Miss Starfish

I was disappointed with this one, as it sounded like it would be such a hit. It tasted slightly smokey, with a hint of peanut…and then a SUPER weak chocolate note. The base tea was oily, which helped the peanut note, but it was just “meh” overall.

Tried sweetening with sugar – ehn. Didn’t improve it.
Tried with milk – brought out the nut note a bit more.

I have a couple Harney teas in my cupboard that involve chocolate that I like, so was a bit mystified at this blend. Maybe my sample was old? Who knows.

The tightly coiled pellets give off a creamy, sweet milky oolong scent. There were sticks/extra dried stems present, seen previously in their Fruity Sijichun. I don’t care personally, but thought it was worth a mention.

The tea is light apple in color with a faintly sweet, smooth vegetal taste. It has a heavy mouthfeel for an Oolong. At 5 minutes it smells overcooked, but doesn’t taste it. Bonnie is SPOT ON with her White Asparagus note, that’s EXACTLY what this reminds me of. Subsequent steepings became sweeter and more floral. This seemed like excellent quality, but I’m not sure Alishan’s are for me.

A lovely light tea with a sweet scent. Liquor is quite dark for a white tea. The Earl Grey flavoring is well balanced with the Silver Needle. Thus far I’ve found that all of Harney’s white blends are beautifully balanced, so I was keen to try this.

I over-steeped (2.30 min) one of my cups so added a splash of milk, which was a nice addition. I also tried it with sugar, which was yum (but thats not difficult to achieve with sugar granted), but found that both milk and sugar tasted very odd.

I would definitely repurchase this as I can see myself drinking it in both the winter and summer (when I find that blacks are too hot & heavy). I’d also be curious to see what it’s liked iced.

A fresh light golden cup. Smells nutty and sweet. Tastes similar, with a hint of caramel. Has a “clean” quality to it (the very beginnings of astringency I’m sure) which is a pleasant change from the heavier Chinese blacks I’ve been having of late. I’m almost tempted to add in a couple drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice instead of trying milk or sugar… I wasn’t planning on splitting this cup, but curiosity has the better of me now.

with a couple drops of lemon juice; ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA??? Quick, add honey! More tolerable…but nope. Worth experimenting I suppose.

with sugar; Enhances the caramel note substantially.

with milk; Yum. Winner.

with milk and sugar; Also yum.

I would be happy having this plain, or with milk (and sugar if I feel like something sweet). Glad to have tried it, onto the shopping list it goes.

Brr, It’s cold tonight. I’ve made a steady stream of tea throughout the day to keep myself and my partner warm instead of turning on the heater. That’s the only thing I’m looking forward to about the upcoming winter – I’m going to get through a lot of my tea.

Dry, this smells like a beautiful mixture of nutmeg and sweet Assam.

This was my first time making chai. I used a 2:1 ratio of milk to water, and added 5 tsp of brown sugar. Gently simmered for 4 minutes. Came out quite well. I was wary of the cardamom (not a huge fan), but it hardly spoke up. Due to the nutmeg, it reminded me a lot of Pumpkin Pie…and now I have a craving which won’t be satisfied until I visit North America again!! Nooo!! Damn you New Zealand and your lack of Pumpkin Pies! (but thank you for your delicious pumpkin soup, which I always miss when I’m in Canada).

I definitely want to explore more chai’s, and the looming cold weather is going to give me an excellent excuse for a tea order in a couple months. Either Bukiti or Verdant (new to both), haven’t decided.

Steeped for 6 minutes at 85 as suggested, but tastes a bit “overcooked”. Not astringent, or bitter, just overdone. Liquor is a light sunflower yellow. Has a strong oolong taste and smell, but also reminds me of a dragonwell – buttery, reminiscent of veggie broth and a titch earthy.

Definitely not what I was excepting at all. I don’t detect any floral or fruity notes. I was also surprised to see some twigs/sticks in the tea, which I haven’t encountered before – unsure if they’re supposed to be there or not, but would guess not.

In subsequent steepings I lowered the water temperature to 80, which I found much more favorable, but only got 3 steeps total out of the leaves.

This tea is a result of a nationwide contest for choosing New Zealand’s preferred Earl Grey. Last year Twining’s put out the chosen Breakfast, which was such a winner, so I was very keen to try this years pick.

I prefer this without milk or sugar, steeped for 3 minutes. Which is odd, since I hardly ever have earl greys without milk, but find it dulls the citrus notes too much.

Taste wise, it’s basically the classic Twining’s Earl Grey with sweet orange added. Which is nice, don’t get me wrong. I will have to revisit this one as I think my expectations were a bit unfair to this cup. =/

Woohoo, new Game of Thrones!

Dry, this smells of chocolate and caramel with a titch of coconut. The tea is full of chocolate and coconut pieces.

5 minutes – The rooibos is the dominant flavour, followed by coconut.

7 minutes – Coconut comes through more, with some hints of chocolate, all the while being backed by rooibos.

After being steeped for 10 minutes the chocolate comes through a lot more and the rooibos diminishes significantly.

Overall, quite nice with or without additions and being caffeine free is always a bonus for expanding late night options.

This smells mainly of lemongrass, but once steeped more of a lemon and lemon zest flavour come through. A little zingy (for a unflavored herbal), overall quite a nice cup to wind down with at night.

Dry, this smells of rich cocoa and black tea. MMMmmmmm!

I tried this at 3 minutes (which is usually my cut off point for blacks) and while I liked it, I chose to steep it for another minute. I was pleasantly surprised, this actually pulls of a semblance of chocolate, unlike other chocolate teas I’ve tried. Not artificial chocolate, or cheap oily chocolate, but rich dark chocolate. I added milk to try to bring out any creamy notes if present, but it overwhelmed the cup.

Next time I’ll try a 5 minute steep or overleafing if I’m planning to have it with milk. Quite nice on it’s own though.

The keemun base is smooth, but that is all I’m tasting sadly. No peach, melon or papaya. There’s a light fruit scent, but I’m not finding that it comes through in taste.

My thanks to Laurent from Nina’s Teas for the sample.

This tea smells quite strongly of clove and cinnamon, so I was surprised that even went steeped for just under 5 minutes it was really weak, even the black base. Disappointing.

Dry, this smells wonderful! Juicy raspberries and strawberries abound.

Steeped, it tastes like mellow green tea and a titch of raspberries. The berries come through more in scent than taste, which is still lovely.

This tea’s claim to fame is that it uses apples from King Louis XVI’s kitchen garden in Versailles, which is pretty damn cool. After sampling this blend, I’m wondering whether Marie-Antoinette ordered her husband’s apple trees to be watered with wine? ;)

Dry, this smelled like a cheap sauvignon blanc. Bleh!
Steeped it smells a bit better, like mulled wine and there’s the Jolly Rancher note that others are mentioning. Taste, hint of light rose, but overall just fermented.

Kind thanks to Laurent for the sample, but this one isn’t for me.

I brewed this western style and easily got 9 full flavoured steeps!

The leaves are long and unfurl beautifully. Scent is sweet, floral and lightly starchy. When brewed it has a slight syrupy mouth feel with cocoa, honey, and floral notes. Can be slightly malty depending how long it’s steeped for (longer steep = more malt) which is a nice addition. This tea takes milk well, but is so beautiful by itself that I much prefer it without.

Main notes were lemon and bergamot, no caramel present. I didn’t care for it plain, but I believe that’s more due to how long I steeped it (4 minutes). The liquor is relatively dark, which surprised me.

With milk, the lemon and bergamot blended together and a light caramel note came out. Yum.

With milk and sugar, the caramel note comes out a lot more, not just in sweetness but gooey creamy caramel. MMMmmm.

Dry, the leaves smell buttery and grassy.

Brewed, the tea smells grassy – like a typical sencha. Taste wise, this tea was very light, mellow, and, well, weak. I have tried a minimum of 6 different methods of preparing this and still end up with a very similar cup.

One of my staples and a “must-try”.

A beautiful bergamonty caramel tea with a slight fruit undertone – mostly berry and apricot, but very very subtle. Lovely black base, I do find it becomes astringent quickly when steeped longer than 3 minutes.

I usually have this straight, but sometimes I’ll add in milk if I’m after the comfort factor. When milk is added it brings out a hint of vanilla and rounds out the caramel making it more creamy.

An absolutely fantastic Pouchong!

Dry, the leaves are medium-dark green and remind me of seaweed. The scent is somewhat nutty with a distant milk note.

While steeping the leaves smell faintly of green apples and the sea. The liquor is a light vivid green. Taste is light and lovely. Slightly fruity, a hint of green apples. When it cools, it becomes slightly floral. Subsequent steepings become more vegetal and nutty, while retaining a fruit aspect.

A nice classic Earl Grey. I find that I like the bergamont that Harney uses much more than others I’ve come across thus far. Medium strength, preferring this blend without milk. Solid black base, slightly malty.

I’m not really a fan of Chamomile. By not really, I suppose I mean…at all. In fact I’m normally a “nose wrinkler” when it’s mentioned. Yup, afraid so. That being said, I actually liked this. Perhaps I’ve just been drinking poorly blended, low quality Chamomile previously… who knows!

This is smooth. I certainly don’t get the apples that Harney mentions, but I don’t feel at a loss because of it. Lots and lots of large chamomile buds in the sachet. I’m starting to feel less gypped at there only being 3 sachets in this tag-along vs the normal 5.

Okay Chamomile, I’ll concede. You may just earn a spot in my permanent cupboard yet! Although I’m still not a fan of your natural musk.

This is a lovely black with a melange of stone fruits that remind me of the orchards in the south island where I grew up. I’m getting apricots, nectarines, plum, maybe a touch of fresh dark cherries. The stone fruits come through more strongly in fragrance than taste. When it’s raining and dreary, like it is today, and I’m after something comforting, this is my go-to cup with milk. Sometimes with sugar, but not often.

I blind purchased this because I absolutely love coconut. My first 3 cups at longer steeping times (+3 mins) were all disappointments. Very bitter, no coconut – just floral and sickeningly sweet. Blerg!

But, when steeped for 3 minutes or less, I get coconut reminiscent of coconut ice, and a slight chocolate hit. Very sweet. When milk is added, the creaminess of the coconut comes out a titch more but not much. When cooled, it becomes very floral. A nice medium-light dessert tea.

I’m on the hunt for a great coconut, and while this isn’t bad, I don’t think this is it. So may not replenish this one once I’m out. We’ll see what future cups bring.

Full disclosure, I’m not normally one for Breakfast teas.

BY THE BEARD OF ZEUS! THIS IS STRONG!
Wow, wow, wow, wow! SO strong. Smooth. and STRONG. Is this Assam? Seems like it might be Assam… DAMN IT’S STRONG. People really steep this for 5 minutes?

OKAY, LET’S ADD SOME MILK! BETTER! Less strong! More creamy!
Milk was a good choice.

Edit: This review is the result of 7 different cups of black tea on an empty stomach. I’m going to leave it as is to warn about the dangers of writing reviews while highly caffeinated. Oh, the shame.

Stay in school, don’t do drugs, moderation in all things – even tea.