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Discovering Adagio teas, episode #9 (out of 12).

And satisfying my sweet tooth. Currently I don’t eat sweets per se, but I don’t mind dessert teas, so this time I’m drinking te chocolate chip one.

It has a great smell after opening the zip bag, with a lot of cocoa nibs and chocolate.
After steeping, the aroma is still dominated by chocolate (of course), but it’s not one dimensional. You can sense milk chocolate, cocoa nibs and chocolate liqueur in it, plus a hefty dose of vanilla.
The taste is more cocoa-like than chocolate-like, with solid notes of roasted cocoa, creamy, mellow texture, some vanilla and only slight sweetness. Rich, very rich, even a bit heavy, but you don’t drink such teas on an everyday basis, so that’s not a problem,
This tea would probably teste well with some milk. I’ll try it this way one day.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #8 (out of 12).
Very nice, complex aroma, with a lot of base black malty tea enriched by solid cream/custard, sweet notes, with vanilla.
And the taste is also complex, with only slight sweetness and very low astringency.
Nice dessert tea

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #7 (out of 12).
The aroma is dominated, as one can imagine, by dark caramel, very nice and mellow, toffee or dulce de leche like.
And it blends really well with the base black malty tea, isn’t cloying, in fact it’s only barely sweet.
Good tea. It would probably taste great with some milk.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #6 (out of 12).
Lovely aroma of dry tea from the zip bag – fruit pie, milk chocolate, caramel, butter cookies and butterscotch, of course.
It’s a bit different after steeping. The aroma is dominated by butterscotch flavouring and baked apple, with some flowery notes more in the background.
Slight sweetness in taste, underlined by solid maltiness and very full, creamy body, with no bitterness nor astringency.
Very good dessert tea, not overdone with sweetness or flavourings.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #5 (out of 12).

This one was a freebie sample. I don’t mind the English breakfast teas in gereral, because I usually find them perfectly casual, but I wouldn’t buy them of my own will. So I’m glad I got this one for free.

And I really like the smell. There’s wood, a bit of smoke, a bit of wet cardboard, some earthiness and even a bit of dark chocolate. Very rich and complex aroma.
And this woody smokiness dominates the flavour. It’s not very strong, just seems to be the main characteristic over an earthy background. There’s also some residual sweetness that complements the taste and very slight astringency.

All in all, it’s a very good tea. Maybe it’s time to review my approach to English breakfasts?

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #4 (out of 12).

I can’t believe that this tea wasn’t in Steepster database.
Anyway, the smell is not very strong, but dark, very earthy, with very slight smoky character.
And so is the taste, rich and complex, very deep, slightly sweet, almost not bitter.
I like it more than English breakfast teas, but I probably wouldn’t like to drink it on the everyday basis. And for me it’s more an afternoon tea, not a breakfast one.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #3 (out of 12).

I just love the smell of hazelnut in the afternoon!
it already smelled great right after opening the zip bag and I absolutely don’t mind that this smell comes from flavourings.
And after steeping it smells even better! Just like a delicious hazelnut cake or a pancake with hot nutella.
And the taste is also very full, complex, malty, not as sweet as could be expected. Delicious pastry tea really full of hazelnut flavour.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #2 (out of 12).
My second Adagio tea and first from a small sample bag. And I just love the idea of a zip bag. So practical.
As I expected, this one is rich and malty, with typical to Assam teas wet cardboard in the background. It tastes a bit bitter (steeped for 4 minutes), but I certainly don’t mind a little bitterness in a decent tea, and a bit astringent, with solid, malty base and threshold sweetness.

Discovering Adagio teas, episode #1 (out of 12).
Recently I made my first order at Adagio Teas (UK). I liked their tea selection and the fact that they sell 30 g samples. I definitely prefer small packages, because they allow me to taste more varieties. 50 g bags are fine, 30 g bags are even better. I’m planning to avoid the tea shops that sell only 100 g packages or bigger (hear it Denmark!).
So my first pick is the only large tin from my order, Irish Breakfast (blend of Ceylon and Assam black teas). Filled above the rim, so it’s not easy to scoop the tea without spilling, but I’m not going to complain.
Lovely dark brown-red colour.
Distinct wet cardboard flavour, typical to Assam teas. As a beer judge, I would find it a sign of oxidation and an off-flavour in beer, but here it’s different, of course, and expected. Apart from that, the aroma is rich, dark, malty, woody.
Very smooth taste, with only trace of astringency (I steeped it strong), slightly sweet and caramelly.
Very good tea, in my opinion much better as a blend than just a sum of its parts. Looking forward to my other Adagio teas.