Review: Adagio Teas Magic Potions – “Harry Potter”-Inspired Tea
We love tea, and we love Harry Potter, so what more could Meg and I have asked for when we were offered the chance to review Adagio Teas’ Magic Potions line by Robert Pirlot? We were each able to choose four different teas out of the twelve offered to create a personalized sampler pack. Thankfully, it worked out that Meg was looking for teas low in caffeine, and I was looking for teas high in caffeine, so we’re able to offer you a good mix no matter what type of tea drinker you are!
First things first: We love the teas themselves – good taste, good aroma, good color (although I was half-expecting them to be the same color as the corresponding potion!) – but the packaging of the three-ounce sample tins was a bit of an inconvenience. Only two of the eight had any sort of brewing instructions – for all the others, we had to access the website to see how many minutes our teas should be steeped. We imagine that the bags the teas come in if ordered in a larger size might have brewing instructions, but a printed piece of paper with relevant information (caffeine level, steeping time, tea to water ratio) included in the sampler pack would be nice.
What’s more, the tins are stuffed to the brim, which on the one hand is nice since you get your money’s worth of tea but on the other is a pain since it’s impossible to measure out a teaspoon of tea without spilling it all over the place. And don’t even think about opening it up just to smell it before making your first cup – it’ll be impossible to close again, keeping all the tea leaves inside.
Visually, the tins are cute with popping designs, and I like the “Approved by the Ministry of Magical Foods and Drinks” label, but Meg found them too busy and the smaller font difficult to read.
Take a look at our reviews below and then make sure to enter our giveaway so you can sample the Harry Potter–inspired line for yourself!
Amortentia
This is a love potion causing a powerful infatuation or obsession in the drinker. Use with caution; love is in the air.
The Amortentia blend contains a moderate level of caffeine and must be steeped for 4 minutes. It is made with coconut, honeybush vanilla, and blueberry teas and accented with apple pieces. The dry leaves are a lovely mix of dark and light, and you can see bits of coconut shavings and apple pieces. The strongest scent from the leaves is the coconut with a hint of blueberry. After steeping, unfortunately, there wasn't much of an aroma left, and I thought this was a weak blend, although I made sure to get some coconut and apple into the mix. Next time I make this cup of tea, I'll be sure to add more leaves and/or steep for longer. A tea named after the most powerful love potion in the world should be sweet and intoxicating. And perhaps an aphrodisiac.
Draught of Peace
Draught of Peace relieves axiety [sic] and agitation.
The Draught of Peace blend contains a high level of caffeine and must be steeped for 3 minutes. It is made with apricot, cream, and vanilla teas and accented with marigold flowers. The dry leaves are just beautiful! It's a dark color that smells strongly of apricot, although you can see the marigold flower petals and apple pieces. The dark color of the leaves carries over to the steeped tea as well, which still smelled strongly of vanilla. This tea is light and fruity and wonderful to inhale as you take a sip. I can't wait to have another cup of this. Perhaps it's the placebo effect, but I really did feel calm and relaxed afterward.
Elixir of Life
To long living and a healthy life, but what if? Well, to really have that edge of life, try the Elixir of Life. Nicholas Flamel has it; now you can too.
The Elixir of Life blend contains a high level of caffeine and must be steeped for 3 minutes. It is made with strawberry, vanilla, and hazelnut teas and accented with rose hips and hibiscus. You can pick out the scent of all three flavors from the dry leaves, despite the overpowering sweetness. It's a beautiful mix of deep red and brown, and you can see the strawberries and hibiscus. The steeped tea is a lighter brown, and you can still smell the strawberry and vanilla. I'll have to add more leaves and/or steep for longer next time because I'm sure I was supposed to get a stronger flavor than what I ended up with. Nevertheless, this tea is smooth, and all the flavors are there, the earthy hazelnut and vanilla balanced out by the fruity strawberry and rose hips. Will drinking it regularly extend my life, as an Elixir of Life potion should? Probably not, but it would make my life more enjoyable, so I'll take it.
Veritaserum
This potion effectively forces the drinker to answer any questions put to them truthfully.
The Veritaserum blend contains a high level of caffeine and must be steeped for 3 minutes. It is made with raspberry, chocolate chip, and hazelnut teas and accented with raspberry leaves, rose hips, and chocolate chips. Yes, chocolate chips! The dry leaves smell strongly of chocolate and raspberry - shocker, I know - and it's fun to see the bits of dried raspberry, rose hips, and mini chocolate chips. I imagine the latter melted in the tea as it was steeping. The tea itself wasn't as dark as I was expecting, but the aroma of raspberries and chocolate was still present, and the smell was intoxicating. I love the sweetness and flavor and would happily have had another cup or two. Actually, I would have named this blend Amortentia rather than Veritaserum. Although if you do want me to spill my deepest, darkest secrets, I suppose chocolate would be the way to go...
Caffeine puts me out of whack, so having a selection with decaf and low-level caffeine amounts was great. Each blend has a level of sweetness to it, but I can’t help my sweet tooth and thus made them each extra enjoyable by adding a drop of honey.
Felix Felicis (a rooibos tea with almond, hazelnut, and caramel flavors) and Treacle Tart (rooibos with caramel and cream) both steep to a beautiful gold color, like sunlight held together with fresh kettle-boiled water.
The Mandrake Restorative Draught is a green tea and vanilla chai mix with earthy flavors such as honeybush, ginger root, cinnamon bark, and orange peels and is even accented with dried apple pieces.
Skele-Gro, the one with the most off-putting name, is in actuality a delight. Made with peppermint tea and complete with chocolate chips, it can be accentuated with milk and sugar to turn into what tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream. A true dessert tea! Once used, the leftover tea leaves themselves were still full of aroma, and after drying them out on my windowsill, I stuck them in my fridge to act as a Potions class–inspired deodorizer.
The tea was easy to brew, but as mentioned in the introduction, suggested steeping times and water temperature are not included on every sample tin. The other critique I have is that some do not, in fact, work as their potion namesakes do. The Skele-Gro blend is delicious, but I grew no new bones. The Felix Felicis didn’t improve my luck at all, but it didn’t hinder it either, and it's also notable that it has to steep for only 5 minutes rather than six months. I believe the Mandrake Restorative Draught, however, could adequately awaken someone from a Petrified state.
Ready to sample the Magic Potions line from Adagio Teas for yourself? Enter to win four sample tins from Adagio Teas by checking out our giveaway here!
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