Black Currant

The smell of Black Currant reminds me of my childhood. My mother never allowed Kool-Aid in the house and soda pop was a rarity. However, she would allow me to drink black currant squash and this made no sense because squash syrup is super sugary. I was always very happy to take advantage of my mother’s clear lapse in sugar policing, and I’d greedily gulp down black currant squash whenever I could get my hands on it.

Black Currant from Harney & Sons is the perfect combination of the black currant I loved as a child and smooth, rich black tea. I adore this tea! I’m enjoying it with almond milk and stevia and it’s improving my afternoon tenfold. A big thank you (((hug))) to SimplyJenW for sharing this fab tea with me.

Also, I feel like I owe my generous Steepster friends an explanation/ apology. Many of you have done tea swaps with me, and I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for all of the glorious tea I’ve received. I carefully store every tea I get from my tea-pals so that I know who gave me which sample, but I haven’t logged every sample I’ve tried. I always intend to do so, but sometimes I become overwhelmed with “stuff” and I forget to backlog my tea tasting. Please don’t take this as my not being appreciative of the incredible tea-kindness I’ve enjoyed. I just suck sometimes :/

Thank you BoxerMama for this DAY FOUR on the 12 days of Christmas exchange!
This is a really nice black currant in a good black base!
I do like H and S’s teas and this does not disappoint!
It smells really good too!
True to black currant in flavor without being artificial.
I may have to get some of this in the future.
Thank you again I loved the muslin bag you packaged the tea in!
:)

Woohoo, 100th tasting note! I decided to go with a tried and true favorite for this momentous occasion. I came across Harney’s Black Currant when I first was delving into loose leaf tea and I fell in love instantly. The smell of this tea gets me every time – it’s a little musty and reminds me of the aroma of a cute little old man’s tobacco for some reason. I love that you can really taste the strong black tea in this, and that the berry flavor isn’t overwhelming or artificial at all. The longer this tea is steeped, the stronger the berry flavor becomes, with no real bitterness from the black tea. With a little milk and sweetener, it’s my ideal of the perfect cup!

-Dry tea has medium black tea leaves and twigs with a few dried currants.
-Dry leaves smell musty and fruity. Tea liquor aroma is of malty sweet berries.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Robust black tea flavor with a sweet currant finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Perfect cup of strong black tea with a hint of juicy currant berries.

Thanks BoxerMama for day #3! My tasting note is late but I drank it on the day. mm I loved the smoothness – I’m always excited to try teas from H&S because they’re so hard to find here!!

This one did not disappoint – very prominent smooth base with sweet black currant notes to add a hint of mystery! Love!

http://www.daisychubb.com/on-the-fourth-day-and-5-golden-rings/

First, a big thank you to BoxerMama for choosing this as day 4’s tea in the 12 Days of Christmas Swap. It’s really perfect for the day!

And it tastes amazing. I don’t think I’ve actually tried Harney’s Black Currant, although I know I’ve tried quite a few other currant teas … this one definitely belongs amongst the top Currant flavored teas. It tastes truly like black currant, tangy, tart and enough sweetness to keep me from feeling the urge to pucker when I sip it. It’s nicely round. A very nice tea, indeed.

I really like this one. I was shocked!!
Hot, it tasted a bit vanilla like so I became a bit wary. Then I added some sugar to make the berriness pop a little and ho! it worked!
There is a drying effect, sort of like what you get with cassis/berry wine. Not that I really know what black currants taste like, just the alcohol derivation.
How fun!! and yes, I am exclamation point happy today!!!
Thanks to Sil for sharing with me. Maybe one day I’ll pick some up.

Yesterday I got an order from the Harney & Son’s Millerton Shop….. I added a few ounces (they have a 2 ounce minimum) of this on to my order and I am not disappointed. I have been on the search for a good blueberry tea that is readily available, but I am thinking this tea works well for my berry flavored tea. The tea base is rich (which is usually what dissappoints me in most flavored teas) and complements this black currant flavoring well. I have no idea what real black currants taste like, so I can’t say if it tastes like it should. I just know really I like it!

Packaging from the shop is in foil lined zip bags that have a brown kraft paper outside. Everything was well packed. They enclosed a hand written note which was a nice touch, and from looking at my receipt, it looks like they have some kind of frequent buyer program at the shop. (I have 68 more points to go! Whatever that means… :) ) I do like getting a few ounces to try rather than just a few cups like on the website. And for some teas, the cost is similar. I think this one was $2.46 for 2 ounces, rather than the $2 on the website for 4-5 cups worth. (It is also really cool that the return address on the box has Brigitte’s own name…..as you are getting a package from Brigitte Harney herself!)

Well, I had a bone-head move and totally missed the sign-ups for the 12 Days Swap thingie that many of the steepsters did! BUT…I’m lucky enough to have Azzrian for a Sororitea Sister and she was awesome and sent some of this one to me! Thanks so much!

Of course my other Sororitea Sister Liberteas is SUPER AWESOME too! I LOVE my sista’s!

SIDEBAR:

I completed the Iron Chef – STEEPSTER – Chickpeas & Tea Challenge – it’s now on my blog as well as in the forums/threads!

http://blissfulyogajourney.blogspot.com/2012/12/left-overs-spinach-rice-chickpea-dish.html

I just finished my lunch and that is what was for lunch. This tea is my after-lunch tea, today!

It smells a little like Currant and a Spice. It’s pretty nice!

It’s a medium brown in color and the black tea base is a bit mellower but the currant really pops thru on top of it. This is a bit juicy bitter but in a good way and a little peppery underneath. It has a smoother finish and I like that very much!

Day Four of 12 Teas of Christmas exchange

Thanks to a three-day long migraine I am very behind on the Christmas teas exchange (plus I missed my office’s xmas luncheon, boo). I’m sampling this one before tackling Day 5 and Day 6.

I really enjoy the black tea base on this tea because it doesn’t eclipse the black currant taste. I bet this would be amazing iced. Other than that, I can’t say too much about it. It’s decent, but there isn’t much flavor…so I’m not sure if this would be a purchase of mine. I keep feeling like it needs more oomph, like adding mint or strawberry or something…

Thank you BoxerMomma for choosing such an appropriate and interesting tea, it’s really putting me in the mood. It’s odd but if this was called Black Bird Tea, I would be like, yeah I can taste that. I do believe this is first tea from Harney & Sons, shocking I know. I have maybe had black currant tea once, didn’t think much of it so Iwasn’t sure what I would think of this one, I like it. It’s quite present without feeling artificial. Subtle yet solid.

There is a tinge of something to this tea that is bothering me though, something I’ve tasted before, something almost metallic (though you know it could just be my strainer that I almost never brew with) but its in the smell too. Will have to experiment with the second half of the sample. Thankfully its the fruit that lingers on the palate and not this odd note. Will also keep other black currant teas in mind as something I like.

this is very good reinfused with a teaspoon of day three’s French Vanilla! Yum!

Travelling tea box!

I think this was a little contaminated by a smokey tea as there’s abitof a smokey taste to this however it’s a lovely tea anddoes capture black currant nicely.

Forgive the short note. Dozing abit…. Trying to get better today.

I’m taking a break from Earl Greys this morning and decided to try this black currant tea that I got from SimplyJenW. Thanks so much for sending a sample of this! I really love black currant flavored things, but I haven’t had too many black currant teas. I recently found out randomly that the reason black currants and the flavoring isn’t popular in the US is because currant farming was banned in the 1900s because they were a vector of a disease that affected pine trees. They are still banned in some states!

Anyway, the dry tea has that characteristic black currant aroma, rich and berryish. It’s carried over into the aroma of the steeped tea, along with the black tea base. Harney is somewhat inconsistant in their black teas when it comes to my taste buds, so it’s almost a toss up whether I will love a tea or not. Fortunately this one is a winner for me. The black currant is nice and strong, and it pairs well with the black tea base, which supports the black currant flavor and doesn’t steamroll over it or stick out. I find myself really wanting almonds in this blend, like Harney’s Boston but with black currants instead of cranberries. I do have a black marzipan tea that I could try it with…

I’ve had quite a few mugs of this tea today. The black currant is nice, but what I really like about this tea is the base tea. It’s strong, smooth and rich. There’s no bitterness. The black currant flavor is nice. It’s not over the top, but it is constantly present.

The more I drink fruit flavored black teas the more I realize I want to taste the fruit, but I don’t want it to drown out the flavor of the tea. Especially when it’s such a good tea.

Enjoyed a sample of this one in the Harney and Sons tasting room this afternoon. It smelled very strong of the black current – which I loved! It tasted amazing a nice mix of the black currant flavoring and whatever black tea was used (I wish they would say) and very smooth. I really enjoyed it and wish I had more of a tasting, so I bought a tin to take home!

Meh! This is ok. Nothing special. Sort of fruity but certainly not as flavorful as 52teas’ blueberry danish or strawberry zaglibione. This is not too tart, not too sweet, maybe best described as “dry”..like “dry” champagne. I am on this quest to eliminate sugar from my diet soo no extra sugar allowed. And this tea w/o sugar is just not that great.

Day 4 of the 12 days of Christmas.

Finally getting to try this, I didn’t have time to steep it before work on Monday & I can’t drink black teas after 5pm. Or I get no sleep.

Alright so this is definetly berry smelling. I’m not exactly sure what black currants taste like. So this is berry like, almost raspberry-ey. A little on the artificial berry, but still very nice. I over steeped it a bit, so it does have a touch of astringency. But overall a really nice tea

pic
http://instagr.am/p/TWQ2D8MGSO/

Wow, so I found a second coffee shop in town that carries Harney & Sons tea!

Unfortunately, only in bags. I wonder if H&S sells the teas to shops as a package because it looked like the exact same list I saw at the other coffee shop. I was hoping to try their Golden Monkey, but I guess they think it’s too expensive for people to buy-or because they sell their teas in one price package to shops and it’s too expensive for Harney to include it. The choices are mostly not interesting, but Black Currant was new, so I tried that.

It’s really hard to give a number rating because they put in just one bag for a 12 ounce cup, which is a little watered down from what I’d have at home (8-10 ounces in a cup). I don’t think that I’ve ever had a black currant tea, so I was mystified as why the black currant taste in the tea was so familiar. Eventually, I figured it out-they must put the black currant flavoring in their Paris tea! I don’t know if that’s well-known or not. When I got home, I opened up my Paris and took a whiff-definitely some blackcurrant in there. Anyhow, this tea is okay. I’d be willing to buy a sample from Harney’s to make at home under controlled conditions, but I won’t buy it again at a shop where their cup sizes are too big and they dilute the bags. Maybe they could just sell me a bag to take home? It was only $1.75. We’ll see. I’m not exactly excited enough about this to run out and do it. Maybe next time I’m out that way.

I’m so happy I ordered this!

This one smells scary-strong in the package – almost grape dimetapp! But when steeped the berry flavor is just right. We took it without additions and the tea base has a nice natural sweetness to it. We enjoyed it, had fun trying it, but black currant by itself isn’t something I would crave. Maybe if I added just a little sweetener I would really crave it, but I still love Tower of London more!

The music is playing and my dancing shoes are tied. I’m ready to move. There are certain things in life that just simply thrive in combination. Cheese and wine being one. Laurel and Hardy are another. How about black tea combined with black currant?

Stick your nose in a canister of Harney and Sons’ black currant and you’re quickly engaged with a strong, berry-like scent. Taste this tea and you are experiencing a certain harmony. Black currant, which first originated in Tibet and later brought into Europe, provides a tart, slightly sour taste. When combined with the black tea, an inviting balance is met. The strong nature of the black tea with the tart notes of the black currant dance in lock step. Too many flavored black teas on the market have their flavoring overwhelm the tea. Not so here. Harney and Sons uses the black currant as a tasteful, nuanced enhancement. Never is the black currant overpowering. This is well executed.

For those that like lemon in their black tea, this black currant can make a nice, milder alternative. Less acidic and less sour than lemon, yet still exhibiting a well-mannered tartness. This is one of my favorite flavored-black teas. Now, excuse me while I sip some more and waltz.