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This tea is now 20 years old, and in the 4.5 yr that I’ve had it in my ventilated cabinet it has gotten even better. Brewed Western with 5g leaf in a stainless steel infusion basket and 8 oz boiling spring water after a 10s discarded boiling wash. Three serial infusions so far, 15s each. Aromas of leather and tobacco on the liquor. Very little astringency, but strong tea flavor with slight smokiness, savory peppery punch, and a lingering aftertaste that is still lightly bitter. No fishiness, no compost notes. Quite nice, and still available on the YS website (but not their US site). I’ve used over half the first tuo now, will recommend— and am raising my rating to 76.

I forgot how good this flavor is! This is the HT sachet version, which might be the same as other versions listed on Harney’s site, or the several duplicated and mis-spelled entries here on Steepster. At first, years ago, I thought it tasted artificial; really that is just how black currants taste! Even more delicious when taken with nibbles of chocolate-coated Butter Keks. Even though my tin passed the FB date years ago, it retains the wonderful aroma and taste! Oh yea, I can taste the base black tea too, but it’s not the point of this tea. I’ll rate it as 81, and recommend.

Steeped my second and final bag of this for 3 minutes. Prior notes still hold true, but I find the tea really flat this time. Lacking sparkle. To some extent it’s expected in a straight, unflavored tea, but I simply want better, even from a paper tea bag. Reducing my rating a point, to 59.

Readily available, reliable, inexpensive and adequate. Foil wrapper keeps the freshness and sanitation during travel. Odd that Bigelow tells us more about the bergamot than the base tea! The only clue their website gives is lip service to 1 bud / 2 leaves, and being from “high in the mountains.” It does have a smooth finish and my 2-min infusion was not astringent, yet was full-flavored. I got no assamic maltiness, nor spice and zing of Keemun, nor cedar or mint of a Ceylon. But for some reason I’m leaning toward it being a Ceylon, possibly blended with a less famous region such as Tanzania or Myanmar. But the bergamot stars here, and it’s nicely balanced. I must admit that I buy it frequently because it’s easy to grab at the grocery store and keep in the desk drawer at work. And I like it. I can’t rate it less than 80, and feel compelled to recommend — lest I become a bigger hypocrite than I already am!

Wuyi Ensemble. Adagio.
Lot no: 85424. FB: n/a.

Variously called Da Hong Pao, or Big Red Robe, or Rock Oolong, this is a type of tea I’ve battled before from several other vendors. I prepared Western style, as directed, using the entire 3.5 grams of dry leaf (smelled of seaweed) in 8 oz 190°F spring water for 3 min, resteeping once for 5 min. Yes, I could taste toastiness like toasted rice, minerality, floral and vegetal notes, aroma and flavors of kelp, and a sweet lengthy aftertaste of fruity flowers. It was like a floral sushi roll: a bundle of wilted orchids rolled up in toasted sesame rice in a nori (seaweed) wrapper, dipped in soy sauce. But only a quarter of the strength you are imagining. The flavors were too subtle for my liking, even though it was many times stronger than the BRR from Tealyra that I disliked and reported on two weeks ago. The resteep was similar but weaker. I would not waste time or spring water running a gongfu session on it, and I can feel my resentment toward this type of tea building, so I better stop here. Rating as 25 and not recommending, out of spite (toward the tea type, not Adagio which is likely blameless!)

Trying to finish off this stale order of Keemun Mao Feng Premium Chinese black tea, now six months past its “Best By” date. The leaf is shiny and jet-black in appearance, large cut rolled needles about 1 cm long, without dust or crumbs. Still delicious with notes of chocolate, strong typical keemun flavor, sweet, smooth and only slightly astringent in todays 5-minute Western-style steep of 2.3 g leaf in 8 oz boiling spring water. Head-over-heels better than Harney’s standard (non-Mao Feng keemun) English Breakfast teabag, which I just finished and reviewed. Today’s longer steep was in order to compare with Harney’s prep guidelines, but I know this is even better with a shorter 1–2 min steep and single resteep, both at a lower temp (thanking Ashmanra for the steeping temp. suggestion, elsewhere). This is fine tea!

Yet another foil-wrapped paper teabag of uncertain age, from the loose-ends bin of a local tea shoppe. Note that this is the classic 100% Chinese keemun version of EB, and not the “HT” or “royal” blends, which contain different base teas. This version is presently also available as silken sachets, loose in tins, or in bulk bags. Also note that Harney sells higher grades of Keemun (see “Mao Feng” and “Hao Ya” offerings).

I steeped as directed: 1 teabag (about 2.2 g leaf) in 8 oz. boiling spring water for 5 min. The dry leaf had a soft aroma of keemun black tea, which became more pronounced when steeped. In the dark amber-colored liquor, I found the particular malty keemun flavor to be gently present, albeit not as fruity or spicy as other premium keemuns I enjoy. This was a strong, thick black tea with a nice long finish, a caffeine punch, and a refreshing astringency. While I might choose this in a pinch, from of an offering of straight black teabags for teatime, I would not again choose a teahouse where this was the best black tea offered. It was free of major defects and certainly an improvement over plain hot water, but only in the same class as Lipton’s “orange pekoe and pekoe cut” black teabags. Not worthy of a silken sachet. I would rate this as 60 and neither recommend nor condemn, but not buy again.

Woo-hoo! This is my 200th tea note!

Another foil-wrapped paper teabag of uncertain age, from the loose-ends bin of a local tea shoppe. Note that this is “Organic” EGS, not Harney’s standard EGS, and this is sold in paper teabags only, while the standard EGS is sold only in silken sachets or as loose leaf. Also, the ingredients differ between the two, “organic” being comprised of black teas from India, whereas the standard EGS is comprised of black tea, oolong tea, and white tea, and the description also mentions “silver tips” without explanation. So I created this new Steepster entry for the Organic EGS, since that is what I have. (The entry for standard EGS might be due for some revision, as the description on their website seems a bit different, though no one has added a note there in recent post-CoVid years.

I steeped the bag Western style in 8 oz. boiling spring water for 3 minutes. The dry leaf had a lovely bergamot aroma, and it had dissipated considerably by the end of steeping. This tastes to me like the quintessential Earl Grey. I loved it! The bergamot flavor was present and perfectly balanced with the malty assam tea base, both very tasty. Very slight astringency, as expected, and a lovely long finish that expressed both tea and bergamot. No bitterness, sourness, or stale cardboard notes. I have a second bag that I will steep for the recommended 5 minutes, and report back on what I find. Meanwhile I can fully recommend this organic earl grey supreme, and rate it as 91. [FOLLOWUP: 5 min. steep. Nicely strong tea, without loss of bergamot taste. Enhanced maltiness from the assam base black, without defects. Retained the long finish, and like the shorter steep, slurping and gurgling the lukewarm tea greatly enhanced the flavors and allowed the assam base to sing. Still just slightly astringent. So 3 min steep or 5 min steep, terrific tea either way is good!]. Among the best EG’s, in my opinion. (And I don’t care one bit about it being “organic” or not.)

Paper teabag (in a sealed foil pouch) from a local tea shoppe bin of loose ends. Uncertain age. Nice citrus fragrance on the dry leaf. Steeped as directed: 3 min at 175°F. Resteeped once. Both were crystal clear amber liquids. I’m sure I’ve tasted this lemony-mediciney-lime peely flavor before, but I can’t recall where. I didn’t know what ginko (leaf? seed? wood?) tastes like, and I still don’t. For that matter, I couldn’t taste the base green tea, either. Maybe it’s just some nondescript shrub grown in someone’s backyard in East LA. Really, the citrus flavors overpower everything, and yet I could really see diggin’ this tea when I’m in the right groove, baby, ya know? That isn’t today. Can’t recommend, and rate as 50. I suspect stratification has segregated the tea and the lemongrass, because others have observed the reverse of me: green tea dominating the citrus! Or maybe their “flavorings” are out of control.

I bought this off the shelf at their store at 115 S. Walnut St, Champaign-IL. The dry leaf was a mix of inch-long needles and shorter, broken pieces, with a deep green colour. Steeped 2.5 grams of leaf Western style in a stainless steel infusion basket using 8 ounces of 170°F alpine spring water, for 60 seconds, with a re-steep of 90 s. The liquor was clear golden-yellow in appearance with a fragrance of mown grass and asparagus. Flavor notes included asparagus, edamame, chestnut, umami, and a hint of kelp and sweetness. It was delicious. There was only a slight astringency, and no bitter or sour elements. I’ll rate this as 81, the same as Adagio’s Sencha Premier, and recommend it, especially to those in central Illinois as a superb local business worthy of support.