Harney & Sons

Just as good as the regular. I bought this for a nighttime alternative to the black tea version. It’s just as great. But I love rooibos tea. Though you MUST use a fine mesh steeper or be prepared for tea bits!

Pleasant things about waking up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday:
a) Mork and Mindy on Antenna TV
b) Not having to hurry
c) Time to ponder over a cup of East Frisian, which has been on my tea bucket list for a long while. Bucket filled, courtesy of ashmanra :)

This is hefty, beefy, and malty and I think I’m in love. Dark rye or pumpernickel with a little brown sugary uptick on the tip of your tongue, and the uptick is upgraded by a little bit of milk. It smells heavenly—I think that’s the Darjeeling talking. Delicious to wake up with.

Of all the Harney and Sons tea, this is the one I was most excited about! Its supposed to be black currant, caramel and vanilla…but it basically tastes jUst like the black currant tea. Maybe because I drank a whole four ounce of that not too long ago, I’m just tired of the flavor and not impressed. I didn’t get much in terms of the caramel or vanilla flavoring. And there is a minuscule amount of Oolong. Eh. It was a no for me

I am big on earl grey (especially earl grey cremes) like every other basic tea bitch, and picked this up on recommendation as an earl-adjacent blend. Spoiler: I loved it so much that I gifted a tin to some friends at the next convenient holiday. The bags come in a bougie little tin that makes you want to wear a giant wig, eat delicate little patisserie, and run France into financial crisis until you’re inevitably guillotined.

Three words: juicy, bright, lush. This stuff is dreamy from the moment you crack open the tin and catch a whiff. Can we have a candle or some perfume in this scent? I want to die in it. By contrast to its citrusy cousin, this one is more red-fruit-forward to my tastebuds with a hit of creamy vanilla to round it out. Absolutely delightful. Welcome to my permanent rotation.

It’s a snowy and cloudy day in Denmark today and this tea is perfect for that kind of weather!

This feels like a proper Irish Breakfast tea – made from 100% Assam. It has lots of malty notes, tannins and some bitterness. But it’s actually a surprisingly subtle bitterness when you think of how full-bodied the tea is. The strength is right up there with the strongest bagged teas: Yorkshire, Typhoo etc. But this feels a little more refined, more aromatic and not as bitter. Unlike bagged teas, this is not dust but small broken leaves.

Harney & Sons’ says that “This tea recalls a time when the teas came from Assam, not Africa; and were small broken leaves, not CTC pellets. So this is a simple tea that can handle milk and sugar well.”.
I definitely agree with that. It is very nice and simple and takes milk and/or sugar like a champ. I appreciate that this is not CTC as I am not a big fan of CTC teas. I have not had that many, but the ones I have had where too strong and not aromatic enough in my opinion.

The brewed tea without milk is a deep dark brown. When you add milk, it looks like milky coffee but with a noticeable red/orange hue. The brewed tea smells like… tea. There are strong malty notes but not much else. This is definitely not a complex tea. It’s simple and straight-forward.

In the mouth, there is a strong maltiness again and it is very brisk, but only has a hint of bitterness. It is more astringent than bitter. This tea is a full-bodied tea for sure. It is so strong that it colors my white mug brown instantly.

All in all, this is an excellent, bold Irish Breakfast tea that fits the bill when you want a simple, plain black tea that goes well with a healthy splash of milk.

I feel like you should be drinking this tea while listening to Thin Lizzy or U2 ;-)

Dry leaves, appearance:
Small broken tea leaves with a few golden specks here and there. 100% Assam.

Dry leaves, aroma:
A very subtle aroma. Smells like a classic, malty Assam.

Liquor:
Deep dark brown with a red hue.

The chocolate here is pretty authentic and tasty. Without milk, it seemed a little thin, but with milk, it’s almost like hot chocolate. Chocolate is really the only flavor I get from this, but it’s a nice chocolate. I had it around the same time as Simpson & Vail’s Valentine’s blend, and I have to say that one is much better than this one. They’re not trying to do the exact same thing, but it seemed natural to compare them.

This was an okay blend bought on discount in sachets. Enjoyed but not enough to buy it again. Cute tin though.

This was on sale, or maybe free. Apparently I’m succeeding at trying to erase its memory. I tasted it hot, and again lukewarm, then dumped it out and gargled with Listerine to remove traces of its unpleasant flavor. Yes, I’d rather drink mouthwash. Mind you, I do sometimes enjoy a tart straight hibiscus tisane, even if sweetened. But.Not.This. I’m storing it in the back of my cupboard so as to give it to a friend who praises rooibos, or perhaps to prepare for unwanted visitors, as I’m sure it would drive them away.

A decent blend of decent teas, it’s strong, quick and quaffable on hurried mornings. Brisk.

This is a good classic Qimen ( “Keemun”) tea, easy to measure, brew, and drink. The leaves are chopped to about 1/4 inch (dry), and are fragrant of cocoa. I noted the dry leaves seemed coated with tea dust, suggesting some rough handling or transit, or maybe the bottom of the barrel—LoL. Brewed a teaspoonful in a plastic drawstring teabag with boiling water for 4 min. Good, full mouthfeel (no discernible cocoa flavor) with the classic spicy-peppery Qimen taste on the back of my tongue and a long pleasant finish. Minimal astringency with a nice sweetness. Plenty of caffeine.

As a lover of the Assamic cultivars, I have learned that they can make outstanding black, oolong, and pu’erh teas whether grown in Assam-India, Taiwan, Burma, or Yunnan-China. So the concept of a New World Assamica was intriguing to me. Well described by H&S, this Colombian Black had a great honey and malt nose during brewing and sipping, and a smooth, sweet aromatic flavor. The dry tea has an aroma of cocoa powder. Clearly Assamic, with low astringency, the large chop leaves took 4-5 minutes to steep Western syle, and produce a long-lasting aftertaste that keeps a smile on my face. This is a good quality tea produced on my side of the planet. I wonder what would result if they took some of the more mature leaves and processed them for a sheng, puer-style aged tea?!

This Darjeeling tea from Harney & Sons is a blend of First Flush and Autumn Flush teas. The First Flush gives it a green, floral, vegetal flavor while the Autumn Flush gives it body. It’s still a pretty light-bodied tea, though. Probably light to medium-bodied.

The steeped tea reveals delicate floral, vegetal and muscatel notes, typical for a Darjeeling. There’s also a good amount of astringency – unlike most other black teas. Also unlike other black teas, it has that vegetal, floral flavor that’s so typical of Darjeeling. There are also some woody notes and maybe a hint of fruity citrus, but absolutely no malty notes like in an Assam.

I don’t think Darjeeling black teas are technically black teas (someone correct me if I’m wrong), because they contain a mixture of leaves oxidized to different degrees like an oolong. Some of the leaves in this are bright green, some are brown and some are completely black.

I have also tried Kusmi’s Darjeeling tea which is a Second Flush. That tea is also excellent. If I remember correctly, it is a little stronger in body than this tea and with more robust flavors but it doesn’t have the green, vegetal flavors like this one does – which comes from the First Flush teas.

Overall, this is a nice Darjeeling tea with flavors typical for that region. The flavors are very delicate, and completely different than other black teas like Assams and Ceylons.

I can see why Darjeeling is called “Queen of Teas”.

I find myself drinking this tea both with and without milk.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Big, whole, curly leaves with many different colors.
Mostly bright green, brown and black.

Dry leaves, aroma:
Light floral, vegetal and woody notes. No maltiness whatsoever.

Liquor:
Medium orangish brown.

Bought this in late 2020. Used a teaspoonful in a paper t-sac with 8oz boiling water. The medium-chop leaves brew up pretty quick to give a nice medium “red” liquor. Brisk and strongly Assamic, this gives a good maltiness and caramel flavor in a single steeping. This is a good wake-up brew for me and it’s enjoyable. I don’t give a hoot about the “organic” nonsense, but I like the flavors and aftertaste. A classic middle-of-the-road Assam tea, affordably priced. A novice can drink a few cups of this and compare it with a Ceylon black to quickly learn the major differences.

This is pretty mild for a Chai. I find it interesting that there are no cloves in this. For me, cloves are the first spice I think of when I think of a Masala Chai. The two primary flavors here is the chocolate and the cardamom. There is also a good amount of cinnamon and vanilla. The ginger adds a very subtle spiciness at the end of each sip. The nutmeg is not really there, I don’t think. The 4 primary flavors is chocolate, cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla.

I think they made the spices really mild in order to give the chocolate a chance to shine through – which it does. It’s very dessert-like and more decadent than a normal Chai. The flavor reminds me very much of LU Bastogne cookies.

This tea actually reminds me of a tea from Kusmi Tea called “Spicy Chocolate” which is a black tea flavored with chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.

The tea base here is a blend of Chinese and Indian black teas. It doesn’t say anything about CTC pellets on their website or on the tin, but it looks like the Indian black tea in this is a CTC, like their regular Chai. The tea also has a stronger body than usual – medium to full in body. The CTC pellets together with the ground cinnamon and nutmeg makes a dust that settles on the bottom of the tin (the whole leaves settle on top), which doesn’t look very good. So you have to dig deep in the tin every time you make a mug of this tea, in order to get some of those dusty parts on your spoon. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be this way, but it is very unfortunate in my opinion. You’d need a paper filter when you make this tea so the dusty parts don’t end up in your cup.

Overall, this is an excellent and flavorful tea with lots of chocolate and spice notes, but the dust in the tin detracts from the aesthetics of the tea. Sadly.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Whole black tea leaves and dusty CTC pellets mixed with cinnamon chips, ginger root, cardamom seeds, cardamom pods and ground cinnamon/nutmeg.

Dry leaves, aroma:
Sweet chocolate and vanilla notes with the warmth and spiciness of cardamom and cinnamon.

Liquor:
Dark brown

Nice, but I wish the rose flavor was more distinct. It tastes pleasant and generally floral, but I would’ve liked more rose.

This tea is exactly as described: A black tea flavored with black currant. A classic, timeless flavor that I consider a staple in the world of flavored teas. This was actually Harney & Sons’ first flavored tea – created by John Harney.
The black currant flavor is natural but a little on the sweet/perfumey/candy-like side of things rather than tangy. It tastes exactly like the black currant in Paris but here it is completely undisturbed by any other flavors.

The tea itself is your typical Harney & Sons black China base: Smooth and with little to no astringency/bitterness. It is difficult to taste the tea flavor behind the black currant but it is there, so the black currant doesn’t overpower the tea completely. There is a lingering flavor after you have taken a sip that tastes like you’ve taken a bite of a piece of toast with black currant jam, which is very nice. But the initial black currant flavor is more candy-like and perfumey.

I don’t know what else to say – it’s a very nice take on a black currant tea and I recommend it if you are into fruity flavors.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Chinese black tea leaves with dried black currants here and there.

Dry leaves, aroma:
A very pungent black currant aroma. On the sweeter side rather than the tangy side.

Liquor:
Medium to dark brown.

This one is unmistakably apricot! The sweet, fruity, nutty and warm flavor of apricot combined with the background taste of black tea. There is also a flavor here that’s reminiscent of butterscotch or dulce de leche. It’s especially apparent in the aftertaste and when you smell the empty mug. It’s really nice and decadent.

The apricot flavor in this tea reminds me of a toy my sister had when she was younger. It was a furry apricot thing that you could open and use to store things (as far as I remember) and that was scented with apricot. This tea smells exactly like that toy did, so it brings back memories of those times (probably at least 15 years ago now).

The tea is medium-bodied and very smooth. The apricot doesn’t overpower the tea but complements it.

Now that I have tasted their pure apricot tea, I can definitely recognize this flavor in their Fruits D’Alsace tea – which also contains apricot.

I think Harney & Sons did an incredible job with this tea. It has an authentic, unmistakable apricot flavor that feels very natural. It’s both fruity and fresh but also decandent and nutty at the same time.

This tea has my highest recommendation. It’s a no-brainer if you like apricot.

Dry leaves, appearance:
Chinese black tea leaves with pieces of dried apricot.

Dry leaves, aroma:
The sweet, fruity, nutty and warm aroma of ripe, juicy apricots.

Liquor:
Medium to dark brown.

I have Genmaicha blends from Harney & Sons. Golden Genmaicha, Matcha Iri Genmaicha, Duck Rice Genmaicha and Genmaicha.

Of the four, I like this one best. Having said that the Hojicha overpowers the popped rice taste but it’s still tasty. I prefer writing positive reviews and just rate bad teas. I think that darn message my parents beat into my head is still there… If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it. lol Not that any of these were bad. This was just my favorite of the four.

I brewed it in a gaiwan 4g, 140ml, at 1 min, 30 sec and then 1min 30 secs. I poured boiling water into a warmed cha hai then quickly transfered the water into the gaiwan so I’m guessing it’s about 203F.

The aroma of the dry tea is roasted, nutty, sunflowery, pleasant. Some coffee notes in the aroma, the roasted smell. The brew is very nice, not bitter (two of the three I mentioned above were bitter so I’ll have to drop the temperature way lower for H&S genmaicha >.<). The liquid was medium brown and had a very mellow taste, smooth, not bitter, nutty. Nice and naturally sweet notes of molasses, burnt sugar, caramel notes.

First time trying H&S Genmaicha (rice with bancha in this one). It’s better than my first impression of it. The first time I tried it, I had sampled it with the Matcha Iri Genmaicha, Duck Rick Genmaicha, and their Golden Genmaicha.

I prepped it a few ways, I think the recommended preparation was the best, I steeped it longer, for 3 minutes as directed. Nice toasted rice flavor, slightly vegetal, light-bodied. It is slightly too astringent for my taste, dry tongue from it, which is probably why I preferred the Duck Rice Genmaicha more. The Golden Genmaicha was nice because it had a toasted nut flavor, and not as brisk as well.

Having said that, it’s a decent Genmaicha at a decent price. I’ve read some of the reviews on the net and a lot of people like it a lot and don’t like the others so much, so there’s that. Taste is subjective. ^^

Additional notes. I brewed it in a Banko-yaki Kyusu, and it mellowed it out and astringency is gone. I would rate it much higher using this particular teaware but I know some may not have it so I will leave the rating at 83.

Banko-yaki Kyusu 150ml, 4-5g, three steeps: 180°F for 1.5min, 203° F for 30 sec, 212° F for 1.5min.

I hope you are all well!

Quick note because I know a couple of you asked the difference between their regular and the duck rice genmaicha. This is pretty similar to their regular genmaicha. I like it slightly better. It has similar vegetal notes (albeit more grassy), there is a stronger roasted flavor, more rice flavor, and slightly nutty. If I make it any hotter than 160 Fº, it becomes too astringent for me.

Busy day but writing to say heya and posting this quick note. ^^