March 4, 2010

I'm feeling a bit like PRofessor Layton...

How nice it is to finally have a sunshine-y day in Ohio…nothing like a little sun and blue sky peeking through the clouds to lift the spirits of what has seemed to be an incredibly long winter. Also nothing like a little fine tea to lift those spirits as well. For those who have played Professor Layton, especially the latest game, "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box", you will totally understand this post, and those who have never played the game, I believe you’ll get the jist…

Yesterday the UPS man dropped off a delightful little package…my first order from Adagio Teas. I was so excited to be receiving this package after the dear Cathy Zielske hyped up how amazing their teas were. After checking out their site I thought, why not give it a try. I love tea (hence the reference to Professor Layton)…so I did.

I ordered the IgenuiTEA pot and the black tea sampler. (See pic...also this is just a small sample of the many sample teas I received...it was like Christmas here!) I also ordered the honeybush sampler (for me) and the Chai sampler (for hubby) and a few other samples. First of all the IngenuiTEA pot is amazingly cute and love the simple design and function of it. Put 1-2 teaspoons of tea in, hot water, let it steep, put it on top of your favorite mug and voila! Perfect yummy tea! So this is what we’ve tried so far:

Hazlenut Honeybush: This was the first tea I tried. I think I should have let it steep a little longer, but I was just so excited to try it. Overall it did have good flavor and I liked this one and I think I’ll like it better the second time around when I let it steep properly.

Vanilla Honeybush: LOVED this one! This so far is my favorite…it to me tastes like a vanilla cupcake in a cup…delicious! This is yummy cold too!

Spiced Chai: My son tried this one…again I think we needed to let it steep longer, but he was excited to try the tea as well…it did have a nice apple spiciness to it. I think this would make a great tea in the Fall.

Valentine’s Tea: My other son just couldn’t wait to try this one…supposed to taste like chocolate covered strawberries. He didn’t care for it much…my oldest thought it tasted like 2 day old strawberries…however hubby thought it was delicious! Go figure…I’m just glad it won’t go to waste J

Thai Chai: Hubby is more into the Chai teas than I am…this one is a bit spicier than the apple…it’s not bad…hubby liked it, but liked the Valentine’s better I believe.

Honeybush Mango: So this was the last tea of the evening last night…I prefer to drink a honeybush tea in the evening because it’s so much lighter than the black teas…This tea smells amazing out of the tin…like hubby described it…it smells like jell-o and he’s right, it does. However, the taste of it, though not bad, was just different…it was just OK…after smelling it from the tin I guess I was expecting something totally amazing and after drinking it, it was just OK
Honeybush Chocolate: This one my youngest tried and he hated it…I have to admit, all the chocolate flavored teas have a weird chocolate smell to them and not so much in a good way. I was unable to try this one or the Valentine’s tea since I gave up chocolate for Lent, but just the smell made me turn away (maybe it’s just God’s way of helping me get through the temptation of chocolate…thanks God!) Anyway the general consensus from those who did try it, this was everyone’s least favorite thus far.

Rooibos Vanilla Chai: An interesting tea, in a good way. Never tried a rooibos tea, always wanted to…it had a spicy note at the beginning and the end with a gentle yumminess of vanilla. Not bad for a chai. Hubby liked it…and he better, somehow I ended up with 2 samples of this one.

English Breakfast: The first black tea I’ve tried thus far and English Breakfast is my tea of choice in the morning. However this morning I probably should have waited until the boys left for school to fix this tea because I got a bit distracted with the morning routine and let it steep a tad bit too long…it was strong and a tad bit bitter…however hubby liked it and took it to work with him so no loss there. I will have to try this one again when I can keep a closer eye on it.

Irish Breakfast: After the bit of disappointment from the English Breakfast, I wasn’t sure about the Irish Breakfast, but I made sure I watched it and didn’t let it steep too long. It is actually very good… a nice black tea and at this point I like it better than the English Breakfast, but of course will give the English Breakfast another fair try another day.

So there is a long synopsis of the Adagio Teas we’ve tried thus far. Still plenty of samples to try…so be expecting another long post soon. Oh, and I’d give the company as a whole a huge thumbs up, not only because of their cute tea containters and neat tea pots, but their customer service is great…I forgot to put my $ 5.00 coupon in at the check-out, I e-mailed them about it and they went ahead and deducted it off my credit card…most companies would probably say too bad. Also they tracked my package the whole way…I knew exactly when my package would arrive and that it had been delivered. Beautiful and amazing. So if you are like Professor Layton and love your teas…give this little company a try. Also, though I didn’t try it yet, they have this tea called Birthday Party or Birthday Cake…can’t remember the name exactly, but it is supposed to taste like birthday cake and it even has sprinkles in it! Might have to try that one next time around…I know the boys would love that!

Well off to make another spot of tea…have a great day!