82 Tasting Notes

74

I had to be away from home for a little bit without most of my tea. I brought a couple of bags along, but ended up in the mood for something fruity.

Luckily, my favorite coffee shop came to the rescue. I am not really sure what I love about this tea. It doesn’t pack too much of a punch, but the black tea is comforting if not sharp, the ginger is present if not strong enough to make your mouth tingle, and the peach is delicious.

I’ve been drinking it hot (the a/c at the hotel was a bit overbearing; the a/c at work is the same), and tried it iced last night as well. It’s soothing and refreshing and deliciously peachy either way.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec

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85

I like the loose leaf version so much I grabbed the bagged for work when I went for a refill. It’s not nearly as good as the loose leaf; the cinnamon was way too strong, and the cup in general was way too sweet. Pretty overwhelming, really. It also has a weird, slightly oily texture to it from the bag.

It’s not undrinkable — I’ll finish of the box at least, though probably a LOT more slowly than I went through the loose leaf — but if you’re looking for a convenient tea with these flavors, Harney and Sons has a much better version (in sachets).

Not changing my score, though, because I still adore the “real” version!

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81

Another yummy one. It reminds me a bit of Market Spice’s signature tea; it’s not quite as strong, but it’s also much smoother and less acidic, and it leaves a nice, toasty feeling in your stomach. I can’t decide which I like better.

It’s delicious and cinnamony, with just a hint of orange, and the cloves come through, too. It’s sweet enough on its own and doesn’t need anything added.

While the Market Spice Tea is one of my favorites to wake up with, I’d prefer this in the afternoon. I don’t know if that makes sense. But it’s definitely delicious!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Jenn

I love this tea as well. It’s really refreshing iced!

PeppermintPlant

I bet it’s amazing iced. I have not been real fond of iced tea until recently, but it’s starting to grow on me. :)

Jenn

Do it! Do It! Do it! :)

PeppermintPlant

I think I’ll have to, now. It may be a few weeks for my next order, though, I just got another bunch of samples. >.>

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100
drank Paris by Harney & Sons
82 tasting notes

Don’t mind me, just upping this to 100 because it’s my favorite tea in the world right now.

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54

Picked up some almond milk and tried this again. With the milk added, it was still not great. It might have worked out with actual milk (I can’t drink it), but with the almond stuff, it just made the chalkiness of the chocolate more noticeable.

I don’t know, maybe I am just biased because I am a fan of hot cocoa, and this is not hot cocoa. I just … don’t really like it. I don’t hate it, it’s just really unsatisfying. I’ll stick to drinking it with a little sugar until the sample’s gone, but that’s about it.

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70

I can’t lie: I was overwhelmed and a little grossed out by the smell of this one when I opened the packet. It was very medicinal smelling. I continued on this pomegranate oolong path, though, because I am nothing if not stubborn. Once it was brewing, the smell was much less overwhelming and maybe a little nice, though it was still pretty strong.

The tea was much better than first whiff. The oolong was pretty light, but it was strong enough that the pomegranate didn’t completely stomp over it. The pomegranate itself is nice and juicy, though there is a very slightly sticky aftertaste (maybe that’s not the word I’m looking for?).

I was really disappointed I’d only had the one sachet, though. It was a decent cup hot, though I don’t think I would go out of my way for it, but I have the feeling it would be incredible iced, and I don’t have any more to test that theory.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 45 sec

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54

I love hot cocoa and I love black tea, so the idea of chocolate tea was amazing to me. I figured I’d grab a sample since I wanted to try a few of Adagio’s other teas.

It smells like really good chocolate. I sort of hovered over my teapot sniffing the air while I waited for it to steep, because yum.

On first sip, I wasn’t really enamored of the taste. The tea was decent, but the chocolate part just tasted like watery chocolate. Also, it was a little bit chalky, like baker’s chocolate. It wasn’t bad at all, but it wasn’t the rich, chocolatey flavor I was expecting after smelling it. I added a little bit (half a teaspoon, maybe?) of sugar to the second cup, and that brought the chocolate flavor out a bit better and got rid of the chalkiness.

I’m not going to rate this one yet, because I have the feeling it would be amazing with just a tiny dollop of almond milk, and I’m out. But it is pretty good.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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80

Just finished up a tiny pot of this. When I opened the sample the other day, the strong, smoky scent — almost reminiscent of smoked salmon — made me set it aside until I was in the mood to be a little more adventurous. Apparently, that day is today.

I was, once again, very pleasantly surprised. I can see why Harney and Sons has such a great reputation after working my way through these samples!

The smoky aroma mellows a lot once it’s brewed. The tea itself is still very smoky, but it stops short of being overwhelming, giving it a nice, strong flavor (just like I prefer!). It’s a good, complex tea, too, a real eye-opener that would be great to wake up with. I’m sorry I didn’t try it earlier.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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76

After being disappointed by the plain tilleul, I was a bit leery of trying this one, but it’s hard to ruin mint herbals, so I gave it a shot anyway.

It was much, much tastier! I still didn’t taste anything that could have been the tilleul, but its influence was felt, I think. The mint was good and strong, but not at all sharp like a lot of mint “teas” can be; I think maybe the tilleul mellowed it a little and made the flavor softer and more soothing? I’m really not sure, but whatever it was definitely worked.

This was a great night-time choice, and my mouth felt very clean after drinking it! It seems like it would be great for settling a sour stomach, too.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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34
drank Tilleul by Harney & Sons
82 tasting notes

This was my first experience with tilleul. I thought I would like it, but I was unimpressed. There just really wasn’t much flavor to it at all; it went beyond “delicate” to “boiled water with a very slight aftertaste if you hunt for it.” It was really disappointing, particularly because the other Harney and Sons teas I’ve been trying have been anywhere from solid to oh my gosh amazing. This is the first real miss.

It smells great, though. If it tasted like it smells, I probably would have loved it.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec

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Profile

Bio

I love tea! I still don’t know very much about it, though; I know what I like and what I don’t, and that’s about it.

Aside from tea (and food), I enjoy crafty stuff, writing, reading and playing with my cats.

About my ratings: I need to go through and redo them, because really I just sort of use that slider as a ranking system and the numbers for a lot of the teas I’ve done notes for don’t accurately reflect how I actually feel about them. :/

Location

California

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