Brigitte's Blend

Sorry to have been a bit absent lately.
I have something strange going on with my nose. lol
Feels like someone punched me in it.
Started to hurt on the right side then went over the other side effecting my entire nose bridge.
Doctor gave me a script to which I had an allergic reaction to. Not a shock I am allergic to almost every pill one can imagine.
Anyway – between that and trying to get ready for our four day excursion which is like packing for a month long cruise with our health issues between my daughter and myself, I’m beat.
Alas the tea … Thank you ashmanra a nice black tea is what THIS doctor ordered! :)
Slightly malty, with a full mouthfeel which I love.
Roasty, a good coffee replacement especially if one were to make it with extra leaf!
Mmmmm a nice one!

Sipdown no. 77 of the year 2014. I’m sorry to see this sample go. This tea is going on the wishlist for whenever I am able to place a Harney & Sons order.

Ah, Brigitte. It has been so long since we met, and yet, like the best of friends we are able to pick up right where we left off, without missing a beat.

I am upping your rating slightly because you manage to pull off an incredibly full bodied flavor without bitterness or bite. You’re smooth, malty, cocoa-y, just sweet enough and all the things I said about you before are as true today as when we first met.

You are delicious.

Tea of the afternoon…

I need a serious pick me up and this is it! The last time I had Brigitte, it was very strong. This time I added a small amount of milk….just enough to turn the color caramel and the tea slightly murkey (how do you describe the clarity loss by the addition of milk?…pull in the token gross lake water example…good!)

This is so much better than last time. It is rich, maltey, and strong. I don’t have many teas in my cupboard that stand up to milk this well. I also think I have been adding too much milk when I have added it in the past. A small amount does the trick. This tea is moving from the chopping block back to the general population.

Steeped by my usual parameters. Plus milk!

I also have a new kettle. After the fiasco that ended with two non-functioning VarieTEA kettles (Adagio’s customer service is stellar, BTW. They must be ripping their hair out.) I bought the UtiliTEA after returning the duds (The VarieTEA was a really nice kettle when it was working! It just seems they have a few kinks to work out.) Love the little kettle. I just wish its functioning consistency was paired with the bigger volume and sleekness of the other.

Harney & Sons has such nice black tea blends. I got this as a sample and was looking forward to trying it this morning. I may have used a tiny bit more leaf than usual because I wanted something to wake me up!

What I got was a very dark cup that is smooth and rich. The assam lends a malty and stout note while the ceylon seems to have a fruity, chocolate and sweetish note. Well, I liked it, really works for me! I did try sipping on it plain just to get the mix of flavors. but then added soymilk to it because that’s normally how I would take this type of tea, it’s such a great breakfast blend. I will be tempted to get more the next time I order something from Harney. It would certainly be good to have around for the every day and the BF would like it too…

But then I also like the Palm Court and there’s a few others I haven’t even tried. Such difficult decisions. :)

Dang this is a chocolate-y tea! Steeping the sweet chocolate smell (there’s a little honey too) is overwhelming and really inviting. Sipping it, there’s the slightest tinge of bitterness and a splitsecond moment of astringency, just enough to give the sweetness some edge. Excellent. Doesn’t need milk or sugar (though I’ll note the tannic astringency builds up in the mouth as you drink—I don’t mind it unadulterated but I reckon many Steepsters would) but I’m betting it could take to either or both like a champ too. I’m really enjoying my Harney black blend samples, I gotta say.

Today’s winner in the tea party test! This had the headiness of an assam, a lovely bright tingle in the mouth, and lots of added interest from the silvery Ceylon. Good tea! We drank this one with no additions. I think of it as a very, very refined Irish Breakfast. But I am a novice, so what do I know? We only steeped it for 3 minutes 45 seconds because I fear many assams. I will steep it a little longer next time.

I just got this in yesterday from Harney. I brewed up a cup this morning, 5 minutes in the steep and drank it with cream and sugar. It’s really a beautiful tea, very mellow but with a decent kick to it. I’ll have to try it tomorrow without the cream, just a little sugar and see how that is. A very nice tea.

A delicious blend of Ceylon and Assam with a smooth finish, makes this a great tea to start your day!

Good, rich flavor. Tastes much like Twinings Irish Breakfast, which is also an Assam/Ceylon blend. The leaves are not as broken as the Twinings, and are probably of somewhat higher quality. On the other hand, I am not sure that this is worth the extra expense ($10 for a four oz tin vs. $4.99 for 3.53 oz tin of the Twinings. The second steeping was weaker, but it allowed the Ceylon flavor to come out more.

In an interview, Brigitte Harney told us about this blend -

“Michael blended it. He took two of my favorite teas—at least, they were my favorites at that moment. It’s a full-leaf assam that has a nice roundness to it, and then he added another assam from Sri Lanka–a beautiful estate tea that has a lot of gold and silver tips in it, much more mellow than most Ceylons. So that is blended in Brigitte’s Blend, pretty much 50 50. And that’s very good. (laughs)”

http://womensvoicesforchange.org/tea-talk-a-conversation-with-brigitte-harney.htm