After taking a bit of a hiatus, we are happy to be back! Can’t say how often we will be posting but happy to kick off the new year with a particularly famous tea from Adagio Teas.
If you are familiar with Adagio Teas, you are familiar with their holiday and themed teas. A particular tea I have recently heard quite a bit about and seen quite a few posting about- Brigadoon, Adagio’s Leap Year blend.
Brigadoon is a blended black tea comprised of Asam and Keemun teas. Also added into the mix is Silver Needle white tea and blue cornflowers. I originally though this tea was an earl grey blend but to my delight- this tea is a Scottish Breakfast Tea.
After taking a small hiatus from caffeine, I was a bit hesitate to try this tea as I’ve noticed a sensitivity to caffeine recently (increased headaches). As I took my first sip of this tea, instant love formed for this tea and I knew immediately why this tea is so highly regarded.
This black tea prepped hot (212F- steeped 4 minutes) is smooth and malty with a robust feel. No notes of astringency whatsoever. There are hints of sweetness and floral moments here and there. After a couple sips, I decided this tea would be a beautiful latte and I frothed up milk to add in. The combination of the frothed milk just increased my admiration for this tea.
Big fan of this one and even though I need to be careful with how much of this tea I drink in a day- I have a feeling I’ll be stocking up on this one. As an FYI, if you do intend to stock up on this one (which I highly recommend doing), this tea is only available for a short time starting on 2/29/2024!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Celebrate Leap Day with this Scottish Breakfast Blend of Assam and Keemun teas. We’ve added a touch of Silver Needle and blue cornflowers to evoke the blue and white of the Scottish flag that Brigadoon would fly.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Advent Calendar/Adagio Teas (Spoilers)
Each year during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I always look forward to the tea advent calendars our beloved tea companies offer. I have enjoyed several from a variety of different tea companies, but one of my favorites each year is the advent calendar offered by Adagio Teas.
This tea calendar is filled with a lovely assortment of teas to enjoy for the avid tea drinker to the occasional tea drinker to the tea drinker who just started their tea journey. The variety of flavored teas is always lovely and this year was no exception. This year I even picked up a few advent calendars for my kiddos to enjoy and I can’t wait to see them sipping their teas while enjoying time off during the holidays. 
Starting on December 1st- there was a lovely single loose leaf serving waiting for me to enjoy. The listing of teas is on the site if you want to take a peek but I won’t spoil too many of them here.
The first tea for December 1st was Honeybush Pumpkin Chai– one of my favorite decaf blends from Adagio Teas! This blend is so versatile- by itself the tea presents as a lovely way to enjoy the spices of fall without the caffiene. The pumpkin flavoring is a bit hit or miss but brewed up as a latte, you have yourself a delightful autumnal treat with notes of cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla notes.
What I personally love to do with this tea is blend the tea with Adagio’s Vanilla Flavored Black tea or Adagio’s Cranberry Tea. Both create such unique layers of flavor and (IMO) umpfs the flavor profile and really highlights the lovely fall notes… especially when the Honeybush Pumpkin Chai is blended with the Cranberry Black Tea. The tart notes combine lovely with the chai spices and provides this unique underlaying tone of freshness. 
Passionfruit Tango was the second tea of the calendar and this tea was fabulous! I remember trying this tea once and not being a fan but this little serving of the blend changed my mind on the tea completely.
This blend is a unique blend of passionfruit flavoring, cinnamon, rose petals and more. Right there the blend seems a bit odd but truly the cinnamon and rose create a spiced floral scene for the passionfruit flavoring to connect with. I really enjoyed the fruity spiced floral notes- more than I thought I would. I was actually a bit sad when my sample was done giving after a few steepings. This will be one I’ve already earmarked for a future (fingers crossed) birthday purchase down the road.
All in all, a great start and even tho I am a few days late, I believe there is still time to order this awesome collection of teas. I love how each tea is packaged in single servings so you can try out a variety of teas that Adagio Teas offers without committing to a larger size.
If you are looking for a delightful gift for the tea enthusiast in your family or just a lovely way to celebrate the holidays, highly recommend the Adagio Teas Advent Calendar.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Variety
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Description
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Witches Broom Pu erh/New Mexico Tea. . . #spookyseason
Generally not much of a pu er drinker but every once in a while I stumble across an interesting name like this one and find it difficult to not want to try.
This one definitely looks interesting, bundled as it is. But once taken out of the bundle it just becomes another large leaf tea. Kinda. Unlike some other teas this one has the longest stems I have ever seen.
The initial aroma is very woodsy (when the hot water first hits the leaves).
10 second rinse. Now the wet leaf aroma is medicinal with a touch of…. vaseline.
After the first steep the aroma changes to hay and barn. The flavor begins with bits of stone fruit but then changes to hay.
On my fourth steeping here I am starting to find more wet woods flavors. Cedar.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: New Mexico Tea Company
Description
A bizarre and wonderful tea. This aged green puerh tea is made up of extraordinarily large tea leaves that have been gathered into small bundles that resemble traditional brooms, hence the name. It has a marvelous flavor and delivers a light, woodsy aftertaste. We recommend six to eight leaves per cup with multiple steepings.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Black Magic Matcha/Bird & Blend Tea Co.. . . Spooky Season Continues!
Bird & Blend Tea Co’s Black Magic Matcha is a mix of activated charcoal, cocoa, and matcha. It is a mess! Seriously!
My hands? Black.
My counter? Black.
My frother? Black.
Black EV.ERY.WHERE! Just covered! But it is worth it because this is one tasty matcha. Plus, the mess is easy to wipe away with a damp cloth, so no harm done.
Sipping away at this matcha mixed in milk is like sipping on a low-cal glass of black chocolate milk. It is eerie but delicious and perfect for spooky season. No chalkiness. Just smooth, chocolate milk goodness, which is particularly surprising since the powder has definitely separated out a bit (both settling on top and at the bottom of the glass) while I have been drinking. This seems to be the case with most Bird & Blend matchas though so don’t be surprised when the powder settles.
I should note that this matcha does come with a warning (from Bird & Blend’s site): “Activated charcoal can interfere with medication. We recommend that you wait at least 3 hours after taking medication before consuming the matcha. This also applies to the contraceptive pill.” So while I definitely recommend this matcha, I do hope people consider the warning to ensure no mishaps occur as a result. Weird thing to have to say about a tea, I suppose, but better safe than sorry.
Also, if you are interested in giving this a try, I highly recommend picking up the Rainbow Matcha Collection which provides samples of five of Bird & Blend’s many matcha offerings (Black Magic Matcha, Mermaid Matcha, Pina Colada Tea Powder, Turmeric Tea Powder, and Orange & Passionfruit Matcha). You can find that available here.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Matcha
Where to Buy: Bird & Blend Tea Co.
Description
A delicious activated-charcoal matcha with creamy cocoa, this antioxidant-rich potion creates a magical black liquid once made up. Essentially flavourless, activated charcoal further boosts the antioxidant properties of our signature pure matcha rich in umami – the Japanese word for the delicious ‘fifth taste’, after salt, sweet, sour and bitter.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fuji Apple & Ginger/Pure Leaf
Continuing with the spooky/fall theme. . .Fuji Apple & Ginger from Pure Leaf- reviewed by our amazing VariaTea. . .
I am very particular about my tea which means I don’t usually let anyone else make it for me. I don’t often drink teas in restaurants and bottled teas have never appealed to me. However, a lot of my friends have been enjoying and recommending Pure Leaf.
While in the grocery store the other day, I passed by Pure Leaf’s Tea House Collection. I decided to pick up the Fuji Apple & Ginger Green Tea, mostly because I LOVE fuji apples and that is not often the apple of choice for apple-flavored things. I got curious.
This is made up of brewed organic green tea, organic cane sugar, natural flavors, citric acid, ascorbic acid, brewed organic apple and brewed organic ginger.
Drinking it, I would not exactly call this tea. Upfront, it is all sweet, juicy fuji apple deliciousness. That gives way to a ginger flavor, without any burn. The apple-ginger then ends in a slight astringency. My guess is that could be from the ginger or the green tea. Other than that astringency, there really isn’t any sign of the green tea base.
If I am being honest, this is more like apple juice with a touch of ginger and a slight astringency. So if you want something sweet, this could be a nice option. Then again, so could regular apple juice.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Pure Leaf
Description
The delicate flavors of USDA-certified organic green tea are accented by hints of crisp Fuji apple and ginger for a refreshing iced tea experience. It’s a play on flavors that only our tea masters could achieve.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!