Autumn Teas Gift Sampler @AdagioTeas #adagio #tea

I was very fortunate when Adagio Teas offered to send me a few samplers to try and blog about. The weather just turned cold when I got this Autumn Teas sampler! The box got a little crushed in the mail, though.

Here’s the description on the website:

Is there anything better than crisp air, big sweaters, and pumpkin spice everything? For lovers of all things Fall, we've put together a collection of teas to capture the essence of the season. This set includes:

autumn mist green - Gently smoky gunpowder combined with bright tangy apples and rose hips, bring to mind a misty morning stroll.
Blended With Gunpowder Tea, Apple Pieces, Cinnamon, Rose Hips, Natural Creme Brulee Flavor, Marigold Flowers & Rose Petals

bonfire - An Autumn medley of hazelnut, cocoa and exotic spices, with a soft note of apples and a hint of blazing hearth.
Blended With Honeybush Tea, Apple Pieces, Lapsang Souchong Tea, Aniseed, Cocoa Nibs, Cinnamon, Rose Hips, Cloves, Orange, Red Peppercorn, Safflower, Natural Cinnamon Flavor, Natural Hazelnut Flavor & Natural Orange Flavor

pumpkin spice - Pumpkin Spice goodness with rich, lively spices for a perfect autumn treat.
Blended With Black Tea, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Natural Pumpkin Spice Flavor, Cardamom & Marigold Flowers

honeybush pumpkin chai - Masala Chai spices in an herbal honeybush pumpkin base. Beautiful clear and bright cup, and crisp, tangy-sweet flavor.
Blended With Honeybush Tea, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamom, Cocoa Nibs, Safflower & Natural Pumpkin Spice Flavor

Camy: This was a very diverse sampler and would make a great gift! (The only exception would be if the recipient prefers unflavored green or black teas. In that case, they’d be more likely to enjoy a gift sampler like Teas of Japan or Oolong Teas of China.)

I’m going to review the teas in the order I tried them.

Pumpkin Spice

This delicious tea was full of spices and flavor! I admit I used a little more than a teaspoon for a 1-cup pot. I brewed it for 3 minutes at 212ºF.

I tried it plain, but I liked it much better with milk, which mellows the acidity and makes it have a softer mouthfeel, and a little sugar. It tasted a lot like a Pumpkin Spice Crème from Starb*cks, but I liked that I could make it less sweet.

Honey Bush Pumpkin Chai

I used a little more than a teaspoon for a 1-cup pot and brewed this for 10 min at 212ºF.

I could drink this unsweetened, but I preferred the flavor with sugar and milk. It was very similar to the pumpkin spice tea, but it had stronger cardamom and ginger flavors. The honey bush gave it a faint grassiness. I have to confess honey bush isn’t a favorite tea, but it’s not very prominent in this blend because of the other spices. Overall, this was a great noncaffeinated chai tea.

Bonfire

I used a little more than a teaspoon for a 1-cup pot and brewed this for 5 min at 212ºF.

I couldn’t drink this without sugar and milk. I just didn’t like the unsweetened flavor at all.

This tea wasn’t terrible, but I tasted mostly the hazelnut and orange flavors, and combined with the faint hint of anise, I thought that was a little odd. Not unpleasant, but unique.

There’s also a subtle smokey aroma that lingers, which is probably from the Lapsang Souchong Tea.

Overall, a very interesting tea, but not really to my taste.

Autumn Mist Green

This was my absolute favorite tea from the sampler box. There was a wonderful apple smell right when I opened the bag.

I used a little more than a teaspoon for a 1-cup pot and brewed this for 3 min at 180ºF. As it steeped, I could smell the green tea more.

When drunk plain, it had a very smooth flavor with a little tartness. However, I preferred it with sugar and milk, which brought out the harmony between the creme brulee and apple. There’s just the right amount of astringency from the green tea to make the flavor bright. I really loved this tea!

Have you tried any great autumn teas? Be sure to comment to let me know!

Keywords: Chai Tea/Masala Chai
Pumpkin Spice Tea/Fall Tea
loose leaf tea