TARDIS (Blend)

Thanks to Kiaharii for letting me try out some of the fandom teas on Adagio. I want to love anything named TARDIS, but I was worried about this tea. I’ve never had a good experience with Adagio Earls. I decided to try this cold first, as I felt that might mellow out the bergamot a bit. I forgot about it and went out to the movies with my family. I ended up letting it go a little too long.

It’s still good though, woo! I was right about the bergamot getting mellowed out. I can taste each of the flavors: the Earl, the tart blueberry and the sweet creamy vanilla. I wish the blueberry taste was a little stronger, but that seems to be a problem I have with most blueberry teas, so that’s probably just me. I have enough to try this hot, so I’ll give it a chance

Mmmm. Dry this smells like a blueberry muffin and if you sniff a little deeper, earl grey. Brews to a really lovely red. I’d tell you what it smells like steeped but my nose is a little stuffy and whatever the scent is will not come through!

The taste is interesting. In some sips I get a ton of early grey, others the blackberry (that comes over more as a blueberry) dominates. The vanilla is more of an aftertaste on the back of my tongue. I added a bit of stevia to sweeten it up a tad. Definitely going to try this in latte form!

When I got 100 cup points, I decided I’d get this. It was between this and the Sagittarius zodiac tea and now I feel like I should have gone with that. But they’re basically very similar…blackberry or raspberry? I have to choose blackberry.

I don’t really taste blackberry in here though until long after I take a sip. It seems like it’s just a floral bergamot flavor, but it finally fades into blackberry.

I’m surprised though at how smoooooooth it is. I gave it just a 3 minute steep, and it’s perfect for me. Not too strongly bergamot, and very easy to just sip.

A latte sounds like a great idea, especially since this one comes with FOUR ounces of tea instead of just three.

Thanks to Kiaharii for this! It got here a wee bit late, but safe and sound, and due to my mistake, not hers! :)

I worked a 13 hour day yesterday because one of our cashiers called out, and I’m the best cashier in the store. (And I’m not bragging – all of my managers and every competent – read adult – employee in the store have told me this. I’m the only one apart from Liz, our Customer Service Lead who’s allowed to train newbies)

Came home exhausted, spent the rest of the night curled up on the couch cradling a cup of tea and sobbing about all the things I was supposed to do but couldn’t.

And then I was in work today to buy school supplies, and my boss talks me into working today too. It’s the height of Back to School and the cashier they had scheduled is painfully slow at the best of times, never mind during BTS. So after she got me in, she actually texted him and said not to bother coming in because she’s got me.

I’m gonna miss this store.

But there are holes worn in my working shoes and I can feel my arches collapsing where I stand.

So I was very excited to come hone and see this on the table.

I went for the TARDIS because I’ve heard fantastic things about it and also I wanted a fruity something tonight, not anything serious.

It’s good. The ratio of the blackberry to the black tea is good, although there’s a little too much bergamot for me. It’s not me steeping it wrong, since I steeped it at 2 minutes with 180deg water (the latter part by accident). No milk or sugar, but I don’t think this should need it. I didn’t taste much of the vanilla and found myself wishing that it was an EGC base instead of a straight EG.

Still, it’s really good. The blackberry is just right. A satisfying cuppa after work!

Another sample from Valerie! Thx!

And finally, an earl grey blend that doesn’t overwhelm me with perfumy bergamot notes. Not sure what that was about but I’m happy it passed.

Smell: I know it’s blackberry, but the smell reminds me of plump juicy blueberries. It makes me want blueberry pancakes so bad.

Taste: Pretty good! Slightly bitter, but not unpleasantly so, followed by vanilla/bergamot notes, and finishing with a nice berry taste. I would probably enjoy it more with a touch of cream or sugar.

I used to think Adagio was pretty expensive, but $9 for 3oz (or 4 oz) isn’t bad at all. I just don’t want to pay $24 for a pretty fandom tin, and yet…. I do. Damn you Adagio. But a 6 oz tin? Would that be double the size of a DavidsTea tin?

Yet another fan-based tea blend, this time it’s Dr. Who! I just started watching Dr. Who and now I can’t stop! I love the smell of this tea. It is straight up berries. I know there is some earl grey in there, but it is more of a whisper than a real player. This makes me extremely happy as I am not a huge fan of Earl Grey teas. This also has a slight tart note that makes it memorable.
When I first tasted it I looked at my husband and said “it tastes blue!” I think that it tastes very similar to blueberry muffins or blueberry bagels. I’m glad that this is a black tea blend because I think that it goes better as a base instead of a lighter one. I think that this one is going to be a great blend for school days. I will have to try this cold because I think the berry would really stand out.
Great blend and as always, very cute art!

Okay, I’m not going to lie… I just bought this one purely because I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. And the artwork is great.

This smells divine! I know it’s supposed to be blackberry, but it smells like blueberry! Like blueberries and vanilla and black tea. I just opened the package, took a big sniff and told my coworker (I have all my tea packages sent to the office) that I wish I could have a shampoo that smelled this good. She, who hates tea, agreed that it would make an awesome potpourri.

But it’s not for smelling, it’s for drinking, gosh darn it! So I steeped up a cup. I wish the berry taste was as strong as the smell. Honestly, all I can really taste is Earl Grey. I was able to tease the berry out a bit by adding some rock sugar, but the strongest flavor is still Earl Grey. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wish the other flavors would stand out more.

I’ll have to experiment more with doctoring it up at home.

So here I am at Maryville U. A young lady from Colorado is here to audition on harp.
I met with her & her parents last night, & they are delightful people!
I brought a 16oz insulated mug of this Tardis blend. I was a little worried about buying this, as I was when I purchased ‘farewell ponds’, but as I sipped & cried over the final Amy & rory episode, I decided to give the Tardis a try. It’s earl grey, blackberry, & vanilla, & it’s good! Probably good iced too!

well i think i steeped this too long. i’ll need to shorten it below 4 min and see what happens.
it could just be a matter of perception and inflated expectations.
this tea is rated the highest of the fandom adagio blends, and i seriously love a few of the other blends i’ve ordered, so i figured this one must be delicious. i’m such a practical type of person that i forget how much others might be influenced by cross promotion. so maybe after this cup my expectations will be tempered.

Thanks Momo! Adagio and I have a love/hate relationship. This tea is ok. I don’t find many of adagio’s flavored teas to be very flavorful.. this blend is ok. I’m not getting a whole lot of berry, mostly earl grey. Thanks again!

Backlogging this one. I’ve been saving it for the return of Doctor Who~

I made a pot of this to enjoy during the premiere and immediately garnered the interest of all my non-tea drinking friends. That’s quite a feat, as they normally are indifferent to my tea habit. That’s how fantastic this smells. Sweet and fruity~ It still tastes very much of earl grey, even with all the fruity vanilla overtones, but that’s how I like my earl grey. Tastes just like a delicious blueberry muffin. I also made it into a latte on Monday and that was fantastic~

Anyways, new season of Doctor Who! Bring it on! Allons-y!

I drink this tea all the time at work, especially on days like today when my allergies have me DRAINED and I need a nice pick me up. I haven’t reviewed it yet because I pretty much have no idea how to describe it. The interesting thing about this tea is I don’t really taste the earl grey, blackberry, or vanilla. Somehow they have swirled together to make a flavor that is quite bold, yet sweet enough that I can drink it without sugar or milk (which is pretty rare for me when it comes to black tea). And I normally don’t even like earl grey of any kind.. Overall, I wish there was something more exciting? about this, but it’s good.

Many thanks to Kiaharii for sending me this sample! WOW!I love this tea! I’m normally not a big blackberry fan, at ALL, so I was very skeptical. Hubbie is a big Doctor Who fan though, and I’m a big fan of the new series myself (haven’t had a chance to watch the old ones yet, stay tuned!) so given all of that, I just HAD to try it if given the opportunity. The blackberry paired with the vanilla is BRILLIANT. Finally a way I can enjoy blackberries! :) This was a great cup of flavoured tea, and I can’t wait to get started on the old doctor who episodes, teacup in hand! :)

At first I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t really know what to do with this tea, and just added a little sugar and left it at that. However, with some experimentation with a little more sugar and brewed with a touch of milk, this becomes an out-of-this-world tea. The berries are bright and sweet, but don’t overtake the EG taste completely. The bergamot is balanced nicely, and the tea is a fantastic flavor-burst to start the day. On mornings when I don’t have the time to do my Thai Chai (and any other day I really need this one), this is my go-to tea when I get up in the morning. Staple status.

I do so love the aroma of earl grey. The flavour is earl grey, with a little bit of berry, and vanilla. I would have liked a little more berry taste, but it’s otherwise fantastic.

I wanted to like this so much, the blend of EG, blackberries, and vanilla sounds so good, and it isn’t a bad tea, it just doesn’t quite fit me (much like the 11th doctor).

I will play around a bit with times and additives and see if I can’t tweak this to a great blend.

I’ve also read that some people drink it cold (ick) and I may give that a shot the next time I’m ill (I seem to want super sweet, super fruity or over-lemony iced tea when I’m sick).

This is a really pretty tea. I like the artwork on the package too. Anyway.

I mostly pick up the earl grey flavour when I drink this. I normally like a pretty strong earl grey (hello double bergamot stash tea) so this is okay, but I’m not really picking up much of the other flavours, beyond a slightly stronger than normal fruitiness from what is presumably the blackberry (or blueberry? Other reviews are confusing). This is not my favourite tea, but I like it well enough and I haven’t had an earl grey that I liked in a while. Mostly earl grey creams which I have found that I don’t like so much.

and WOOT, this is my 100th review!

This tea smells amazing in the bag. Most of the reviews of Adagio say that this tastes like a blueberry muffin. I can’t seem to figure out how to make it taste that way. I’ve made it both with and without milk and sugar. I’ve played around with temperature and steeping time. It is a very good Earl Grey tea. But all I can taste is the Earl Grey. I bought the collector’s tin so I can display the artwork on my shelf. When it is empty I will probably just refill it with a plain Early Grey unless I can figure out the secret to unlocking this tea.

Let’s be honest: I got this because there was super-cute artwork on the front and last year I rediscovered earl grey as an actually good tea. (Early experience with Lipton Earl Grey had me convinced that it tasted like Pine-Sol and was to be avoided.)

I really liked this! The fruity blackberry smell is strong in the bag, but the flavor mellows out into a great accompaniment to the bergamot when the tea cools down. I’m nearly to the bottom of my bag, and I have a few other earl greys in my cupboard I’m going to try first, but I’d definitely order this again or buy it for the tea-loving Doctor Who fans in my life.

Yum. You can smell all the flavors in the dry tea. When I steeped it, the Earl Grey won out, though there’s some berry in the background. Perhaps I steeped it for too long or with too hot water, or maybe my palate isn’t nuanced enough. Still, it’s tasty, and even more so with some sugar and milk.