There wasn’t a sample size of this on the site and I felt pretty confident this would probably be good enough to buy a tin on instead. I may have been wrong. My tastebuds might be ruined from vanilla teas like Black Orchid from Mariage Freres and The A La Vanille from Theodor. This falls very flat compared to those. The vanilla is light, weak and one dimensional, the black tea is flat and cardboard like. My mouth is left feeling dry after each sip. There is no finish. I feel really silly having bought this tin. Reading over tons of glowing reviews of this tea leaves me feeling baffled that so many love this stuff so much!
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Maybe use it to blend with other teas?
(also, that’s how I feel about having purchased Boston. Still hoping I will find a way to love it.).
Serve it to unpicky guests :P mwahaha ^^
I never loved this one like others seem to either.
There is a neighbor kid who likes it, so maybe I’ll pass it off to her if I can’t figure out a way to enjoy it. I think I’ve ordered Harney once before and wasn’t super impressed. I thought I’d give it another go, but so far I’m having the same impression as before.
So far, I have been impressed with their straight tea blends. Flavoured teas not so much.
I only love this one loose leaf. Years ago, JacquelineM discovered that storing the pound bag upside down led to better distribution of the vanilla bean specks. A lot of teas, I think, are suffering because of vanilla bean prices skyrocketing, This tea used to be full of bean specks and had a caramel flavor from so much vanilla, i bought a tin of sachets at Target and it was a great disappointment in comparison.
Thank you for this tidbit, ashmanra. I bought a sample with my H & S order. I’ll store it upside down. The potential loss of true vanilla bean in our lives saddens me.
I wonder if this tea has permanently gone downhill. I’ll try the upside-down trick!
I had no idea about vanilla prices going up! It’s a fascinating plant. I used to have one, but didn’t have room to let it grow. The plant takes ten years to reach fruiting maturity and the beans take a year to develop from what I recall.
Maybe use it to blend with other teas?
(also, that’s how I feel about having purchased Boston. Still hoping I will find a way to love it.).
Serve it to unpicky guests :P mwahaha ^^
I never loved this one like others seem to either.
There is a neighbor kid who likes it, so maybe I’ll pass it off to her if I can’t figure out a way to enjoy it. I think I’ve ordered Harney once before and wasn’t super impressed. I thought I’d give it another go, but so far I’m having the same impression as before.
So far, I have been impressed with their straight tea blends. Flavoured teas not so much.
I only love this one loose leaf. Years ago, JacquelineM discovered that storing the pound bag upside down led to better distribution of the vanilla bean specks. A lot of teas, I think, are suffering because of vanilla bean prices skyrocketing, This tea used to be full of bean specks and had a caramel flavor from so much vanilla, i bought a tin of sachets at Target and it was a great disappointment in comparison.
Thank you for this tidbit, ashmanra. I bought a sample with my H & S order. I’ll store it upside down. The potential loss of true vanilla bean in our lives saddens me.
I wonder if this tea has permanently gone downhill. I’ll try the upside-down trick!
I had no idea about vanilla prices going up! It’s a fascinating plant. I used to have one, but didn’t have room to let it grow. The plant takes ten years to reach fruiting maturity and the beans take a year to develop from what I recall.