Welcome to part four of the flavor elevation series.

In our first, second, and third posts, we talked about ways that you could boost your favorite herbs, fruit, and veggies to new, tea-infusing heights. But what about flavors and ingredients that color a little farther outside the lines? This post, we're going to talk about seven exciting accent flavors to add to your tea.

With A Kick of Heat

When most people think of tea, they don't think of heat outside of the water temperature. But if you're looking for tea with some real kick, look no further than Chili Lime Green. This tea starts strong with chili heat, then cools things down with creamy coconut and zesty lime.

Chili not your favorite kind of spice? If you're looking for a different kind of heat, you can also try teas with red peppercorns, cinnamon, or ginger, such as our Double Ginger, Ginger Peach, Fiery Cinnamon Spice, or ginger on its own as an easy way to punch up any teas you already own!

Butterscotch and Caramel

If heat isn't your cup of tea, try feeding your sweet tooth with butterscotch.

Falling neatly into the dessert tea category: Butterscotch features hints of apple, cocoa nibs, and marigold to round off that buttery sweet flavor you love.

You can find even more butterscotch--and its close cousin caramel, in our Rooibos Pecan Turtle, Caramel, Rooibos Caramel, and Tiger Eye, which features both caramel and chocolate.

If butterscotch and caramel don't hit the spot, Adagio also has maple flavors in Honeybush Blueberry Pancake and Maple Creme Oolong, or try the Advanced Search feature to find just the sweet treat for you.

If you'd like to make a sweet tea all your own, try blending sweeter accent flavors with sturdy black or oolong teas to keep the sweetness grounded and balanced. Sweet flavors also pair well with fruits like apples and berries or cream flavors, though you could just as easily go for sweet and savory instead!

Mocktails

Now, all of our teas are, of course, non-alcoholic, but if you're looking for some more adult flavors to wind down your day- Adagio's got just the tea for you.

Kentucky Bourbon features flavors like malt, smoke, caramel, and vanilla to recreate your favorite sip.

Bourbon not your drink of choice? No problem. Adagio's got teas for loads of other classics like Peach Bellini (available loose or in iced tea pouches), Pina Colada (also available loose or in iced tea pouches), Hot Toddy- winter only, Elderberry Wine, and even an Irish Stout (available seasonally or year-round with the use of reward points).

For custom blend recreations, use flavors like coconut, strawberry, or pineapple for fruity drinks or cocktails and smoky or rich flavors for other hard drinks.

Vanilla

Vanilla is a spice made from the fruit of the vanilla orchid. It's popular in everything from baking to cold drinks and ice creams and pairs well with almost everything, including tea.

Adagio offers a wide variety of vanilla teas, including green, rooibos, oolong, and chai. They even made it a candle out of it, though we advise against eating that. Instead, try their Vanilla Chai Cookies, which are sure to hit the spot.

For custom blends, we suggest using vanilla with darker teas like oolongs and black teas, though it can go great with rooibos and honeybush teas as well. For complimentary flavors, try rich flavors like chocolate, cinnamon, spices, or rich fruits like apricot, mango, and berries.

Chocolate

Set your skepticism aside. This is a winning combo.

Now, aside from having discovered the beauty of dipping chocolate Digestives (thin cookies from England, for our non-UK friends out there) in tea, you're gonna love having it steeped directly into my cup. Because of its richness, sweetness, and depth of flavor, chocolate is a great addition without being overpowering.

If you'd like to try chocolate in your tea, we've got a ton of options. Some favorites of ours include Chocolate Truffle, Valentines, Honeybush Chocolate, Pu-Erh Chorange, Cocomint (available in both rooibos and green varieties) and Chocolate Chai.

If you want to use chocolate in your custom blend, try pairing it with black or other dark teas and accent flavors like cream, rose, vanilla, mint, or berries.

Coffee

If you're here, it's likely that you're already on Team Tea, but who says you can't indulge every once in a while and slip some coffee into your daily routine? Or, at the very least, some coffee-like teas?

For the coffee enthusiast, there are still options. The first is Coffee Addict Gift Sampler which features teas with similar flavor profiles to coffee, like smoky Lapsang Souchong; nutty, fruity Pu-erh Hazelberry; rich, chicory Mocha Nut Mate, and mega-combo Mocha Matcha.

Another option, for those who really want coffee to run the show, there are also Arabica teas, which are made by steeping coffee leaves instead of tea leaves.

Be warned, Arabica teas are much more herbaceous than your typical bean-based brew, but they do come in four lovely flavors, including Arabica Mocha, Arabica Lemon Turmeric, Arabica Earl Grey, and Arabica Chai. Try them all on their own or altogher in the Arabica Tea Sampler.

Coffee is, of course, hard to recreate in a tea, but if you're looking for coffee-friendly notes to include in your custom blend, try things like vanilla, hazelnut, darker berries, or chocolate. Or, give in once and a while and have your coffee made by Lardera (your Adagio account will work on this site, too!)

Marshmallow

Last but not least, we have marshmallows. When most people think of marshmallows, they probably think of hot chocolate first, but these little sugar pillows can actually make a great addition to your favorite cup.

For marshmallow teas, there are currently have two options. The first is Teaster Easter tea, which is available seasonally in the Spring or year-round through the use of reward points. Featuring all the sweetness of spring florals, fresh fruits, and your favorite animal-shaped marshmallow treats, it's the perfect cup for when the world starts waking up.

The second marshmallow tea takes a different approach, coming at it from the other end of the year. Leaning into the joys of camping, hot fires on cool nights, and toasty fireside treats, Campfire S'Mores combines smoky Lapsang Souchong with marshmallows and chocolate to put all that gooey goodness right into your cup.

Either way, you're covered year-round.

Want to Create your Own Blend?

Take everything you've learned and creat your own Custom blend.

Remember, while the above list is a great place to start, it's certainly not the end. Make sure to explore Adagio's entire catalog, and if you find new favorites, be sure to rate them on the site, share them on social at @adagioteas, and most importantly, share them with your friends! Happy exploring!