Custom - Harney & Sons

One of my favorite chocolate blends. It’s not too sweet, fresh, and minty. I really love the malty black tea with cocoa and vanilla notes. The mint comes in with a tingly feel at the beginning and then paves the way for the sweet chocolate flavor.

Advent tea
This one is nicely nutty and spicy, with an underlying hint of chocolate and cinnamon. There’s a lot going on here, but it blends nicely. I woke up wanting a cup of coffee this morning, but this tea hit the spot. A nice thick and warming cuppa.

A sachet found in my boxes buried somewhere on the bottom. It’s from ashmanra for sure, based on the small pouch; but label I lost somewhere. Thank you! And it must be this one, because it is only one I haven’t logged yet.

It has to be this one, as it is only tea with rose from Harney I have (where are the other two I have no idea). Maybe already drank, but not removed from cupboard? Even that is possible.

I prepared it, expecting nothing but rose black tea and it seems it is that. Not sure what was wrong, but I could not notice nothing but peppery rose. There wasn’t any base noticeable which made me a bit sad.

Apparently, it is custom blend and not a bad one… just I have been expecting more from tea itself. So, unfortunately, no choco notes from Keemun aka Queen Catherine. But it was good nevertheless as I wrote already. It’s good. It just needs a bit less of rose. Maybe the base isn’t the strongest already as well.

I remember trying rose tea for first time. This was flat compared to it. But rose blacks are something I have to try more often.

It took a while to get used to how chocolate-like this is, but after a few cups I warmed up to it. Not something I would drink every day, but a few times a month, sure, a nice change from standard teas. Very good around xmas time.

Has great depth, and has a multitude of spices. Tastes like the holidays and makes you want to curl up with a good book.

Roses for the Queen. What a superb idea! I’ve been on one of my Keemun kicks here lately. Whenever that happens I tend to spend a great deal of time at the court of gracious Queen Catherine who benevolently bestows upon me her rich gifts of fine, sweet cocoa and malt. With a deep sense of gratitude I decided to bring her roses, a gift for her unrelenting kindness and grace. She loved them!
Two parts Queen Catherine and one part Harney’s Rose Scented Black was spot on perfect. I used one heaping teaspoon of this blend to eight ounces of 205F water and steeped for three and a half minutes. Just right! Although no additions were needed, a jot of milk and a dash of sugar only enhanced the rosy chocolate treasures of the tea.
The Queen loved my roses so much I’m thinking knighthood here. I see a long and happy future for myself at good Queen Catherine’s rosy court.

Second day of making whole pots of tea…which is unusual for me, since I tend to just do the ‘cup by cup’ sort of thing…
I’ve made this before in a single cup and loved it, so why not a whole pot?
The two teas are made for each other, in my opinion…. The Queen lends its smoky undertones to the brightness of the rose scented, and it’s just glorious.

Cheers , Mr. John Harney. This pot’s for you.

To continue a tribute to Mr.Harney I made it last night. this blend makes me happy and calm. this time its 1:1. Rosey chocolaty goodness.

Last night brew.
I really like Queen Catherine and I decided to mix it with Rose Scented( too strong for my taste). 2:1 3min 205F produced delicious chocolatey rosey cup of tea. Very soothing and comforting. 2nd steep was quite good, mellow but good. I’m going to have this way from time to time for variety.

I don’t know what possessed me to try and put these two teas together in my timolino; I mean, I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, but I never ever try something “new” in the timolino first, because that’s just all sorts of wrong and I feel the timolino negatively affects taste and bla bla bla. But I figured i’ve had each of these teas on their own and love them, and it’s high time I put them together.

I used one Teavana tsp of Queen Catherine and a david’s tsp of rose scented, with 12 oz of water steeped in the timolino for just under five minutes. As it steeped, I made sure to shake the timolino vigorously—I shook that thing so much you could have sworn i was actually either having a seizure or was actively being electrocuted. But whatever I did, I did it right, because this is a perfect, perfect combination: the smokey, sweet but solid Queen supporting the full sweet rose, and the sugar and cream that held the whole thing together. I’m going to be doing this again!
Ah, and my shaking led to a tiny piece of leaf escaping the filter. But only a tiny one!

I have been intrigued by the Valentine’s Blend but have never purchased it. I bought Chocolate Mint, but mint and chocolate in tea have not appealed to me together thus far, thought it is nice enough. I also bought plain chocolate tea a long time ago but back then I was just giving up milk and sugar in my tea and didn’t really appreciate it yet.

Today I decided to try my hand at making something akin to what I think Valentines Blend must taste like. While I do not know what the original one tastes like, this one was excellent, and my guest loved it and asked for more! She said she hoped I wrote down the proportions I used, so I would say this was a success. I love keeping Rose Scented on hand to blend with other teas!

The aroma is almost exclusively chocolate in these proportions, but the rose is subtly there and adds such a delicious touch!

This was tea #2 of tea party, served just after the chocolate pie and Keemun. I mixed two teaspoons of Chocolate with one teaspoon of Rose Scented, both by Harney and Sons. This was for twenty ounces steeped for four and a half minutes in boiling water.

This was a favorite of the little group. Our guest said she loved the balance of the two flavors as she could easily discern both. Rose is very strong so I always put less of it when I blend it with others, though I love it all by itself, too! It is a valuable tea on my shelf for occasionally dressing up other teas as well as for drinking when I need to feel extra foofy.

It has been raining and/or cloudy all day long so I wanted a nice pick me up for afternoon tea. I mixed these two together and got just what I wanted, plus we had a few S’Mores made in the microwave by putting a large marshmallow on a Ritz cracker, zapping for a few seconds, then you press in chocolate chips and top with another cracker. YUM!

Every time I see a review for Valentine’s Blend by H&S I think, “Rats! I keep meaning to order a sample of that and I never remember.”

I got the bright idea to just try mixing their plain Chocolate tea with their Rose Scented. I haven’t had their blend, so I don’t know how this compares, but I do know it was pretty good. My guest at tea party today liked it a lot, and encouraged me to keep making some special blends for us.

Rose Scented is great by itself, but it wins a permanent place on my shelf as a great tea to add to other teas to change them up a bit. It is a great mixer.

I did my own version of this today….

24 oz teapot, 4 1/2 tsp Queen Catherine + 1 tsp Rose Scented, 4 minutes freshly boiled water. Lightly sweetened.

Yum! This is really the perfect amount of rose plus having added it to one of my favorites makes it even better. Do I like this better than Rose Congou? You bet I do. It is more complex. Am I giving up the Rose Congou? No way! It still makes the best iced tea and at a bargain.

Note to self…a little less of the Queen next time since you added the Rose Scented at the last minute. It will be perfection.

Thanks to Jennifer and teawing I have been wanting to try this for two days! I don’t recall ever having a Creme Earl Grey so I am not sure how this would compare, but I find it very tasty. This is also my first time having Harney and Sons Earl Grey, so I really want to try it standing alone as well. In the past I have had their Earl Grey Supreme and Imperial Earl Grey. EGS is my favorite, but for bergamot lovers, I think the sachets of Imperial Earl Grey maybe stronger on bergamot.

From what I can tell in this mix, this Earl Grey is of moderate strength. I tried it first without additions and it was smooth and somewhat mild, not too much. I added sugar, which really brought out the bergamot, then milk, which made the creaminess of the vanilla shine. All in al, a delightful cup of tea as I chill out to Spa Suite Radio on Pandora and hide from the 95 degree temps I was just hanging out clothes in…

I am trying this one out today from our discussions about Harney needing an Earl Grey Cream or an Earl Grey Vanilla.

Today I tried 2 parts Earl Grey Supreme to 1 part Vanilla Black. It is pretty good, but it seems light on the bergamot. It is still pleasant, but I am thinking I could handle the flavors being just a little more intense. I would try a different ratio, but right now the vanilla is about right. Has anyone tried Harney’s regular Earl Grey? Is the bergamot more intense in it?

It does seem like a sophisticated version of my Metro Earl Grey Creme, and certainly much more grown up tasting than Upton’s Earl Grey Creme Vanilla (which reminds me of creamsicles). I woud likely drink this again, which is a good sign…..

I used to dislike hazelnut. I gave away any and all Ferrero Rocher chocolates given to me. Then I had Florence. At first I liked it a little, then a lot, then I started craving it. I thought it would be a great tea for the Rose Scented addition experiments. I think I like this! I used three teaspoons of Florence and one teaspoon of Rose Scented. You might think those proportions wouldn’t have much impact, but it really does change the flavor. Florence has deep, dark flavors to me, and the addition of that small amount of rose really brightens it. I drank it both with and without milk and sugar, and it was equally good both ways.

Finally at long last, IT FEELS LIKE FALL! That means I will really enjoy morning tea, and I don’t even have to sneak the thermostat way down. :)

I mixed this the opposite way today because I was feeling a little bruised on the inside – too much thinking does that, you know – and I wanted a black tea that would also be calming or meditative, and florals do that for me. So I went with two teaspoons of Rose Scented and one of Palm Court, but honestly, I think I prefer it the other way round!

The tea and a nice chat with a neighbor while the dogs played and the gentle breeze blew have made things a little lighter. The horrendous humidity is broken for now, and you can actually stand outside for more than ten minutes without needing a shower.

Our second tea party tea today was this blend of two Harney and Sons teas that we have come to love. Two teaspoons of Palm Court, one of Rose Scented, in a 22 oz. teapot. Delicious and sweet!

I am loving this combination! Palm Court was already an enjoyable tea, but the addition of rose flavor takes it to a new level. I am thankful to JacquelineM for suggesting it. Delicious! This was the second tea of tea party today. We also had Golden Monkey by Harney and Sons, Jasmine both hot and iced by Fujian, and Silky Green, which I already reviewed today! Yes, I am VERY well hydrated!

This is absolutely delicious! There was a bit leftover in the pot from yesterday, so when youngest said she needed a pot so she can brew some Vanilla Comoro I volunteered to drink it up. I wasn’t even planning to reorder Palm Court, but this is making me rethink that decision. She mixed one and a half teaspoons Palm Court with one and a half of Rose Scented. Up to one teaspoon of Boston accidentally was dropped in, and mostly fished back out, but I am sure it contributed something. This is a very satisfying midday cup, sans additions.