Harney & Sons

This is my first tea from my first order of samples from H&S; an inaugural tea if you will. I like my tea sweet, so I automatically added my standard 12 drops of stevia and 4 sugar cubes. My first impression was that I’d over-sweetened it, and that next time I should taste it unsweetened so I can get a feeling for the base flavor.

My second impression is that it is heavenly, regardless. I steeped it for too long, and there is still not a hint of bitterness anywhere. The flavor is sweet, well rounded, almost milky. One would swear there are calories in this! I love it.

Being new to loose leaf teas, yet obsessively trying new varieties all the time, I stayed clear of any Earl Greys because of my experience with cheap tea bags in the past.
I love darjeeling blacks and I’m slowly appreciating any quality Earl Greys.
This is a great choice. Nicely smooth and light with the Bergamot flavor makes this a perfect choice for me.
I’m looking forward to trying the other choices that Harney offers, because this left a nice impression

I’m impressed that I can actually taste the Guava with every sip. This is a nice tea. I’m guessing my “tea palette” is maturing, because I actually taste the green tea & black here. Is it gunpowder? hmm tastes smokey maybe.
..anyway, it’s an actual "tropical’ tea that’s not just pineapple & coconut..the Guava makes it more refined
I’m happy

We have a home!
An amazing place that is empty but gorgeous, and we’re slowly filling it (very sloooowly).
I am sitting at my cheap cheap dining table, the only seating in the house, and celebrating with this delicious cup of Vanilla Comoro, brewed to perfection with my.. wait for it..

variable temp kettle! eeee!

It’s gooorgeous baby. You can change the temperature by degree, so I brewed the first cup at 175 because I find this tea to be a little finicky in the bitter department sometimes. It was perfect, vanilla, sweet just lovely! Did a second cup at boiling (212) and it was just as good.

So yes! Happiness! Happiness and tea!

MmmmmmmmmMM!
I got my package from the lovelyamazingawesomeandallgoodthings Ashley!

It’s only 6:30, but it’s pitch black out so we chose this one to start our night off with. We will probably stick to decaf teas tonight… speaking of decaf… I can’t believe this is.

Like Aisling, I must have steeped it wrong because it was a bit bitter (I’ll try less hot water next time), so I made it up as a latte with a bit of steamed milk and a tiny drizzle of vanilla syrup and my tastebuds have changed. It’s PERFECT. Guuuh so good

Vanilla and caramel and a smooth black base… I should have made a pot. Next time friends!

I’m trying to work my way through my piles and piles of samples.

Opening this, all I smell is mangos. And unlike some of the teas I’ve tried recently, the scent is not the least bit artificial. It made me really want an actual mango, and I was a little nervous to try the tea, for fear it wouldn’t be enough.

It’s not, quite, but it’s absolutely delicious and it did satisfy my craving. It tastes very juicy and fruity and wonderful and, like the scent, is not the least bit artificial. It would be great iced, and it’s fantastic hot, although I still really want to eat a mango now. I’m definitely adding a tin to my next Harney & Sons order.

I received a tin of this tea while suffering from a pretty painful migraine. I was worried that the rosiness would exacerbate my symptoms (as perfumed things tend to do) but brewed up a teapot of it anyway! It was so fragrant … my kitty sauntered across the house to inspect the new smell!

The aroma is lovely. Soft, not TOO perfumey, but considerably more sweet rosey in fragrance than Upton’s Rose Congou. The tea is medium-bodied and quite gentle, and the rose oil/petals compliment it well. Thankfully, the warmth and smoothness of it actually aided in some migraine relief (as well as the caffiene, I assume.)

As a lover of rose teas, this was quite enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone who loves perfumey rose scents & flavors, as well as a sweeter cup of tea. :)

I drank this tea down (and the Lychee) recently as cold brews. Rose Scented has a partial left, but it’s almost gone as well. Not that I didn’t like them as hot brews, but I just didn’t crave them, and they didn’t hold my interest as much; single flavor teas rarely do these days. They are older, and I figured it would be good to use them up. At first I didn’t think I would ever hit the bottom of the tins, but there they were! This has also reinforced to me that I do really prefer cold brew green teas at this point, although I am going to be drinking a lot more cold brew black teas in an effort to drink up older teas in my cupboard.

Speaking of my cupboard, I was celebrating a little that it was currently below 100 (97 in fact), but then Equusfell just delivered a big pouch full of samples from MissB, so now it shall skyrocket again.

Drank this one (#89) yesterday but I will log it now. Another of my Harney stock-up, and another that I really love. But I just don’t drink enough. I also really love this one as a cold brew so I am planning on taking all my Harney blacks home for cold brewing so I can appreciate them and drink them regularly.

It’s funny, for a long time I used cold brews of tea to quickly use up tea I didn’t like that much. I was always picking out teas I really wanted out of my cupboard. But, I’ve kind of run out of those, so now I have to tell myself that cold brewing is also something I can do to teas I really like, too. There have been some in the past (thinking of a few Lupicias) that I loved as cold brews, so maybe eventually I will get to a place where I can actually just have a rotating stock of cold brew teas that I actually love and wasn’t just trying to get rid of. It’s a nice thought.

I am being so bad about logging teas. Sometimes it’s hardest to log teas you love, teas that you’ve already logged many times before. What more is there to say? But I want to keep track of this cupboard activity that I have embarked in, so I need to log them.

I love black currant, and this is still my favorite black currant tea. I restocked with 4oz of this almost a year ago and I probably still have 3.5, but that’s ok because I know this will age well. Tasty black currant on a yummy black base. What more could you ask for?

I decided to have a cup of this one to remind myself how much I love black currant tea. Yup, it’s delicious.

I was going to try one of my other Harney samples this morning, but I still don’t have a water filter here so I decided to go with a tea I (now) have a lot of, and could probably stand up to crappy water.

Mmm, I of course forgot how delicious this tea is. Even with crappy water the black currant is juicy and rich and lovely.

5 hours later… Haha wow I got wrapped up in other things and forgot to finish and submit this tasting note! Too many tabs open on my browser. Suffice to say I love this tea.

Ugh, computer problems. It is annoying that probably my whole day will be taken up trying to fix and repair things. I need a comforting tea, and preferably one that helps me bust my sample stash. This fits the bill, as I only have a little of it left after this cup. Probably only enough to throw in a cold-steep blend.

I recently discovered some local-ish black currant juice in my grocery store, which was very exciting as I love black currant but it’s not a common thing here in the states. So I guess it’s kind of a black curranty day since I’m having this tea after I had my black currant juice with breakfast. Mmm, there is something just so utterly comforting about black currant (and thus this tea) to me, which is funny because it’s not like it’s a flavor from my childhood. But it is delicious.

Oh, Black Currant, you are so tasty. So fruity and sweet and smooth and almost creamy. Deeeelish. I never remember how good this tea is, but then I make a cup and I am very impressed. It just got officially added to my must-have teas list.

I decided to have this tea this morning because I haven’t had it in a while, and wow I am enjoying it a lot. At the beginning of the sip I get a tart berry burst and then it rounds out into a full, rich, almost syrupy taste at the end. Delicious! I was thinking earlier about how I remembered liking this tea but I didn’t think that I would need it in my permanent collection, but now I’m not sure about that! It’s got such a great flavor, and it would also be great for blending for other teas.

Another cool thing about this tea (for me) is that it comes in sachets, which isn’t a big selling point for most people except Harney sachets are my favorite to bring with me while traveling, and I do a lot of traveling.

I’m taking a break from Earl Greys this morning and decided to try this black currant tea that I got from SimplyJenW. Thanks so much for sending a sample of this! I really love black currant flavored things, but I haven’t had too many black currant teas. I recently found out randomly that the reason black currants and the flavoring isn’t popular in the US is because currant farming was banned in the 1900s because they were a vector of a disease that affected pine trees. They are still banned in some states!

Anyway, the dry tea has that characteristic black currant aroma, rich and berryish. It’s carried over into the aroma of the steeped tea, along with the black tea base. Harney is somewhat inconsistant in their black teas when it comes to my taste buds, so it’s almost a toss up whether I will love a tea or not. Fortunately this one is a winner for me. The black currant is nice and strong, and it pairs well with the black tea base, which supports the black currant flavor and doesn’t steamroll over it or stick out. I find myself really wanting almonds in this blend, like Harney’s Boston but with black currants instead of cranberries. I do have a black marzipan tea that I could try it with…

Experience buying from Harney and Sons http://steepster.com/places/2779-harney-and-sons-on-line-millerton-new-york

Age of leaf: Lot # 11201: puts ‘production’ at roughly mid-July 2011 (although according to their website, all their Japanese tea is ‘harvested’ from previous years harvest – 2010).

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Very small cut, straight pieces, dark green in color with a fresh vegetal aroma.

Brewing guidelines: Small amount of Stevia added, glass Bodum pot with metal strainer/plunger.
…………….1st: 160, 60” – great flavor
…………….2nd: 180, 40” – good flavor
…………….3rd: 155, 120” – very mild flavor, mostly just sweet

Color and aroma of tea liquor: a light lime green color on the first steeping, light yellowish green on the second and third steepings Grassy aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor: The flavor is what I believe the best Japanese green teas are known for: grassy, vegetal, fresh.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: looks a lot like cut grass—I have cleaned many lawnmower and this looks a lot like the grass clippings: dark green leaves cut into tiny pieces! There are a few large pieces of stems mixed in with the “clippings”.

Blends well with: I believe any Sencha will blend well with Gyokuro as they are both steamed when processed and take a little cooler temperature when steeped (I have had success blending it with at least one Sencha).

Value: For the sample direct from H&S, great, considering what you get for $2 (it is roughly $10/ounce otherwise). I was also lucky to get a large supply of this through a third party for a great price.

Overall: I have heard much about the amazing qualities of this tea, and I have not been disappointed: everything about it is fresh, and the flavor is strongly vegetal and unusually sweet for a green tea (I add less Stevia to the first steeping than I do with other green teas). I have been drinking this since late summer. I enjoy it all through the week since I drink it on mornings before work to give me that extra theanine kick (it is purported to have more theanine than other green teas due to its being shaded at the end of growing period); its hard to say for certain, but it does seem to have a greater effect on calming and focusing my mind than most other green teas. This is a tea that, if I can get it for a good enough price, I like to have on hand at all times.

A pretty good tea. The cloves are what you’ll smell, and taste the most of. While it was a nice tea I wouldn’t put it as my favorite either. Use hot water with this tea to really bring out all of the various spices.

The fragrance is sweet and biscuity with a faint note of smoke. Once steeped, there’s a slight stone fruit presence. The flavor is both malty and astringent which makes for a great morning tea.

This is a well balanced and artfully blended tea.

Having my first cup of the season.

I’m hardcore about this tea, and I double bag it. So warm and comforting and spicy…everything I love about this time of year.

There is a warm version of this now you can buy at Barnes and Nobles. I love the smell, but the taste is a little bitter for me. By the end of the cup it was so bitter I had to toss it. Far better was the Tropical Green Tea. Skip this one and go for the Green.

My first cup was recommended to me by the barista at Barnes and Nobles. The smell is pineapple, with a hint of mango I think. You know you have a good tea when the girls behind the counter are excited to make a cup just so they can smell it!