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It is a decent Ceylon-type Kenyan tea. The aroma is clean, with woodsy and floral notes. The taste is brisk but not bitter: grass, green wood, flowers, biscuit, some hint of sweetness. But mostly green wood, to be honest: I had to strain to pick up other notes.

Now for negatives: it looks more BOP than OP to me and the taste is not interesting. Just passable. I think there are more enjoyable choices for a brisk morning tea.

I don’t know what’s the deal with Harney&Sons but all of their flavored teas taste like it’s the same tea with tiny variations. No offense, they are pleasant, the flavorings are not overboard, the smell is nice…but this Boston blend is essentially Vanilla Comoro with some cranberry tartness! And oh, it is also reminiscent of Paris.

In short: this tea is vanilla, chocolate and muted cranberry on the solid but thoroughly generic black tea base. And, by the way, I don’t think that these components blend particularly well, i.e. it is not Paris nor Hot Cinnamon Spice by any means.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not a bad tea but I already tasted 90% of it before in other Harney teas and it is kind of disappointing. It ’s like a one-hit wonder band that keeps mercilessly milking their only hit by issuing endless remixes and unplugged versions. Me not happy.

Update: I tried it several times and it has grown on me. It is a flavorful blend and I learned to identify and appreciate its unique notes. So, I am back to up this tea’s score.

This is one of the teas that is well known and has quite a following so I was looking forward to try it. I was impressed as soon as I opened the tin: the smell was fierce and, in a sense , primeval. The appearance looked very appealing and natural with the orange dust everywhere and large chunks of …oranges, I guess.

But after I made a cup of tea and took a sip I had to stop and instinctively take a big breath as if I was burned. The taste is incredibly intense, dripping with sweetness, cloves, citrus and cinnamon in megadoses. It takes more like a spiced apple cider on steroids: the tea itself gets absolutely overshadowed by everything else.

It is just way to intense for me and simply falls into a completely different category of drinks: whatever it is it is not tea as I understand it. I will probably need to drink it a couple of more times to let it grow on me but the problem is that I usually match a specific kind of tea with my mood at the moment and I am not sure I will have the mood befitting this concoction with any frequency. Quite possibly, this tea reminded me that I am more of a steady, puttering-along type of a person unlike living in the fast lane fiery personalities for whom this tea was so obviously created.

I needed some inexpensive pleasant teas for everyday drinking (to save money for pricier Chinese teas) and Vanilla Comoro turned out exactly what I was looking for. It has a cheerful flavor of vanila and chocolate that brings to mind desserts, cakes and other yummy goodness. Both the aroma and the taste is not overwhelming but rather subdued and feels very unprocessed and “natural”. And that characterizes a lot of other Harney’s teas like the ever reliable Paris.

This tea takes milk and sugar well and has a pleasant lingering aftertaste. Not a tea for slow sipping and obsessive gaiwaning in a search to bring out different notes of its complex taste, but a reliable and cheerful flavored pick-me-up. In short, a winner.

I really like the Premium Golden Monkey tea and this, the regular version of the Golden Monkey has pretty strong review on Steepster, so I my expectations were high.

Meh – a surprised but emphatic meh. This tea simply lacks the balance and refinement of its premium counterpart in taste. The golden buds seem to be completely lost and underwhelming, while the black tea part assaults you with harshness and unrefined boldness. The smell is meh as well. Given that the price of the premium version is only $3 higher per 100 grams I see no reasons whatsoever to buy the regular Golden Monkey from Teavivre.

I even stopped after only two gaiwan infusions and had no desire to continue and finish the tasting, which is very unusual for me. Luckily, it was a free sample that came with my order and I don’t have to force myself to invent a mood that would call for this tea in order to finish the remaining 45- 95 grams. That’s why I never buy a tea I have not previously tried in any quantity but a sample regardless of dazzling reviews and beguiling discounts.

I drink a lot of tea throughout the day. In the morning, afternoon and before going to bed. At home, at work, in the car, on the train. With food and without, paying attention to each sip and waft and mindlessly sipping while absorbed in something else.

And I prefer pricier Chinese teas, which inevitably creates a financial problem. So, I devised aclever plan: drink expensive teas only on occasions when I can give them my full and undivided attention (practically meditate over their fragrance, taste and feel) while at any other time be content with consuming pleasant, interesting but less complex and certainly less expensive kinds. Incidentally, doing that would free up some money to buy even more expensive tea for special sessions…well, maybe this plan is not so clever after all but whatever.

As a result, I stocked my cupboard with a lot of teas from Harney and Sons: they are of decent quality but really inexpensive – plus H&S have the unlimited US free shipping and there is always some kind of a coupon floating around .

Their Panyang Congou falls firmly in my targeted category of cheap and pleasant teas. There is not much of a fragrance in both dry and wet leaves (some hay and apricot) although the leaves look quite reassuring: large, unbroken, with quite a bit of golden tips.

The taste is clear and pleasant if not very complex: smooth malt, hay, floral sweetness, and some roast. The first impression is reminiscent of Mao Feng Keemuns – only without their requisite bite. It is important to steep it for shorter periods of time as its flavor easily becomes generic and unbalanced with oversteeping. In the subsequent infusions the nuttiness appears and takes the front stage.

So, in short, this tea gave me exactly what I looked for – a smooth, pleasant and inexpensive Chinese red for mindless sipping while doing something else. Good stuff.

Now, this is a great tea in almost every aspect. It looks stunning, with the long wiry leaves and golden tips. The dry leaves have a complex fragrance: flowers, honey, pepper, peach, apricot. And it tastes great too, with honeyed sweetness, flowers and something that I can describe only as dust of centuries. The dust that accumulates on old books that assumes the smell of the past, of the things that happened long, long time ago before your time.

It is just a perfect evocative tea for a special kind of mood: remembrance, contemplation, introspection. Everybody needs it once in a while.

I am not a big fan of Assams at all. But I am trying to keep an open mind and be ready to be surprised and converted. Not by this tea, though. It has a very nice dry leaf appearance: large leafs, some gold in color. Smells of sweetness, vanilla, berry and spices, i.e. good. But the taste is quite predictable and uninspiring. A lot of bite and bitterness, a typical middle-of-the road Assam. Kind a forgettable tea, to be honest.

I had that tea for a while and every time when I was drinking I really liked it. Which is a bit strange, since 1). most of Upton’s Keemuns are decidedly not very good and 2). this particular Keemun does not conform with the requirements of the breed at all.

This tea has none of typical for Keemuns bite and the taste of cherries. Instead there is malt, malt, malt anda bit of smoke and roast, both in the aroma and flavor. That’s it it is not complex at all. But somehow it is really charming and attractive in its simplicity. I like it a lot, especially sipping it from a travel mug on long car or train rides. Every little sip delivers the same strong maltiness and roast like a clockwork. This tea is also incredibly forgiving to the water temperature and steeping time.

China Keemun Mao Feng is like a very good and experienced role player on a team: it cannot do many things and wow the crowds but a few things that it can – it does them very well and reliably. And every tea cupboard needs not only stars but also trusted role players.

While going through Keemuns from Teavivre I noticed that they were falling into two categories: aromatic with complex taste (Keemun Imperial Black Tea, Keemun Aromatic Snail Black Tea) and the strong Keemuns with the bite (Keemun Black Tea – Grade 2, Premium Keemun Hao Ya Black Tea). Finally, there is one Keemun that combines both of those desirable qualities, the Mao Feng.

It has a nice “expensive Keemun aroma” – plums, cherry, berry, spices. The tea color is interesting: not a usual red but red with some brownish notes. Finally, the taste is complex and reflects the smell well but this tea also has that strong breakfast-time kick. It can wake you up but with elegance and style. I like that.

It is still not my favorite Teavivre Keemun – I like the complexity of Imperial Keemun more – but this tea is probably better fits the expectations of what a good Keemun should be. Will order again.