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I expected something a little more decadent, what with all of the hype Adagio gives in their description. Really, it’s a black oolong flavored vanilla. That’s about it. However, don’t you ever underestimate “mild”! It’s still pretty tasty, and is great for adding to other teas to either bump up the flavor of the black tea base, or to calm down some feisty tea flavors. So far I’ve mixed it with my Cocoa Canella mate from DavidsTea as well as their Blueberry Jam, and I’ll be mixing it with the last of my Buttered Rum as to stretch that tea out a little more. I’m pretty excited to be trying it out with my Gingerbread black tea from Teavana, and probably my Chestnut from Adagio. Thinking I’ll look for some cinnamon sticks and break them down in my mortar and pestle to add to that… Seriously, what a versatile little tea! Probably going to order some blackberry black tea from Adagio to go with it too!

If you’re intrigued by this tea yet find yourself nervous…don’t be. This tea is pretty mild. Unfortunately so, in my case.

I mistook the chocolate for cocoa nibs — the flavor felt a bit chalky and not really like there was melted chocolate in my tea. The chai isn’t very extreme either, which is why for my second cup I felt compelled to add some of my Caramel Chai Rooibos from Teavana. It kind of helped.

But see, I was expecting a tea version of perhaps my favorite chocolate by Lindt, Chili Dark Chocolate. The chili in this tea is…very weak in comparison. There’s a hint of warmth on the back of your tongue, once you’ve swallowed, but not much else. It kind of helps the flavors going along in the tea, but since the dry taste of the chili is playing with an even drier chocolate, it’s hard to say what it’s doing for it. On top of that, I’m surprised at the 1.25 tsp per 8oz preparation instructions. By default I almost always use nearly a full tablespoon of tea per 10-12 oz and my cup still felt weak.

I really expected more, at least like a chai with some subtle flavors; as of yet, to me, it tastes equally weak on all flavor fronts. I’ll have to tinker with adding some dried red pepper flakes or melting in some of my beloved Lindt to get me through the rest of this ounce of tea leaves. May edit later for recommendations.

How is this tea? My log knows the answer.

It’s a tea as mysterious and quirky as its namesake. Twin Peaks Tea is based in Adagio’s Mambo tea, a combination of Yunnan Jig and Wuyi Ensemble. Yunnan Jig is described as a “forgiving” black tea, “identified by its abundance of soft golden tips, and savory cocoa and black pepper flavors.” It smooths out the rough edges of Wuyi (Da Hong Pao), an oolong given a high fire treatment gives Wuyi a smoky and mineral character.

When you open the package of this tea blend, you’re however hit hard with the cherry flavoring. Initially, it really put me off. Some of Adagio’s flavors smell and taste quite artificial to me, and this was my first impression. I was suspicious.

Steeping it, however, I was heavily introduced to the smoky blend of black teas in the air. The cherry took a firm back seat, a relief on my mind. Cherry is so hit or miss for me.

Tried it straight first. Definitely could taste the firey oolong and black pepper from the yunnan. So much darker than I expected, I worried I had over-steeped it. The cherry became more of an aroma than a flavor, like sitting in the Double R Diner enjoying a drink and catching the smell of a cherry pie just pulled out of the oven.

With my preferred dairy additive (half and half), the cherry was cut out even more. The black teas pretty much remain the same. Sugar, on the other hand, brought that cherry right back out, and finally introduces the cream flavoring as well.

It’s a weird tea, which is what it should be. It tastes woody, rich, and curious. I would personally be happy to skip the cherry (as iconic as it is) for something aromatic to give it a sort of alpine essence, and maybe some sort of other jammy berry (currant or blackberry?) This is probably better suited to be Dale Cooper, or the Double R — but honestly, for what it is, it is a damn fine cup of tea.

I want to give this 100 so badly! This thermos is incredibly well made and amazingly designed. Steep basket attachment in the cup, compartment in the lid to store dry loose tea (either so you can steep it later for time-sensitive teas that need to be babysat, or if you plan to make your initial cup or a second serving later), rubber bottom to keep it from clanking on surfaces, and damn, does this thermos keep your tea hot! However…I really wonder at the price point. ($30) I have a large and extremely well-insulated Thermos-brand travel mug that does everything this does, minus the basket attachment and tea compartment, and it was half the price; I feel as though those two aspects, while important, aren’t themselves worth half the price? (Steep basket or not, I wouldn’t buy the mug unless it was sturdy, vacuum sealed, and well insulated — all way more important for keeping the tea satisfying.) I’m in fact fairly sure my Thermos is 4oz bigger. The loose tea compartment was something I discovered after the fact, too. I was just mainly sold on the fact that I could finally steep tea into a thermos (my other one has too narrow of a neck or any of my steepers to fit through.) Kind of just wish it was a tad more affordable — like, five bucks cheaper — given the small size and the fact that the tea compartment is something I doubt I’ll utilize all the time.

That and, I just wish…that I could drink out of this thermos with tea leaves still in the steeper. The attachment nestles underneath this mouthpiece to drink from and if your tea leaves are small enough, you HAVE to remove/empty the steep basket out before you drink. I’m sure it just wasn’t functional to make the holes any smaller to keep tea leaves from draining out (they would probably clog up the thermos too, it would likely be impossible to drink out of) but for an on-the-go thermos, I dream of being able to throw everything in and be able to enjoy the tea immediately without having to open the thermos, unlock the basket, and deal with that before being able to enjoy my tea. (I usually have to set aside ten minutes before going out to make my tea and prep it for drinkability before leaving…which is what I had already been doing with my tea-unfriendly Thermos before I bought the Timolino.) I figure the idea is that it’s all prepared for being able to make tea out of the house, and not so much “you threw your tea together on your way out the door!” which is still incredibly convenient. Maybe I’ll experiment throwing my tea leaves into a teabag into the thermos and see how well that works. Believe me, this part is my personal wish, not a reason why I knocked five points off of my score!

But enough of my complaining. Overall, I’d say it’s worth the purchase! Trust me, your tea will NOT go cold unless you remove both “lids” and keep it completely open (yeah, even the mouthpiece manages to keep my tea from growing cold!) Also I’m pretty sure they roll out with new colors every season or every-other, so these will be addictive for collecting if you’re like me and love color options.

I was super excited to read this tea’s ingredients — earl grey bravo, blackberry, vanilla. At the time, I was looking for “creamy” or mild earl greys, but I stopped dead at the blackberry. I don’t even know if I like blackberries, but I was definitely lured in by its inclusion.

Bought myself the $4 sample tin in my big Happy Birthday to Me order back in February, since it runs slightly on the pricy side. The next size up was a 4oz bag, and did I want to drop $10 on that much tea, if I didn’t know that I might like it? Well, that’ll teach me to play it safe. I ADORED this tea. Super comforting, so creamy, and the blackberry is super sweet like a pastry — not tart, like most berries are (to me). I almost feel like this is a perfectly English tea, absolutely suitable for its namesake. I am really picky about Adagio’s flavored teas because they taste rather fake to me a lot, but this combination tastes so good that I can’t even tell if it tastes artificial, I’m just lost in how yummy this tea is.

Suuuper tasty! If you like buttered rum or butterscotch flavors then I bet you’re going to like this. These flavors are STRONG. Some might call it artificial, however I think it’s perfectly enjoyable. It has coconut in the ingredients, but it doesn’t come off as very coconut-y at all. I especially enjoy that this is a black tea and not herbal — I’m a glutton for tannin. You can even drink this sugar-free and still enjoy the flavor going on! However, I recommend this with brown sugar or honey.

Did you know that this unrefined beet sugar qualifies as a whole food? There are also claims that this is the best type of sugar to add to your tea because it supposedly doesn’t alter the flavor notes of the teas you add this to. I definitely can tell that this tastes different from white cane sugar in teas, but I also have a finicky palette. I really recommend this if you’re sensitive to tastes in your teas. It doesn’t hurt to try out; it tastes great (you can add it to plenty of other things in your life! If you have a mortar/pestle then you can grind it up and add it to oatmeal, baked goods, whatever) and it’s not extremely expensive compared to Teavana’s teas. (And they offer discount prices for bulk buys, which is considerate!) However, it’s slightly high maintenance; it takes longer to melt and if you don’t have the patience to melt it down or grind it with a mortar/pestle, then you might find it unappealing to handle. But, if you’re a connoisseur, you’ll surely enjoy the natural benefits and how it affects your tea flavor.

I was looking for a creamy earl grey (something a little more mild, or at least something with a bergamot that felt less like a spray of perfume in my mouth) but had been disappointed with Adagio (whose cream tasted artificial to me…) I’m not entirely sure that this exactly qualified — it isn’t entirely creamy on its own, at least to me, because there is definitely a gumdrop-y flavor going on in this tea. At first, it actually put me off; having bought two ounces of tea, however (and it’s mostly leaves, so it came out to being a LOT of tea) I felt obligated to drink it. At around my third cup, I started to really enjoy it. Half and half and some brown sugar is my favorite combination, also I recommend mixing it with Teavana’s Honeybush Vanilla to make it a little more mild. I also felt a bit daring and threw a little in with my DAVIDsTEA Blueberry Jam, and it gave it a nice little edge.