Harney & Sons

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drank Vanilla Comoro by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Last night, late game of Yahtzee at the tea table near the Christmas tree with hubby, son, and youngest daughter and a pot of this. Mmmmmm. And still able to sleep, too!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 15 sec

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drank Vanilla Comoro by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

I actually made this one twice – once last night to share a quiet cuppa with my hubby, and again this morning.

Last week I found out that one of my favorite teachers – fifth grade – had breast cancer and is about to undergo radiation. She has been working with me at the polls. She noticed my tea by my side every day and told me that she had never liked coffee, loves iced tea, and feels cold all the time so she thought, “Say, why not try HOT tea?” She bought some decaf Earl Grey at the grocery store and loved it. Her doctor says she is not allowed to have caffeine. She was so excited to tell me that she found out she loves hot tea. I was even more excited because now I have a NEW TEA PADAWAN! And it is one of my favorite people!

So this morning I took a thermos full of Vanilla Comoro to work, brewed fresh at home from loose leaf. SHE LOVES IT! Hooray! I gave her a good diffuser, some loose leaf, and a sample of decaf Irish Breakfast. Soon we are getting together for tea. I love what tea has done for friendships in my life!

As JacquelineM does, I add lots of extra leaf on this one. When I first started drinking tea it was plenty strong enough for me. Now I can tell it is decaf but still prefer it to almost any other night time alternative! Extra leaves makes it a bit stronger, and the aroma is always just heavenly.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec
JacquelineM

I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. We just found out my aunt (my grandmother’s sister’s daughter but she’s always been “aunt” to me :) has breast cancer this week too. It’s been on my mind so much this month with Breast Cancer Awareness month and it seems overwhelming!

I noticed on my Zhena’s Gypsy Tea container all of the antioxidants etc in their rooibos blends – you may want to see if she might like to taste some of them. I’d be happy to send you some – I have a Zhena’s and a berry rooibos from Samovar which has tons of antioxidants and is very flavorful! I also have a mint rooibos for when you feel sick in the stomach.

ashmanra

Thank you! I will check out her tea tastes and see if I think she would enjoy those. I thought I would start her out on my African Autumn from Harney. It is the rooibos version of Cranberry Autumn. If she seems to like that, I will see if she wants to try even more flavors. Her next two to try are the Twinings decaf Irish Breakfast (since she wants some easy grocery store teas to do) and some Southern Season decaf Ceylon Orange Pekoe. I thought she could add some freshly grated ginger to that last one, too.

So sorry to hear about your aunt. I hope it is one of the least aggressive forms. One friend had the HER 2 positive kind. THAT was a battle. But she is fine now!

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drank Vanilla Comoro by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Just had three (small) cups of this delightful tea. Aaaaah. The dry leaves smell like caramel, vanilla, and maple syrup. And by caramel, I mean the very best soft vanilla caramel you can get, like Godiva’s soft caramel centers. The sediment in the bottom of your last cup? The first time I made this tea I rinsed that out, thinking it was some fine tea dust. No. EAT IT! Stick your finger in there and get it because it is sweet, light, vanilla goodness.

How good is it? The friend who was trying it with me just ordered a whole pound!

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drank Vanilla Comoro by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Okay, so this stuff was making me nuts! There was something about it that I just couldn’t put my finger on! So tonight I did a little experiment. I have seen this tea described as a dessert tea, as sugar cookies, etc. but I was picking up something familiar – and beloved – and I think I have it. This tea reminds me of pure maple syrup. In the best way possible, too. I actually heated a tiny amount of maple syrup, stuck my finger in it and tasted, and alternated tasting the syrup with deeply inhaling the aroma of the tea. As I combined those two experiences, I not only detected some maple scents in the leaves, it also seemed to make me zero in on a bourbon-type aroma in the dry leaves like a fine bourbon vanilla. Just heavenly. Not sickly sweet, at least not to me. This stuff is great. Oh when will my big bag arrive? Sigh.

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drank Vanilla Comoro by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Tried this for the first time tonight. Hubby says buy the one pound loose leaf bag on my next Harney order. It’s that good.

This is my first vanilla tea. I opened the sample pack, and wished I could stick in a spoon and just eat what was in there! It was heavenly. Hubby was intrigued by it. Then we tasted it with a friend. All three of us said, “Oooooo, ahhhhh.” My twelve year old said it was too strong for her -she doesn’t like flavored tea and prefers black tea with milk and LOTS of sugar – so we gave her a re-brew of the leaves and she loved it. This is heaven sent since I can’t handle caffeine at night, and my husband is trying to cut way back on caffeine. Can’t wait to get more….

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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83
drank Peppermint by Harney & Sons
259 tasting notes

Out to a bookstore/tea/coffee place with some friends late on Saturday night. Caffeine is out for me. I notice that Harney & Sons teas are being sold.

This is a post-prandial cup of tea and I’m stuffed to the gills. Plain peppermint seems like an excellent, simple, uncomplicated choice for the occasion.

I ordered a “medium” and they put two tea bags in the cup. I am quite certain that their water was about 50 times the temperature of boiling—maybe their water was about 2500 degrees on the Kelvin scale. So my tea steeped for a good ten minutes before I could take a taste.

Finally I was rewarded with a big, single-note peppermint tea that was more flavorful than other peppermints I have had. I don’t feel a need to keep this at home, but if I ever wanted a straight, strict peppermint, I would turn to Harney & Sons. This refreshing tea kept me perky and also permitted me to descend into the arms of Morpheus when the time came.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Golden Monkey and I go way back. When I first started drinking hot tea instead of sweet Southern style iced tea, I took it with milk and sugar.

One day I posted on Harney and Sons Facebook wall about a tea of theirs I liked, and a man recommended that I try GM. I was in my tea ordering frenzy at the time and bought some right away. He had said it was very sweet and wonderful, so my friend and I sat down with great expectations as we tasted it.

I added sugar but no milk and said “BLECH!” It wasn’t good! We decided it must need honey instead of sugar and again, not good. Finally we tried it plain and heaven opened and angels began to sing. NATURALLY sweet! And so full of flavor that I would have missed if I buried it under sugar.

I am not a huge snob who looks down on people who add sugar to their tea, but most good tea tastes best without it to me. There are a few to which I will always add sugar and many I will NEVER add sugar.

Anyway, one of our Writers’ Group members always arrives early because she rides the bus. I don’t know why, but last night it occurred to me that perhaps she doesn’t have time to eat since she has to leave early to catch the bus. I offered her some dinner and she happily accepted. It was just vegetable soup and a peanut butter sandwich, but she wanted tea to go with it. I felt that it needed a black tea to go with it well, but I knew she preferred greens and doesn’t generally add sugar. I chose GM because of its very special flavors, its ability to stand with a meal, and its general smoothness.

I am happy to say that she and (later when they arrived) the whole group really liked it. We drink oolongs mostly, and a few greens, so it was a nice change to have some smooth and sweet black tea.

Our group, by the way, consists of four adults over 45, three young adults age 20-28, and four or five teens around 15-16 years old. We are trying to come up with a name for ourselves that includes tea, so suggest away!

mrmopar

How about “The Cupa Teaeers”

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Golden Monkey is a fabulous tea, and this one from Harney and Sons is far superior to the Teavana version to me. This particular year’s harvest was especially rich, full bodied, and dark. Last year it was a wee bit lighter because of the drought, I am told.

My guest said she thought there was almost a molasses taste or something similar. I think of it more as malt and rich, chewy raisins. The tea was paired with apple dumplings from that easy peasy pinterest recipe that has been going around, and it was delicious!

For the apple dumplings, just spoon either Comstock Apple Pie Filling or Stouffers escalloped appled onto a Pillsbury crescent roll, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon (I used Vietnamese), roll up tightly so the juice doesn’t leak out, bake for 12-15 minutes, and serve while warm, drizzled with Hershey’s caramel sauce. Yums!

JacquelineM

That sounds so yummy! Thank you for sharing :)

ashmanra

Oh, Jacqueline, you are kind to say that! I know you would go out and pick the apples, grind the cinnamon, make homemade caramel sauce….and sometimes I do! But hubby loved the leftovers warmed up and topped with vanilla ice cream!

JacquelineM

My in laws are crazy for the crescent rolls and always bring them over to bake for dinners, but I buy them for them since they are my guests – and we wind up with 10 tubes :) I am always looking for things to do with the extra tubes! I made a yummy pot pie with them but this looks even nicer!

ashmanra

Cut a small piece of Brie, place on a crescent roll wrap andtop with a little brown sugar, and roll it up and bake as usual. Yummy!

Or….You can cook one or two of them in the oven flat and use them to top chicken veggie soup so it is chicken pot pie soup.

gmathis

Y’all are making me HUNGRY!

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

I have purchased this tea three times, each time from a different harvest and each time from Harney and Sons. And each tin has been ever so slightly different. I guess this tea is especially sensitive to environmental changes. Every tin has been really good tea, but this third one has been phenomenal.

This was the last tea we drank today and it stopped me in my tracks. After the first sip I just about swooned. It was that good. This batch seems richer, more honeyed, more…molasses and raisins? I am glad they held out for really good tea instead of buying what was readily available.

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

This was the final tea for tea party yesterday. I can’t wait to open the new tin and see how the newer harvest compares to this one!

Jacqueline requested pics of the dingo and pups. I hope I did this right!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/6555735065/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/6555735753/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/6555736171/in/photostream/

Ellyn

thoose dogs are so cute! They are so lucky to be in your home :)

ashmanra

Thank you! My daughters are thrilled, and the doggie seems very happy. I don’t think she had been in a house before, because it wasn’t until the second day that she figured out the magic that is the kitchen.

Ellyn

I agree that if she didn’t know the wonderous land of the Kitchen she likely was not in a house before — my doggie knows the minute I start cooking to run over!

JacquelineM

I almost fell on the floor. They are all so beautiful – mama and babies and (I’m thinking) Gracie!!!

ashmanra

Aw, thank you! We have snuggled them a lot tonight, they will all be very well socialized by the time they are eligible for adoption.

ashmanra

Oh, and you are right! That is Gracie getting the doggie sugar! I tried to post the nc and it didn’t seem to work so I was wondering how you saw her, I didn’t know you could see all the pictures! This is my first time posting links like that. Remember how you had to post the mole photo for me, Jacqueline? :) Aren’t you proud of me for figuring it out! LOL!

Dinosara

Aww, so adorable!

JacquelineM

I am proud :) I am technologically challenged too, so I know just how confusing it all is! I drive my coworkers and husband crazy – I just LOOK at the printer and it goes wackadoodle. I must have a strange electromagnetic force!!

Also, here is a photo of one of the finch babies: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiemania/6559644645/in/photostream

ashmanra

EEEE! So exciting! What kind of finches are they? When I was a teen a good friend raised zebra finches, and since then I have seen so many beautiful kinds! I used to work for a real estate company and two guys who rented a house in the historic district turned a pantry with a French door into an aviary! With potted trees and everything! I have wanted one ever since! :)

JacquelineM

The are zebra finches! The beak should turn orange when they are mature enough to live without their parents. The males should get the side orange patches by then too. Right now they all look grey.

My coworker wants to build an aviary! I keep looking around my house for a spot ;)

ashmanra

The local nursing homes put them in what is basically a tall, wide curio cabinet with long branches propped side to side. Not a bad substitute! You are going to love them. They are so pretty!

JacquelineM

Sorry to inundate you – but here is a video too!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/0Christy1#g/u

ashmanra

So sweet! And I had to turn the sound off because little Lucy started barking furiously when she heard the tweets! Oh my! She didn’t make a single sound for two days, then barked at a passerby, and doesn’t bark when guests come in the front door, yet a birdie tweet means she has to defend the perimeter at great decibels!

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Our final tea for tea party today was Golden Monkey. We serve this one at least half the time because it is guaranteed to be a great pot of tea. I am nearly out of my second tin of tis, and I am rather excited to open the new one to see if there is a big difference in the two harvests.

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Whenever I go a little while without making Golden Monkey, I am always delighted and surprised when I lift my cup to my lips and I smell that incredibly rich and caramel aroma. Hints of chocolate, hints of fruit, a deluge of honey notes….exquisite tea.

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Rat lunch with Golden Monkey today! I was so glad to hear the kettle whistle as I finished my ironing and youngest made lunch. I am not the biggest fan of ironing, though I did have a good, bebop-ing playlist on to make it a tad more palatable. Dessert was Bissingers Chocolates.

After tea time, our teacups began to rattle, the chandelier swung a little, and the mirror on the wall shook. Our first earthquake! You really notice it in a house full of teacups! LOL!

We are so accustomed to the artillery at Fort Bragg shaking the ground for miles around, that it took us a bit to realize something different was happening!

SimplyJenW

I felt it here, too. So glad you are fine!

gmathis

Yay—no smashed china!

Indigobloom

Hey I felt it by us to!! except I thought it was the subway rumbling underneath us :x

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

I wasn’t going to review this one again, but tonight I decided to do something different. I didn’t really have anything I wanted to drink with supper and a good bit of this was still left in the tetsubin. I put a little sugar in a tall glass, poured some of the still hot tea over it, stirred, and put in a bit of ice. Delicious! These leaves went a long way. I had steeped, then resteeped and added that to the tetsubin, and some of it was left from yesterday. The tea still had plenty of strength.

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Youngest and I are having rat lunch, which Jacqueline and a few others will know is grilled cheese sandwich with tea. We are supplementing with fresh cherries, blueberries, and peaches, as well as some new cheese for youngest to try. I have been trying to get her to try REAL parmesan for a while now, and today was the day. She loved it!

Accompanying it all is Golden Monkey, one of our favorite in the whole wide world teas. I am taking mine plain and enjoying the honeyed-caramel sweetness, while youngest is taking it with milk and sugar for a more breakfast tea type of treat.

Just inhaling the aroma of this tea is a treat for me. I think my eyes roll back in my head a little when I do, for sheer ecstasy.

teawing

I think I had rat lunch every day last week. Now I know what it was called!

JacquelineM

I wanted a rat lunch so bad today, and we were out of cheese! What kind of rat family are we?!!?!? Thankfully David is going to the market on his way home to stock up the nest!

ashmanra

You know, we named it after the children’s book called I Was A Rat! At the time, when it said they made tea and toasted cheese I thought it meant grilled cheese sandwich, but now I think it probably meant cheese toast. Still, the name shall stand! It is a wonderful lunch. And do all the cheese toast fans out there agree that nothing goes better with chicken soup than cheese toast? That is a frequent winter lunch around here.

ashmanra

Jacqueline, I wish you could have joined us for rat lunch! I went to the store for mustard today and came home with three kinds of cheese, too, even though we already had at least four kinds here! And then my son was pleading for baked Brie, so I have to make that again tomorrow. We should have really strong bones…

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

This cup of Golden Monkey is from the new season’s batch. I am going to try to pay attention and do a more thorough review! First, it still has that wonderful, full bodied aroma with honey notes, but when it was piping hot I picked up something I don’t remember from last year’s crop. When I inhale deeply there is a high, light citrus note, like lemon in tea. Could this be the green apple note that you mentioned in the Upton GM, Jacqueline? And was it there in the old one and I didn’t notice? Perhaps it is because this is leftover tea that we are reheating, or perhaps how it was made yesterday, but I do think the body is lighter. It used to seem almost thick and syrupy to me, but this is perhaps a little thinner than before. Youngest loves GM, but she adds milk and sugar. She thought it tasted the same, but said it is possible that it has less honey sweetness. We will brew another pot and try again, making sure we have plenty of leaves, though we used the same amount as usual last time. It is definitely still more full-bodied than GM from Teavana, which I like a lot as a milk and sugar breakfast tea.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

So good, so full bodied, so smooth, so rich and caramel/honey flavored that it makes me sigh a little every time I have it. Yum.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

I haven’t had this one in a while….still as rich and lovely as ever!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Complexity doesn’t begin to describe this cup of tea! Before it reaches my lips, the aroma is intoxicating. Sweet, smooth, caramel, honey, golden goodness, call it what you will – this is one of the best teas I have EVER had. And this one is the most golden-sweet honeyed one of all that I have tried.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C
SimplyJenW

I had some of this today, too!

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Excellent, as always! Mike Harney just posted that he is on his way to India and China to buy tea, and I reminded him to be sure to pick up some Golden Monkey. This one stays sold out because it is so popular, and for good reason. The honeyed sweetness and rich body combined with its incredible smoothness are hard to beat.

Tea party today was extra special, celebrating the end of my radiation treatments. We had homemade three layer chocolate cake, Hershey pie, and fresh local strawberries sliced and sprinkled with sugar around lunchtime to sweeten until tea time! We chose Golden Monkey, Vanilla Comoro, and Irish Breakfast as our teas for today. Golden Monkey always wins when we ask which was the favorite!

Preparation
Boiling
JacquelineM

YAY! What a great reason to celebrate! I’ve been eating Rat lunches and thinking of you :)

What is Hershey pie? Sounds like something I need to learn about :)

gmathis

Belated, but celebrating with you!

ashmanra

This Hershey pie is “store-bought” from the freezer section! It is called Edwards’ Hershey Cream Pie and it was quite good. I am pretty sure there are also recipes for a homemade one as they even used to sell a boxed kit to make these. We do make a Hershey Bar Cake that is soooo rich and yummy. I can send you the recipe on that one if you like! It is Devil’s food cake with pudding added and a cream cheese and whipped cream frosting with bits of Hershey Bar in. Yum! (Of course, we add one extra candy bar over what the recipe calls for!)

JacquelineM

That sounds so good! I have a soft spot for Hershey – we like to visit Hershey Park in Hershey PA, and go to Chocolate World :) The chocolate there is so perfectly fresh and delicious!

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Tea party day! This was exquisite, as always. Rich, round, full, sweet – this is the best tea ever!

Preparation
Boiling

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

This is it – the best, the ultimate tea for tea party day. We make it every week now because it is the favorite. Rich, smooth, full, caramel-y flavor. WE LOVE THE MONKEY! Thank you, JacquelineM, for replenishing my tin! Hopefully Harney will get some more and then there will be a one pound bag on the way to my house!

Preparation
Boiling

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

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drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
3224 tasting notes

Our most dearly loved tea party tea – caramel, honey, smooth, rich, LOVE!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C

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