Caribe

I’m impressed that I can actually taste the Guava with every sip. This is a nice tea. I’m guessing my “tea palette” is maturing, because I actually taste the green tea & black here. Is it gunpowder? hmm tastes smokey maybe.
..anyway, it’s an actual "tropical’ tea that’s not just pineapple & coconut..the Guava makes it more refined
I’m happy

This is my first go at this sample. Again, since it is a Harney’s variety, I went a little lighter on the tea than I do with others. This one is really good….I can taste the tropical blend of fruit flavors. I may consider buying more.

Ack…I did not read the fine print about the green in the blend…I do think it will be better brewed at a lower temp for my next cup.

This is one of the most beautifully scented teas I have come across. It smells of the tropics and lightness. It’s really pretty.

I wasn’t sure what to do with the steeping information. Should I go with black recommendations? Or should I go with green? I went with black. Boiling/2 min – Well, actually one, tasted, then dropped back in for another minute.

After steeping one minute, the scent was still there, only less tropical, more subdued. After the second minute, the scent of fruit was barely there and it smelled like black tea. Nice black tea, but not the fruity experience I’ve been searching for this morning.

The taste after one minute wasn’t very developed. I could most definitely taste a guava/papaya taste in the tea. The tea itself wasn’t very strong, which is why I tried another minute.

After two minutes, the fruitiness had mostly dissipated and I was left with an interesting tea flavor that was slightly bitter. It, surprisingly, wasn’t terrible, but as I’m looking for something else this morning, I’m not going to continue with it this morning. I’ll have to experiment more with this tea later. Temp, time… who knows what the magic combination is?

Got this sample from Ost. It tastes pretty good! The light black tea mixed with the hints of tropical flavors is super nice. I drank it all when it was pretty hot, so I’m sure I didn’t get to experience the full range of flavors. There was only enough left in here for one cup, but I could see myself drinking this one again occasionally if I had the chance.

This is an incredibly fruity, sweet-smelling tea in the tin – I’m not a huge fan of coconut, as a rule (I have a tendency to pick up blends where it’s gone rancid) – and the scent holds up incredibly well through steeping.

Since this was a black/green mix I steeped it toward the green end of the spectrum – shorter and cooler than usual – but I’m considering using the leftover leaves to try for a day-long cold brew to see if I can coerce some more of the fruit flavors out of the blend.

With the hot steep, though, the black-green base is mellow and there’s a soft fruitiness that fills the mouth and lingers after each sip. I wish my identification of fruit was more complex…I know there’s supposed to be guava, but I really can’t tell anything else.

There’s a bit of astringency as it cools, but nothing terrible. Not sure this’d be a daily drinker, I’m going to see how it comes out as a cold brew before making any final decisions.

Very fruity smell before steeping, but much more subtle taste when actually drinking the tea. Smooth, medium-bodied tea.

The first time I tried this I burned the leaves because I’d forgotten it was a blend of both black and green teas. Whoops. Needless to say, the green tea had turned quite bitter and there was a horrible aftertaste that I couldn’t quite place. It was very vegetal and reminded me a bit of something like asparagus (which I loathe).

It was only then that I even thought to refer back to the website to see what type of tea it was. That’d be my one criticism of Harney’s packaging, at least for the sample bags. There’s absolutely no indication as to what type of tea is inside the bag.

The second time around I prepared it properly and thoroughly enjoyed it over ice. I didn’t see or taste any hibiscus, but the combination of tropical flavors was very different from many other “tropical” blends I’ve tried. I’m so happy to send a tropical blend that isn’t a variation on the piña colada. I love coconut in black tea blends, and I’m pleased that they’ve been fairly light-handed with it (at least in my sample bag). The coconut blends really well with the guava and strawberry. I’ll finish off my sample bag before making a final decision, but I may end up adding this to my warm-weather rotation. Very nice indeed.

So I come home today and find out that CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY THIS YEAR! My H&S order was waiting by the door and I couldn’t stop bouncing with excitement. This is my first time ordering from them directly, and I couldn’t be happier. The teas I chose all smell amazing! Just for the record, I ordered loose leaf tins for Paris, Boston, and Florence. Time to travel the world (I wish..)! It’s really too bad that I chose all black teas. I can’t try them tonight or I won’t get to sleep! Luckily, I received a sample of Caribe, a blend of green and black. I can’t NOT have any of my new tea today so I decided to start with this.

I tore open the sample packet and stuck my nose in it. WOW thing tea smells zingy! It was a punch of sweet and sour citrusy notes right to the nostrils. Really reminded me of Juicy Fruit gum, which I noted another review mention. The smell is really quite similar that my mouth started watering in anticipation of that delicious first sugary sour bite. Interestingly enough the aroma didn’t translate after I had brewed the tea. It lost a of lot of punching power, mellowing out to a sweeter guava-dominated aroma that is much easier on the nose. I only left the sachet in for about 2 minutes, as the tea turned dark very quickly (which has been my experience with all H&S teas I’ve tried so far). My first sips didn’t turn out much flavour however, so I threw it back in for a while longer.

This tea almost tastes like Juicy Fruit gum. I definitely get that sour pucker on the sides of my tongue. I don’t know how much I like the black tea base in there, it doesn’t seem to match the zingy tropical theme this tea is going for. Guava and lime are the most dominant flavours I can identify. It’s not terrible, but I think the flavour profile just falls short of its potential. I think it could be better without the black tea; with it I feel it is a bit muted, like the grumpy sibling to a bouncy little child that just wants to be free. Maybe I’ll go grab my guava fruit out of the fridge to pair it with!

Edit: As it cooled down the flavours got a lot more balance and liveliness to them, so I feel like this could make a great iced tea. If I ever get my hands on more, I will try it iced!

This time through I tried it iced.

The strong flavors I mentioned in my previous notes seem to work much better iced than they do hot. And, given we’ve hit a heat wave, iced just hits the spot today.

I still think the flavors are stronger than I normally like anymore, but I still feel this is an enjoyable blend. I don’t expect it will ever make every day rotation anymore, but when the mood hits me, I can see myself being drawn for another glass of it iced.

Not a favorite,it is ok………but to me when it is steeping the smell reminds me of cat pee.