Harney & Sons

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!

This review is for the caffeinated version normally sold only to restaurants

Experience buying from The Tea Butler: Positive. I had several contacts with the owner, both via e-mail and over the phone, and he was very accommodating with an unusual request I had. Unfortunately, he is out of loose-leaf tea, and my understanding is that he does not plan to get any more to sell.

Age of leaf: unknown.

Packaging: the large box contained a large plastic bag with 50 one ounce iced tea bags.

Dry Leaf: this is one of the best smelling teas I have ever had. The room that the open box (after all the of the tea was removed) sat in had a wonderful tropical fragrance in it for months! The leaf within the large paper teabag is chopped, but seems to be decent quality (much better than the fannings size leaf in a standard teabag).

Brewing guidelines: glass ring Crate and Barrel pitcher capped with a tea saucer to keep the heat in, lots of Stevia.
………..1st: boiling (unwarmed pitcher), 4’
………..2nd: boiling (warmed pitcher), 8’
………..3rd: boiling (warmed pitcher), 15’

Aroma: Unbelievable! When brewed this tea produces a tropical-coconut smell that fills the entire kitchen. I love it!

Color of liquor: Standard black tea color: dark brown-red.

Flavor: It has a wonderful tropical flavor.

Value: I got this for a bargain price, but The Tea Butler doesn’t have any more of it, and H&S doesn’t list it on their website (although they list a caffeinated version). : (

Overall: This is probably my favorite iced tea. It is normally only sold to restaurants, but The Tea Butler was selling them to the public to liquidate his inventory. He no longer sells them, and I don’t know if you can get these anywhere else (I bought two big boxes of it—-yes, lots of it—-and would be happy to share some of it in a tea swap).

I make about a pitcher and a half on the first steeping, a pitcher on the second, and 2/3 a pitcher on the third. The first steeping clearly has the strongest flavor, but the second and third are also tasty! I drink the 1st steeping knowing it is fully caffeinated, and then treat the 2nd and 3rd steepings as basically decaffeinated (neither me nor my wife has had trouble sleeping after drinking the second of third steepings, so I imagine most of the caffeine is removed in the 1st four minute steeping). We also have the decaffeinated version (bought directly from H&S), and it basically tastes the same as this decaffeinated one. I have been drinking this daily since the summer, and plan to drink it daily all year round until it’s gone. I love this iced tea!

Somewhat disappointing tea day! I just haven’t had anything I was really into today, and the streak continues with this, which I cold brewed last night. I continue to be boggled at how tart this tea is. I actually found it to be undrinkably tart as a cold brew, and unfortunately I didn’t have any sweeteners that were easily soluble in cold water. I’m sure that it would be fine sweetened, but again, not the tea for me!

And now for something completely different. This tea has been on my list to try for a while, as I love passion fruit, but I hadn’t ever gotten around to it for some reason. Now thanks to SimplyJenW, I have a sample! I really want to try this one cold steeped, but I wanted to try it hot first, so fortunately I’m finally getting around to it.

The dry leaf smells very passion fruity, in a very nice way. Maybe it’s because it’s not a common flavor for candy, but I feel like passion fruit flavor always seems more natural than some fruit flavors out there. Steeped, it retains that very juicy, fruity aroma, but it’s joined by Harney’s fruit-flavored tea base. It’s gotta be the same for all of them, right? It definitely seems like it. Anyway, the combination adds an interesting third dimension to the scent, but I can’t quite figure out what it reminds me of just now.

I’m surprised that I’m not getting a ton of passion fruit flavor out of this one. It’s definitely tart, but I don’t get a lot of that sweeter side of the passion fruit flavor (and here I’m not talking about acutal sweetness from the cup, but the not-actually-sweet flavor of sweet fruit, if that makes any sense). Even the black tea base isn’t what I was expecting; compared to the Lychee from Harney I had the other day, this base doesn’t seem to meld as well with the fruit. The cup as a whole is slightly astringent, oddly. So unexpected! Harney has some of my favorite teas, but then I’ll try one that seems like it should be perfect for me and it falls flat to my tastes (like all their Earl Greys!). C’est la vie. At this point my favorite Passion Fruit Black is thepuritea’s.

We are on vacation in Moss landing but it just started pouring down rain… boo

There was no good tea at our B&B so I was glad I brought some with me. :) I had a teabag of Paris that I brought with me, it was a sample from the International Tea Festival. All we had was hot water from a dispenser which was still not very hot. I am a whiner… yes, when it comes to tea I can be pretty whiny. I think tomorrow I will try green tea with my breakfast.

Another sipdown… we finished off the last of it this morning. Au revoir, Paris!

If I don’t order from Harney & Sons again I will certainly miss this one… an excellent black tea with just a touch of fruit and vanilla. We have almost gone through a 7 oz. tin in a short amount of time.

I felt that I just needed this today… :)

still one of my very favorites!

Really one of the best flavored black teas I have ever tried. I was worried about the bergamot because sometimes Earl Grey hurts my stomach due to the amount of bergamot in it. Instead this is lightly citrusy with a touch of bergamot. It is excessively smooth and rich without a trace of bitterness. Boyfriend bought me a tin at the Harney and Sons in New York but I will be ordering more!

The smell of Black Currant reminds me of my childhood. My mother never allowed Kool-Aid in the house and soda pop was a rarity. However, she would allow me to drink black currant squash and this made no sense because squash syrup is super sugary. I was always very happy to take advantage of my mother’s clear lapse in sugar policing, and I’d greedily gulp down black currant squash whenever I could get my hands on it.

Black Currant from Harney & Sons is the perfect combination of the black currant I loved as a child and smooth, rich black tea. I adore this tea! I’m enjoying it with almond milk and stevia and it’s improving my afternoon tenfold. A big thank you (((hug))) to SimplyJenW for sharing this fab tea with me.

Also, I feel like I owe my generous Steepster friends an explanation/ apology. Many of you have done tea swaps with me, and I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for all of the glorious tea I’ve received. I carefully store every tea I get from my tea-pals so that I know who gave me which sample, but I haven’t logged every sample I’ve tried. I always intend to do so, but sometimes I become overwhelmed with “stuff” and I forget to backlog my tea tasting. Please don’t take this as my not being appreciative of the incredible tea-kindness I’ve enjoyed. I just suck sometimes :/

I received a sample of this from Batrachoid so I decided to start the day with it. The pot was ghoulishly green like a bucket of slime. The likes of left behind by a famous ghost. That the likes of Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spangler, Dr. Raymond Stantz, and Winston Zeddmore take on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2nYqyfDMnQ I’m excited to try this since my resume of Harney & Sons is quite small. Pretty good overall but I was a little disappointed to not have that toasted rice flavor really come out. It’s seems to be more prevalent in the blends that I have found at the Asian market. Not bad but not spectacular either.

Smooth wish some vegetal pucker in the finish.

This Ali San reminds me of roasted leeks, spinach and fresh greens. There’s a hint at light fruity sweetness in the body as well.

I love everything about this tea. So much so, that before I came here to write this review, I went online at Harney & Sons and purchased some more as I only had a sample.

The scent of this tea when dry reminds me so much of autumn leaves when first dropped from the trees. It’s almost a toasted scent, but not quite.

I have been having temperature issues with the Breville and discovered that it’s best to choose a lower temperature. My water boils in it at 195. Really boils.

At any rate, I steeped this one for three minutes. It’s still a lightish color. The scent is really something special. It’s like a fruity, floral aroma all wrapped up into one delicate punch. The taste is stellar. I can taste a fruitiness as in apricots, without the syrupy sweetness. Just a light, fruity addition. The floral notes are also lighter in flavor, more like lily or gardenia or cherry blossom, without being cherry. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but it is a delicate flavor, not heavier like rose that demands your senses’ attention. This is more like flirting and teasing. Each sip leaves me wanting more. The toastiness in the scent, it’s like a whisper in the taste. This is an oolong for me. Smooth, sweet, floral, divine.

I noticed this was on my shopping list and when I made my multiple Harney orders back in November, I added a tin of this. Now I can’t remember quite why. It’s good enough but I’m just not a chocolate tea type of person normally.

This is vaguely chocolatey in the way teas that are intended to be chocolate are. Does that make any sense? The teas I like that are described as being chocolatey are the ones that aren’t intentionally flavored for chocolate – the straight deep blacks that have cocoa notes to them – those I love. The flavored chocolate teas? Usually pretty meh to me.

I’ll share this one around. There is definitely chocolate flavor as well as hazelnut and a bit of vanilla. I did slightly oversteep it and it didn’t turn bitter at all so that’s something to be said for it. A dollop of cream helps it along, makes the chocolate not seem as watery.

Smells strongly of chocolate. I’m not so much a chocolate tea person, but this sounded appealing for a tasting swap. :)

This is a lovely blend. The hazelnut softens the chocolate, which I generally think is harsh in teas, and the other flavors don’t cover up the tea. I believe I’ll have to order some of this with my next Harney order.

This tea definitely grew on me. The Atomic Fireball taste kind of threw me off the first time I tried it, but now it’s one of my go-tos; it’s amazing to drink on a cool fall day. I generally add a lot of milk and just a touch of sugar, since the cinnamon makes it plenty sweet on its own. Just be careful not to steep it too long or the flavor gets overwhelming.

Tea of the afternoon…..

I have had this sample since last Winter. I figured I had better try it now that it is the prime season for this tea. I like the balance of the cranberry with the hint of orange and the black tea base. I am guessing that Harney’s African Autumn is the rooibos counterpart to this tea. The black version is definitely much more appealing to me than the rooibos. I guess that should not be a surprise as I prefer black tea in general.

Edit to add: After drinking the whole pot, I am not so sure on this. The first few cups were good, but by the end of the pot I am not liking it as well. It is reminiscent of hibiscus even though it is possible there is not any in there. In thinking about it, cranberry and orange flavoring could be kind of like the tartness I do get from hibiscus….. Final verdict…not for me.

(from the website) Ingredients: Black tea, cranberries, orange peel, natural orange oil, and artificial cranberry flavor.
No hibiscus. I am guessing I just don’t do well with this flavor combo……

Steeped the usual way….

Tea of the afternoon……

A good afternoon tea for Fall. Light notes of apple and just enough cinnamon to remind me of the apple fritters I used to love as a kid. I will definitely enjoy the tin full, but will not likely repurchase.

Tea of the morning…..

I purchased this one hoping for the taste of tea and cider. It does have a light flavor of cider and a hint of cinnamon, but I wish it was a little more present. I mostly taste tea. I seem to gravitate toward stronger flavors as of late, and this one is subtle. Still, it is a good tea for Fall.

The broth from this tea is somehow a little cloudy. The taste is the same as other sencha I’ve had. Other than the cloudy tea broth, this is a good tea with good flavor. Not sure about calling it ichiban though.

This tasting note isn’t for Decaf Ceylon by itself, but for what I’ve come to think of as Decaf and a Pinch. I’ve lately gotten in the habit of drinking Decaf Ceylon as my evening brew, blended about 3:1 with a non-decaf, usually flavored tea. It is particularly delicious with a bit of Florence or Tower of London. Tonight I’m enjoying it with a little Elyse’s Blend for that honey note.

ChOTD……

I purchased a sample of this on a recent Harney order. I wanted to try the rooibos chai offerings from the places I usually order before I go hunting elsewhere. I like this one! It is minus the anise in the rooibos chai from Upton, but still has the cinnamon, clove, and cardamom flavors I really love. It falls kind of mid range on the spice…you know it is there, but there really is not a punch that you get with the blends that contain pepper. Some fresh ginger would definitely make it even more wonderful. This will be on an order when my tin of the Upton rooibos chai is getting low.

Prepared by my usual pan method with a little longer brew times.