Adagio Holiday Stocking Stuffers Review

The cute little tins

These are pretty similar to the other tiny tins I have, although the Adagio ones are slightly bigger

  

To give you some background, I got this giftset during Black Friday weekend when they were offering free shipping.  I honestly felt a bit ambivalent about the holiday blends since they were all black tea and the only two that seemed unique were the Chestnut and the Pumpkin Spice, but I figured it was a good way for me to see what Adagio had to offer.  Plus, I'm a sucker for cute little tines.

This is a sampler set so don't expect a lot of tea in each tin.  It's $14 for 6 ounces, which is a bit overpriced but you are getting reusable tins.  There's also a teabag option but it's 30 teabags for $14 so that's pretty exorbitant.  You can probably get 8 cups per tin so it's a pretty good sized sample but not something that would last too long (unless you're like me and have way too many different varieties of tea to drink).

As a general note, I don't care for this black tea base.  It's not the worst black tea, I just find that it lacks flavor and gets bitter really fast.  These teas can only steep 3 or 4 minutes tops or else they'll become practically undrinkable.  The bigger issue i have is that the black tea just doesn't have as robust of a flavor as I'd like and expect for the price Adagio asks for their tea.  Maybe the black tea they have in stock isn't very fresh but there has been a consistent lack of....OOMPH to their product.  

Anyway, TO THE FLAVORS!

I did individual reviews on these but some of these ratings might be different since certain teas tend to grow on me.  For people who are new, Buy it is the top rating and means that I imagine the vast majority of people enjoying this and it's a good value, Try it means that it's good but you shouldn't really go out of your way to get it (I'll have Try/Buy as well which basically means Buy it if you need a tea like that, Try it if you don't), Pass is for a variety of different reasons but mostly because a tea is average in taste or you can find better value and taste elsewhere and Stay Away which means it's terrible.

Pumpkin Spice:  A nice blend of tea and spices, although I'm not 100% sure what is in pumpkin spice and Adagio doesn't really make it clear.  Although the flavor is mild, it's enjoyable in the fall and has a nice desert quality to it.  Try it!

Candy Apple:  I'm just going to add a picture below this of the ingredients because I have no idea what "Candy Apple Flavor" is supposed to mean, but it doesn't matter because this tea did not impress me.  Where was the apple flavor?  Pass.

Candy Cane:  I actually like this one as a mint black tea.  It has a nice, balanced peppermint flavor and is probably the best mint black tea I've had past putting homegrown mint in black tea.  Try it!

Chestnut:  Easily the standout favorite for me.  The nutty flavor might be strong for some people, but it has an almost buttery aroma and a wonderful warm flavor.  Buy it!

Cranberry:  While Chestnut was the favorite, this one was a big epic fail.  The Raspberry leaves added completely offset the flavor balance and make this tea taste more bitter than the other ones.  Plus, it doesn't even taste like cranberries, just a BAD raspberry tea.  Stay Away!

Gingerbread:  The negative sounding but not necessarily negative way to describe this is a weak non-spicy chai.  It's a nice spiced black tea but not incredibly unique.  Pass.

Overall, I feel a bit meh about this set.  The tins are nice and I'll certainly be using them after I finish (or in some cases, throw away) the tea but you can buy tins for less money.  I'd recommend getting samples of the teas you want the buy (especially Chestnut) but you or whoever you're getting this for probably doesn't need this set.

My Rating (for the whole set):  Pass.

Adagio is an online tea vendor with a wide variety of products.  They have a lot of $5 coupons floating around and if you feel like getting one, my twitter is @teaandpolish.  

Adagio Gingerbread Black Tea

So, this is the last of the 6 teas in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection.  I'm part of a Polish family and our gingerbread is a bit different from other gingerbread in that it's softer, but ultimately has the same flavor.  That being said, I don't care for those cookies.  I don't know why since I love ginger and spices, but I just prefer more vanilla based cookies.  But, we'll see how this tea is.

Outsides:  This tea is black tea with pieces of orange and ginger.  Also, I have no idea what constitutes Gingerbread flavor, but that's apparently what's in this.  I steeped it for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  The tea is, again, dark and smells like gingerbread, a bit gingery but warm and baked.

Insides:  This is almost like a mild non-spicy chai.  The ginger and cinnamon add a nice warmth to the flavor while the orange peel adds a nice zing.  The tea is a bit bitter but not undrinkable.  I actually like this a lot and think it gets the gingerbread flavor almost spot on.  Adding cream gives this a nice milk and cookie flavor but you should probably drink this warm.

Overall:  This is probably my second favorite tea from this collection and it's a nice tea for those cold winter nights or just getting into the holiday spirit.

My Rating:  Buy it/Try it!

Adagio is an online tea retailer that sells a lot of interesting flavors.  This flavor was part of the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection which has 6 oz of loose leaf tea for $14.  

Adagio Cranberry Black Tea

Cranberries are one of those things that you think are gross when you're younger but then enjoy more as you get older, partially for the health benefits and partially because the bitterness of berry goes well with our bitterness against life.  And hey, not all cranberry things need to be bitter (Crasins are actually pretty sweet).  But I like the bitterness and find that cranberries have a nice strong flavor on their own so they should go well with tea.

Outsides:  Adagio's Cranberry tea is black tea with a lot of Raspberry leaves (which I don't know how I feel about that), as well as cranberry flavor and pieces.  I steeped it for about 5 minutes at near boiling temperature.  The tea is as dark as the rest of them but smells like raspberry.  Not cranberry, raspberry. 

Insides:  I'm just going to say this right off the bat that this is the most disappointing tea of the bunch.  It tastes like raspberry tea as opposed to cranberry and a bad raspberry at that.  The raspberry leaves give it this soapy kind of aroma as opposed to a juicy fruit and I don't know if it's that bad flavor choice or the underlying cranberry that brings out the bitterness in the tea.  What's more disappointing is that I thought this would be the hardest tea to screw up, but I guess this is just a cop-out from Adagio.

Overall:  The tin is cute but there is absolutely no reason to get this on it's own.

My Rating:  Pass.

Adagio is an online tea retailer that has a lot of unique blends.  I got this tea in their Holiday Stocking Stuffers gift set, which is a bit pricy at 6 1oz containers for $14 but has cute little tins.

Adagio Chestnut Black Tea

I don't think I've ever eaten a chestnut before, or at the very least, don't remember it.  I do know that you're supposed to roast them on an open fire, with Jack Frost nipping at your nose :P.  I also don't think I've reviewed any purely nut flavored teas on here before although I've had an almond desert tea.  It seems to be a flavor that should work better for coffee, but we'll see.

Outsides:  This is pretty much just black tea with flavoring in it.  I steeped it for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  The tea itself is dark brown with an absolutely amazing aroma to it.  It's very similar to hazelnut but a little more buttery.

Insides:  You know, this is pretty fantastic.  The flavoring may be a little much for some people, but it's a warm, nutty, buttery tasting tea.  The chestnut flavor is strong and fragrent and goes very well with the tea (as well as an air freshener).  The black tea is ok, your standard from Adagio.  Cream brings out that flavor a little, but it's pretty strong on it's own.  This is a tea that you should drink warm.

Overall:  My favorite from the collection.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Adagio is a popular online tea retailer that has a variety of unique flavors.  You can get this flavor on it's own, but I got it in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers gift set, which has 6 1oz tins of tea for $14.

Adagio's Candy Apple Black Tea

To me, this is the anomaly in the Adagio Holiday Stocking Stuffer collection because I honestly don't associate candy apples with October to January.  I love candy apples, but they're something that I buy at amusement parks and the fair.  However, I did eat a candy apple a few weeks ago.  There's an Italian grocery store near my school which sells cheap produce and really good deserts.  I was buying some $1 pomegranates when I saw some candy apples at the counter for $1.50 so I bought one but much to my surprise and dismay, the apple was all brown inside :(.  That being said, I always get a candy apple when I see one so hopefully this tea will satiate my need.

Outsides:  Ok Adagio, what the heck is Candy Apple Flavor supposed to be?  I really dislike it when companies put these flavors instead of proper ingredients.  The Punpkin Spice flavored tea did the same thing and honestly, I don't know exactly what flavors go into pumpkin spice.  I stepped this for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  It's pretty much the same color as the Candy Cane tea but has the aroma of cinnamon and fruit.

Insides:  As shocking as this may sound (sarcasm), this tea does not taste like a candy apple but rather is an excuse for Adagio to package an apple cinnamon tea.  That being said, it's not that extraordinary.  The cinnamon flavor pokes through but only brings a little bit of the apple flavor with it, having the black tea completely overtake the flavor.  Adding cream helps a little in terms of bringing out the apple flavor but it really isn't as strong as Prestogeorge's (which apparently, I havent' reviewed yet).  It's not bad, just leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Overall:  Drinkable, but nothing you should purchase on it's own.

My Rating:  Pass.

Adagio is a fancy online tea retailer that has a wide variety of flavors.  I got this included in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers set which has 6 oz of tea for $14.

Adagio's Candy Cane Black Tea

During Black Friday weekend, Adagio had free shipping for any sized order.  Although $3.75 is not bad for shipping, it gave me an excuse to order the Adagio Holiday collection of teas which include Pumpkin Spice, Candy Cane, Candy Apple, Gingerbread, Cranberry and Chestnut, all in cute little metal tins.  Candy Cane is probably the most unoriginal of all the flavors but I feel as though it should be the most Christmas-y (I wonder what a Hanukkah tea collection would taste like...).   At worst, it'll just taste like bad mint tea.  But who doesn't love candy canes?

Outsides:  This black tea has little pieces of candy cane in it.  Also, it kinda smells like vanilla despite it not being listed as an ingredient (?).  I stepped it in near-boiling water for about 5 minutes.  This is some dark looking tea with a strong peppermint aroma.

Insides:  I can't say that this is the most unique tea but it's a very good mint black tea.  The peppermint flavor is strong but well balanced within the tea.  There's a subtle sweetness from the candy cane pieces but since there were so few, it's only subtle.  I will also add that the tea used is very nice and not very bitter despite me leaving it stepping longer than it probably should have been.  I actually can see this being pretty good cold and really enjoy this.

Overall:  I like this one a lot.  It's not the most innovative flavor but it's just a nice, balanced mint tea.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Adagio is a pretty reputable online tea retailer.  The holiday gift set that I bought retails at $14 for 6 oz of looseleaf tea.  Comment if you want $5 off your first purchase!

TasTEA Time! Adagio's Chocolate Chai Black Tea

I actually don't have much of an intro to this other than I make chocolate chai tea concentrate so unfortunately, Adagio has that to live up to.

Outsides:  I figured I'd show you the bags these things come in.  Chocolate chai has all the typical ingredients of chai PLUS CHOCOLATE so yum yum.  I steeped it in almost boiling water for...4 or 5 minutes, which is longer than Adagio wants but I like my chai spices strong.  It's a orange brown color but I'll be reviewing it with cream because that's how most people drink it.  It smells not unlike gingerbread.

Insides:  I'm not really impressed.  The chocolate flavor is there so that's nice, but the chai base is just not as strong as I was hoping for.  It's not really that spicy and honestly, even the chocolate flavor doesn't add much to the taste.  It's still not bad but I'd reccommend the Thai Chai over this any day.

Overall:  Meh.  I'm glad I got this in a sample. 

My Rating:  Pass.

Adagio is one of the most reputable online tea dealers.  They have a lot of different varieties and even have free shipping until cyber monday.  If you go on my Twitter @teaandpolish, I try and send out $5 gift certificate codes every day.

TasTEA Time! Adagio's Valentine tea (chocolate and strawberry)

 

I used to hate desert teas because they were never properly flavored, and although this is a mix of fruit and chocolate, a lot of the sweet spices tend to overwhelm the tea.  However, I've been turned and realize that there are a lot of great sweetly flavored teas that aren't flavored with fruit.  Prestogeorge has a bunch and I've even wrote about Adagio's Pumpkin Spice.  But I love chocolate-covered strawberries.  They're like caramel apples in that you can pretend that they're healthy, but they're not and they're delicious.  A good thing about tea is that you should be able to get all of the flavor without as many calories.

Outsides:  I got this as a sample size from Adagio, which does make a decent amount of cups (I'd say about 8).  It was in a foil-lined bag which is resealable.  The tea was made using less than boiling water and steeped for about 3 minutes.  It's dark golden orange and smells very chocolatey with a hint of strawberry.  I then added cream, which I will explain in a bit.

Insides:  This tea needs to be rinsed or to be mixed with some milk/cream/soymilk because it is a bit too bitter and that bitterness masks the flavors.  However, milk really brings out the chocolate and strawberry so I'm willing to forgive.  The tea actually does a good job replicating the taste sensation of eating a chocolate-covered strawberry since the smell of chocolate is stronger but the two tastes balance out in the end.  Sadly, this is not the most versitile tea out there although it is fine without sugar.  It needs some sort of cream when cold though, but ultimately tastes better warm.

Overall:  I like it and would recommend people trying it.  Plus, it's nice having a tea that is flavored after a desert and actually tastes like it.

My Rating:  Try!

So, if you're in the US then you know that it's Black Friday.  This is good news since Adagio is having free shipping on any sized order (so you can get 5 samples for $10).  I think it's going on until Cyber monday but it might be only for today so get that tea!  And as always, first-time customers can get 5 dollars off their first purchase by getting the coupons I tweet at @teaandpolish.  

TasTEA Time! Adagio Pumpkin Spice Black Tea

I am such a pumpkin spice fanatic.  It's just this perfect blend of sweet and spicy, like chai tea except with different spices and emphasis.  Plus, everything is pumpkin spice now so it's very difficult to escape it.  Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin bagels, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin BEER (probably my favorite) and now pumpkin tea have all made their appearances this season. 

Outsides:  As I explained before, Adagio sends it's teas in resealable, light-proof bags with all the information.  I brewed it at almost boiling for 4 minutes and didn't rinse the leaves (although it might be important to do that to get rid of a bit of the bitterness).  The tea is a lovely medium orange brown color, appropriate for black tea.  It smells sweet but not all too spicy, almost creamy.

Insides:  This is a more mild pumpkin spice, sweet but not overpowering.  You can taste a bit of the nutmeg and cinnamon but it blends pretty well with the flavor of the tea.  The tea itself is a bit lower in quality than what I'd normally pay for at my local tea shop but still good, although if you don't want to drink this with cream and sugar then I'd recommend rinsing.  I really like this as a breakfast time tea or something to drink if you're in a fall mood.

Overall:  I like this and appreciate the take on pumpkin spice.  It's definitely worth trying.

My Rating:  Try it!

Like I said before, Adagio is an online tea seller that has a lot of unique blends.  I post tea coupons on my twitter @teaandpolish so you can just go to that page and grab one, meaning the tea would be 3.75 for 3 oz including shipping.  That's really not bad and I even think you can get a free sample included.  But the pumpkin spice seems to be running out so get it while it lasts.  

TasTEA Time! Adagio Thai Chai

It's that time of the year!  No, I don't mean the mega-holiday season, but FALL!  Trees changing color, warm jackets and delicious fall drinks like cider and pumpkin everything (there will be more on pumpkins later).  But one of my favorite fall-time drinks (or anytime drinks for that matter) is the chai latte.  It's sweet, spicy and if you have a coffee shop that can actually make them, light and fluffy.  However, it's pretty hard to get that "perfect" chai:  one that is strong enough in flavor to be able to take some milk.  Twinnings makes a decent one, but they are hard to come by unless you make them yourself.  But now we have this lovely from Adagio.

This marks the first time I have ordered from Adagio and I will gladly review my overall experience when I have time.  I'd also like to review the local tea shop I go to (I have so many blends from there) so look forward to that.

Outsides:  Adagio Teas come in little bags unless you order specific tins which are impervious to light.  I got a sample of this, which says it's enough for 10 cups and I'd say about 8.  I brewed about 2 teaspoons at slightly below boiling for about 4 minutes.  The tea is a lighter color than I expected but smells very gingery and with a heavy scent of coconut.  I added some cream and sugar.

Insides:  I am really impressed b this.  It's a nice strong chai with a nice, spicy kick but the sweet coconut and citrus flavors really make this unique.  The spice blend is fantastic with a focus on the ginger and cardamon but a whole variety of mid-flavors.  .It's very reminiscent of islands and I'd even say that it tastes "lighter" than most chai, making it a nice for both warm and cold days.  It also took milk and sugar well and kept a lot of it's flavor.

Overall:  This one was a good start for Adagio and if your local tea shop doesn't have a blend like this then check it out.

My Rating:  Try/Buy it!  

Adagio is an online tea shop  that sells a variety of teas in sample sets, 3 oz, a pound or teabags.  I actually got a twitter just for the discounts and will try to post $5 coupons as much as I can on it so if you don't mind a bit of tea-spam, my twitter is @teaandpolish and you can get $5 off if you use those coupons.  Apparently, I can't do this via blogger so...yeah, but if you don't want to follow twitter then I can email you a certificate as well.  Adagio is also sold at Whole Foods.