Harney & Sons

I was in Japan last year, and had several roasted rice-infused teas that were rather good.
I was looking for something back here in the states, and found this one.
It is very roasted-rice forward; smells and tastes a lot like the Sugar Smacks roasted rice cereal I ate as a kid, though obviously not sweet.
I can’t say I taste a lot of the tea flavor; this is also a “low-caffeine” tea, so good for afternoons or evenings if you’re sensitive to caffeine.

Some of the largest leaves I’ve seen in any tea; very flavorful, but not in a “traditional” black tea taste. Strikes me as more of a green or oolong tea flavor, but it is very tasty. Just not what I expected from a “black” tea as it is described in their literature.
Malty, I wouldn’t say sweet as some others have, but sure, some honey flavors. Nice scent.
Leaves are so large I had to just use my fingers to get the tea, my little round scoop I usually use is useless.

Sipdown! (23)

One of my tea goals for this year was to start cold steeping again, and so far it’s been going well! I have a little stash of teas I bought specifically for this purpose, and this was one of them.

Harney’s fruit teas are all quite enjoyable cold steeped (aside from the Goji Berry one, which I was not a fan of), and I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. Anyway, this is one of the more hibiscus-y ones, but I can still drink it without sweetener, and it’s enjoyable tangy with prominent strawberry notes. Not sure whether I’ll repurchase it or not, we’ll see how I feel after I finish the rest of my cold steep stash!

I bought a set of 12 Days of Christmas teas, kind of like an advent calendar thing, but completely neglected to open it until, well, today. Better late than never. The holidays and work completely took up the majority of my time and attention.

Starting off on a fairly average note here – this tea was…fine, good even, but largely unremarkable. There are notes of slightly bitter, almost matcha-like flavors, but the overall taste is nice. I expected something a little stronger. I wouldn’t buy this particular tea again, but I’m optimistic that there will be some better brews coming up in the box.

— Color of liquor: Copper, with hint of red

— Aroma: Muscatel, floral

— Flavors: Stone fruit, muscatel

Strong stone fruit flavors in front, with a slight muscatel base. Slight astringency. A typical 2nd flush Darjeeling – I’ll enjoy it while I have it but likely won’t buy more.

I found this by chance on Harney’s website when I was looking at the Schitt’s Creek collection, and I couldn’t not get it ha ha. I love Japanese food in general, and red bean is such a classic dessert flavor that happens to be one of my favorites.

I am honestly shocked by how much this tastes like red bean paste. Obviously it’s not as sweet as the real thing (thankfully), but they totally captured the sweet and rich, yet earthy and beany flavor that anko has. The tea itself is a bit thin, but perhaps next time I’ll try three sachets for my 16-ounce cup. I see this as more of a one-time fun tea to try for me, mostly because it’s only available in sachets, but it’s really delightful!

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 25

The final tea in our advent swap, and one I’ve wanted to try!

I’m 99% sure I’ve never had this tea before, yet it tastes SO familiar to me. Either H&S is totally nailing the flavor and I’m just thinking it’s familiar because it reminds me of real gingerbread, or another company has a dupe/twin/doppelganger available.

Regardless, it’s really nice! Super cozy, with a great balance of spices… no overwhelming clove here. Personally, I find it a smidge on the sweet side, and I would prefer a stronger base, but those are minor quibbles. I could see this being a great tea to bring to a holiday gathering!

On the topic of gingerbread, I made Nigella Lawson’s Luscious Vegan Gingerbread this year and it was AMAZING. I subbed chopped medjool dates for the prunes and added some chopped candied ginger, but otherwise I followed the recipe as written. It’s super complex and delicious and will be my go-to gingerbread recipe going forward!

2024 Holiday tea #15

Somehow I had a note typed up and it disappeared… I always wanted to try this one due to so many of you that are fans here on Steepster.  Thanks to Cameron B, I finally get to try it!  The scent is JUST LIKE gingerbread.  The flavor is too, but somehow the fragrance is more prominent than the flavor.  Two delicious steeps.  However, I really wish the sort of base for a gingerbread flavored tea was a much deeper, darker black tea.  It’s a bit light. That would be my only complaint here.
Steep #1 // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Kelmishka Homemade Advent Day 20! I taste chamomile and mint and a bit of herbaceous. I’m enjoying this cold, though it doesn’t stand out a ton to me. It’s smooth and nice though! I’m glad there are two bags so I can have it again!

Other than the orange element, there is no way I could not tell this is supposed to be like gingerbread. Which is odd because I don’t normally pair orange with gingerbread. But Orange and Ginger is a really good combination. The after taste is wild how much this gives gingerbread vibes. There’s a faint sweetness, but not too much.

As it cools, the flavor becomes significantly more orange and clove with a bit of ginger. Not a fan of the combination of orange and clove.

Second steep, sweet orange and ginger when hot, orange clove when cold.
The feeling of gingerbread has died out as well. I think because the ginger is fading and the orange and clove are standing out more. I could do with more of a hint of orange than the strong orange I am getting. And the clove could go jump off a cliff.

I got excited right after the first steep, but the feeling I got then changes so much as this goes, and its moving into a direction I don’t enjoy.

Not what I initially imagined from reading the ingredients list, though I am still finding this quite enjoyable.

I’m not really getting any pumpkin. The ginger is the predominate flavor. I expected more of a raw ginger flavor, but I think I prefer how it comes across here. The cinnamon is more in the back of the sip than you might expect. Its so common for cinnamon to dominate, but that is not the case. The maple and vanilla are more in the aftertaste, rounding everything out. I don’t think I am getting much in the way of caramel, though it may just be blending with the vanilla and maple.

Overall, I am quite enjoying myself. I’ve been looking for ages for a spiced tea that was neither so strong there was no sign of the tea anywhere nor smacking you in the face with clove. This appears to be filling that niche quite nicely.

Second steep still has a good amount of flavor, though the base is standing out more now. As a flavored tea, this is not unexpected. But still, likely will not go well with my steep the same leaves repeatedly all day method of making tea.

Third steep and I have ruined my sense of smell sniffing all of the new flavored teas I picked up. I’m no longer sure what I am smelling from where at this point and my office is smelling like a craft store at Christmas. But it is confirmed. Two steeps seems to be all this tea can realistically give. I let it go a nearly 10 minutes but the flavor is decidedly anemic at best.

Okay, okay, so I had to get the Schitt’s Creek teas from Harney. Mostly for the tins, but I was surprised to find that this blend (for the Rosebud Motel) and the Botanical Blend (Rose Apothecary) are both actually new teas. A lot of times it seems like Harney just packages their existing teas into decorative tins, sometimes with a slight change as in Gingerbread Festival and the Williamsburg Ginger Cake (tastes the same but with orange added).

This one is a cinnamon roll black tea, which I don’t think they have another version of. It’s not at all similar to Hot Cinnamon Spice, as it doesn’t have that intense Red Hots cinnamon flavor. It’s quite mellow, actually. I’m surprised by how much I can taste the icing/glaze part of the cinnamon roll, and then there is a buttery element as well as the mellow cinnamon. It’s nice! A bit thin, so I might try two sachets for a 12-ounce cup next time and see how that goes (normally I do 1 sachet per 8 ounces). Honestly kind of reminds me of a Simpson & Vail tea in that aspect, earthy base and a bit thin ha ha.

(ETA: It looks like Botanical Blend is the same as their Mind Your Body Lemon Balm Chamomile, but still didn’t find anything similar to this tea.)

Devon Bartholomew Advent Day 13

I’m really enjoying this stretch of straight black teas! Surprised I haven’t tried this one before; but if I did, I clearly never logged it in Steepster. This is much smoother than many of the Assams I’ve tried; I detect no bitterness or astringency even after a 4-mintue steep. However, it is intensely flavorful and malty and I think it would hold up well to milk. I feel like I’m detecting a bit of smokiness as well…not sure if that native to the tea or cross-contamination? Either way, I’m quite enjoying this cup!

Day 5 of my DIY advent. I’d forgotten that there was a non-Adagio tea in here. The Harney and Adagio orders arrived at the same time, so I included this Harney sample when I was making up the packets. I save chamomile teas/blends for bedtime in hopes that they will help me sleep. They never do! But I keep doing it anyway because hope springs eternal I guess. I like this specific chamomile! It’s got that clean chamomile flavor, a bit apple-like and very mildly sweet. None of that dry hay note that can sometimes creep in with chamomile and make it taste stale.

I received a sample sachet with an order of tea from Harney & Sons. I really like English Breakfast tea, but I have to say that although this tea was nice, it had no distinguishing characteristics. It wasn’t offensive in any way, but…I don’t really have a reason to buy it. It was a mild, average-flavored black tea.

TTB tea! This is quite mild. I taste a bit of green tea and a bit of a floral flavor. It’s comforting and pretty smooth cold. There’s just a hint of astringency. It’s not my sort of tea, but it’s not bad for what it’s going for.

Shocked I haven’t had this before. It tasted soooo familiar but I guess not. Even the leaf felt super familiar. But anyway, this was a nice fuller leaf. Lots of stone fruit notes. Pretty good. Can get bitter easily so it’s one you should be more careful with when steeping. Nice solid tea.

I purchased this from my local apple orchard’s gift store a while ago, and just recently bought a second container because it was so good. Autumn in a tea bag, truly. I can taste so many of the flavors and they all tell the story of a cool fall morning where I step out onto the patio in a warm fluffy bathrobe and watch the leaves dancing in the wind. There is a delightful plethora of cinnamon along with a citrus/orange flavor and lots of spices (clove, perhaps allspice, maybe cardamom). My only criticism would be that I personally find it just a bit too sweet, but that is easily overlooked given the delicious flavors.

There just isn’t much flavor in this tea at all. I’ve given it several tries and I wonder if I got an old tin? Mainly a flavor of cardboard and dust. I’ve tried increasing the amount of tea, and that didn’t help. Out it goes.

I don’t think this tea has a berry flavor at all. And it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, which makes me wonder about the “natural” strawberry and raspberry flavors. The underlying matcha and the green tea are not great. I’ve given it several tries and I’m tossing it out. Supremely disappointed with Harney. Won’t be buying from them again.

I bought this tea last year and i have to say that even though it was in a closed tin, it didn’t last. Just no flavor; as I recall, I didn’t like the aftertaste before.

I’m not enthused about trying this tea. I do not like mixing citrus with green tea. But for the sake of adding to my tasting repertoire… Here we go.
The moment you open the bag, you are hit with citrus notes. It is a bit medicinal but not entirely unpleasant. When the ginko leaves fall off trees, they are quite pungent—almost repulsive—but thankfully, they kept it light in this one. The infusing aroma is lovely. Like citrus on a passionate tropical breeze. There are no steeping instructions on this bag. At one minute the citrus flavor is strongest. As expected. I am curious as to what citrus. Clearly, they used a mix but which ones? Perhaps a smidge of yuzu mixed with a bit of bergamot and key lime rounded off nicely with a whisp of lemon. This would make a nice lemonade. But it is not something I would purchase on the regular.

I only read the description after I purchased the tea..but it’s from 400 year old trees. Pretty cool and I have never tried a tea like that…It’s actually really good. I could very clearly taste the fruity notes and I don’t think I had a tea before where the fruity taste jumped out so clearly. All I kept saying was WOW. Love it, wanted to buy more but it was sold out…