Hey there Teacups! I hope you are all ready for an amazing Christmas. I’m back today with another Let’s Talk Tea post and thing time around I’m going to be reviewing Adagio Teas – Tinsel Teas (Sampler Set). I know that Christmas is very close and you won’t be able to order these in time for this holiday season but Adagio were kind enough to send me this set and some of their Christmas teas as a gift and I wanted to make sure that I reviewed them before December and the festive period was over. Adagio UK didn’t ask me to review the things they sent they just wanted to send me a Christmas present but I wanted to review them as a thank you to Adagio for being kind enough to send them.
These Limited Edition Tinsel Teas are the star on top of the holiday season. Containing six beautiful (and tasty) Christmas themed blends, they make the perfect gifts for you and your friends! Sit by the fire while sipping Chestnuts Roasting or cosy Candy Cane if you want something sweet. Either way, these festive blends will have you rocking’ around the Christmas Tree!
The sample set is £19 on the Adagio Teas UK website and it contains 6 tins each with 14g of tea in all of which are Adagios Limited Edition Christmas teas. I honestly would have expected this to be much more expensive and I think that for what you get £19 is a great offer. Had I not have been on my tea buying ban I probably would have ended up treating myself to this because it’s such a cute set. I know Christmas tomorrow so you can’t order these in time but if they release this again next year it would make an adorable present for any tea lover. This is probably my favourite Christmas tea set I’ve seen any brand release this year.
Tea Tasting Notes
Cosy Candy Cane (Black Tea) – This is very similar to Adagio’s original Candy Cane blend the only difference being the addition of candy cane sprinkles. I don’t mine that it’s so similar to the original candy cane blend because I absolutely love it and I’ve not had any of it since I used up the candy cane tea that my fiancé gifted to me last Christmas so I was very very glad to have this tea back in my life…and who doesn’t love adorable sprinkles in their tea! The reason I love this blend is because even though it has mint in it its soft enough that it doesn’t trigger my migraines and it means I can still have the taste of candy canes at Christmas which I’m so thankful for. My favourite way to have this blend is to have it as a latte it softens down the mint even more for me which is great and it also adds a delicious creamy element that pairs beautifully with the candy cane pieces that are in this blend. Even though this is caffeinated it makes for a delicious after dinner treat and I can’t see if keeping you awake because its just so relaxing to drink.
Deck The Halls (Black Tea) – This is a delicious spiced black tea and the fact that it also has a little bit of honeybush in it makes me so happy. Honeybush and black tea based blends have been my absolutely favourite this year so I was so excited to see that Adagio had included one in this set. The spices are present but could do with being a little bit stronger for me as I do love spiced teas to be quite strong on the spices. The Crème flavour and the vanilla flavour though add something to this spiced tea that’s really quite unique and gave it a nice creamy feel which mean that just like the Candy cane blend this makes an absolutely delicious blend. Adagio deffinelty do black tea blends very well and I love all of their black tea bases they always taste amazing. If like me you are going to make a latte with it I would recommend topping up the spices in this blend a little bit as the added milk does mute them. On it’s own I recommend adding a little bit of honey as it is a little bit astringent and the honey takes that away.
Merry Mistletoe (Green Tea) – Going into trying the teas in this set because this is a fruity green tea I didn’t think I would enjoy it hot but I thought I’d chance it anyway and made both a hot and iced version to see which one I enjoyed the most. Surprisingly it was the hot up that I enjoyed drinking the most, the pomegranate and the raspberry pair beautifully with the vanilla and make for a subtle fruity yet festive treat that compliments the festive season perfectly. Because of the sprinkles this is naturally quite sweet too so you don’t even need to add any honey to it which is great because you eat enough sweet stuff throughout Christmas anyway. I enjoyed the iced cup but overall it was much more balanced when I had it hot. This is such a relaxing tea to drink and because of that it’s a great one to finish the way with while you are winding down and getting ready for bed.
Jolly Gingerbread (Black Tea) – As you all know by now I’m sure I’m a huge fan of Gingerbread and gingerbread is a quintessential Christmas flavour so I just knew that Adagio were going to have included one in this set and I’m really glad that they did. What I wasn’t expecting from this blend was the cocoa nibs and the almond haven’t seen any other Gingerbread inspired tea out there use either of those ingredients and they really added another layer of deliciousness to this blend. Unlike other gingerbread black teas I’ve had the ”gingerbread” element of this blend is nowhere near as overpowering an artificial and the spices are strong don’t get me wrong but they are in no way shape or for overpowering. The cocoa nibs and the almond come through mostly in the aftertaste but they give this an almost creamy feel that rounds off each mouthful really well. The black tea is a good hearty base for this blend and as always with Adagio it is clearly of a great quality. I expected the sprinkles to sweeten this a little bit but they didn’t so I did have to add a little bit of honey when drinking this on it’s own. This also works amazing as a latte but you do have to use a little bit more tea than you normally would do and again make sure you add a little honey.
Kris Kringle (Decaf Black Tea) – I’ll be honest I am not a big decaf tea fan I understand why some people will reach for it but havening tried a few in this past it’s deffinelty just not for me. So when I saw that this blend was decaf f black tea and not normal caffeinated black tea I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to enjoy it at all. Needless to say I need not have worried because this blend is fantastic. Chocolate and Hazelnut have always been one of my favourite combinations and when you pair them with black tea you really can not go wrong and the addition of this mini marshmallows and the vanilla add a nice natural sweetness and a creamy aftertaste. I’ve had this both on it’s own and as a latte now and I have to say it’s deffinelty best as a latte I’ll be make sure I have a cup of this tonight just before bed to finish of Christmas eve with a nice sweet treat. The only chance I would have made to this blend would have been adding just a little bit more hazelnut and a little more cinnamon but other than that this blend is perfect.
Chestnuts Roasting (Black Tea) – This is deffinelty the blend in this set that I was the most worried about as it does contain Lapsang which tends to trigger my migraines and despite thing blend actually being quite tasty especially as a latte it did end up triggering a migraine for me so I’m going to let my fiancé finish what I have left of this. I really would have liked to continue making lattes with this but I just cant knowing that it triggers migraines for me. I think the reason that I love this blend so much is because it contains Adagio’s Chestnut tea which I tried last year for the first time and loved and it also has cinnamon and adorable little snowflakes sprinkles so what’s not to love about it. This is deffinelty the perfect blend to have with your Christmas breakfast I can see it pairing well with so many breakfast foods.
Overall Teacup Rating 6/5 !!!| Yes I know that makes no sense but this sampler set really is that good. I simply could not have only given it a 5/5 it deserves so much more.
If you want to find out more about Adagio Tea and purchase this amazing sampler set for yourself or your loved one you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.
Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping and Merry Christmas – Kimberley
*This sample set was gifted to me as a Christmas present by Adagio Tea. I wasn’t asked to review it but I wanted to. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for*
Kimberley's Kyusu 
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