Paris

I probably should have bought a tin of Marco Polo when I was in Paris. But really I was too overwhelmed and I like vanilla. This is a good enough substitute until next time…hahaha.

I first had this tea at a teahouse where a friend and I had afternoon tea. I really liked it and and I kept thinking about it. It’s been well over a year and I realized from someone else’s tasting note that this was the tea. So I had to order some.

It’s so good. It tastes like strawberries, a bit of lemon, a hint of bergamot. It’s not like a fruity Earl Grey at all, like it kind of leads you to believe. Just creamy enough, maybe I will give it a spin with milk and some vanilla sugar…ooh wait I bought some strawberry sugar in Paris…that could be awesome.

I’m new to writing about tea, but I will do my best.

This tea was recommended to me by a waiter about a year ago, and it was so good I saved the paper wrapper so I could track it down on my own. It was this tea that started me actually paying attention to teas.

Since then I have gotten it as presents for two people (highly appreciated by the recipients) and I am lucky to be able to buy my supply at the wonderful Harney and Sons store in Manhattan.

The aroma never gets tiring. I love opening the tin and smelling it. The aroma is stronger than I expected from a tea but once brewed the tea’s flavor is much more mild. I don’t get the same strawberry and cream notes as most people here however. I do have to pay attention not to let it brew for too long as the tannin levels build up quickly. It does not get too strong or bitter, but will give me that cotton mouth feeling.

This will always be a staple on my shelf.

Sometimes in the morning I want more than just a straight cup of black tea — I want something with some extra flavor. This tea is perfect for those occasions. I have it in the pouches, so it’s great for travel or to take with me to the office. I’m fairly fussy about flavored blacks — I can’t stand anything that has an artificial taste or is overly fruity. This tea is perfect in that the flavors enhance the black tea; they don’t overpower or overshadow it. Also, the bergamot note is not overdone.

I especially like to make this one into a tea latte (in a 16 oz mug, using two teabags, brew 8 oz. of tea, then fill the rest with steamed/foamed milk). This goes particularly well with a waffle and some preserves. Yum!

The British shop near Rice University allows you to buy Harney & Sons by the sachet, in addition to selling the usual tins of sachets and loose leaf tea. They even have a bag open for each flavor, so the customer can sniff them. I thought this blend smelled pretty good in the shop, so I nabbed a bag to try.
I don’t know what ‘lemony bergamot’ is, but this doesn’t taste like bergamot. It tastes mildly sweet actually, like a lemon-cream black tea. I don’t know if I associate this with Paris personally (that spot is forever taken by pear tea), but it’s pretty pleasant. I imagine this would appeal to those who aren’t much into flavored tea.

I picked up a sample of this with my last H&S order. The initial aroma of the tea suggests that it’s going to be extremely bold. Once brewed, that aroma lightens up a bit. When you sip it, the black tea is enveloped by the other flavors very subtly. I would say this is a medium bodied tea with a nice round texture to it. It finishes very smoothly.

It’s a pleasant surprise. I am enjoying it much more than I thought I was going to.

Fruit teas tend to be a little to sweet for me. But not Paris. Tried this one for the first time this morning and my taste buds did a little dance. I am always impressed how light and peaceful Harney & Son’s flavored teas are.

Bought this at Margaret’s Tea Imports in Pittsburgh when I was visiting family last week. I’ve been wanting to try it forever, and she had a big selection of cheap Harney & Sons, so I went for it.

This tea is just lovely. I’m a bit rusty on describing tea since I haven’t been reviewing, but this is very smooth, not too heavy, and has a not-too-sweet berry flavor with a hint of lemon at the end. Just great. I think this will become one of my “I don’t know what to drink this morning” teas.

So, the last few days have been hell. Had to decide which tea to drink to make things normal again. Paris! Yes, Paris. I’ve been to the real deal and would love to go back. I, of course, picked Paris up for the name and not expecting much but when you smell it you really say ‘ohhh’.
The first thing that I think of from my visit to Paris is the citron tart I had. Oh if only I could bake that good. The tea brings back some of those memories and the other great foods that I had.
I will have to make sure I get more soon. I see some interesting days ahead. :DT he tea reminds me of a lighter Earl Grey but very smooth & not hard in flavor.
Drink w/ a bit of sugar in 8 oz cup ~ serveral cups were enjoyed.

oh, yum! this is a super nice tea. caramellll. it smells AMAZING.

One of my favorite flavored teas. The first time I steeped it, I did it for slightly more than 5 minutes. WRONG, THIS IS VERY WRONG. Not only was it way too astringent, the fruity flavor overpowered anything else that might have been in the cup. Open the tin. Take a whiff. That is some pretty strong flavor. Therefore, there’s no need to steep this for any more than three minutes. The blended flavors are best light and subtle, otherwise you won’t be able to taste the black tea base at all.

So! Now to the tea. This is my second attempt to brew at home. The pot I tried in store was very light and subtle with the fruity flavor, with no astringency. Success! A steeping time of less than 3 minutes has yielded the same result. The primary flavor is still that black currant-y, dark berry taste. Drink a little more, and the bergamot comes through. Right after the black currant shakes you by the shoulders, the vanilla and bergamot are just kinda like, hey! I’m here too. And they’re so very welcome. I love the smooth taste of vanilla with the bright, tangy currant.

This is a tea you reach for when you’re craving candy. It’s not quite a morning tea and too sweet to be a daily drinker. Nah, this is a blend that can get you through an all nighter writing a paper or watching a walking dead marathon. This is a tea you sip when you’re craving candy or soda but want to be classy about your sugar fix.

This is going to be a cupboard staple for me. As soon as I read the description of the tea, I knew I would like it becuase it had begamot (apparently thats all I need I guess).
The dry tea smells like a strong black tea, a mild bergamot scent, and I think I am getting vanilla. There is also a sweet fruity smell to it.
The brewed tea is very dark, which scared me a bit to taste it, but it was not too strong. The black base of the tea is well defined but it balances nice with the bergamot. Very similar to Earl Grey. There is definitely a sweet fruity taste, I can’t quite place which fruit it is, I want to say apple, purple grape…?
I think this tea should have been names Earl Grey in Paris!

I bought a tin of the Paris sachets over the weekend at my local Fresh Market store. After reading all the positive reviews online here, I was excited to brew it up! Definitely, I am in the process of learning what flavors I prefer in teas. While this was a well blended tea, there is a taste in it that is not my preference. Its the same taste I pick up in the Vanilla Comora by Harney so I am presuming its the vanilla. While my favorite coffee creamer is vanilla, that does not seem a preferred flavor for me in tea. It is puzzling to me as I KNOW that I would love eating a vanilla flavored cookie with most any tea! If anyone has any idea what I may be tasting in these two teas other than vanilla that may be a common flavoring please let me know. I wanted so much to like Paris so it is a bit disappointing. I still have lots of others I want to taste by Harney & Sons and others. Does anyone have any samples of the Diamond Jubilee tea? I can trade for something in my cupboard!

I bought this because I had a gift certificate to Amazon, and it seemed like the best choice at the time; I drank all of it in a week it because it was so easy to prepare. Although it seems that many have liked the flavor of this tea, I found it comforting but bland. I liked the bitterness of the cut black leaves, and the hints of vanilla and fruit, but didn’t taste much complexity there. Sometimes, however, what counts is cheapness and ease of preparation.

Thank you Bonnie for this sample.
This tea came in a mesh tea bag, string, and tag that said Harney and Sons.
It’s the weekend, and I paired this tea with my breakfast – breakfast was a leftover salad bar from the night before.
I was excited to try this, so many positive reviews on steepster!
I asked my mom if she wanted to try, she said yes.
So I boiled the water.
Two cups, one tea bag.
The tea tasted smooth. It smelled good like flowers? maybe chocolate?
This teabag had mystery ingredients – guess the flavor!
This was not a strong tea, and I am thankful that Bonnie sent it to me.

There is a Harney and Sons in NYC that I will have to check out eventually.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/harney-and-sons-soho-new-york

Backlogging from yesterday. Shared some of this with a suitemate who doesn’t usually drink tea, but seems to enjoy the citrus-y/bergamot-y teas I’ve offered before. She smelled the leaves from the sampler pouch and seemed to have been just as in love with this as I was with smelling the Florence tea (also a H&S tea).

Unfortunately, I don’t have much else to offer in this note. The aroma after brewing was very fruity. It’s a very light, clean, palate-cleaning tea with a berrylike flavour that’s followed by a hint of citrus near the end. I don’t recall picking up on vanilla or caramel like what others have mentioned, but I admittedly wasn’t paying very much attention to the tea as I was drinking it at the time (aforementioned suitemate and I were venting about having a second fire alarm going off in less than a week while sipping this tea).

I do enjoy a flavored black every once in a blue moon… except… i love this intimately. It’s right up there with my blessed Nine Dragon Golden Needles.

Now don’t get me wrong, i have always enjoyed a cup of flavored tea, but i always looked at it more as a treat. This tea is very different indeed. The flavor is very unique in that it is not an earl gray, but uses Bergamot so its flavor profile is familiar… kinda like home away from home.

Picked up a sample of this downtown at the Cupboard…first day sprung out after 12in of snow. Steeped it about 7min…a bit long but not bitter. Very floral fragrant in a beautiful subtle Springtime way…but the flavor…spashed around in a wave…slight honey vanilla bergamont with a hint of tannin at the end to give an exclamation point of TEA instead of just flavors. This TEA tannin ending suspends the whole effect in time for a moment….so that you have to have more….over again…swishing to the same point until you are at the end…satisfied with your cup and disappointed it’s empty. Loved this semi- sweet with cream also. RICH!

The general consensus seems to be in favor of this tea, and I have to hop on the bandwagon. As others have said, the aroma of the dry leaves is intoxicating. According to Harney, this tea is flavored with bergamot, fruit flavors, and vanilla – and I must say the bergamot and vanilla take center stage in this brew. This is just a great tea, all the flavors are PERFECTLY balanced. The tea itself is smooth and full flavored and is neither too strong nor is it overpowered by the other flavors. At first the bergamot flavor hits you and then it’s rounded out by a smooth vanilla creaminess, which is finally followed by subtle, delicate fruit notes. This is a delicious and soothing flavored tea and is quite a bargain. Without a doubt, I suggest you pick some up. This is one of my new favorites.

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a while – and unfortunately all I could find was the tea sachets rather than the loose tea, so that is my next mission when I’ve worked my way through my current stash. I really like this tea – despite it being in bags. I can definitely taste the bergamot and the citrus, which thankfully was not super strong. There are fuity notes in the mix as well but the black tea holds strong and doesn’t mellow out the moment it begins to cool down. I take mine with milk and honey (or agave when i have it) and I enjoy it the most when it is still piping hot, but it is still an excellent all around tea that I go to in the cold evenings when I want a bodied black tea with milk.

After being off caffeine for a while, this was my first indulgence. And indulgence it was. All my senses were pleased at once. Great flavor, great aroma, great tea!

Life is good! :)