teabird

Getting more flowers this time, and it’s getting better as it cools. I’m much more impressed than the last time I made this, though the flavor is still relatively weak for an oolong.

And now I’m losing the flowers as it cools more – boo. There seems to be a sweet spot for drinking temp. Still bumping the rating a little.

Steep 2: ~3 minutes. The liqueur is the same color, a yellow so pale I’d almost call it cream.

Steep 3: ~4 minutes. Still good color, but the flavor is getting very mild. If I liked white teas, I might continue with this, and I’ll probably give it one last long steep, but I think these leaves are mostly tapped, for my taste.

Man, I need to remember that Harney rocks the flavored teas! I usually stay away from chocolate-flavored teas in particular, because they’re never chocolatey enough or don’t blend well or both. Florence is a definitely exception. Florence is delicious. (On its own, or with a bit of milk – definitely no sugar needed).

The hazelnut and chocolate both come through very well, in the aroma _and_flavor of the liqueur. The dry leaves are very strongly scented, so you might was an isolated spot to store this one. This is probably as good as their vanilla-flavored tea, but I’m bumping the rating a little because anyone can make vanilla tea taste good. But blending chocolate well? Way more impressive.

P.S. This is a sample from JacquelineM, so I will definitely be adding some to my next order from Harney. I suspect it would be delicious iced as well.

ETA: The second steep was good too! Again, very impressed. Most (artificially) flavored teas lose their flavor after the first; I added another 8oz boiling water, left it alone for ~10 minutes, and came back to a mild but still sweetly flavored cup.

This is my favorite chai, largely because it has a variety of spices (and there are big chunks of them, as in the picture) but no pepper! The ginger is also on the mild side – cinnamon, cardamom, and clove are the strongest spice flavors. I also love the bit of sweetness from the maple sugar. I think it’s the maple that gives this a really sweet fragrance in addition to the spice, too. The black tea isn’t a strong flavor, but it gives a backbone to the spices, so that the overall impression is of a strongly flavored tea (much more so than spices alone – I’ve tried). I would drink this all the time if it wouldn’t destroy my budget.

I’ve never managed to oversteep this (and I steep it like regular black tea, 1tsp/8oz, 3-5 minutes), but I might not notice because I always add milk. Seriously though, so much love!

Made this iced, as !amovar suggests, to take to a movie tonight. It worked quite well! Chilled with a bit of honey, I think the fruit flavor came out more (than when hot). Still quite light, and still rather floral, but neither of those are bad things – refreshing!

I used 1tsp leaves, with 3 4oz infusions and chilled to make 12 oz.

Got a sample of this from JacquelineM, like everyone else it seems :) This is a good breakfast blend: strong, dark (nice dark red color in the cup), takes milk well. There’s a bit of a chocolate-y aftertaste, and it’s fairly smooth relative to the strength, but I do like it better with a little milk. Without, there’s a bit of a harsh bite, though that could probably be avoided through steeping conditions. As is, this is just right for a kick in the morning, and I may be buying more when the sample’s gone.

Got this in a swap with JacquelineM. I’m currently steeping pretty much everything in Samovar’s glass oolong pot, because I’ve in love. The dry leaf is amazingly smoky, of course, the liqueur smells less so. G says it smells like rabbit food; we decided this might mean alfafa? Something grassy, anyway. It reminds me a little of puerh. The taste is a bit on the bitter side, but I think that’s my fault for over-steeping: I spilled a little water, so my ratio was more like 3oz/.5tsp. Anyway, there is a nice sweetness under the smoke. I have a suspicion this will be even better on the 2nd steep.

2nd steep (~ 5 minutes, still boiling, little more water) either smells less smoky, or I’ve adjusted to the scent. Definitely tastes sweeter, and milder, so I am well pleased. Still a dark savory tea, though. Smokier, or saltier, or something-er than Jackee, and still fairly strong.

Alright tiny pot, here we go. 1 level tsp/4oz water. I did rinse the leaves with boiling water, for about 10 seconds, but I’m going under the recommended temp here because the leaves look pretty green and I’m desperately afraid of cooking them.

Steep 1: 2-ish minutes, 195°F
The first steep, hot out of the pot, smells like the most delicious butter I have ever tasted. A little bit cinnamon, a little bit cream. It tastes buttery too, and something else I can’t put my finger on (of course). It’s strikingly like drinking a soft buttered dinnerroll, in any case. There’s a sweet floral aftertaste though, very pleasant. It’ll be fun to see how this one goes.

Steep 2:
2:45, 185°F (I didn’t warm the pot as well this time). The color has been a bright yellow-green for both steeps; still smells very rich and buttery, though the scent fades as the tea cools.

Steep 3:
3:30, 200°F Should I be smelling chocolate in an oolong? I’m getting chocolate more than butter on this one. The color is a deeper yellow this time, probably due to hotter water. The flavor is starting to get a little more vegetal, but only a touch.

Steep 4:
4:30, 195°F Still good color, but the flavor is starting to weaken a bit – I’ll up the steep time more on the next. Definitely getting more vegetal tastes.

Steep 5:
~8 minutes, 205°F Seemed to still have some caffeine in it, which I didn’t expect. A bit bitter, but plenty of flavor left. These leaves probably could have done more, but I am well pleased.

Got my Samovar order today, trying the lychee before tackling the Four Seasons. Let me just say – the glass oolong pot is adorable. It also seems to hold heat better than I expected, only about a 10°F drop in 3 minutes

Samovar’s description is good: this is light, sweet, and a smooth. It’s also floral. Read the description carefully and you’ll note that lychee flowers, in addition to the fruit, provide the flavor. I don’t mind, I like floral teas, I like the sweetness you can get from flowers of most types, but if you dislike rose teas you won’t like this either. The flavor is quite strong, almost perfume-y. The fruit is more noticeable if you take a big mouthful and swirl it around – there is a bit of a sour/berry taste.

I like the 2nd steep (5 minutes) at least as much, if not better. Less flower-sweet, more fruit-sweet.

So I kept track of the temperature of my water throughout steeping today, and discovered that I haven’t been steeping my teas in boiling water, ever. Even warming the pot with boiling water only got the starting temperature up to 205°F (though admittedly, I’m only filling my little Bee House teapot halfway – I know that’s a nono). Without warming it’s more like 195.

Anyway, the slightly higher temp today made for a notable darker tea, but I’m not sure I like the change – there’s less chocolate and spice, more of just a “black tea” flavor, but the aftertaste is a lot more fragrant and lingering. Will keep playing with this a bit.

This is the rare black breakfast-style tea that I prefer without milk. It’s fairly smooth and creamy on its own, and subtle enough that milk can drown out some of the best flavor points.

No notes yet.

This is a good vanilla black tea. I find the flavor a good balance between authenticity (Adagio’s in particular always tastes fake, more like frosting, to me) and strength of flavor (vanilla teas flavored just with vanilla bean tend to be overpowered by the black tea). This will likely be included in my next order to Harney.

I’m backlogging from a weekend w/o internet, so I can’t remember anything more nuanced about the flavor. It was very satisfying though.

Beautiful deep red hue in the cup; I think someone pegged it as garnet. I think my water was a little too cool, because the flavor is very mild: sweet, smoky, a little bit of an earth/pine taste, but with none of the heft I’ve gotten from Jackee in the past. Will try to remedy this on the next steep (Jackee always gives me two, if not three).

2nd steep (with slightly hotter water) is a little sweeter, less smoky. The color is less intense, but the flavor is still strong, and smoother.

3rd steep is amber, sweet, and mild. Definitely got a dark/sweet flavor on the last couple of steeps that could be called burnt sugar. Any hint of astringency is gone by the 3rd, so it’s just a round, mellow, yes caramel-y, flavor. Almost starting to remind me of honeybush, but not as woody.

No notes yet.

This is hands-down the strongest tea I own. Fruity, brisk, energizing. I think describing a tea as a “coffee converter” is a bit cliched at this point, but that is what comes to mind – it has the caffeine and the strength of flavor. It was fruitier before adding milk, but a little harsh for my taste. I think maybe I have been oversteeping this, because at 3 minutes (and 1 level tsp/8oz) I’m getting a lot more of the fruity/winey taste, so bumping the rating accordingly.

First thing I notice about this one is the CTC leaves – the dry tea looks like a bunch of tiny pellets. The tea itself brews up a nice dark red/brown, and certainly smells the way chai should: warm spices and black tea. A nice blend of spices too, not too much cinnamon. I find this too bitter to drink plain; honey helps a little, milk helps more. With both, it is tasty. A very solid chai choice – might buy again, but I’d rather find something that doesn’t absolutely require sweetener.

No notes yet.

Minty, slightly sweet, not bitter, and impossible to oversteep. The only way to ruin this is by not using enough leaf – I like one heaping tsp/8oz. This makes a nice bedtime tea for those of us not fond of chamomile (…is there anyone other than me?) I can’t do caffeine at night, and since learning that white and green teas aren’t actually lower in caffeine and most decaffeinated things taste like crap (in addition to not being completely caffeine-free) that leaves herbals.

Anyway, bumping this rating a bit because of how often I drink it, and the fact that I will absolutely be buying more when this 4oz bag runs out.

A light golden color in the cup, this smells toasty and a little fruity, but the flavor is sweet/smoky. The leaves unfurl beautifully from their pellets. This is nice, and I’ll steep it as long as it goes, but it’s not wowing me. Still, it’s definitely a step above the tea I’ve received in (American) Chinese restaurants.

Mmmm, this is a bedtime tea. The tin smells like fancy flavored coffee (aka hazelnut), the taste is much milder (of course – it’s honeybush), and the aftertaste is the best part. Close your mouth, exhale through your nose, and feel your mouth water for more. This is fairly subtle, with no real tea, but sweet and delightful. The hazelnut and honeybush really blend well.

1st steep, 4oz water, 4g leaf (after 15 second rinse)

It’s a rather lovely reddish-brown color; there’s certainly a barnyard aroma, but it’s bringing back rather fond memories of a brief spate of horseback riding lessons I had in middle school, so I’m okay with that. I’m not going to try to break it down further – barnyard=hay/dirt/manure/horse. I’m not getting the fish that some others mentioned, fortunately. There is zero bitterness or astringency, and some sweetness. I’ll be curious to see how the flavors evolve.

2nd steep: I didn’t imagine it, there is a bit of an oily sheen on the surface of the tea, just after it’s poured. This faded as the tea cooled. Same dark red-brown color, same sweet barnyard taste, but slightly lighter in flavor and texture.

ETA: Ended up getting 5 steeps out of this, all 20-30 seconds, before it started getting weaker. My tin was very old, inherited from a former roommate and buried in a drawer, so your mileage will likely be better.

I think my palate is just not subtle enough for the white teas yet – I spoil it with strong blacks. This is nice, a little sweet, a little floral/nutty something, but it’s a bare step up from drinking water. This was a gift, so I think I’m going to spend more time with it and some greens or light oolongs before spending any money on white tea.

I wanted so badly to like this. I love cinnamon, I love Harney’s Cinnamon tea, but this… it’s bitter. And dusty. Can a liquid taste dry? I found this unpalatably bitter by itself, sugar sweetens the middle but doesn’t help the lingering bitterness, and milk makes it drinkable. It has a nice warm cinnamon aroma, and you can see the cloves in the dry leaves, but… well, I wish I hadn’t bought 4oz based solely on the description. If you want a cinnamon black tea but all the others you’ve tried are too spicy or too sweet, try this.

I got a huge (pound, I think) bag of this through a random sale at Amazon, so 1) there might be a lot more reviews soon, and 2) it might be a little old. I used a heaping teaspoon for 8oz water, and it was just right today. I’ll play with quantities and extra steeps later ;) A nice dark coppery-red color; the flavors are malty, round, and satisfying, with a little bit of chocolate and hazelnut(?) for interest. Drinking this makes me sigh with contentment.