Who didn’t love the last Sherlock season? So good! I loved each episode and can’t wait for the next season. . .if there is a next season.
Sherlock is one of those shows that my stepsons even enjoy. We actually love this show so much that we (and I really should say I) decided to name our dog Benedict, after Benedict Cumberbatch-who plays Sherlock in the series. The show is clever and cunning, always keeps you wondering what is coming next.
So it goes without saying that when I saw that there were several Sherlock inspired teas offered in the Fandom Blend section of Adagio Teas, I had to find one that fit my tastebuds. Most of the blends were either smoky or heavy into earl greys so to find one that had a fruity tart twist, I was giddy.
Starlight and Crime Scenes is a mix of green gunpowder tea, blood orange herbal inclusions, earl grey moonlight, and hibiscus. The earl grey moonlight is a creamy version of an earl grey and to me- doesn’t seem to have those heavy bergamot oil flavors.
Since this is a combination of green tea, black tea and herbals, I decided to keep my brewing parameters to 190F and allowed the tea to steep for 4 minutes. Within just a minute or two, my water turned into this lovely orange-red brew that reminded me there was hibiscus in the blend. But I’m quite happy to report that the hibiscus flavors work so well with this tea.
With this being a twist on earl grey, the first flavors you do get are creamy vanilla bergamot but they have a tart citrus twist. One of those teas that the more you drink it, the more you find you like it. At first I thought for sure this tea would get heavy but that hasn’t happened this steeping at all. The fruity flavors with the creamy notes really deliver a welcomed contrast to the strong beramot flavors that I’m not a huge fan of.
I will say, drink this tea hot or cold brew. As the tea cools, the tartness does start to overwhelm just a tad. But with a touch of honey, you are back in business!
For me this tea delivers a spot on Sherlock inspired blend. Perfectly balanced with the fruity tones and a more creamy sophisticated earl grey flavor. This is one of those teas that I’m going to crave more of and one that I could definitely see picking up the bigger size bag of.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green/Black Tea
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Based off The Paradox Series by wordstrings – The cup is full of Sherlock’s grey moods, blood and gunpowder from crime scenes, and some starlight. What else are we to live on? It’s the only tea you’ll ever want anymore.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Happily Headless from Adagio Teas. . . GoT Inspired Tea!
Now that Game of Thrones is six seasons in and the books have been around even longer, I think it is safe to say that referencing Ned’s death doesn’t really require a spoiler warning. I mean you would basically need to have lived under a rock to not know the shocking decapitation that befell the Stark patriarch. I guess people should have seen it coming when the show cast Sean Bean in the role given he is known for being killed off. In fact, this particular blend is merely one of a series of teas inspired by the many Sean Bean deaths.
One of the biggest appeals of Adagio is their fandom blends. They don’t have the best quality ingredients but something about pairing a tea with beloved characters just gives them an edge. Nostalgia is probably to blame but slapping a name like “Happily Headless” on a blend just makes me enjoy the tea that much more. Maybe its just me who feels this way though.
This is a black tea/green tea blend with chai spices, cream flavor, orange, and bits of candy canes in the leaf. The combination creates a sort of spice cake flavor that is rather intoxicating. The green base is slightly vegetal and the orange can be a bit pithy but mostly this is a whole lot of delicious. The peppermint from the candy canes is lacking just a touch but I am not sure how well it would blend with the other flavors that are present anyways, so perhaps that is for the best. If anything, the candy canes contribute a bit of a winter bite as you finish the sip – perhaps a nod to Ned’s famous warning?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
You’ll lose your head over your loyalty to this kingly brew!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peach HoppiTea Custom Blend from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Organic Guranse
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Azzrian’s Custom Blend via Butiki Teas.
This blend was inspired by a beer I used to love drinking.
It was a lambic beer sweetened and flavored with peaches.
Thus we took an organic guranse and mixed in cascade hops, peaches, and peach flavoring.
All organic, all delicious!
Learn more about this tea from Steepster reviews here.
Request your own custom blend via email by clicking here. Just tell Stacy you would like to create your own custom blend and shoot her your general idea – she will get back to you to continue the communication!
Taster’s Review:
Peach HoppiTea Custom Blend from Butiki Teas is exactly what I wanted in my blend! This review is not only for this tea but also for Stacy of Butiki Teas and her amazing customer service when it comes to custom blending!
Stacy of Butiki Teas and I communicated via email for weeks developing my dream tea. I knew I wanted a tea modeled after my favorite Lambic brew. It was a peachy, sweet, and hoppy beer. What Stacy created not only brought back that exact flavor but she did so in a natural, organic way that makes this tea just BURST with ripe juicy flavors! Now I know many of us tea drinkers love to eat our tea! We pick out the pieces of fruit, nuts, herbs, etc from our steeped leaves and chew on them. Often times we end up spitting it out due to being either bitter, or chemical tasting, or whatever but when I pick out the big, sweet, juicy peaches from my spent leaves, they are so very very good! Just like I picked them from a tree in an orchard! This flavor is not only noticeable in the aroma of the cup but in every single sip! Big, ripe, juicy, natural, bursting with flavor peaches!
The hops, they are not bitter as many people think of bitter, they don’t make you pucker up like eating a sour candy. They are herbaceous, a tart sharp note on the middle back part of the tongue. Granted it is probably going to be a note that not everyone loves but even those who did not love that specific note have really enjoyed the blend and have made note of the freshness of the peaches. You can see other’s reviews on this tea on steepster which is linked above.
I could go on and on forever about my special custom blend and yes you can order it if it speaks to you but what I want to point out even more in this review is Stacy, her tea company, and the process of your own custom blend.
Now there are several companies that do the custom blend thing. Only a couple that do it in an interesting way. Most custom blends are made by selecting some elements from a drop down menu and thats it. Now not to knock those types of custom blends as I actually have made quite a few from various companies and have loved them! The difference here however is that Stacy will really work with you one on one over a period of time, until the exact idea of your blend is captured and you agree with the outcome!
From the moment I sent Stacy my request we were in communication about every element from the flavoring, the base tea to be used, and so on. Then on top of that Stacy sent me samples of different base teas to try to help me choose which one to use in my blend. Then she would send me samples of various stages of the blend itself! Sometimes more than one mixture using different bases with the peaches and hops or different flavoring components for me to consider. I think it took about a month from the time of inception to the finished product but what the outcome became is perfection!
There is a sweetness that was imperative in this blend yet the only sweetener in this tea are the peaches themselves! The hops are the exact species I had asked for, and the base works in perfect harmony.
I received my custom blend months ago and loved it then but what I am surprised at is now, months later, it is even better! Almost as if it needed to age to come to full maturity and show me everything it has to offer! Anytime you have a custom blend there is a period of time you should wait before drinking it all up as flavors do need to meld a little but I think by waiting even longer the peaches really were able to share their sweetness, meld together with the bitter hops, and thus bring forth everything desired in this blend.
The blend is all organic and also vegan! I quote Stacy of Butiki Teas: “Yep, gluten-free. It has gluten-free flavoring, gluten-free peach bits and hops. The facility is not gluten-free but we are careful not to cross contaminate.”
I would absolutely ask Stacy to make me a custom blend again in the future and I will always want this tea in my permanent stash!
Toasta Rica from Mad Pots of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong, Mate, Ceylon, Rooibos Blend
Where to Buy: Mad Pots of Tea
Tea Description:
If You Were a Tea, What Would You Taste Like?
I’m sure this is a question you find yourself pondering almost daily…. If you want your own Custom Blend or “PersonaliTEA” Make My Blend!
Taster’s Review:
Mad Pots of Tea has a few select blends for sale on their site, but what is more important is that they make your custom blend for you based on a short but interesting survey that you take prior to their master blender Madam Potts taking over and mixing up your specialized tea!
It is all based on your likes, personality, and a answers to the survey. Its as if she profiles you!
My blend is called Toasta Rica because I love Costa Rica, and I like toasty teas. My tea came in a nice resealable brown paper bag which I believe is from recycled paper (love it) and a lovely card personalized by Madam Potts which reads:
Words of Inspiration from your form:
Rainforest, Autumn, Rich spice scents, Costa Rica, Full-Bodied, Mediative, Toasty, Aromatic, Fruity, Spicy, Exotic, Intense, Earth Tones.
Which basically means keywords I had put into the questionnaire I filled out when I began my journey on her site.
Also there is a note that my blend has never been created and will never be created for anyone else! It is a unique tea – just like me.
Of course I have big cheesy smiles all around now!
The ingredients of my blend include: Imperial Oolong, Mango Ceylon, Yerba Mate, Rooibos, Ginger Root, Sarsaparilla, Damiana, Allspice, Coriander, Cardamon, and Stevia.
I do love a good chai and this tea has a true chai flavor to it but one thing I notice when sipping this tea is a wonderful black pepper note that just dances on the tip of my tongue – I LOVE black pepper! It is a sweet tea that has just the right amount of fruit notes to it without being too fruity and cutting through the intense tones of what I call my renaissance tea!
While you can’t get my exact blend, of course without asking me for it, I just want to say how in love I am with my tea blend from Mad Pots of Tea and I want to encourage any tea lover to give her method of finding the perfect blend for you a try!
Turn around on your blend is not fast. I waited five weeks from the time of order to receiving it but I am fine with that as it seems there was time allowed for the flavors to meld and the true beauty of this tea to develop.
I am thrilled with my blend even though my head was not thinking chai-esque the fact is chai is one of my first tea loves! Not only is this a chai tea but an extremely excellent chai at that! I have several chai teas from many companies here but this one is supreme!
Somehow Madame Pots hit the nail on the head with this blend not forgetting I needed something a tad bit fruity to break the monotony of the chai spices! I love that oolong was used as a base, I am an oolong lover through and though but I also love that some mate was added as I always need to get my energy flowing! I do not feel that any of these flavor components, although there are many strong elements in this tea, take over. Each flavor is getting its time in the Toasta Rica sun! Oh yeah!
Thank you Madame Potts!