My favorite gift from my family for holidays?
Loose teas. Yes, flowers and chocolates are nice, but the first doesn’t last and the second lasts far long on my hips. But I can cheerfully indulge in all the loose tea I like, especially since I only add skim milk to my tea.
My loose tea obsession used to be only about different flavors, with an emphasis on black teas, but now it’s also about tea blends with a theme, such as those available at Adagio.com.
Having seen a previous article on teas at GeekMom, Adagio offered me a $25 gift certificate to try out more blends. I promptly went shopping on their site and spent $75. (Hey, my youngest son helped!)
We bought all black teas, and the different blends reflect our different fandoms. The Over the Garden Wall and Katara teas were from my younger son. The rest were mine: Erebor (Tolkien), Agent Carter (Marvel), and Butterbeer (Harry Potter.)
I judged them not only on how they tasted but also on how well they fit their fandom.
Agent Carter: Teas: ginger, spiced apple chai, dewy cherryjust
This fit Peggy Carter perfectly: just the right blend of chai, with a hint of sweet from the apple. It’s a great morning tea.
BeerButter: Caramel, cream, vanilla
I’ve never tasted the real thing at Universal Studios but this tea certainly smells like I imagined butterbeer: sweet and smooth. I’d recommend it as a dessert tea but note that the caffeine level is high so it also works great as a morning wake-up tea.
Erebor: teas: pu erh dante, Irish breakfast
My new favorite morning tea. It’s everything that Erebor, the home of the Kings Under the Mountain, suggests: dark, a little bit smokey, and strong. I feel like I could wield a hammer and take on some orcs after a cuppa.
Over The Garden Wall: Teas: chestnut, cream, pumpkin spice
Over the Garden Wall is currently my son’s favorite anime, so this choice was a no-brainer. I like the blend for itself. My son says that even though he prefers chai, this blend reminds him of his show. Again, high caffeine content, so it’s a morning tea with a sweet aftertaste.
Katara: Teas: masala chai, almond, cream
A blend of the spicy (chai) and the sweet, this has turned into a favorite of my son, who favors chai over all teas. (For that reason, his second favorite of the batch is the Agent Carter.) It’s that touch of almond that provides such an interesting contrast to the chai.
Don’t see your favorite fandom represented here? No problem. If you have a fandom, chances are Adagio has a blend. It is a perfect place for the person who loves to combine tea with other geeky pursuits.
And if you still don’t see the blend you like? Create your own!
