Hot Cinnamon Spice

Holy heck, Batman! This one is hot Hot HOT! I love it! Basically this tastes like cinnamon red hots – a perfectly spiced tea. I’m a nut for anything cinnamon and this delivers with a punch. I love to alternate between my morning chai blend and this one; one coworker thought I actually lit a cinnamon candle, the scent was so strong! (She’s a new fan to the taste.) This is the first Harney & Sons tea I tried, and from the get-go, I’ve been happily in love. :)

If you love cinnamon bears or red hots, you will love this tea as well.

I’m not a big fan of strong cinnamon in a drink. I love it in baked items. So, this was not on my list for a recent H&S order. However, the rep suggested I add it as it is their best seller.
They also mentioned that I would need to know, to tell my customers, as I ‘would’ be asked, that it does not have any sugar or sweetener of any kind added. It is all naturally sweet due to the 3 kinds of cinnamon.

If you crave something sweet and can’t do sugar, go for this tea. Among the many touted health benefits, researchers have found that sniffing cinnamon results in improved brain function -– subjects did better on memory and attention tasks when taking whiffs of cinnamon as opposed to other odors or no odor. However, the potential health benefits of cinnamon that have received the most attention have to do with its effects on blood glucose and cholesterol.

I actually did enjoy my cuppa more than I thought I would. The spices are too strong to taste the tea. I am sure it will be a good seller for the shop.

I want to begin this tasting note by apologizing to the entire tea drinking world. Apparently I am the only person ANYWHERE who doesn’t care for this tea! I have never liked red hots, the candy one sees ubiquitously around Valentine’s Day, and that is all I taste when I drink this. I respect all of you who love it, I just can’t bring myself to do so. And get this….I have somehow ended up with three tins of it! One was bought as a gift for a friend whom I haven’t seen to deliver it (I already know it is her favorite so I am not giving away something I don’t like just to be rid of it!), one I bought for myself to try, the other came in the tea chest and I wanted the chest and the other three teas but not this one! I do like to make tea and grind my own cinnamon in it, but that is MUCH milder. A friend says that the organic cinnamon tea from A Southern Season is milder than this one and, in her opinion, therefore better than this one. We’ll see. I may give it a try.

First, the smell of this is incredibly divine. It’s like Red Hot candies or fireballs. My friend and I took it to have others smell it and they all said the same thing. I don’t think you could – no matter what you put in it – make anything smell more cinnamony than this.

This is the first full cinnamon tea I’ve had and I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s like hot flavored water/cinnamon. I dig adding the cloves in there to enhance but I keep tasting them too, cloves are pretty potent things and I’m not sure if they ended up taking away from the experience a little or not. I do wish I could taste more “tea” though with it, I think it would have enhanced it. Also, I couldn’t detect orange undertones. Could smell them, but not taste.

It’s not something you could drink much of in one sitting I don’t think, one cup is enough, it’s pretty strong. I think I prefer Cinnamon heavy chai mixes over straight cinnamon, but this is a winner if cinnamon is your thing, and it is mine. I’m totally obsessed with cinnamon this year – tea foods, breads, cakes, lattes, and of course TEAS!

Killer iced tea. So sweet. So good. Yum.

Whoa, hello mixed reviews! I can’t remember where I got this sample, but it’s been staring at me for weeks through the wire mesh tea-bin and I finally decided to polish it off last night.

When I opened the pouch, the smell of cinnamon was so hot it felt like my nose was burning (or I had to sneeze?). It brewed up a medium brown with sweet cinnamon aroma and an astringent black tea undertone. I would have preferred a more rounded blend; the dry mouthfeel was at odds with the spicy sweetness. I did appreciate that I could taste the tea under all that other stuff, so there’s that. :)

I really wanted to like this tea. It smells wonderful and exactly according to it’s name: a very hot and spicey cinnamon.

The taste however is something else. De artificial flavour is very apparant,and I mean very! It is probably what gives this tea it’s “red fireball taste”. Never having been a big fan of fireballs, I most assuredly do not want to drink it. The cinnamon is the second most prominent taste and – as far as I’m concerned – too prominent. On top of that, the cinnamon gives the tea a very ‘dry’ finish that is not pleasant on the tongue. The tea itself isn’t noticable at all.

I’ve tried the tea: plain, with milk, with honey and milk, throwing away the first steep and drinking only the second steep, brewed at rolling boil and just under boil. De milk softens the taste of the artifical flavour, but not to a point that it becomes something I would actually want to drink.

I’m currently deciding whether to throw the tin away or using the tea as a pot pouri of sorts…

PS: Really don’t understand the high praise for this tea. It has me quite baffled… :-(

Yum! So much amazing cinnamon scent…I got myself a tin of this as a Christmas present last year, and it’s unbelievably cozy. I have an association with drinking it during every final for the same (2-year) class…it’s a bit light on the tea taste and seems like mostly cinnamon (or, as they say on the tin, “cinnamons”) and orangey clove. I like to mix in another tea with this (like a rooibos or a green) to give it a little more body. Would probably taste really really amazing with a splash of soymilk…I’ll have to get on that.

Maannn this stuff is good. I’m not into flavored teas but this stuff hits the spot on a cold fall/winter day.

Yes, it tastes like cinnamon hearts. If you want to taste black tea then drink unflavored black tea.

I love the spice and I love, love, love the sweet clove.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 2 zarafina cups
Tool: Zarafina Black-Loose-Medium
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cinnamon imperials
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet cinnamon bark
Flavor: syrupy sweet cinnamon candy, hints of woody bark
Body: Full
Aftertaste: warm sweet cinnamon, less bark
Liquor: translucent but dark reddish-brown

Gift from SoccerMom (YEA) in order to help me see which is the most similar to cinnamon imperials as part of my quest to take over the world…or something similar

I have had the bagged H&S black cinnamon spice at one or two restaurants before, but this was before Steepster and my desire to try all the teas and find which I like best (IMO you can’t find the best because everyone has different tastes).

The tea is very thick syrup, as if you had made cinnamon imperials into a liquid. Delicious! Though I must say the Green Hot Cinnamon is a lighter, more tea like version, it’s not as thick and not as sweet. I think each has their place.

Strangely I couldn’t find the black tea!

Post-Steep Additives: none, though i bet this would stand up to milk well. Whatever you do, do NOT add sugar as you would become diabetic on the spot.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/harney-and-sons-loose-leaf-black-tea_13.html

I love cinnamon and this tea seems to have the perfect amount in it. Wonderful for drinking during the winter months but would be equal as wonderful drinking this any time of the year when a sweet cinnamon treat is wanted. Yummy!

When I was younger my mom and I had a tradition on Friday nights. We would make tea in our fancy teapots, buy small cookies, and put everyone on nice plates while we watched our favorite show, Providence. For years after the show was cancelled we were still looking for the tea we drank during that time, it was a sweet, spicy cinnamon flavor that tasted even spicier with sugar.

I found it! I have tried so many cinnamon teas to get to this one. This tea is incredible, you do not need any sugar to taste the sweetness of it. It’s rich and warm, perfect for cold days and a little jolt of caffeine.

I especially look forward to drinking it with my mom when I go home for Thanksgiving to relive our memories :)

Years ago I was addicted to a tea from Celestial Seasonings called “Cinnamon Rose.” It had a great intense cinnamon flavor, and I drank it daily. When it was discontinued I was really upset, and I bought tons of cinnamon teas trying to replace it. Bigelow cinnamon was disappointing, and while I love chai I sometimes want cinnamon by itself. They were all unsatisfactory until today! The scent in the package is intense, so I was excited! I brewed 2 tsp in a big (16 oz) mug using my infuser for 5 minutes. I tasted cautiously, and was rewarded with tons of cinnamon flavor! The tea is naturally sweet, and that is coming from someone who sweetens everything. It’s as though the cinnamon is tricking your tastebuds into tasting sweetness – at first sip it is not sweet, but leave it in your mouth for a second and the sweetness comes out. I can’t taste orange/cloves/whatever else is supposed to be here, but who cares? Cinnamon is my favorite spice, and I will be ordering this tea!

After half a cup plain I decided to see what it would be like with a touch of milk (I use 1%.) The milk actually tones down both the spice and sweetness a bit. The tea is best plain, but I think that with the addition of milk and a touch of honey this could be a fabulous desert tea (at least if you love cinnamon like I do!) I also have the green version to try, and I will have to sample the herbal. I’m so glad I put this in my first Harney and Sons order!

Simply my favorite cinnamon-y type tea that I’ve yet tried. For those of you that remember Big Red gum, it smells a bit like that when the leaves are dry, but when steeped, there is also a lovely spicey smell and flavor along with the strong cinnamon notes. This tea is incredibly comforting and just delicious. It will be staying in my stock for sure.

I remember trying this years ago when I first discovered loose leaf tea. I was not impressed. I don’t remember it having any flavor. Or not enough, anyway. Never bought it again & never looked back.

Until now. I ended up snagging some BOGO coupons for Harney tea at B&N and thought I’d give it another try. And I’m glad I did! This tea is so much better than what I remember. You open the tin & you can actually smell the cinnamon. And once steeped it doesn’t loose anything. It’s a nice, bracing cinnamon aroma & taste. It’s almost too much but not quite. Orange peel? Sure, I can see it but can’t really taste it. And that’s just fine with me. I’m drinking this for the cinnamon, not the orange.

It also makes a lovely cinnamon tea latte…steamed milk, some brewed Hot Cinnamon Spice & I added some cinnamon honey. To die for.

This is like drinking syrup rather than tea…. although I did enjoy it. Reminded me of Big Red gum. Do NOT add sugar to this tea!!!!

YUMMMMM……I read the other reviews before purchasing this tea and someone said that it is comparable to the White Avuyredic and Samurai Chai mix from Teavana but better I could not agree more it is like a stronger version with more intense flavor. I am loving this tea right now it is like you went in the kitchen and poured redhots in a pot and melted them on the stove and drank them (a little less spicy) it is good. Not only am I loving this tea I love the steepster reviews where I learned about this tea and soo many other great teas. Thanks steepsters!

Updating: I had this cup just now and was not disappointed it’s great for a dreary, rainy winter day like today. It’s a warm pick me up.:))

UPDATE 2: Having this one iced today, I made it this morning and let it cool and then stuck it in the fridge it is YUMMY. This iced tea doesn’t even require sugar!! I am really hopped up on caffeine today I’ve had about 6 cups of black tea from am til now and a bowl of matcha and a bit of coca cola while out at lunch. I hope I don’t have problems going to sleep tonight or weird dreams of fighting with Matcha :).

Tried this tea for the first time on the go today while Christmas shopping, and found it to be very pleasant. I could taste the cinnamon and orange and it paired very well with cream. When ordering tea to go I usually get the large size if it comes with two bags, and I’ll steep one, and save the other. I found that this tea did well with one bag in a 20 oz cup. I can’t say that I really thought of Big Red when drinking it; now reading other reviews, I understand the comparison, and it may ruin it for me!

I’m enjoying this at work right now! The cinnamon is strong, but not too strong. I got this one because I was having a bad tummy day, and cinnamon always seems to help soothe my stomach (and my nerves). This tea also reminds me of the sticks of Big Red gum my dad used to give me sometimes before school, so that might add to the comforting feeling.

It smells and tastes of red hots. Sweetened red hots, which is also the flavour. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. I prefer my cinnamon things to taste like the spice I love.