Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups! I hope March has treated you all well, I’m back today with a Let’s Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Adagio Tea’s – Cream Black Tea. Since the package that Adagio very kindly sent me arrived at my house I’ve been eager to try this tea. One of my favourite things about a cream tea is the clotted cream and I love fresh cream in desserts so when I saw that Adagio did a cream flavoured black tea I knew no matter what that I have to give it a try. So when they asked me to choose some blends on their site to try this one was at the top of my list. I’ve read nothing but amazing things about this blend so I was excited to see if I was going to love it just as much as everyone else has.

Here’s what Adagio themselves have to say about this tea over on their website: ”Which comes first, the cream or the tea? If you’re not sure, don’t worry… neither are the Brits. However, it’s unanimously agreed that, whether you prefer your tea first, or cream first, this dairy-free cream flavoured Ceylon black tea is a treat for your teacup! Sweet, inviting and warm, with a delicate creamy consistency and aroma of fresh black tea. Pleasantly brisk and very refreshing. Teatime calls… | Our natural crème flavour is vegan-friendly and doesn’t contain any dairy ingredients.

Ingredients: black tea (Ceylon) and natural crème flavour.

Tea Tasting Notes

The dry leaves of this blend have a delicious aroma of sweet whipped cream which obviously I was expecting but it they also have a very slight maple aroma as well which did take me by surprise. One I started to prepare this tea and added my water to steep the cream aroma got a lot lighter and the maple note all but disappeared which did make me think that maybe the cream notes were going to be quite subtle when it came to the taste of this blend however that wasn’t the case and I really didn’t need to have worried at all.

When I took my first sip I was presently surprised by the sweet cream flavour that reminds me of the cream in fresh pastries and the subtle maple like underpinning still came through as well at the end of each mouthful and rounded everything off perfectly. I think Ceylon was definitely the best base for this blend because it has the maltiness and it is strong but unlike Assam it is not overpowering and does let the cream shine through. Its strong that its unmistakably a black tea and provides a sturdy pedestal that lifts the cream and allows it to be the focus. The subtle citrus note of the Ceylon is still able to come through as well and I’ll be honest I wasn’t expecting that because I thought the cream wasn’t going to overpower it.

Be sure to let this blend cool a little before you take your first sip the cream definitely comes through much more once it has cooled a little. I was expecting that cream note to be artificial, overpowering and heavy and make this quite a thick tea to drink but its honestly the completely opposite. It’s subtle but very clearly present, it’s sweet, light and actually gives this tea a smooth creamy mouthfeel. I will recommend adding in a bit of honey maybe about half a teaspoon – a teaspoon just to life that cream a little bit and make this feel as decadent as it should be.

I’ve so far has this tea on its own, just with honey and with honey and milk and honestly you know what I can’t pick a favourite. It’s delicious no matter what you do with it. However I will say the addition of milk does amplify that creamy mouthfeel which does make these feel a little more indulgent. The maple note does disappear when add milk in though because it was so subtle in the first place the addition of milk does overpower it. I don’t know what it is about this tea if it’s the flavours added or the Ceylon itself but its an absolute pleasure to drink there isn’t even a slight astringency to it and its so smooth and easy to drink.

This will be a blend I reach for in place of a sweet treat. It also makes for a great morning kick-start though it’s not a strong as other black teas it still does have quite a malty robust base that’s definitely bound to wake you up.

This is definitely a blend that would make for a perfect compliment to a cream tea or an afternoon tea and I’ll definitely be going back to purchase some more of this as soon as my tea buying ban is over. I’m yet to try it but something tells me this would be a great tea to mix with an earl grey and I also want to try this as an iced latte as I can imagine that will make a nice milkshake/ice cream replacement throughout the summer.

Have you ever tried this blend? If you have let me know what you thought of it in the comments below! It will be great to see if any of you have the same experience with this blend as I have.

Overall Teacup Rating: 5/5

If you want to find out more about Adagio Tea and purchase some of their cream back tea for yourself, you can do both here (for the UK) and here (for the US). As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me of Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll do my best to answer them all as soon as I can.

Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley

*The Tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for*