Tower of London Blend

Thanks Ashmanra for this sample tea!

My experience with Harney & Son’s Tea is almost ‘0’. I think the only one I’ve had is Paris and that’s it. (Maybe one other that was a teabag…can’t remember.)

When Ashmanra wanted to send me some tea in exchange for the Lapsang Souchong (and some other tea’s) I was sending her, I took advantage of the Harney’s in her cupboard. “Now’s my chance!”, I said to myself!

In the beginning (tea bible), I drank lots of flavored tea’s, mostly from Davids and a few other brands. That was so much fun even though I had to wait for the shipments to arrive from Canada.
Then, I looked at the top of the Tea list on Steepster and noticed several companies that were repeatedly mentioned for quality and began trying them out. Pretty soon, I had more unflavored tea than flavored. What a switch!

This morning, instead of a Black tea or Assam or Pu-erh to charge me for the day, I picked up a flavored tea (something I haven’t done for awhile).

I was kind of excited about trying Tower of London, which seemed like having dessert for breakfast!

I didn’t even taste the tea without sweetening it first. Bah! I know what I like!
My first taste was creamy smooth and a bit like an Earl Grey, somewhat reminiscent of Paris with a splash of vanilla. The flavor was like French Pastry and I liked it.
I carefully added some cream which gave the tea an even more intense pastry aire.

What a lovely way to begin the day with the end of Summer just ahead. We’ll soon be putting away our whites and pastels until next year.
I had my light, sweet dessert tea along with a baguette, butter and some berries in a bowl. All perfect for beginning my day with a smile!

This is a lovely black with a melange of stone fruits that remind me of the orchards in the south island where I grew up. I’m getting apricots, nectarines, plum, maybe a touch of fresh dark cherries. The stone fruits come through more strongly in fragrance than taste. When it’s raining and dreary, like it is today, and I’m after something comforting, this is my go-to cup with milk. Sometimes with sugar, but not often.

Bath and Body Works has all these extra Paris things now and one is a candle called Sweet Macaron. I’m burning it while drinking this and it’s kind of bizarre how it matches so well. Candle + tea pairings!

I have been wanting to try Tower of London forever. I finally caved when buying Fruits d’Alsace. This does remind me a lot of Paris but more like an Earl Grey, at least in the after taste. I think the black tea is a bit more robust or at least it seems that way. The fruit doesn’t taste much different. That’s why it reminds me of the candle, because the candle has raspberry. Stone fruits not so much…apricot, no. Peach, no. Plum, not too much. I guess maybe you could even call it a cross between Paris and Fruits d’Alsace?

It definitely tastes like something I’d expect from France, but the name throws it off. Who cares though, it’s still delicious. I don’t think I’d buy it again at this point because I’d prefer Paris. But for simplicity, this is not a bad choice!

Sipdown! 796. Sigh… it’s never-ending!

This is a touch strong tonight, probably because I forgot and didn’t brew it in an extra-large mug. Oops. It’s still pretty tasty though. Kind of a fruity EGC, although only just a bit of creaminess, which I assume is actually honey. This is certainly not a tea I’d turn down if offered; it’s a great example of a good flavoured black, especially for a bagged tea.

Thanks again for sharing this, whatshesaid :)

ETA: A bagged tea that lasts for 3 good infusions? Colour me impressed.

I made my first cup before I refreshed my memory on the contents and my first thought was oooh—-fruit! Second thought was that this is a lot like Marco Polo, but a lot less finicky (I was typically sloppy with prep this bleary morning).

Now that I’ve checked, neither of those thoughts were very accurate, ingredient wise. But muddy thinking notwithstanding, this is very good, very sweet, and I can’t wait to try another cup with a little milk.

Many thanks to SimplyJenW!

Another sample from QuiltGuppy afforded the opportunity to try this. It was everything I hoped for. A rich black tea, light fruit essence, and a smackerel of honey. I doubt Pooh ever had it this good. H&S is still batting 1000 with me. Their teas are excellent.

Today I had a dentist’s appt (no matter how pleasant and comforting my wonderful doctor makes it, I still get petrified!) and now that I am in work, I wanted a flavored, sweet, lovely tea. I am so lucky – ashmanra sent me a sachet of this to try!

I taste good tea and berries. Something else too – something lightly sweet. It reminds me quite a bit of Kusmi’s St. Petersburg. In other words, this tea is Right Up My Alley! So good and flavorful with nary an addition.

Thank you so much ashmanra!!!!! I love it!

I’ve been so busy this week that I have about a dozen teas I have to log that I had absolutely no time for! This week was Toy Fair, and I also had a friend over from Oregon so I admit that I neglected Steepster for a while. So many tasting notes to catch up on!

My friend is a fellow tea addict who I am converting to loose-leaf, so we did a lot of tea shopping while he was here. Including going to my favorite physical tea store, Harney & Sons! I picked up a few things while I was there, and added in 2 ounces of this at the last minute because I’ve heard people say that it’s better than Paris. Better than one of my favorite blends, of course I had to try it out!

This does indeed remind me a lot of Paris. There’s a plum and berry taste, similar to the blackcurrant in Paris, along with a hint of bergamot and cream. But it’s not quite as all-around rich and deep as Paris—the flavor is more shallow, if that makes sense, though it’s still tasty. This is like a lighter version of Paris, better suited for the afternoon or morning since I generally think of Paris as a late-night indulgence.

Thank you Ashmanra for sending me a sample of this and two other Harney teas. The mail man delivered the goodies today and this had to be my first choice to sample.

The dried tea smells like sweet honeyed black tea and candied fruit. Maybe berries? Reminds me of candied fruits you find around at christmas time.

The taste is has a hint of bergamot, a great tea taste and hints of candied sweetened fruits as I sip. I can’t place any individiual fruit taste, but I really enjoy this tea. It reminds me of the likes of Dammann Freres and Mariage Freres teas. The tea tastes expensive…it is great tea with great flavoring added.

I’ll be heading to B and N to see if they have more of this tea, otherwise I will have to place another Harney soon! Thanks again Ashmanra.

I got some of this in my meet up/ swap with AlphaKitty yesterday! What a fun time!

This is a tea I’ve been wanting to try for a long time. It sounds so delicious! I can smell a hint of caramel. Toasty flavor. Lightly fruity. Very light. Hmm…not really tasting like honey and preserves. Whatever flavors there are, they are very subdued. In fact, I can barely taste it. I think Harney’s black tea blends may be formulated so that I can’t taste the flavors. I could never detect much in Florence either.

Soo…back to Marco Polo. My wallet weeps.

I got a second package in the mail today, from Rachel! We did a little swap, & she sent me some Harney & Sons samples, which I’m excited about, as I’ve never tried any of their teas! Thanks Rachel!

The predominant smell of this tea is Honey, & there is honey to the flavor as well, but it’s not particularly sweet on it’s own. I added stevia, to bring out the flavors, & it did! This is a mild cup of fruitiness, mostly of a peach-like nature. The black base is not particularly bold, but provides a mellow backdrop that makes me think of toast with jelly on it. The bergamot is very mild, just enough to add a little brightness to the cup. Yummy! I’m in the mood for sweet teas right now, & this was very nice (I say was, cuz it’s gone!).

Drinking this one now! My friend had placed a H&S order after I did so I got her to stick this on her list for me and paid her back. Just got it, YUM!

I am a HUGE fan of their ‘Paris’ tea, and this is a damn close second. Very fruity and the honey flavor is super obvious. I got the tin as pictured above, which is lovely to look at, but sachets, which doesn’t really bother me. Quick and easy!

I think Paris still maintains first place on account of the vanilla (LOVE vanilla everything), but this is really good. (Technically Vanilla Comoro would be second place, and so this would have to be third… one day I will try the Vanilla Black though)

I think I remember that someone said something about fruit cake in an earlier review… I’ve never been a fruit cake person and this isn’t cakey at all, but it’s really good. It’s got the bergamot in it, since I love Earl Greys I’ve got no beef with that! I am really enjoying this thickbodied, rich and fruity tea.

Oh, as an aside. Today I learned that the pronounciation of ‘BERGAMOT’ is way different than I’ve been saying it in my head. I’ve never actually said it out loud. Since I live in a bilingual province, to me, it’s always “Berg-a-mo”, but the girl at Davidstea earlier today pronounced it “berg-a-moTT”. I didn’t like that at all. It does not sound as fancy as how I always said it in my head. Anyway now I’m glad I’ve never had to say it out loud before. Sure beats looking silly ‘WHEW, close call!’

I just confirmed this on Dictionary.com….it definitely sounded lovelier my way. Now I have to re-teach myself how to say it! UGH!

Really though, when would anyone have ever said that word out loud in my presence before? That would have been nice. Thanks girl at Davidstea for saving me from a serious faux-pas.

Anyhow.

The Harneys make good teas! (Minus Florence, but everyone else loves that and I desperately want to)

I got a tagalong of these to bring to school. The tea at my college is sad. So, so, very sad. Neglected bags of tea sit in glass jars exposed to light and with the lids off for most of the day. Typically I bring some kind of bagged tea from home that is unremarkable but at least not blech, and help myself to the hot water in the cafeteria dispenser.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is quite delicious. It’s not bitter at all, and I’m sure the pyramid tea bags help quite a bit with the flavor and quality. The best part, though, was it reminded me of being a kid and chomping on giant slices of toast liberally slathered in apricot preserves (and butter of course, don’t forget the butter). This reminded me of an Earl Grey, but with more of a “jammy” flavor.

I just realized that Terri Harplady logged this yesterday, and she also thought of toast and jelly!

The aroma of this tea is wonderfully enticing. I gave it 2.5 minutes to steep and got a wonderful rich amber liquor. Closer to brown than anything, really. Steeped, it smells super sweet, not like a china black but more like a tea that has been dosed with honey. I take my tea unswetened but enjoy naturally sweet teas so we’ll see what I think of this.

First sips are really wonderful. More honey flavor and aroma than black tea taste but I can sense it hidden underneath. I’m off my black tea kick (though they are still favorites) but this is a wonderful treat. Many thanks to Ruth for having given me this sample months ago. If I happen upon this in my tea travels I will be sure to stock up! Mmmm..

Ps – I am on my iPod so I can’t rate this but it will get a solid 85 when I am on a real computer again.

edit: as it cools, it gets less obviously sweet and the black tea flavour really develops. Very very nice.

of all the samples i ordered from Harney, this one did not really stand out.
but i really think i understand tea better now, and i’m not speeding through my tastings the way i used to. these days i take more time. which is important. SO when i do decide to order from Harney again i will probably throw another sample of this in the cart and give it another whirl.
cuz a jammy and honey kissed chinese black sounds like a very good idea.

Thank you Amanda for including this one! I think Harney’s teas are either hit or miss for me, really in terms of how astringent they become when they cool down. I don’t know why I do that, since it probably indicates the quality of a tea rather than less quality. I have no idea, but since it is Harney, it probably indicates the quality of the tea. There are only a couple I’ve tried that get astringent, and I really don’t like that flavor. ANYWAY, this one doesn’t get astringent no matter how cool it gets! So it’s a hit (that reminds me of a Rilo Kiley song I love.) But I think it would be delicious anyway even if it gets astringent (so I don’t know where I was going with that anyway). But there IS a flavor of combined cherry, peaches and plums! The individual flavors are there, equally balanced. Wow! They aren’t kidding! All on a nice strong black tea base that somehow doesn’t overpower the delicate but definitely present fruity flavors. There was a wisp of bergamot and a sweetness to it as well. Add this to slowly growing pile of Harney teas I love (Paris, Vanilla Comoro & Hot Cinnamon Sunset!) I really wish their site would accept paypal…

-Silk pyramid teabag.
-Teabag smells malty and of honey with a hint of fruit. Tea liquor smells malty with a faint honey aroma.
-Tea liquor is a very dark brown color.
-Slightly bitter with a flavor reminiscent of coffee. Light honey and fruit finish.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Excellent tea. Rich, strong flavor, like coffee. Perfect as a morning tea.

I bought this tea in one of Harney’s Tagalong tins.
Just finished a cup with breakfast.
It is good, basically it makes me think of a cross between their Paris Tea and a Earl Grey(which are both flavors that I like)but with a small touch of honey.
It is, of course, a sachet not loose.
I wish it was offered in loose because I think I would have made it a bit stronger.
I enjoy this tea, but there is other Teas H&S offer that I love even more.

I’m officially no longer prejudiced against bagged tea. I drank two cups of this one to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before I wrote this note.

The sachet smells strongly of peach and apricot and it oozes honey.

This steeps to produce a very dark cup of tea that smells strongly of fruit and honey. The cup is incredibly smooth and has a lot of body but the crisp bergamot provides a nice balance to the overall fullness of this tea. Even though flavored, the tea base remains strong.

This is going to become a favorite first-cup-of-the-morning tea.

Ruth sent me a few bags and I am drinking it now. Smells like a honey vanilla or something. It’s a good juicy taste – black tea and honey, again, for some reason it seems a little creamy to me too…regardless, it’s yummy!