SoHo Blend

I had a sampling of this tea before my vacation and wrote a review on it that posted while I was somewhere in the middle of the pacific ocean. When I got back, I promptly finished the remainder of my sample.

Very nice tea! Pretty dry leaf with pink amaranth petals. Steeped up, SoHo Blend smells like hot chocolate. The flavor has a great malty black tea base with a smooth chocolate flavor. There is a hint of sweet coconut and floral adding a nice sophistication to the tea. With that said, super tasty! I could be convinced to purchase more of this tea – highly recommended for a chocolately dessert tea lover! I actually like this blend more than all the other H&S teas I’ve tried so far!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/soho-blend-from-harney/

Blerg. I’ve totally fallen out of love with this one. I originally was very impressed, but I don’t know if it hasn’t aged well or if my palette is more refined, but I am counting the number of steeps until I can move on to something else from H & S that I like better, like Florence. At least I still have some Paris to work on also, which is one of their best flavored blends, IMHO.

SIPDOWN! (232) Another one from cavocorax I can’t remember if i asked her to send this to me or it was a random H&S tea because i hadn’t tried it yet but hey..it’s here and i’m drinking it up! :) I didn’t really pay attention to the flavouring of the tea, just brewed it up and took my first sip. I’m happy to say that my tastebuds aren’t totally wonky because this was for sure a chocolate and coconut tea!

What i like about this is how the chocolate and coconut are really well balanced in this. Neither one is over powering the other, which is good for me because it means i can drink it and am enjoying it! I’m not overly a fan of coconut in teas but with the chocolate it’s really nice and not the least bit cloying or too sweet.

Thanks again Cavo!

Actual tasting note

Tea of the morning. Needed something simple to prepare (I have this in bagged form) since my brain is busy with other things of late. Served with creamer and it is more vanilla coconut which works for me – I don’t really like chocolate in tea. A good convenience option.

Miscellaneous updates

It has been a busy few weeks for me! I went on a cruise with some friends to the Bahamas where it was the height of summer in November and came back to freezing cold temps. Considering the exact opposite happened in September (went to Germany where it was autumn, and then came back to late summer weather) I think my body is truly confused about the seasons.

I came back to work after the Bahamas trip and had an epiphany of sorts – I can’t do my current job anymore. Well, I mean, I can do the actual work, but I can’t work for the management as it is now. So, I put in my notice. My last day is December 17th, and we’re moving.

From Georgia to Oregon. Just because we looked at a map and it seemed like it was calling to us. I love being outside and hiking and I love challenges and the unknown. And I’ve been a nurse for 2 years now – I’m ready to take these skills on the road and see what happens.

Well. I just learned something completely disappointing. One of my favorite hockey players, whose jersey I own while the team was here in Atlanta, got a DUI in his native Czech Republic. He had a .20% BAC level while driving a BMW M6, which kind of says, “I have a lot of money and you know, I probably have it for a cab fare.” I am so angry I can’t even think.

So I need something happy. Chocolate! I’ve been meaning to try this sample from Alphakitty and now is the time.

This is really good. I think the flower petals even add a little something to it. It has a good chocolate flavor, enhanced by the base. As usual it’s not chocolatey enough but I could probably go swim in chocolate right now and not think it wasn’t chocolatey enough. I’m loving the coconut in here too. It lingers after each sip and adds a nice creaminess to the tea without having to add any milk.

I definitely want to get a tin of this!

And now maybe my internet will stay connected so I can post this.

Some SoHo Blend from Dexter3657!

Thank you, Dexter. :)

This tea is very similar to Florence, but it has pink flowers in it and also coconut. It’s pretty good, but I am not completely enamoured. I might be having an off day though, so it’s good I have more from VariaTEA so I can try again!

I blind purchased this because I absolutely love coconut. My first 3 cups at longer steeping times (+3 mins) were all disappointments. Very bitter, no coconut – just floral and sickeningly sweet. Blerg!

But, when steeped for 3 minutes or less, I get coconut reminiscent of coconut ice, and a slight chocolate hit. Very sweet. When milk is added, the creaminess of the coconut comes out a titch more but not much. When cooled, it becomes very floral. A nice medium-light dessert tea.

I’m on the hunt for a great coconut, and while this isn’t bad, I don’t think this is it. So may not replenish this one once I’m out. We’ll see what future cups bring.

Thanks to SimplyJenW for sending me this sample, which was a while ago but I’m just now getting around to it. I was definitely interested in this blend when it came out because I love chocolate, and I love coconut, and I often love them together. I tried this tea once before at the NY Coffee and Tea Festival, but it was actually horribly oversteeped and bitter. Now I get to try it under better circumstances!

The dry leaf is very pretty with all the pink flower buds in the mix, and it smells very chocolatey and coconutty. When steeped, it smells like a fairly classic chocolate/coconut blend. I’ve had a couple from different companies now, and they all have that melding of the two notes in the aroma. The difference between those blends and this one is the flavor. Wow, this is delicious! I guess I might have expected it because I love Harney’s coconut in the Royal Wedding blend. Sometimes chocolate/coconut teas can actually turn my stomach a bit for some reason (no idea why), but that is definitely not the case here. The flavor is sweet and oh-so-creamy. Chocolatey, coconutty, and balanced in such a way that neither flavor is dominent. I think the black base here is just adding to the body and richness because it doesn’t really stick out from the blend. Definitely enjoy this cup way more than the oversteeped sample I had at the CTF! Thanks again Jen!

I am at the cottage and bought a new teapot while antiquing. I guess “new” and “antiquing” don’t really go together but you know what I mean. I would have liked to brew an oolong in it but didnt bring any and I couldn’t wait till Tuesday so .. SoHo it is.

It’s just as good as the first time. I can’t detect any difference as a result of having brewed it straight into this pot. I’m wondering if I can drink any other teas out of it rather than just one. Anyway… The point is, this is a good tea! (And somehow I haven’t rated this until today)

ETA: oh, here’s the teapot. I feel like I should name it, I’m introducing it around :)
http://instagram.com/p/cm5QStnqa6/

I am always impressed with the smoothness of Harney blends, but this one is just not for me.
Successful sipdown!