Palm Court

Had with afternoon tea hazelnut and jam ladyfingers, cuke cream cheese sandwiches, and Moulins Mahjoub artichoke spread on toast (I am in love with that stuff, going to be very sad when our jar’s empty…got it on sale at Zingerman’s this spring). Yummy.

There’s a lot going on in this tea. I also think I get different flavors every time I drink it. It’s a blend made up of: Keemun, Assam, Oolong, and Ceylon. I initially tasted a lot of Assam, which made me think I should cut the brewing the time (I usually just go for three minutes with Assams), but then the strangest thing happened…

I was sitting in class with a big thermos of this, trying to wake myself up. All of it sudden, it tasted like a pure Keemun. I kept wondering if I had brewed a Keemun instead in the morning (let’s face it- mornings and me aren’t the closest of friends). I didn’t think about it for the rest of the day. The next morning I pried my eyes open and made sure I brewed the right tea… same thing happened.

Maybe the teas weren’t evenly distributed in the blend I received. Regardless, it’s not a bad tea, but it needs to make up its mind!

Saturday Sample Sipdown #4 (I think I was on #4…)

This one is from Rachel! Thanks, Rachel!

The initial aroma of this while it was steeping led me to believe that it would be very bitter & that I wouldn’t like it.
Interestingly enough, it doesn’t really taste the way it smells. It’s smooth, pleasantly bold, slightly astringent, and there is a brightness to it as well. I feel that it’s lacking something, like a little depth, right in the middle of the flavor profile it’s a little ‘hollow’.
Having said that, it’s not bad!

A hearty blend of four teas (Keemun, Assam, Oolong, & Ceylon) makes for a delicious cup that you can enjoy while commemorating this tea’s creation for New York’s Plaza Hotel’s Palm Court.

The scent of the leaf is bold and winy – it reminded me of opening a bottle of a good dry red wine.

The liquor is dark and red. The flavor is very bold, and I taste mostly Assam with some overtones of Ceylon and something else. Very little bitterness, and the fermented grape smell persists after brewing.

I was feeling really tired (even after two cups of Florence) so I decided to open my sampler pouch of Palm Court another Harney and Sons Tea that I have been dying to try based on the reviews from fellow Steepsters. I opened the pouch and the smell of Tea hits me bold just Tea smells (but they are good tea smells) and so I think this is going to be just what I need to wake me up and get me going. I take my first sip and I think wow it’s pretty good I really don’t know how to describe the flavors other than they taste like tea a strong black tea, I can say I smell the oolong which is never a disappointment as I love me some oolongs but the other teas are I think Assam and Keemum which I have never tried on their own so I cannot give a tasting note on that portion. It’s full bodied and so I thought this tea needs a little sweetener so I then added a little german rock sugar (I normally do not add sugar to my teas) so then I took another sip and I think WOW that’s sweet maybe I overdid it with a teaspoon of sugar it’s pretty sweet now so I do not think I can give an accurate review of this tea at this time because of the sugar but I will say that it does seem to be waking me up which was the point after all. Oh and I almost forgot the color of this tea is beautiful, it’s a red orange color I am so glad I bought this glass mug because I did not realize all the beautiful tea colors I had been missing out on the colors really bring a new dimension to the enjoyment of Tea! Back to the review as with all the teas I’ve tried from Harney’s this seems to be of outstanding quality and the brewed leaves unfurl and you can see the different types of leaves quite nicely.
This might sound weird but this tea now that I have sweetened it would probably be really good iced. Hmmm come on summer months I am ready to start icing me some teas!

This tea has a pleasant, subtle aroma and rich, dark color. The taste is very smooth, not bitter, with an only slightly dry finish. There is a very, very slight sweetness to it, but hardly noticeable. This is not a terribly intriguing blend but it is not bad at all. It is a straight-forward, uncomplicated, medium-bodied cup of tea. It takes cream and sugar well. There are more interesting blends available, in my opinion, but this is not bad.

This was delicious and I drank it sooooo fast. Surely a sign of a good tea? Harney & Son’s website is somewhat ambiguous about the history of this tea. It seems to suggest this tea was blended for The Plaza Hotel’s famous restaurant “The Palm Court” in NY and that it’s the preferred tea of choice of the guests there – yet I can’t find anything to back this up on The Palm Court’s website. Of all the samples I ordered from Harney & Son’s this was repurchase for sure! Delicious & enjoyable!

Had this yesterday for brunch. It was light bodied, with a pleasing fresh stone fruit taste. Totally into this. Also… got to like a tea that has a historical bend.

Not My Cup O’ Tea TTB

This is a nice, basic black tea blend. I found it to be smooth but flavorful and aromatic with notes of baked bread, honey, and stonefruits. Whoever placed this in the box included a note recommending a 3-minute steep instead of the 4-5 minutes prescribed on the bag and I agree…it was definitely strong enough after 3 minutes!