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This is my first experience with a genmaicha tea, and it is certainly memorable. I ordered a sample from Harney out of curiousity, and am just now getting to opening it four months later. The blend seems to be equal parts green tea leaves and a rice & popcorn mixture. The popcorn smell is very strong, particularly when the tea is steeping, and it is very evident in the taste as well.

This green is nice in that it’s not as grassy/vegetal as other greens (sencha, for instance) nor is it drying. It’s slightly creamy, slightly vegetal, and very popcorn-y. I am not super into it, but I could see being in the mood for it again at some point. I will probably do a shorter steep next time, too, to see if I like it better that way. I steep the hell out of black tea, so I tend to oversteep greens even though it’s such a short time that it doesn’t feel like they could be possibly be oversteeped.

After being a bit overwhelmed by Della Terra’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake blend yesterday, I was slightly apprehensive to try this pumpkin pie tea. Happily, I needn’t have worried. The dry leaf smells good, in a sugary and nondescript way. While steeping, the tea smells like baked goods – I wouldn’t say pumpkin pie specifically, but it’s a very good smell.

Once I got a chance to sip it, though, I could taste the pumpkin pie very clearly. Honestly, it is the right taste, plus heat and minus the texture. The base tea helps to create the flavor, and blends in rather than standing out. It is sweet, but not too sweet, and not too spicy, either. It’s not very full bodied, but it does have a slightly creamy mouthfeel, which helps give the illusion of pumpkin pie taste. I think it is a very nice dessert tea, and it will suit perfectly for nights this fall when I am craving a sweet treat.

I just received my first order from Della Terra yesterday, and this was the first tea I decided to try from the batch. Sniffing the leaf, all I can smell is brown sugar. It’s not in the ingredient list, but is in the taste description on the bag, and for obvious reasons. The leaf also has huge chunks of dried pineapple, and I got a few into my first cup. I used 2 teaspoons of leaf for my 12oz mug.

The tea smelled lovely when steeping, definitely reminiscent of a baked good. When I finally got to taste it, I enjoyed it, but it was very, very sweet. Like, I am gonna need a chaser of straight black tea after this cup, because it is so sweet. The base tea is unremarkable, in that I can barely taste it, but it seems to suit the blend well. I smell more than taste the pineapple, but the overall impression is certainly a baked good, so this hits the mark as far as it is marketed. I bought 1 oz of three other Della Terra teas and 2 oz of this one, because I was confident I would like it. The good news is, I do like it! The bad news is, it might take me quite a while to get through that much of this tea.

I am likely not going to be able to adequately describe how much I love this tea blend, but I will try. I am a fan of Harney’s blends in general, and I bought the five sachet tagalong of Tower of London at a local gourmet market just to try it out. Now, it is by far my favorite Harney blend. It’s like a really nice mix of Fruits d’Alsace, Earl Grey, and Paris. I blew through my five sachets (each steeped twice) in just a couple of days.

The smell of the dry leaf in the sachets is a little strange, rather perfumey and a little intimidating. The taste, however, is extremely well-rounded and not at all flowery. The black tea base is a perfect setting for the addition of stone fruit, bergamot and a slight sweetness that livens up the other ingredients. I have read a lot of complimentary reviews of the Paris blend, and while I like that as well, this one is superior while retaining many of the same qualities.

I am anxiously awaiting a sale on Harney’s website so I can place an order that includes more Tower of London – my only gripe is that they don’t sell it in 4oz tins, just in sachets or by the pound. :/

I wouldn’t have ordered this tea for myself, but it was in my Harney sachet sampler pack so I thought I would give it a try. When I think of jasmine, I think of flowers. I know it is very common, but flowery tea does not sound enticing to me in any way. I like bold, black teas, and fruity teas, and green teas, and mint teas, but I have never thought to myself, “This tea needs more flowers.”

Setting those thoughts aside, I brewed up a cup at the parameters suggested by several other Steepsterites. The dry sachet had a strong scent for having only eight or nine tea pearls inside, but after a three minute soak, the sachet was completely filled with unfurled leaves. The tea smelled floral, but not overwhelmingly so, and was a pale yellow color. After waiting for it to cool off a bit, I took my first few sips. The green tea taste is there, with a very light body and a bit of a salty aftertaste. The jasmine is actually very manageable. Not too strong or overwhelming, but an interesting addition to the green tea flavor. I am the first person to mention when a tea tastes like soap, and though this clearly has the potential to taste that way, when brewed correctly it does not. To me, it smells much more floral than it tastes.

This is a very calming cup of tea. While it hasn’t made me immediately crave more jasmine tea, it is good to know that if I come across more, it’s a tea I can actually enjoy.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this yet, as it is probably my favorite tea of the moment. Black Currant has a lovely, rich black tea base, typical of other Harney blends, with the perfect amount of fruity flavor in every sip and no astringency whatsoever. The first time I tried it, as a teabag from a Harney sampler, I was inspired to order 4 oz worth. I have had this hot and iced, I have steeped it for three minutes and eight minutes, and it has always been delicious.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, I never had black currant flavored anything before this tea. I am sorry that’s the case, because they have a distinctive and tasty flavor and scent that permeates this tea blend, without tasting artificial in any way. There is a hint of natural sweetness to the tea that makes it taste like a treat, but it’s not so sweet that it’s a dessert tea. I will drink this any time of day.

Bought my second tea from this local tea company at the Farmer’s Market this morning, and this one is far superior to the first one I tried. This is a vanilla Earl Grey, and that scent translates well from the dry leaf to the finished product. The base tea is nothing special, but there is a really nice amount of both bergamot and vanilla, and all of the flavors combined are pretty spectacular. I haven’t had any cream Earl Grey tea yet, but this tea makes me think I would like that variety. I don’t know if I would buy this again, since there are so many different EG’s I have yet to try, but I am looking forward to drinking more of this tea.