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I like the smell of this better than the taste; there’s a lot more creamy vanilla and fruit than you’d expect from the spicy description. The black tea taste (ceylon?) is fairly pronounced, and it’s… more sour than sweet? I’m not really a fan of sour teas, so the tart fruit undertone is putting me off a little, especially compared to the sweet aroma of the dry leaves and the liqueur.

I wouldn’t want to add anything to this, though; I think any sort of cream or sweetener would overwhelm it (unless perhaps you brew it stronger)
.5tsp/4oz
Edit: Wow, this is getting a lot softer as it cools, more what I expected from the scent. Less sour, more cream.

I probably shouldn’t admit how old this tea is because, uh, it’s more than a year. And I have no idea why, because it’s delicious! Looks like a nice full leaf sencha, with a very mild blend of chai spices. The cinnamon/clove comes through most out of them, with a bit of almond and rose present, but the tea flavor is very much there as well.
2nd steep, 4 minutes, equally good

1st steep, 1st impressions: okay, so green/raw/sheng puerh is clearly a whole different animal from black/cooked/shou. Noted. Seconds impressions: smoky aroma, warm cream/pale orange color, smoky/grassy/complex flavor profile. Not a hint of barnyard or fish. Did I just spoil myself for lesser puerhs? :(

Holding off on the numerical rating for some longer steeps
Steep 2, ~2 minutes, boiling water into room temp pot. Same warm gold color, slightly fainter aroma; this is reminding me of a Formosa Oolong in character.
Steep 3, ~3 minutes I think I’ll try cooler water on the next steep, because I’m getting some very roasty toasty notes but not a lot of depth; this tastes like it ought to be bitter, but of course it’s puerh so it isn’t actually.
Steep 4, 4 minutes. Did the boiling water → cup → pot this time, so it ended up around 180°F. I don’t think I mentioned yet, but the leaves are big and beautiful, dry and wet. Very little scent; I think I should start upping the steep time more, but I’ve certain these leaves have more to give. Still a nice pale gold color, and the flavor profile hasn’t changed much (smoke, hay, roasty), but the flavor isn’t as intense this time around.

Certainly a fine example of a cooked puerh, from my limited experience. Looks and smells a bit milder than Maiden’s Ecstasy, but also a bit… sweeter? More floral? Sipping: either I got used to the barnyard taste overnight, or this is a better puerh than I’ve had before. The latter seems more likely. It’s still there, but muted; more sweet hay than dirt. There’s a bit of spice, too. And some fruit, now. It still doesn’t have the kick of a black tea, but this is definitely growing on me.

I’m finding that the mood/energy effects of puerh are more like yerba mate than regular tea or coffee; smoother, and more drawn out.
Steep 2 at ~2 minutes is rather weak; need to up the steep time I guess
Steep 3, ~5 minutes, scent is getting weaker but color and flavor are still good. Starting to lose some of the nuances I got on the first steep though
Steep 4, <15 minutes (I forgot); not oversteeped, of course – bless puerhs for that! Color: weaker. Scent: stronger. Taste: sweet! almost honey sweet. Not enough body for my taste though.

This was with 1/2 tsp in 4oz water; I’m sure with a higher leaf/water ratio it would give more steeps.

Tried this one without milk this morning, and bumping the rating a little because it’s way better than I expected (or remembered) plain. Lots of complexity, sweetness, yes cocoa and spice, but also some floral notes I wasn’t expecting. (There is black tea, too, if you’re wondering). I used boiling water, but poured it into a room temp mug for steeping, so actual temp was more like 200˚F – I really think hotter water can ruin this one. Still, at $8/4oz, I’d call this a steal – I’ll certainly be buying more at some point.

Alright Steepsterites – I’m not even sure I like puerh (yet), but I spent the last ten minutes holding this under my nose while I waited for it to cool. It still has the barnyard smell/taste I’ve gotten from other puerhs, but somehow that’s not off-putting. It’s… satisfying? Addictive? This was a very short steep, so I didn’t get a lot of complexity in the flavor (at least that I can discern), but it is sweet and nice. It’s a very spring sort of flavor: wet earth, new grass.

I’m having a really hard time ranking this, though. It’s a whole different type of tea! It’d be like trying to rank coffee on the same slider. So… no number yet.

Steep 2, 1:15 min (1 tsp leaves, 4oz servings)
Steep 3, 2:15 – I do love how well the lid on Samovar’s yixing pot stays on; the lid for the glass pot likes to fall into my cup while I’m pouring, if I don’t remember to hold it.
Steep 4, 4:15 is a little weaker in both aroma and flavor, but still going really well with last night’s carrot cake.
Steep 5: ~6 minutes

Well, it’s a good thing I got the tiny teapots from Samovar, because I broke my regular one last night. Rather than going back to mugs and infusers already, I decided to make a little cup of this.

From JacquelineM, this brews up a lovely dark orange. It smells like a straight up Ceylon, at least when hot. In the flavor, I’m actually getting more smoke than vanilla. Adding milk brings out the creamy flavor a little, but this still isn’t quite what I was expecting from the description and the scent.

2nd steep might be better than the first, for me: still nothing I’d describe as vanilla, but rounder, more harmonious flavors. It almost tastes like a blend, with some Assam and/or Keemun in there. I am getting the chocolately notes everyone else mentioned now. Very tasty.

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.