We know, it’s just sugar. But it’s sugar with a fun twist.

We’re fans of Adagio Teas. They have a great selection of tea, and when we get our autoship order every two months, there’s always an additional surprise in the package.

This time is was their Rock Sugar, specifically made for tea with a claim that it “naturally sweetens tea without changing its flavor”. The sugar rocks are made in Belgium from sugar beets. There is “natural caramel color” added, which to us is a big, red flag.

Using a favorite green tea as the foundation, we added in the sugar rocks. We were apprehensive about the sugar dissolving, but three minutes into the brew time, the rocks were nearly gone from the bottom of the cup. Dissolvability test: IMBHO-yes, but they also changed the color of our tea. #CaramelColorAdded

While the tea took on a little sweetness, it wasn’t overtly sweet. In today’s world of artificial sweeteners and #fakesugars, the reality is that real sugar is less sweet than all the highly-processed, manufactured sugars. So it didn’t surprise us that the rock sugar didn’t add much sweet to the tea. Our brains have been rewired, whether we want to believe it or not.

The hint of sweetness was good at first, but then there was an aftertaste that none of us anticipated. Usually with this green tea we get a simple bitterness nuanced with tropical notes, but the sugar rocks changed the flavor of the tea. Everything we liked about the tea was gone, and the unpleasant aftertaste sent us straight to a bottle of water to wash it away. Taste test: IMBHO-no!

Well, that was disappointing. We should mention when we ate the sugar rocks directly, they tasted like sugar, plain and simple. But we don’t have plans to sit around eating sugar. #emptycalories

For more information, visit the Adagio website and read the reviews on this product. There are a lot of people claiming they like the sugar rocks; we just happen to disagree with them. :)

Oh, and this doesn’t take away from our love of Adagio Teas; they simply need to stick with what they’re good at… TEA!