Paris

This is another sample from Veronica – I really hope I didn’t mix up the tea samples… Anyway, this is another sweet smelling tea – not artificially sweet, but something like raisins and vanilla. I probably steeped this one too long too, but it smells lovely.

It isn’t very bitter, now that I’ve taken a sip of it. There’s a hint of vanilla and fruitiness that I can’t quite distinguish as any particular fruit. I don’t have enough experience with fruit tea yet. Either way, it’s pleasant. There’s also an astringent note, though not in your face. I don’t know if I would buy it, but it is good.

Berries, vanilla and bergamot. A great combination, but this tea only makes an appearance in my pot at times where I feel like something very heavy and sweet. Not a fan of artificial flavouring in general but there are days when this totally hits the spot.

Note: teabag form

Now I see why everyone on here has reviewed this tea. It’s really good! I think this is a perfect tea to share with newbie tea drinkers. I have some friends who aren’t in to loose leaf yet and don’t have an advanced palate so I’m always looking for teas I think they’ll like.

I received this teabag in an order I placed so I don’t have another to try it iced but I think it would be a great iced tea. I’d probably prefer loose leaf to do that though.

Overall I don’t get a ton of bergamot, which was fine with me. There is a nice malty black base with smooth vanilla and just a hint of bergamot.

Someday I’ll get some loose leaf of this and try cold brewing.

A very tasty cup of tea with a hard to describe but wonderful aroma

Spectacular. Complex mix of scents, including currants, vanilla, chocolate, orange, caramel. This would make a great gift, it really is something special. If all Harney & Sons teas are as good as this, I will be in heaven. Very pleasant tasting, a delight for the taste buds. Will definitely have to buy a pack of this to savour.

This is one of my favourite teas, especially as a latte. It’s sweet, very aromatic and has great citrus and vanilla.

Home last night after all the Turkey Day feasting and festivities, I decided this would be a nice finish for the day. Indeed it was.

I have been very curious about this tea for quite some time — so I was beyond thrilled to discover that I had ordered a sample of it a few years back. Even with it being a bit older, this tea is pretty freaking amazing. I have to admit (and feel free to express your horror at this) I don’t like chocolate. I overdid it as a child, so a little goes a very long way for me and anything with cocoa in it.

But this? This is a pretty incredible tea. Of all of the samples I’ve been trying as of late, this is the one I’m most tempted to add to my cupboard. I mean, the aroma was absolutely lovely and it lingered for quite some time. If I was a chocolate fan, then I’d likely move this into the “teagasm” category. NE

A few days ago, I celebrated making it to another birthday! My wonderful and very thoughtful wife gave me a Breville OneTouch Tea Maker for my birthday three years ago. That amazing machine has really contributed to the joy and fun of my tea tasting experiences. If you are looking for an extremely convenient method to make a consistently fantastic cup of tea every time, I highly recommend the OneTouch Tea Maker. But I digress…Where was I?…Oh yeah…Now I remember. (Please bear with me. You will recall that I am another year older.) For this year’s birthday, my beautiful wife also remembered my tea “habit” by giving me a trademark black container of Harney & Sons Paris tea.

When I lifted the lid of the metal container, there was a strong fruity aroma underneath. I’ve tried a few other French teas by Mariage and those teas seemed to have the identical unbrewed odor.

I steeped the short black leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees as directed on the container. The finished color was a very dark gold, almost brown. The aroma was more vanilla than fruity.

My first taste produced a medium-strength black tea flavor. After that, vanilla followed by fruit seeped into my taste buds for the remainder of my cup.

It’s interesting that the flavor of this tea is also very similar to the Mariage teas. That’s not a bad thing because I do enjoy those teas. Maybe the signature flavor is mandatory to call the blend “French.” I would say the one characteristic that sets this one apart is the dominance of the vanilla flavor over the fruit.

This is a nice smooth tea with no bitterness and a lighter than expected after taste. The flavor theme is a composite of fruity vanilla. The tase is neither overpowering nor overly sweet (if there is such a thing!). This selection was another one of those teas where the more I drank it, the more I liked it!

From Pass the Stash v2.0

The vanilla in this is very strong.

Mostly I was drawn to this because of the name. I wonder if anyone has a scent memory of the city that is like this? In my mind it would be flowers, cigarette smoke, water, and perfume. Of course I’ve never been there- that’s just the idea I get from french classes at school.

I was away from my computer when I brewed this up. All I wrote down was ‘vanilla, soft, black’.