SoHo Blend

Hi Steepsterians! I apologize for being MIA lately. So many different things going on. But don’t think I haven’t been drinking more than my fair share of delicious teas and miss you all! My apologies, I will be more diligent in the future, I promise!

So now that the time for Iced tea has come and gone – it’s great to welcome the fall. It’s amazing to me that I can have so many different teas with this flavor palette and still appreciate them distinctly. David’s Checkmate being one of my weekly go-to’s for a morning cuppan, I was hesitant to try this one as well. However, being that I work and spend most of my time in NYC (as well as being a frequent visitor to the Harney Broome St. Store) I felt somewhat obligated to try.

To my delight, it is decidedly different and unique. I get mostly the chocolate, balanced out by the coconut and light-yet-present florals. It is delicious! I have since incorporated it into my weekly routine. Although I enjoy it plenty now I can see it being a perfect winter tea.

I must be ambivalent about this tea, as I’m now finishing my sample without logging my cups! I love chocolate and coconut together, but this tea isn’t strongly flavored enough for me. I am typically a little underwhelmed by Harney’s chocolate I think. I’m glad I’m not in love, as it doesn’t come in small amounts! On the other hand, I mixed the last teaspoon with 1 bag of Republic of Tea’s chocolate coco and got exactly the flavor I wanted – and the RoT coconut is not very coconutty on its own – interesting! Still, I won’t be buying this. My search for the perfect chocolate/coconut flavor continues!

Coconut and chocolate – what’s not to love about a Mounds bar in a cup? This tea looks lovely and smell divine. The first time I drank some I remember enjoying it a lot. It became one of my favorites.

This time the flavors were a bit muted but I think that’s due to the age of the tea (it’s been sitting in my cabinet for several months while I distracted myself with other teas).

I’m almost done with this batch and I’ll definitely be reordering more of this delightful blend.

One of my new favorites. Exists somewhere on the same spectrum with their Paris and Florence blends.

Also, it’s amazing with some coconut milk and honey.

I so desperately wanted to like this tea, as chocolate and coconut are two of my favourite flavors. However, the chocolate flavor in this tea comes off as a bit artificial, and the coconut is not very strong. When I prepared my first cup, it was extremely weak, even though I added two teaspoonfuls to a 12 oz cup. My second cup with 3 teaspoonfuls is much more flavorful, and in my opinion, a dash of milk adds the bit of creaminess necessary to something that is chocolate and coconut flavored.

Overall, this tea is not awful, but neither is it fantastic. It is pretty with the little flowers and smells heavenly in the tin, but it does not deliver when brewed.

Upon opening the tin, the blend of flower pedals contrasting against the black tea looks elegant. The dry leaf smell is strong chocolate. The wet leaf does not expand much when brewed. The liquor is still strong chocolate with a under-lying cream scent. Body is light to moderate with the first sip. The chocolate is not as strong as you would expect from the smell. There is a creaminess that coats your mouth which is very pleasant.
I could smell this tea dry all day, but I wish it was a little more complex brewed.

Frankly this tea left me disappointed. I was expecting a richer coconut flavor yet it was very subtle. I bought this for the distinct purpose of drinking this as a dessert tea and I don’t think it can live up to that. Saying that, I can tell that the black tea that is used here is very nice and smooth. As I drink a lot of plain black teas I think I will be fine drinking this on its own or I will blend with a sweeter tea. Don’t think I will purchase again as I can find sweeter dessert teas at Adagio or Davids.

A Mounds bar in tea form! So delicious and decadent. It’s kind of similar to the chocolate and hazelnut flavored Florence because of the creamy nuttiness of the coconut which is not too far off the flavor of hazelnut. The dry leaves smell like chocolate, coconut and vanilla. There are pink amaranth petals in this tea which is pretty but they don’t add any flavor to the tea. The chocolate, coconut and vanilla all come through clearly in the steeped tea which is a medium-bodied Chinese black tea. The coconut is especially noticeable in the aftertaste. This tea really tastes like a Mounds bar. I think it would be delicious to drink it with coconut milk to give it even more coconut flavor. So far, I have only tried it with regular milk and I like to have it with a Bounty coconut cookie you can get here in Europe (Bounty is what Mounds is called in Europe).

This is a very decadent, dessert-style tea and probably the most decadent I have had from Harney & Sons so far.

I tried to like Soho, I really did. If I ignore certain aspects of the tea, I could enjoy it. Unfortunately, the smell is a hair off from nauseating. I thought it was just how potent the amaranth was in the tin, but my nose still hurt from just smelling the brewed tea in the cup as I drank it.
If we look past it accosting my nose, the tea itself was palatable. With milk and sugar, it could definitely be a standalone dessert. The chocolate flavoring is artificial, but not unpleasant.

Sipdown 108!
I thought that I had already reviewed this but it’s not showing up if I did.
This one never really worked for me. I’m kind of picky when it comes to chocolate teas I suppose. The chocolate here comes across a bit dusty or chalky almost which is disappointing. Luckily I usually order sample packets so I’m not stuck with an entire tin. The base is smooth but I wish there was more coconut. It’s also quite nutty tasting.