Harney & Sons

Slept in, husband surprised me with cuddling and a makeout session (sorry if that’s TMI; this is my tea journal…) and then said he was totally game for celebrating Cinco de Mayo the way we traditionally have (he doesn’t drink and tends to get annoyed at how ethnic pride days in the US are just an excuse for college kids to get drunk, rendering otherwise great hole-in-the-walls loud and frantic packed-to-the-gills zoos, so we try to find tiny relatively deserted taquerias that don’t serve alcohol to get our salsa verde on) despite having a mountain of tests to grade. Wound up at Caminos de Michoacan, a taqueria and panaderia in one over in Berclair (awesome time-warp neighborhood, feels like the ‘50s-’80s, working class families, no ugly McMansions or suburban isolation sprawl yet, etc.) we’d ony been to once before, years ago. Had lengua and al pastor tacos along with a bowl of pozole with all the fixings and horchata. Yum. On our way out we grabbed a ton of pastries and cookies (including one of my favorites, an anise-flavored pig-shaped cookie) and the entire bill was still something like $15 cheaper than it would’ve been at any of the more typical spots we frequent. Awesome.

Why am I telling you all this, tealog? Because when we got home I put all the pastries on a big silver platter and brewed up some of this tea. And it was delicious and satisfying and pretty much an ideal Sunday afternoon. I wanted to explain all this because while the tea really did taste wonderful—strong and satisfyingly flavorful enough to stand up to all of those spiced sweets, but smooth and not so complicated I felt distracted or like I was wasting it that way—I feel it’s only fair to note everything else going on was so enjoyable that my mood’s such that anything better than Lipton probably would’ve been alright, ha.

That said, I do think this is an ideal “whenever” daytime blend. I might put it in rotation for my morning tea routine.

submitted as evidence:
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So in full disclosure, I have never actually tasted real lychee fruit, mostly because I have do idea how you eat one. Do you peel it, are their seeds, do you eat the seeds – it stresses me out :) But I do like lychee flavoured things.
The dry tea smells of lychee flavour on top of a strong black tea base, but it is very perfumey.
The brewed tea smells of the same lychee perfume. The tea tastes like a medium boldness black tea base. There is a lychee fruit taste to it, slightly perfumey, but not bad. The perfume taste almost reminds me of rose petals. Overall a good tea, but I would have preferred a more fruity flavour. I may try to add some sweetener next time. It is slightly sweet on its own, but maybe some sugar would bring out more of the fruitiness.

Sipdown! I thought I had more of this one left, but apparently not.

Anyhow, cold-brewed this over the past couple days, and it’s quite tasty. Green tea, caramelly, and a bit nutty (more likely from the tea than sesame, I think). I also think I prefer Tokyo to Bangkok… hopefully that’s the same conclusion I came to prior. One day I’ll get more of it, but that day is an awfully long ways away.

Also, my sipdown list is quite mucked up right now as I haven’t been properly updating it lately. Gotta add my new Butiki teas, perhaps delete a few teas I left with my mom, and then I’ll be back on track. No significant increases or decreases, thankfully… Butiki order added less than 10 teas, the majority of which are not significant amounts (other than the 4.5 oz. of PTA/PTA blends).

A friend brought this along to the cabin over the weekend to share. I was not impressed! Drinkable but nothing special at all.

Additional notes: I bought some of this from Yssah a while ago. This particular blend tastes a bit more flavorful than the Tower I tried before, probably because this was fresher. I just love this blend. Plums, a bit of cherry, honey and hints of bergamot on a lovely black base that doesn’t get astringent. It tastes like a jammy Danish. I thought I loved Paris more, but the new blend of that I bought from Yssah doesn’t taste the same as the sample I had before (kind of alcoholish). So I might like this one better, or else it is very close. Paris = berries Tower of London = stone fruits

Thank you Lala for this sample.

My third cold steep, I have caught the bug and will be trying them out all day. The weather is bright and warm here today so it’s just as well.

In raw form this tea smells lovely, very orangey and sweet. Not quite blood orange but more tangerine like. Still nice though.

Cold steeped for roughly 5 hours this tea is orange in colour and has the same juicy tangerine scent. Flavour is delicious, delicate and juicy, refreshing and sweet. Orange is one of my favourites and I was curious to see what the cold steeping would do to it. It tastes like a tropical orange juice that suits the hot sun perfectly. The sort of thing I would enjoy daily…may have to pick some of this up.

I’m one of those people who logs a tea every time she has it. I do it to keep track of which ones I do drink over and over again, and how far apart between cups I go, etc. I’m a data nerd, and this is a fun way of collecting it!

All that is to say I’m sorry you’ve seen so many notes on this. But it is my work tea and so every once in awhile I’ll make it to get a nice few minutes of relaxation in before I go finish my shift. I’ve not yet figured out a way to make loose leaf conducive to a hospital so until I do you can pass these logs right on by.

I will say that if you like cinnamon this in sachets is about the most convienent tea for traveling anywhere, a little hot water and you’re good to go. I must really try and find some more teas like that, really…

Dry and brewing there is a very strong vanilla extract aroma, complete with that tinge of alcohol burn. This tea has the slightest hint of bitterness and is, predictably for a decaffeinated tea, a little thin/watered down flavor-wise. It’s not a bad tea at all though, especially given it’s decaf. The vanilla is really, really strong, which I think I’d like more if there was a rich body and some creaminess to go with it. Not a solid winner like Florence (but granted, Florence is caffeinated)…and if I wanted something rich and sweet but without caffeine, I’d probably reach for American Tea Room’s Choco-Late or Macaroon before this. Still, not bad, just not the best for the niche I’d be trying to fit this tea into. Though on the other hand, upon a resteep, I guess when I want that dessert-y rich sweet flavor AND the taste of black tea in the evening, that’s where this shines. Hm. Might have to rethink whether this fills a need after all.

Holy crap this tea really delivers. Smells of wonderful sweet chocolate, and then the flavor is in fact rich, creamy chocolate and toasted hazelnut! Tastes like a Rocher candy without the crunch. Actually, what it reminds me a lot of is those rectangular tins of International Coffee, you know, the sweet powdered “coffee” stuff I used to drink in the ‘80s as a kid thinking I was being all fancy and grown up. That rich, and that guilty pleasure (so sweet, so creamy!) satisfying. Love how much hazelnut’s in this. Woah.

A tea that doesn’t ask much of you (you don’t have to set aside any concentration to enjoy this), that just offers sweet, straightforward pleasure. (I’m also getting the impression it’d be hard to make this tea taste bitter—it’s smooth, smooth, smooth and the tea element is very light, somehow without the whole thing tasting watery. Tastes, yeah, more like a sweet faux coffee or hot cocoa than tea.) I haven’t added milk yet because there’s not even a hint of bitterness and because it’s so creamy already, but I reckon it’d taste just dandy should you choose to do so.

And it resteeps well! Love. Kinda feel like a tea noob/poser for so loving a tea that, um, doesn’t taste like tea, but there it is. Yum.

It’s deja vu all over again! Made http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2013/04/17/apple-cinnamon-pull-apart-rolls-from-store-bought-to-homemade/ again, and there is nothing in the world I wanted to have more with them than Vanilla Black. That natural, dark vanilla flavor and good tea go so well with these little sweet breads. They are forever forged together in my mind…perfect pairing.

My mom got me a sample of this tea in her last order. Now, fruity blacks and me have a love/hate relationship, in that I really like some, but don’t like others. This is one in the latter group. The tea base isn’t bad, but I don’t really like the cherry flavor. That could be because I’m not big on cherry flavor in the first place though. I really like REAL cherries, but not cherry flavor. I gave the last cup of my sample to my coworker, who liked it much more than me. So, I’m calling this a SIPDOWN! :)

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Thank you Sil for this sample.

Is there anyone better to sample an English breakfast tea than an English person? This would be my first cup of the day which starts my marathon off quite late today (it’s 10am). I do aim to post as many tea reviews as I can this weekend while dog/house sitting. May the 4th be with you all.

The pyramid bag is nice and see through so I can note the teas quality whilst raw. The Keemun looks to be of nice quality and consists of small, dark black leaves that have a few golden stem pieces amongst them. It has a malted fruit scent.

In true British style I have added milk and half a spoon of sugar to my tea. Once steeped this tea has a rich, dark malt aroma with a gentle floral tinge.

Sipping reveals a delicious dark Keemun with malt and floral tones and no bitterness. A little smoky but soothed by the milk and sugar which makes it easier to drink more quickly. The floral tones pick up further down the cup and it adds more depth and a slight dry perfume taste. That doesn’t really amount to much though, all in all I would say this is a nice ‘cuppa cha’.

When grading teas that claim to be British I always ask myself one thing… would my Grandad drink this? He is Welsh and in his 70’s, he does not drink anything other than traditional bagged black tea. If it would be good enough to serve to him then it must be a true British tea. And with that reasoning I have concluded that this is indeed a true British tea, not strong enough for me to be considered a breakfast tea but more of an all day, every day tea.

Felt like something fruity.

Anyways, this is a pretty nice flavored tea. The peach isn’t overwhelming, but smooth, aromatic. The tea isn’t astringent, which is what I’ve come to expect of blacks, so a great plus and surprise here.
It’s like drinking peach juice (is there even such a thing?), but without all the sugar.

I think I’ve only got about a cup’s amount left, so the dregs are going into to a jar so I can try this one cold brewed. Should be good.

Impressed.

1 1/2 tsp for 12 oz

This tea is great for what it is. A solid, basic tea. Totally non astringent with these steeping parameters, but not sweet like the Taiwanese teas I like. I needed a little extra oomph this afternoon so I went for a stronger tea, and I enjoyed it with no additions.

Man oh man do I like the way this one smells dry. Both in aroma and flavor this reminds me a bit of New Mexico’s Provence Rooibos (which I adore), so I suppose now I have a caffeinated, black tea version of that flavor profile should I need it.

Ok…. either my sample is too old, or my mouth tastes too much like cardamom, but I cold-brewed a bunch of this last night and I can’t taste anything :( I really liked this one the last time I had it cold, so this sucks. I guess I’ll let my tastebuds sit a while and then see how it goes… (Note: sample has been in a plastic baggie for pretty much an entire year…)

The dry leaf has a heady, almost liquor-like cranberry aroma. Brewed there’s something warm and spicy, which I welcome to balance the fruity tartness of cranberry (memories of horrid “Zinger”-ish stuff from Celestial Seasonings as a kid…shudder). I might be imagining it but I think there’s vanilla? That makes this super welcome, and reminds me of one of my all-time favorite seasonal desserts, Laurie Colwin’s Nantucket Cranberry Pie (really more of a cobbler). Just the reminder of it is making me smile.

EDIT: Ah! For once I got it right. The copy says there’s almond to go with the cranberry, and the major components of Colwin’s (super easy to make, yum) dish are cranberries and almond extract. Huzzah!

There’s an oh-so-slight bitterness; perhaps next time I’ll brew at a lower temp, or for a bit less time. Unlike a lot of flavored teas, this is not very sweet at all. Has kind of a juicy mouthfeel. I appreciate that the cranberry tastes like actual fresh cranberry, not that whole garish whack-you-over-the-head mere tartness, but juice and that crisp clean-tasting flavor good cranberries have.

I just got this in yesterday from Harney. I brewed up a cup this morning, 5 minutes in the steep and drank it with cream and sugar. It’s really a beautiful tea, very mellow but with a decent kick to it. I’ll have to try it tomorrow without the cream, just a little sugar and see how that is. A very nice tea.

This tea was nice and light. Even though the taste was a bit flattish, it is advertised as mellow and light. Perfect for a rainy morning on campus, like today. Would drink again.

Before my youngest daughter got hooked on Lapsang, and I mean strong stuff like Lapsang Souching Crocodile by Dammann Freres, I had to buy this tea by the pound or face ordering it with great frequency. This last bit has been sitting here for almost six months relatively untouched, but I still like it a great deal and served it with our pound cake at tea time today. It was a great pairing.

I am trying to sipdown a lot of my tea and have not purchased anything but matcha in a while, except that I did order the Verdant samples. When I have reduced my cupboard and samples quite a bit, I may be ordering more of this one because good vanilla tea is versatile, and this one is really good. I am toying with ordering Nina’s Thè des Anges as my cupboard vanilla, though.

This is a great tea for the price, and pretty much everyone I have ever served it to, likes it. It is less sweet and dessert-y than their decaf Vanilla Comoro, which I really must keep on hand regardless of the size of my cupboard.

Several of you have made mention in various posts about the Tin of Tea that Never Goes Away - by some mystical multiplication means, there’s always just enough for one more cuppa.

That’s Tower of London at my house. But in this case, I am grateful for the Never Goes Away properties. It’s so fruity and luscious and stands up to absentminded morning preparation it is welcome here for a long, long time.

Just got this from a trip to the SoHo Harney & Sons the other day. I asked about getting a green but was really not sure what I wanted at the time… just wanted to try something new of theirs for the sake of something new.

This is a very low-green sort of flavor, to me. As in, a darker taste. The liquor is light, but the taste is heavier, IMO. Spinach or asparagus or such… I can’t pin just what veggie it brings to mind. But yes, a dark, low, slightly (but pleasantly!) almost-bitter green.

Also a lighter color on the tip of the tongue… shading towards yellow in taste. I’d not say it was sweet, but… well, it has a lighter less intense feel. Perhaps as another described it as buttery would work here, but that’s not quite what it gives to me.

Round and medium weighted in the mouth. Feels smooth and slightly rich without pushing all the way into “heavy” territory.

I’m sure I’m not describing this clearly here, but this is a hard one for me to pin down. It’s a good quality green that I can’t assign specifics to, just impressions.

I will say that I really do like it. It’s not a top-favortiest-green for me, but one that I’m very happy to have gotten. I’d definitely recommend it to others! If you are a green lover, grab some of this; even if you don’t love it you’ll be glad you tried it!

Glad to have this one in my pantry. :)

Wait! After-thought! If you tend to like sencha this might be for you. The flavor, to me, is similar to some of the senchas I’ve had from Kyoto Obubu.