The smell out of the sample packet is rich and delicious. It made me go “wow.” Chocolate! Coffee! Sugar! A tiny bit of smoke, and some planty earth.
Deep dark reddish liquor. The many fragrances of the dry leaves smooth out into a malty, Yunnany aroma. There’s a little bit of smoke but it’s not super smoky.
The flavor is strong, bordering on intense. I wonder how it would be steeping only 3 minutes. Will try that next time. It’s definitely an eye opener at 4. The flavor has the intensity of coffee. Wonder what milk would do?
It isn’t quite as smooth and mellow tasting as it smells; it has some… not really bitterness, more a lack of sweetness that is surprising given the aroma. There’s smoke in the taste, but it’s not strong. The consistency isn’t chewy but the impression is stout, like a dark ale. There’s a kind of cocoa note in the aftertaste.
This one is going to be worth spending an extended visit with to see what variations might be possible. It will be interesting to go into a second tasting at another time now that I know what to expect.
Rating this because it has a lot of interesting things going on with it. Not sure how I feel about the intensity yet.
Preparation
Comments
This one makes me feel like a queen if taken in the proper setting, i.e., an English tea garden setting :)
I’m with Auggy on that! It sounds deeeeelicious…though I’ve found some teas jarring in the past when they promise one thing and delivery another, especially in the ‘sweet’ department. Still sounds worth investigating!
I love this one on mornings when I feel sore and sluggish. It really gets me started up and brightens my day. The smokiness is slight, and it has lots of flavor. I just ordered another tin with the new Harney coupon. Catherine would have probably had tea that was much smokier, I expect, since it would have been more like a Bohea.
Ordinarily, the stronger the flavor the better as far as I’m concerned. Maybe I was just having a wimpy morning, but it hit me like a ton ’o bricks and/or like Cher in Moonstruck when she slapped Nicolas Cage and yelled “snap out of it!”
See, e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY
It is the online coupon that you enter at checkout. It is SUMMER12 and you get 12% off your order and at $50 you also get free shipping.
Yeah, you totally had me at “Chocolate! Coffee! Sugar! A tiny bit of smoke…”
This one makes me feel like a queen if taken in the proper setting, i.e., an English tea garden setting :)
I’m with Auggy on that! It sounds deeeeelicious…though I’ve found some teas jarring in the past when they promise one thing and delivery another, especially in the ‘sweet’ department. Still sounds worth investigating!
I love this one on mornings when I feel sore and sluggish. It really gets me started up and brightens my day. The smokiness is slight, and it has lots of flavor. I just ordered another tin with the new Harney coupon. Catherine would have probably had tea that was much smokier, I expect, since it would have been more like a Bohea.
Ordinarily, the stronger the flavor the better as far as I’m concerned. Maybe I was just having a wimpy morning, but it hit me like a ton ’o bricks and/or like Cher in Moonstruck when she slapped Nicolas Cage and yelled “snap out of it!”
See, e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-fkSYDtUY
What coupon?
It is the online coupon that you enter at checkout. It is SUMMER12 and you get 12% off your order and at $50 you also get free shipping.
Love the Cher reference!