Anniversary Blend

Slàinte!•[ slanj’-uh; often shortened to slanj ] (To your) Health!

I’ve been away for a couple of days at the Scottish Games in Estes Park, CO with my beloved daughter Annalisa and we had a great time!

Thank you to ashmanra for this tea sample!

The mountain air was refreshing the last few days. 70’s in the daytime and high 40’s at night with a drizzle late yesterday afternoon for a short time. I watched mist rise in wisps above the 14,000 ft mountain peaks, sweeping higher and higher like silken threads forming into clouds by force of nature.

How could I observe such beauty and stand.

When I hear the bagpipes play in such a setting as this, I feel as though all the breath inside of me goes out with the piper into the instrument and the cry goes forth…“Here we are, mere humans in the middle of this beauty and we give all our strength in this breath as a gift.”

Yes, I’m a sentimental Scot! I had my dram of whiskey too with the Clan Cameron Men looking fine in their Kilts!

On to today’s tea!

I was getting a bit sleepy this afternoon so I made a pot of tea. I followed the instructions for brewing temp. and time, then took a little sip. WOW, this was a STRONG cup of tea! I wasn’t expecting such an extremely potent brew!
Not only was the tea dark and strong, but it was on the bitter side.
“What’s this?”
“Maybe this is one of those tea’s very particularly suited to milk and/or sugar,” I said to myself.
Not wasting time, I added some milk and found the tea much more palatable. Then I added sweetening, then more and more until it was exactly to my liking. (This tea took more additions that any other tea in my memory).

The flavor was malty with a little raisin taste, and brisk. With no additions the tea is bitter like a strong espresso.
The wet leaves had the aroma of cinnamon bark (not sweet cinnamon) with a hint of vanilla.

I liked the heaviness of the brew for a morning cuppa. You could really go to town with any type of additions and not overdo it.

When the tea cools down, the malty flavor mellows and becomes more cocoa. You can leave your cup, let it cool, then come back and there is the cocoa taste you may have wanted in the beginning.

A h-uile la sona dhuibh
’s gun la idir dona dhuibh! May all your days be happy ones!

http://youtu.be/lVd_0-SXGBs

I do not deserve to be tasting tea.

I have been very bad tonight, I did not wait for my friend, and I have already sampled three of the teas and I am about to burst. I DID save enough for a pot for us to share, so maybe I have redeemed myself a little.

But the main reason I do not deserve to be tasting tea is because I got this one…ALL WRONG!

I remembered that there were Ceylon Silver Tips in it, but that was all I remembered of the description. I could see the long, silver leaves in the tea as I dipped it out of the pouch. The dark leaves were rather fine, but there were plenty of long thin leaves.

The dry tea smelled great, the steeped liquor even better. I took a sip, hoping this was yet another I could drink plain, and oh my goodness the smell! As I lifted the cup to my lips and inhaled, there was a delightful, slightly smokey, chocolate-y Keemun aroma. Mmmmm. Keemun. Some are too harsh for me, some hold a dear place in my heart. This one was just about perfect. I could really see us oo-ing and ah-ing over this one at tea party day, especially since it was so perfect with my lemon pound cake made from freshly ground soft white wheat and that is the sort of thing we serve at tea party.

Except then I looked up the tea and found that there IS NO KEEMUN IN THIS BLEND! Oh, the shame!

I guess I don’t care that I got it wrong. What counts is that Harney and Sons didn’t. They got it right, and this is one sample of which I will buying a big tin. It reminds me of the Fengqing Black Pearls, and is going to be a near perfect afternoon tea. I wonder if it ices well? I wonder if they still sell the pretty little silver-plated caddy for it?

Russel and Harney and Sons, bravo on this one. Totally affordable enough to drink every day, yet tastes like a special occasion.

Tea with lunch…..

I have been reading ashmanra’s reviews of this tea and decided I needed to give it a shot. I wanted another ForLife tall mug and a refill for my Malachi McCormick tin, so I decided to order from the Millerton Shop. As always, their service is great, and very personal. I have come to accept that if I value the personal service, it makes sense that it would be more evident in interactions from the shop than the website. Once a process becomes mostly automated and takes out more of the human element, it just becomes more impersonal. Both definitely have their place, though, and I do appreciate the simplicity of both, and that my favorite tea comes to my door. It is a wonderful thing!

I tend to think Assams are a little on the brisk side for me, but since this one is blended with the golden variety, I thought it might work. I get notes of malt, super light smoke, and I do sense a slight note of chocolate which I would not expect, along with a light briskness from the Assam. I do see why she thought there was a hint of Keemun in this, and it was actually that part of the review that intrigued me the most. My favorite blend for breakfast tea is Malachi McCormick, and I am amazed how similarly they taste. This one is a little maltier and brisker than Malachi, and lower on the cocoa notes, but still pretty smooth. In comparison with Harney’s Organic Assam, the Anniversary Blend is sweeter and more cocoa-ey with the Organic Assam having the edge over Anniversary Blend in briskness and body. While I don’t think it will replace my beloved Malachi, this is definitely a good one. It is like Malachi, but with an extra kick in the pants! Sometimes, that kick is very beneficial, especially on Monday. I also have to say how well this held up in a pairing with a ham, salami, and American cheese sandwich. Some teas get lost in strongly flavored food parings.

Usual mug method.

I’ve been having problems sleeping this week, I seem to keep waking up at 3 am for some reason. Part of it could be due to the fact that I’m getting older now but I think my lifestyle could use a bit of revamping and I’m thinking about cutting caffeine out after 12 pm again.

In any case, I am tired this morning so I needed this! The anniversary blend came in a large 7 oz tin and is a mix of ceylon and assam. This blend is very smooth but perhaps a bit brisk and slightly bitter for me, which I assume is due to the assam. Some assams are so mellow I could drink them straight but evidently this is not one of them. I needed soymilk in this tea to make it drinkable for me. Not destined to be a favorite, which is too bad since I have a lot of it now!

I will certainly finish off the tin someday. Might try steeping at 3 minutes instead of 4 to see if I like it better that way.

Thanks to Bonnie for the sample! I’ve been away unfortunately for quite a few days now and haven’t had one cup of tea since. A nice package was waiting for me when I got home. I brewed this as per Bonnie’s preferences, at 194 degrees for 4 minutes. First sip, this was wayyy too strong for my liking. It sure woke me up :). I added a little bit of milk and sugar, and it was instantly something I could love. A nice strong black tea. Would definitely buy considering I’ve never tried Harney and Sons before.