SoHo Blend

I tried at 3 minutes and it was nice, but on the okayish side. At 5 minutes, this was blowing my mind. It definitely think it’s one of those teas you don’t have to be exacting about steeping, since there’s just more chocolate and coconut goodness coming out of the leaves. And I LOVE coconut (why do those who dislike coconut try it and expect anything different? who knows). The amaranth came through mostly when I opened the tin and smelled the dry leaves, but I think there’s a pleasant amaranth bouquet that pops up in the aftertaste- The chocolate and coconut is much stronger, though.

I am not a huge fan of chocolate normally but the amount of chocolate in this is heavenly paired with the coconut. I decided to add a little bit of milk and felt like I was enjoying a slice of cream cake, very decadent.

This came by way of swap with OhFancyThat, longer ago than I’d care to admit.

I like Harney and Sons, but I’m very picky with chocolate teas, and theirs are not among the ones I typically enjoy. They have that artificial almost cocoa butter flavour which I don’t enjoy. Having said that though, I don’t mind it so much in this tea. SoHo is a chocolate and coconut tea, and I find that the ‘cocoa butter’ note I get from the H&S chocolate flavouring pairs pretty nicely with the coconut note. I really like coconut teas too, which does help quite a bit. The base is only slightly astringent after 4 minutes steeping, and not in a bad way – it works to temper the sweetness of the buttery coconut just enough that it isn’t sickly. Overall it’s not my favourite from Harney, but it might be my favourite of their chocolate teas. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy more, but I would drink it again if I were offered a cup.

Sipdown 220/399.

This is a very mild tea. The coconut is extremely mild and in no way overpowering. Very mild notes of chocolate and I get a little bit of caramel as well. There are no harsh or strong flavors noted in this tea. Fortunately, there is no unpleasant aftertaste either (sometimes coconut gets soapy for me). Overall, this is a nice easy sipper. I wouldn’t mind stronger flavor but this is nice to relax with.

Yum.

Chocolate and coconut is one of my favorite flavor pairings for black tea. The addition of vanilla gives this tea a bit of warmth and depth. It tempers the coconut just a tad, and I can appreciate that. Coconut can be quite overwhelming in tea. I’m getting a bit of almond as well. It sort of reminds me of Rocky Road ice cream with coconut thrown into the mix.

It’s nice black, but I can imagine it’d be awesome as a latte. This is one of my favorite flavored blends from Harney thus far.

Thans to vbrown17 (from reddit) for this sample!

The loose leaf has pink petals in it, so I expected a bit of floral. It smelled of malty black tea, and toasted coconut and cream.

Taste wise, there is a nice rich black base with a malty mouth-feel. Very thick and creamy. Also very smooth. The coconut isn’t too heavy or soapy, which is wonderful. I love how creamy this is in terms of taste and mouthfeel. I want to drink this everyday, it’s like calorie free coconut hot chocolate. There aren’t any chocolate notes in there, exactly, but I would describe it as a very rich dessert-type tea.

This tea is fine as hell, guuurl. A fantastic blend of chocolate, coconut, vanilla, and amaranth petals. Before even trying it you know just by the smell and look (it’s so pretty!) that it’s going to be one helluva cuppa. A must try for anyone who loves flavored teas.

I’ve been having a great tea week!

A tiny part of me wishes I weren’t. I’m able to come up with MUCH FUNNIER stuff to say when reviews are dire. Alas, the stuff in my mouth tastes good, which doesn’t leave a lot of hilarity fodder.

So I’m going to tell you this is a tasty chocolate/vanilla blend with a bit flowers and coconut. If you like those things, you’ll probably like this thing. The only negative thing I can say is that it tastes a tiny bit artificial, but it’s so good overall, I’ll probably be buying more. So there’s that.

Miss my negativity? I do have a negative review about Wendy’s disruption of the Strawberry Fields salad. It was strawberries, chicken, bacon, onion, and bleu cheese crumbles gaily dancing upon greens.

It came every summer and left every fall like glorious clockwork. I spent all 9 cold months pining for it.

This year, they introduced a Summer Berry Chicken Salad instead. It’s not the same and it’s not as good.

It’s like walking into the school cafeteria on Taco Tuesday only to be handed some Sloppy Joe. What is this? Why are you deviating from schedule? I don’t want this. I want the other thing that should be happening right now. I mean, this is fine. It’s not poison; it’s just not what I want.

You want to reach across and bitch-slap the counter-lady, even though you know it’s not her fault. You want to tear off her hairnet, light it on fire, and go streaking through the woods with it aflame.

But you must stay calm and order something else.

Don’t let anyone see your lip quiver as you hold back tears.

One of the handful of Harney samples I got recently. This one has the chocolate flavor similar to their Florence blend. I wasn’t too fond of Florence, but the chocolate works much better in this one. As for the coconut, I honestly thought this blend was supposed to taste like some kind of alcoholic drink before I read the description. There’s a definite heady, boozey aroma to it! While teas that taste like a dessert aren’t everyone’s…wait for it…cup of tea, this one is quite decent instead of just being a mishmash of flavoring.

I have returned from sunny warm climes of Santa Barbara!

Holy carp it’s cold. Brrrr. I’m seriously regretting getting on that plane yesterday. I could have pitched a tent on the beach, right, after my friend got tired of me and kicked me out of his house?

On the brightside, my Black Friday order from Harney & Sons was waiting for me, and I tore into it today. I contemplated my choices and grabbed the SoHo blend for a nice, warm, filling cup of tea on a winter’s day in the DC area. (Granted, it’s relatively warm for a winter’s day, but it’s cold enough I still couldn’t feel my fingers.)

Lovely. Pure bliss. It’s chocolately, nutty, and delicious. A perfect winter’s cup of tea.

I want to love this tea. Many of my tea frienz love this tea. Me? It’s just okay. Coconut, I get. Chocolate, not so much. Thick, for sure. But just missing any depth of flavor that I long for. It’s on the tip of my tongue and that’s it, and these days I expect so much more from a tea.

I think (?) I grabbed this in a joint order about this time last year. Jeepers. Time to start seriously sipping things down if this is the first time I’ve reached for it.