure the 10km path is all ready is quite a job for 2 people (my aunt and I organize the whole thing…). Well, all was going well, when my tummy started feeling funny. Then I started feeling cold. Then I had a super high fever… and it turned out I had an intestinal infection!!! Argh… What horrible timing! I couldn’t stay home from work the week before the race, so off to work with fever and all… It was miserable. But worst of all, I couldn’t drink tea because everything I smelled or tasted made me feel sicker… I didn’t eat anything or drink anything but Gatorade for 5 days! It was terrible…

The race was this Saturday. It was great and everything went fine. We calculated a total of 12000 runners (including those that ran without having officially signed up for the race). It was a huge success… until we realized that the company that managed the race results had given us the report with a HUGE amount of errors… So I have had to spend the past two days in front of a computer looking through the results and correcting the ones that had errors…

So finally, now after these insane days, I am finally sitting down with another cup of vanilla tea to try to relax for a change. This tea smells as delicious as it tastes. The vanilla plays in well with the astringent (only a tad bit too astringent, but oh well….) black tea base. My favorite part of this vanilla black is that the the texture that this particular vanilla flavor gives the tea makes it seem like you have added milk to it. It really has the mouthfeel of a latte! I wish it wasn’t this late and I could enjoy another cup of tea, but it is too late… and another cup of tea right now would not be a very bright idea considering I have to go back and deal with more crazy work tomorrow!

Please forgive my rambling! :) I missed everyone! I am glad to be back.

2012-08-22 00:49:20 -0400

Michelle

55

Weirdly astringent. Doesn’t taste much like vanilla, and even with milk and agave it sort of tastes like vaguely tea-flavored sweet milk. I won’t miss this one.

2012-10-23 12:47:09 -0400

Boiling

2 min 0 sec

Tea Sipper

97

thank you Amanda for sending me a bit of this one to try! I love vanilla teas. It seems like I’ve tried a bunch of them and they are all usually equals in the vanilla tea department. They all seem to be equally delicious. I don’t know who said vanilla is boring, because I think vanilla is heavenly. I knew this one would be good since I know Adagio’s black tea base would be a good one for vanilla. This is very very good. It’s smooth and sweet, but the black tea has the perfect briskness to it. The second steep was just as flavorful. Adagio continues to impress me! I’ve only got one more teaspoon left, but I’d definitely consider restocking this as my vanilla tea staple.. but like I said, all of them are usually nice. I don’t know why the steepster score for this one is so low…

2013-04-23 23:15:52 -0400

CHAroma

84

This morning I brewed up some straight Vanilla tea, continuing the Adagio theme from yesterday. With the first sip, it was horridly tannic and I had to add milk and sugar right away. Well, maybe I didn’t need to add the sugar right away, but I did anyway.

Second sip is much more enjoyable. The vanilla is very soft and mellow. I didn’t have quite the same experience as Ninavampi with this tea. I wish it flooded my kitchen with a glorious vanilla scent, but alas, it did not. Although I do agree that it is a simple, comfort tea. Very comforting indeed. I used 1.5 tsp in roughly 8 oz. of water for 3 minutes. But the flavoring is quite light.

Now don’t get me wrong, light is not bad. It’s not so subtle that it’s nonexistent. It’s just a smooth, mellow, waking-you-up-slowly kind of tea. Not my first inclination for what a breakfast tea should be, but still quite enjoyable. Also not quite as good as that Samovar vanilla tea they stopped carrying. Oh, I wish I could get more of that! Sadly, it disappeared from the website shortly after I received my sample. But I’m happy with my choice of tea this morning.

And now it’s off to work with a belly full of tea and English Muffins!

2012-04-05 09:23:57 -0400

Boiling

3 min 0 sec

Rebecca Lynn

Sweet and simple, kind of reminds me of Adagio’s Cream Tea. I think it would probably be a good base for some sort of blend. I’ll have to try it out.

2012-08-29 23:10:34 -0400

Feisty

85

From my flavoured black Adagio sampler comes…vanilla tea! Now I’m a huge vanilla fan, and this is my first “straight vanilla” tea, so this was one that I was most excited to try.

I’ve made this several times now (very behind on logging my tasting notes), and I followed the steeping parameters on the tin each time to very tasty results. Thankfully it seems quite forgiving of over-steeping and only once did it turn out icky-bitter (which was overcome with some milk and sugar).

The dry leaves have a pleasant tea-vanilla scent that is quite natural (more vanilla bean then super-sweet vanilla dessert). The liquor continued with the vanilla scent just milder then the dry leaves. I tried it first straight and found it drinkable with very little bitterness, but also not much vanilla flavour. I find vanilla is one of those full flavours, it should have some heft and substance you know? Straight this tea had a pleasant black tea flavour and a hint of vanilla-bean taste/scent but without the sweet-richness I think vanilla should have.

I added some milk (really want to try it with cream!), and about half a spoon of of sugar and found this really brought out and filled out the vanilla flavour nicely. This would make a nice dessert tea with some cream or flavoured creamer and I definitely want to try it combined with some of my fruit teas! Vanilla-strawberry…drool

2010-04-08 13:18:59 -0400

Boiling

5 min 0 sec

Cheryl

70

Having just tested Vanilla Green (which was weak according to instructions), I decided to make this stronger from the beginning. I haven’t had much luck with Adagio’s flavored black teas, but this one does not cause an immediate “blech” from me. It is strong, but did I overdo it? Not sure, but the vanilla is probably making this ok for my tastebuds. To me, the vanilla is in the background and not overpowering, only adding some sweetness. I added a tsp. of honey to sweeten further.

2012-01-15 05:54:46 -0500

Boiling

3 min 0 sec

Cinoi

70

Cinoi 2 tasting notes

The aroma was strongly vanilla, so I decided to slightly under-brew it so that it was not overpowering. This was unnecessary because the flavor was mild at best. The vanilla was almost non-existant, but it made for a very slight hint of vanilla flavor. Overall, a decent black tea.

2009-11-30 20:28:23 -0500

3 min 0 sec

lahochstetler

20

This is one of the few flavored black teas by Adagio that I just do not like at all. This tea has a strong, strong, strong vanilla flavor. It’s so strong that it tastes fake and sweet to me- all I can taste is vanilla, no tea. I have to classify this tea as undrinkable, because I simply cannot stand the fake vanilla flavor.

2009-11-16 14:42:39 -0500

Boiling

3 min 0 sec

Honey

38

I completely agree with the description of this tea regarding vanilla ice cream. I love it, love it, LOVE IT. This tea, not so much. I’ve had it a few times before deciding to rate it and there’s just something the flavor I do not like. I can pick up on the vanilla but I’m thinking that it’s the black tea they use as a base that I am hating on. I have many black teas from Adagio that are just “meh” and a few (such as their peppermint one) that I really liked. I have a feeling this one is going to sit in the back of the cupboard until one day I spot it and have forgotten what I thought of it.

2012-01-13 15:35:37 -0500

Odysseus

55

Another sample from Erin. Thank you!

A pleasant vanilla taste that dominates. There is still some tea taste as well, but not enough to pick out any subtleties. Rich amber in the cup.

2010-03-09 11:08:09 -0500

Boiling

5 min 0 sec

Erin

71

Like most of Adagio’s flavored black teas, the aroma was overpowering when I opened the tin, but the taste was weak. I liked it, but I would still prefer a stronger flavor.

2010-01-07 17:48:26 -0500

Madison Bartholemew

55

Madison Bartholemew

With nothing added to it the flavor seemed plain and a little astringent. The vanilla blends into the background tea base and is unimpressive.
Add milk and sugar and the vanilla pops out along with a rounded flavor profile from the tea base.
This is a crave worthy but just O.K. tea.

2009-11-17 08:00:23 -0500

Matt Davey

63

I like a bit of a stronger tea, the aroma of this tea was amazing but the flavour wasn’t quite strong enough for me. That said, what I could taste was amazing.

2011-11-28 06:24:28 -0500

5 min 0 sec

dcarlo

64

Vanilla flavor a bit synthetic tasting/ smelling. It tastes more like cookie dough tea than just vanilla, there is some shortbread flavor to it. The vanilla essence is more authentic with the addition of (rice) milk.

2010-11-15 11:03:30 -0500

Boiling

3 min 30 sec

ericnaumann

70

tea time.

2010-03-10 18:51:45 -0500

Andrew Bash

66

Pretty good with sugar. A bit too bitter for me black.

2009-11-26 14:46:23 -0500

Boiling

5 min 0 sec

Kitch3ntools

75

kind of boring. its nice for an anytime tea. my fiancée LOVES this i just bought him a large tin today

2009-10-25 23:06:57 -0400

TeaEqualsBliss

80

TeaEqualsBliss 8 tasting notes

The color is dark. The scent is plentiful prior to steeping. The Vanilla aroma is still present after the steep but not as intense. The taste is more Ceylon than Vanilla which in my book is good. If you are looking for an overpowering vanilla flavor this is not it but I think it blends well for a good flavored black tea.

2009-07-07 11:51:05 -0400

As I am finishing up my stash of this loose leaf tea I am very happy this morning as I have just been accepted as a Tea Reviewer over at The Tea Review Blog! YAY! I believe my first post will go up today!!!! Now…back to this tea. Since this was the last of my stash I steeped a bit more loose leaf because I wouldn’t have have enough for a separate steep so I will be trying multiple infusions with this today. This first one was really bold and dark – it’s time to see what the 2nd Infusion does…

2009-12-15 08:55:02 -0500

Wanted a flavored black from Adagio. This is the first one that wasn’t fruity that I found in my tea drawer at work. Pleasant…understeeped for a change.

2009-11-16 10:42:46 -0500

Needed a black tea this morning after kicking my morning off with a herbal tea. Not sure why but I tend to have a black tea for my first cup and it’s free game after that. Well, today I mixed it up a bit. Anyhow…this is my black tea for this morning (at least my first one). I still like the fact that it’s ‘just enough’ vanilla to be a flavored black tea. I’m already thinking about my next cup…what will it be!? WOW! That sounds like a tea addiction, doesn’t it!?

2009-11-12 08:42:25 -0500

It’s black tea but creamy. Smells nice. Still surprised I like it the way I do because I usually don’t go for the vanillas…but I do…I like it…and I will admit it.

2009-10-22 09:46:41 -0400

2nd Infusion. A bit bitter but not as bold. Still pretty good tho.

2009-12-15 09:26:17 -0500

Wanted to start with the Flavored Black but tastes switched for my 2nd Cup of the day. This was extreme in aroma today but not as much in vanilla flavor…it was almost smoky…maybe I steeped too many leaves…still good tho…just different.

2009-08-26 11:20:09 -0400

Backlogging. This tasted exceptionally good yesterday!

2009-07-29 10:34:05 -0400

Angrboda

85

Angrboda 4 tasting notes

The leaves smell very sweet and when steeped the scent of vanilla is still strong and full.

It’s easy to find the vanilla in the flavour too, but if you’re looking for the sweet sort of vanilla sugar flavour that you get in ice creams or desserts you’re going to get disappointed. This isn’t so overwhelmingly sweet as that, but it’s definitely there and it’s definitely vanilla.

I saw another reviewer here suggest mixing it with fruity teas. I’ll have to try that.

2009-06-10 03:02:35 -0400

Wake up, self. Look alive. Have only just done barely 300 words on NaNoWriMo today. As previously mentioned work was particularly tiring today. I hate meetings, I do. I much prefer to just zombie about in the lab and get the daily specimens out of the way.

I need to get some more words down, just half an hour more of writing would be acceptable.

So we took a black one because blacks always feel like they have more caffeine in them (even if they don’t really) and I went for this one, because I felt like something flavoured. One of my extravagant Adagio teas. I wish I could afford to shop there regularly. (I’ve seen a cucumber(!!!) thing among others that I’m absolutely desperate to try!)

It’s sweet without actually being sweet-sweet. It sort of tastes like vanilla smells instead of tasting OF vanilla. Hard to explain, but I’ve found that I rather like it a lot.

I’m still carrying around some tentative chai-inspiration from the chai-cino experiment of the other day, so I’ve tried a cup with a bit of milk. Not a lot, just exactly enough to cover the bottom of the cup (mind you, my current cup have a fairly wide bottom (snicker) and it’s not really working. Possibly it should have had a bit more milk, because somehow it’s like the watery-ness of the tea is all the more obvious. I think it’s because of the colour. You expect something with milky viscosity and don’t get it. It’s odd and sort of distracts the mind so you forget to pay attention to the flavour.

So, closing my eyes and taking another sip. Weirdly, this actually does help on the viscosity issue! It’s all in your mind, apparently. I wouldn’t say the milk really brings the best out in the tea here. On the contrary, the milk seems to get a kind of semi-sour sort of note to it. You know like milk that hasn’t actually gone off but has lost the sweetness and has just started to taste of fridge. I have to say that I’m a little disappointed that it doesn’t work with milk. It sounds like something that would have been lovely with a bit of milk.

2009-11-05 14:47:48 -0500

but with a twist!

Following yesterday’s chocolate chili fail, I got lots of suggestions for stuff to try instead.

Vanilla with a bit of peppermint was one of them.

I’d never have thought of this combination on my own, in spite, bizzarely, of having a pack of very nice chewing gum with this exact combination in my bag right now. I’d just never considered ‘translating’ it to tea.

It is, in tea, very nice! Both vanilla and peppermint have a natural sweetness, and their flavours surprisingly suit each other, making the tea sort of sweet but not.

I suspect it’s a combination that would also work very well on ice.

2009-10-17 05:17:24 -0400

I got inspired for a vanilla tea just now so I made me a small pot. And then my head wasn’t really in it so I wasted a whole spoonful of this nice vanilla tea but going to put the leaves in the pot and failing to pour out the water that I had used to heat the pot up first. Very ARGH!-worthy when you only have a sample-size tin. I wish I had more of this to mix with. I’ve got a TON of stuff now that I’d like to blend it with, but alas.

2009-11-11 14:24:25 -0500

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