Harney & Sons

First off, how I finally got my hands on this. Chapters! To the rescue again. I wandered in and went to their little tea section to find, of course, that they had none. Disheartened, I turned to leave but paused to look at a new teapot setup they had near the front of the store. Examining an Alison in Wonderland pot, I glanced up and noticed that, on the opposite side of the table, there was a setup of more teas. Including Paris. I practically pounced on a tin (sachets, not loose, sadly), especially since they were selling so well compared to all the other Harney and Sons teas out. I was also thinking of buying a tin of PURE LAVENDER tisane. Can’t remember what company, but one small tin was thirteen dollars, so I wasn’t sure if I should go for it or not. I have no idea what lavender tastes like, and I may not like it.

Anyways, I kept myself from buying any more books, because I have quite a few (I was considering a Sherlock Holmes novel, though), and only went home with this.

It smells like vanilla, bergamot and fruit. Brewed, you can definitely smell the tea as well.

Ah, it’s starting to go cold I left it so long. I taste the vanilla and tea, not too much the bergamot, but there are some other fruits in there.

I’ve been scaring myself by watching the Slender Man Marble Hornets entries.

Having tea while doing so is always nice. I always have such trouble with flavoured blacks, because I only get a scent, no taste in most cases. The smell of this is much stronger than the taste—which is black with hints of vanilla and berry—but it’s so delicious of a smell, and the taste that I do get goes so nicely with the black that I don’t mind. Mmmmm. This tea makes me happy.

Ah sweet red heat.

Last of the bags that Jillian sent.

This tea is pretty forgiving, it seems; the second one I had I forgot in my cup thanks to a phone call and it was still delicious. Something in the combinations of the spices seems to linger after you swallow, hanging out in your belly like a warm battery, and there’s a sweetness that makes it really appealing even now, when the sun is finally out and the holiday season is the very last thing on my mind.

While it’s not a huge production for me to brew tea — since I use an in-cup infuser in a 16oz cup, and the zoji keeps me flush in hot water — it’s sort of nice to have bagged tea around too, admittedly. This probably makes me the laziest person on earth.

Yeah, I’m a fan. I definitely plan to nab a tin of this, when I finally place a proper order.

Thanks, Jillian!

Come, my friends. Come and hear my tale. It is a story of glory and tragedy, of trust and betrayal, of successes and failures, of the kindness and benevolence of the human spirit and of its depravity and selfishness!

Let me tell you about the heroine of our tale, Jillian, who asked for some tea possessed by our villain, sophistre, about a month ago, and how she — in all of her righteousness — sent forth tea to her nemesis and lo, the wicked sophistre did get distracted by writing and guests from out of town, and when the tea arrived at her humble abode, she was glad. And yet she had sent no tea, herself.

And Jillian went without.

It is to weep!

Seriously though…I fail at post office. I think I mentioned that earlier. I had no idea Jillian was sending me anything until she got her tea, and I feel like a big’ol heel now, because here I am with a very cozy-smelling cup of tea in front of me thanks to Jillian, and the Adagio tin I promised her is still sitting on my front hall table waiting to be whisked off to Canadaland.

I am such a jerk. I’m not even a tragic villain in this story, because mostly I’ve been either consumed by writing or running around with a bunch of other jerks from out of town.

Anyway, thank you Jillian! You shame me! The tea, it will be winging its way to you shortly. (I swear!)

The tea I was most curious about at the time we discussed a trade was a Russian Caravan she had, because at that point I had not had a Russian Caravan tea. I now have A&D’s Caravan in my cabinet, but that’s the only one I’ve tried…so I’m still looking forward to this one quite a bit. Even so, opening up the little packet, it was the smell of this tea that called to my newly-awakened braincells with promises of spices and sweet fruit, and so here it is.

It smells good dry, but I think it smells wonderful when it steeps. The heat really brings several of the spices to the fore in the nose. It tells me there’s citrus here, and I believe it…but it’s the clove-riddled citrus you might remember if your teachers, like mine, had ever had you make one of those clove-studded oranges for the holidays when you were a kid in gradeschool. Cinnamon is easy to detect, and while I would not have fingered almond as a taste present in the tea, I think I find it after I swallow. I could probably have stood to have it be more prevalent in the overall profile, but I’m somebody who douses themselves in almond oil on a regular basis in the bath, so I admit I may be biased. It’s sweet on the sides of the tongue, and there’s a lingering, spicy warmth on the middle and over my palate. There’s even a cozy warmth in my throat and belly that has nothing to do with the temperature of the tea, but instead with the spices involved.

It’s becoming pretty clear to me the more H&S teas I try that they really are exceptionally good at determining the best ratio of flavor to tea. I have yet to try a cup from them that was particularly intense, but I can also say with certainty that I’ve been struck every time by how balanced the flavors have been, not only with themselves but with the tea base.

I could feel a creeping headache coming on when I woke up (yes, when I woke up at 10pm. Just trust me)…but I’m getting close to the bottom of the cup now, and it’s going.

As a tea that reminds you of the holidays goes, this one without a doubt hits the mark. I can easily see myself keeping a little tin around of this, so I may actually add this along with Florence to my ‘will order’ list. Yay!

Thanks to Jillian and her INCREDIBLE supply of patience for sending me tea when I’ve been so dodgy about my end of the bargain!

I know St Patty’s day is a little late for Christmas tea but I wanted something I hadn’t had in a while. This is a pleasant tea. It aroma when first brewed is pleasantly vanilla with more of the almond and camomile scents coming later. My water was just below boiling and I forgot about it for about 10 min but it wasn’t bitter. This isn’t a strongly flavored tea or very complex. I added some sugar and it was a nice cup of tea but nothing super great.

I’ve noticed that this tea lacks the malty, almost creamy, chewy quality I’ve noticed in other genmaichas.

I ordered this partially so that I could compare it to the genmaicha I got from Murchie’s. This tea smell very distinctly of popcorn – just popcorn, not burnt-smelling this time. The taste is surprisingly smooth and mild, and I’m barely getting any grassiness at all from the green tea base. But there’s a sweetness to the flavour that was lacking in the Murchie’s tea.

It lacks the body and the intense savory quality of other genmaichas, but I’ll have a better idea of that after I give it a longer steeping time.

This tea, in my opinion, is one of the little treasures in life. There’s something about it. It both tastes and smells great and also makes me feel great as well. As for the taste, it has sort of a full body which I think is contributed by the down that covers the tea. It coats the back of your throat as it goes down and leaves a nice and light aftertaste. This tea is fresh and I can smell notes of oranges. It is slight, but is definitely there. Perhaps those who say they can’t notice this are those who have an older crop or one that is not as fresh or maybe even aren’t using the right water. Also this tea puts me into a state of general well being. I feel like there are no worries in the world and feel well nourished and satisfied after I finish a cup of this. It also lifts my mood. It’s the small things in life, like this tea, that mean so much to me. Also, I can always count on Harney and Sons to bring tea of top shelf quality. Some other vendors may have counterfeit Bi Lo Chun or even one of a lower grade. Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

What a big (tea) baby I was when I first tried this! I thought it was too strong!

Today I wanted a good, assertive but not aggressive black tea to serve with homemade peach dumplings. (And I had vanilla ice cream with mine. Breyer’s Lactose Free Vanilla, not because we are lactose intolerant but because it is SO sweet and good with the lactose already broken down into…is it galactose and lactase?) I needed something that wouldn’t disappear beside the sweet fruity dessert but hopefully would compliment it by contrasting with it. I have several peach teas but didn’t want them to compete with the peaches in the dessert. This was my pick.

I think it was a perfect pairing. The cocoa notes were especially welcome today. There was no bitterness or astringency so I guess I made it just right this time! It was great with the dumplings and we did not add milk or sugar. Delicious! And all gone, so I guess I need to order more.

We finally tried this side by side with Hao Ya B today. This was good paired with our Hershey Bar Cake, which was so rich that it was nearly TOO rich. While this was good, I must confess that I like Keemun Mao Feng better.

I ordered the sample of this again – this is my third time! The first time I bought it I thought it was far too strong! I didn’t think I would ever develop a taste for something like this. The second time I thought it was good, with lots of cocoa notes. This time I am not really enjoying it. I added milk and sugar after realizing that it wasn’t growing on me. It was a tad bitter, and I think I may actually have oversteeped it since I was making three pots of tea at once. (Daughters want different tea from each other and me!) I will try it again tomorrow side by side with Hao Ya B and see what happens, and I will be more careful this time!

I had only one teaspoon left of my sample and wanted another taste to help decide whether this goes on the next order. The first time I tried this I was a tea novice and thought it terribly strong. Today I thought it very smooth and sweet, with lots of body and flavor. How tastes change! I would love this as a breakfast tea with milk and sugar, or as an afternoon tea taken plain. I read that the Queen of England usually drinks a Hao Ya A for breakfast. She has good taste in tea!

ABout a year ago I bought a sample of this tea. I was a brand new baby loose leaf tea drinker. I thought this was SO STRONG! I was glad I didn’t buy a whole tin. Now, my tastes have changed drastically, I no longer add sugar to all my teas, and I wanted to see if my feelings on this one have changed. I had just purchased some Keemun Hao Ya A at A Southern Season and thought it was awfully mild.

Today we tried the two teas side by side. Harney’s is definitely superior. The aroma of the dry leaves is deeper and richer, the color of the steeped tea is darker, and the flavor is more robust. (And the funny thing? It wasn’t at all strong to me! I thought it was milder than Emperor’s Red, JacquelineM’s roasty toasty friend who captured my heart and tastebuds as well.)

Had my first cup this morning. This is a good Keemun tea, but I think I like Winey Keemun by Grace Rare Teas a little better. I detect a woodsy, slightly bitter scent, but I wasn’t getting dark chocolate. I think I would like this tea a LOT more if I lowered the water temperature just a hair and shaved about 30 seconds off the steeping time. Will add a new note when I try that. That being said, I think this tea is supposed to be a bit bracing. After all, it is supposedly on the breakfast table of the Queen of England, and we know how the British usually take their tea – strong, with lots of milk and sugar! I added no milk and only a little sugar to mine. It could grow on me….

I tried the bagged version of this at the Daily Grind with half and half and a packet of Splenda. Such a rich flavor! I love all the spices they used, though the bag didn’t identify all of them. I loved it so much, I decided to take the bag back with me.

While stirring a sugar/Splenda mix into the resteep, I knocked over the whole cup, and half of the tea ended up on the floor, the other half seeping under my laptop. Within seconds, it froze. I wiped everything up, turned the laptop off, unplugged it, took out the battery, tilted it in a few directions, and let it sit on the side that got the worst of the spill.

Five hours later, it froze booting, so I went to Wal-Mart and looked for some canned air. It wasn’t in the cleaning section, so I went to the computer section and had a hard time finding it. It was on the bottom shelf hiding next to other stuff. So I sprayed it and waited about an hour, then it took 10+ minutes to do a self-diagnostic that didn’t even fix anything, but it was fine after a restart. I went crazy being laptop-less for 7 hours.

Oh, and when I tried resteeping it, I’d heated about 2 cups of water, so I used the other cup once I’d cleaned everything up. It was so weak, it tasted more like tea-flavored water. All that for nothing! But the first steep was heaven.

So it really is that toothsome and yummy. It smells somewhere between vanilla, caramel and marshmellows. It is sweet but not too sweet and just plain yummy.

This wonderful blend of Assam and Keemun make for a ‘supreme’ start to your day!

This is a good vanilla black tea. I find the flavor a good balance between authenticity (Adagio’s in particular always tastes fake, more like frosting, to me) and strength of flavor (vanilla teas flavored just with vanilla bean tend to be overpowered by the black tea). This will likely be included in my next order to Harney.

I’m backlogging from a weekend w/o internet, so I can’t remember anything more nuanced about the flavor. It was very satisfying though.

TEA. ENGLISH BREAKFAST. HOT.

April Sipdown Prompt – A pantry staple

I have had this tea on shelf for fourteen years (not the same tin ha ha) with very few months where there was none at all in the house. We definitely prefer the loose leaf version over the sachets. If you buy the pound, turn it upside down occasionally because this is FULL of vanilla bean specks and they need to be kept evenly distributed.

The first few times we drank it, we thought we had tea dust in the bottom of the pot until one day when JacquelineM wrote that those are vanilla bean specks! So instead of discarding what looks like the “sludge”, slurp it down because it is yummy.

I have made many notes on this tea already, so here is something new. When I made this last, I made a huge pot and we had about ten ounces leftover. I poured it in a jar, stirred in a little sugar, and put it in the fridge to have with lunch because we are working very hard on our outdoor projects and it is over 80F most days. Iced tea season is upon us. (We drink all year anyway.)

This made an absolutely brilliant iced tea. I may have to go back to buying it by the pound for this summer. The vanilla is so smooth and glides down when you are hot and thirsty. I highly recommend this tea both hot and cold!

February Sipdown Prompt – a tea that reminds you of a favorite book

I am dismayed to come on here to make a tasting note and see that it was not listed in my cupboard. It is nearly always on shelf. Ah well, I have a couple of sipdowns coming up soon that will send numbers back in the right direction again.

This was a tough prompt. I decided to go with this one because it feels cozy like a good book in winter when days are short and nights are long and reading makes you feel twice tucked in – once tucked into your warm house with a blanket or shawl about you, and also tucked into your own mind, imagining a completely different world.

I have read that when people say they love the smell the smell of old books they are really detecting a vanilla-like aroma being given off by lignin in the paper. But I don’t associate books with vanilla from the actual smell, it is rather the feeling of warmth and comfort that comes with escaping for a little while into a world created by ink on a page and my own imagination. So this tea is a tribute to all the books I enjoy, and not just one.

Not on shelf, indeed. Hmmph.

Sipdown

My cupboard just hit 115, not including samples and small swap amounts. That is the lowest it has been in a long time. It did hit 115 a few months ago but that was because I had not entered all of my puerh plus one box of tea in pouches. Once I had entered those I was back over 130. So this is a happy milestone for me even though it is a sad sipdown. We love this one and will repurchase as soon as I get a few more teas out of the cupboard, because this is a shelf staple.

This has plenty of tea flavor and the vanilla here tastes like there is a smidgeon of caramel. There are often vanilla bean specks in the cup that some mistake for dregs. We drink it plain but milk and sugar take it to a desserty cuppa, and sometimes I add spices and sugar and make a syrup to add to Perrier for a cream soda style cold beverage. It mixes well with other teas, too.

I went to two stores today that sold loose leaf Harney tea and both had higher prices than Harney online, and Harney offers free shipping. Neither shop was a local mom-and-pop type store, and also it was a very small selection, so I will be ordering my replacement online.