Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups! I’m back today with another Let’s Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Adagio Teas – Jump Start blend. I was very kindly gifted this sample to review by Adagio and I had been putting off trying it for so long for one specific reason, the fact that it has Mate in it. You’ve all probably noticed an extreme lack of Mate blend reviewed on my blog since it started and that’s down to the fact that I have just never enjoyed they way that it tastes. However I have only ever had it on it’s own and I can’t even remember having it in a blend or toasted, so I thought it was about time that I finally reviewed this and stopped putting it off.

Here’s what Adagio Teas have to say about this blend over on their website: ”We all have those days when we need a little help to get going in the morning. Get that boost of energy you’re looking for with Jump Start, an invigorating breakfast blend of toasted mate and black tea. Full of warming cinnamon and tasty cocoa nibs, this tea will give you a kick of caffeine minus those pesky coffee-jitters.”

Ingredients: toasted mate tea, black tea, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, kola nuts inclusion and safflower

Tea Tasting Notes

As I said at the start of this review I wasn’t sure that I was going to enjoy this blend because of the Yerba Mate but I think the fact that it was toasted and blended with a black tea really helped me enjoy this more than I have every enjoyed any Mate on its own. For this tasting session I tried this three ways: on its own (hot), with just honey (hot) and with honey and milk (hot). On its own this is very woody and earthy with a subtle spicy note, it smelt a lot like straw and wet wood and I know that doesn’t sound over appetising but the sips I had of this on its own were actually really nice.

I definitely prefer toasted Mate and paired beautifully with the black tea it provided a nice malty underpinning. The spices in this definitely sweetened it a little bit and the kola nuts added an almost cola bottle like note to the after taste (for those of you who don’t know what cola bottles are they are a gummy sweet that traditional sweet shops and small local shops here in the UK sell). The only thing I would say is that I wish that on it’s own the spices came through a little stronger. They smelt so strong in their dry form and it was a bit disappointing to have them be rather subtle when it came to taste.

Adding a little bit of honey however did bring out those spices a little bit more probably because it helped to tone down those earthy and woody notes so the spices could come through a little bit more. The kola nuts slight sweet notes definitely did get a little bit stronger in the aftertaste too. Out of all the way I tried this blend for this tasting session this was definitely my favourite way to have it. Just the simple addition of a teaspoon of honey really did balance everything out, but didn’t overpower anything and those earthy and woody notes, though more subdued, were still very much present and all in all it really is a delicious blend. I think that toasted mate is much more my cup of tea and after trying this I’ll definitely be on the look out for more blend with toasted Mate in them.

I also had this blend with milk in it to though I only added in a tea spoon of it because any more than that would have overpowered it and it would have lost all of it best notes. Sadly the addition of just a teaspoon of soya milk just through this off balance and it just wasn’t as good as it was when I had it just with honey. I definitely wouldn’t recommend having this with milk or as a latte it just doesn’t need it and the blend can’t stand up very well next to it. It sounded like it would have been nice with milk from its ingredients list and I’m glad I tried it out so I could give you all of the info when I came to how to prepare this but its not something I would make myself again.

Personally after having the cup of this that I had I didn’t really feel any boost in energy throughout the day but my medication could have cancelled out the effects of the caffeine in this as they do make me feel quite groggy. This is one I would definitely purchase again as it would be a nice change of pace to have this in a morning rather than a Matcha or a breakfast blend.

Overall Teacup Rating: 4.98/5

If you want to find out more about Adagio Teas and purchase some of this blend 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 on 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*