All India Blend

Another well balanced, smoother-than-expected-but-still-classic-tea-taste morning blend from Harney. A little more interest here than in the very straightforward, almost bland (but not weak!) Stanley’s Blend, and a pleasure to drink first thing, but again, Harney’s got so many fantastic invigorating and delicious morning teas I don’t need to order this one. I am generally not a fan of Nilgiri so I do appreciate how here it’s helping balance things, a neat trick. Harney does such a consistently bang up job generating the appealing flavor of legacy-style teas while managing to tame the usually inevitable corresponding bitterness, astringency, tannin, bite. Where you still get to taste the good balancing parts of those components but little to none of their potential unpleasantness. I really admire their blending skills.

This is a wonderfully smooth blend of Assam, Nilgiri, and Darjeeling teas that makes a perfect morning tea.

Another distinctive blend by Harney and Sons! Probably the most complex of the teas of theirs that I have tried: it has the fruity floral taste of the Darjeeling, the rich body of the Assam, and something else which tastes somewhat like Ceylon, and is probably the Nilgiri (which I have not tasted before, either in a blend or by itself). The three flavors go together well, and the finish is somewhat dry and astringent, but not overly so.

This is a smooth, dry, slightly smoky blend. The taste is at first round and bright, then becomes slightly dark and sweet. It leaves a bit of a smoky aftertaste. It’s a little too dry for me but a little cream and sugar help balance the flavor. I steeped this cup for five minutes; shorter steep time may limit the dry and smoky elements. It has a lot of character and complexity and is worth a taste.

I love teas from India and this did not disappoint. It is a good basic black tea that holds up well to milk and sugar. It had different sizes of cut leaf in it, happy that it wasn’t just tea dust. Good everyday tea that I would repurchase if I didn’t love trying new teas all the time

I have to admit I know little about the differences in flavor between various tea varieties and blends. I grew up drinking good ol’ Lipton or Tetley tea bags. I’m slowly learning to differentiate but I’m still quite the newbie in this area.

Having said that, I really like this tea. There is a familiar flavor to it (which I’m going to guess is the Assam because I’m a big fan of Irish Breakfast tea and I’m pretty sure Assam is a key ingredient). It has a slightly malty flavor but it’s not overpowering. If anything the flavors in this tea seems to blend together well with no one taking precedence. I found it to be smooth, mellow and well-blended. With a touch of sweetener and splash of half & half it’s a great cuppa to start the day.

Very smooth. Great tea.

Drank it black once, and I would buy it if I see it again. Has a distinct flavor and smell to it, hard to describe, but I really, really liked it a lot.