It’s sunny as hell, and the first day of Penn State’s summer break. Yet here I sit with a pumpkin spice tea. Because I break ALL THE CONVENTIONS. I’m standing strong against The Man. Resist where you can, kids.
Pumpkin spice is tasty all. year. round. Yum.
Throw in a little chocolate for taste and mate for kick, and I am ready to roll. This is a great blend.
It contains mate. Mate is a caffeinated genetically-not-technically-tea. Its influence varies from person to person. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this in any previous posts, but I feel like I should probably point it out to you now. My best friend could drink a mug of it and fall asleep for the night shortly thereafter. However, she has no idea how it would affect her baby (she’s breastfeeding), so she can’t drink it right now.
She’s worried her baby might react to mate the way I do.
Mate makes ME feel like a kid at Chuck E Cheese, though.
SORT OF RELATED FACT: Did you know that Chuck E Cheese’s full name is “Charles Entertainment Cheese”? I’ll wait while you Google that.
Regardless of whether you love giant mouse mascots, video games, pumpkin spice, chocolate, or caffeine, this is the tea for you!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
That perfect delicious drink, invented and served by Levi to warm any girl’s heart. He’s sorta brilliant that way. This black tea is filled with the smooth sweetness of pumpkin and spices mixed with warm cream. A touch of mocha nut mate with accents of cinnamon, apples pieces and cocoa nibs might just blow your mind.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mocha Nut Mate from Adagio Teas. . . .
This is tea’s answer to coffee!
If you like that full, diner coffee feel, but maybe don’t like those jitters, give this maté a try. Maté isn’t a “tea” as such; it’s a different type of plant (also caffeinated). It affects people to varying degrees, so you might want to try this in the morning so it won’t affect your sleep.
The flavor is a little bit of a bitter zing, with a nutty body, and a slight whisp of chocolate. Mate works on me very much, so I am definitely INVOLVED IN MY DAY at this point. Listening to podcasts*, talkin’ tea, and making designs 100%.
* Where IS Richard Simmons? The podcast about his abrupt disappearance is really interesting. His past and connection to the public is REALLY COMPELLING. Everyone he knows is a CHARACTER — as is he, obviously. I am chomping these developments down like peanut butter cups. Which I will obviously have to then dance off to the oldies.
This tea reminds me of Denny’s somehow. Like when you and your friends are out preposterously late and there’s literally nowhere else to go. So you wander out to Denny’s because it’s open and 1 AM. And of course, because you’re a little stupid and/or drunk, you order yourself COFFEE. Which sounds delicious, until it’s 4 AM, your friends are gone, and you can’t sleep. So you listen to the Backstreet Boys until the sun rises, eat breakfast in the dorm basement’s middle-of-the-road dining commons, and then sleep the rest of the day.
I speak from experience here. I an a connoisseur of late-night 24-hour establishments. Our Denny’s was the best one. It was by far the most beautiful one I’ve ever been to, and the staff was friendly, regardless of the hour or busyness. Note that I said “was” — even though it was one of the most popular places in my town, it somehow lost its license or something (???) and is gone.
I’ll just have to fill in with this tea.
I’m not sure how I’ll fill the hole in my heart left by Richard Simmons, though. Maybe a different tea. I’ll let you know if I figure it out.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
The mellow chicory-like character of our Brazilian toasted mate is a perfect platform for a favorite indulgence: chocolate! Add a bit of hazelnut and you have the perfect treat. Great straight up or enhanced with cream and sugar. If you’re a fan of chocolate mate teas, we invite you to give this formula a try. Please note that all Mate varieties contains caffeine; we would not suggest it as a nightcap.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Spiced Apple Chai from Adagio Teas
I feel like i’ve been trying a lot of chai’s lately. Adagio actually has some fabulous vanilla chai cookies. Maybe I will review them in the near future! So keep an eye out. Anyways, Spiced Apple Chai by Adagio- I want to start out this review letting you know what my expectations for this blend were. I was really picturing a cinnamon-y, clove-spiced, ginger-touched apple cider. Maybe a spicier version of apple crisp. I absolutely love cinnamon apples as a side on Thanksgiving. I was hoping that this tea would remind me of that.
I actually can say, honestly, that my expectations of this blend were met! Its funny because one of my first thoughts were that this blend would taste FANTASTIC as a hot latte with some steamed milk and honey. It really does smell like a spicier version of cinnamon apples and apple pie. It is so so good! The black tea is very smooth and not too bold, which you know I love. The spices are very well done, they aren’t overly done or too spicy. I am not usually a fan of ginger, but I really appreciate the taste of ginger in this blend and the way it mingles with the cinnamon and cloves is really nice. I am not usually a fan of orange peel, but I feel like it almost brings out the apple/fruit flavor a little bit more and thankfully doesn’t add any bitterness.
I really feel like I am eating cinnamon apples at Thanksgiving while I drink this. I think that turning this tea into a latte with steamed milk, honey, and a sprinkling of nutmeg would be an amazing fall treat! I will definitely be keeping this tea on the back burner and bringing it out in the fall. A great caffeinated alternative to apple cider. If you like chai tea and you like apple cider, you will LOVE this blend!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Our Spiced Apple Chai features the timeless, comforting combination of apples and spice. A lively blend of black tea, classic spices from Indian Masala Chai and bright notes of crisp apple. Juicy and pleasantly sweet, like warm applesauce, with a clean, refreshing texture. We suggest two heaping teaspoons per 8 oz cup. Sugar, cream or soy if desired.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Atlantis Found. . .An Adagio Teas Custom Blend From Our Own TeaEqualsBliss. . . . .
My television often displays shows about Earth’s mysterious past. Ancient Aliens, Curse of Oak Island, What On Earth, Mythbusters, Finding Bigfoot, and Hunting Hitler have all graced our screen.
My husband cannot get enough of unsolved peculiarities. We’ll be eating a meal and he’ll be like “did you know that the skull fragment the KGB presented as evidence of Hitler’s death was tested? And it’s FEMALE?” or “have you ever seen pictures of the circles in South America where nothing grows — and NO ONE KNOWS WHY? THE SOIL IS FINE” or “did you know the sphinx was probably a dog, not a lion?”
So when I got a tea called “Atlantis FOUND!”, I was pretty psyched. Finally: one of those historical enigmas has been SOLVED.
CROSS ONE OFF THE LIST.
This is a very tasty chocolate-vanilla-fruit tea. It’s punchy fruit — blueberry and raspberry — in an ocean of what tastes like milk-chocolate. In summary, a very nice dessert tea.
I sometimes wish that Adagio’s default black tea had a little more oomph, but that doesn’t disrupt this tea very much because the other flavors are so strong. The meh-nature of the black tea can be canceled out somewhat by adding a little bit of vanilla almond milk (or whatever your choice of add-in might be).
I’m going to make up a batch of this and keep it in my insulated bottle as I hike through the tundra looking for the elusive Yeti. I think he’d dig it.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea (Flavored)
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Atlantis FOUND! All Black Flavors Blend – Blueberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hazelnut. . .Chocolate. . .Yerba Mate. . . Mocha Nut Mate from Adagio Teas
Okay, full disclosure here, I was really hesitant about this blend. I am not a fan of mocha/coffee flavor at all. I switched from coffee to tea a long time ago and don’t really like tea that tastes like coffee. However, the smell of the dry leaf was enticing me because I could smell the hazelnut and chocolate and it smelled delicious. I’ve never had mate before and I hear its loaded with caffeine, so if you are looking for an energy boost this just may be a great tea for you.
The steeped liquid looked as dark as coffee and I feel like if I added a little cream you would have thought it was coffee in my cup opposed to tea! I added just a pinch of agave to this one, and that’s usual for me, but I really did it because this blend includes dark chocolate and mocha flavor- both of which can be very bitter especially in combination with each other. Not going to lie, I was not a fan of this. The only reason I didn’t like it is because it was true to its name- mocha. This tea tasted just like a cafe mocha with a dash of hazelnut and chocolate! I did not finish the cup, but my coffee-loving boyfriend did and he thoroughly enjoyed it!!!
Unfortunately this tea was not my “cup of tea” (pun intended). But that doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a good blend. It actually would have been a favorite of mine if I enjoyed the flavors of mocha and dark chocolate. It was true to its name and the flavors were bold and smooth and comforting. I think that if you like coffee or are looking for an alternative to coffee, you will really love this tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!