Ambessa (by Harney & Sons)

Hmm, perhaps I understeeped this one at… 2.5 minutes, but it’s not super flavourful, and I’m not a huge fan. There’s chocolate, and maybe some nuttiness, but it’s really nothing special, which I guess I kind of expected it to be. Ah well – I’ll steep bag #2 a bit longer next time and see if that improves it.

Thanks for the samples, Sil!

ETA: Reading ashmanra’s note… apricot?? Yeah, I could believe that… kind of puts a different perspective on it for me. Tastes a bit better now, haha.

ETA again: Bleeehhh, second infusion was way cardboardy. I dumped it.

Here’s today’s sipdown! I like doing one a day if I’m drinking multiple cups – feels like I’m making progress trying things out and shrinking my cupboard down to 100! (Wow. I can’t believe that a few months ago 50 was my limit of teas. Now I understand that quantity doesn’t really matter because I don’t have A LOT of each tea- it doesn’t take that much more room than it did when I had 40 teas. Except now I’m buying more tins. So… that will change. Eep. Slippery slope anyone?)

This is rather good. It smells strongly of chocolate and nut, although the tea itself is milder than I’d expected. It’s very soothing and comforting though.

Thank you Sil!

Anytime I see a new breakfast blend, I always have to give it a try. This time was no different. Especially with a name as exciting as “Safari Breakfast” which to me translates to “before you encounter lions, you’re gonna need a cup of this.” It is a beautifully blended black tea, just as I’ve come to expect from Harney & Sons. Very strong, comparable to most breakfast blends, an all around good cuppa.

1 tablespoon for 188 ml

Mild sweet black base. Chocolate flavour coming through. Slight spice flavour. Caramel flavour. Overall very mild flavour.

Thanks to Sil for sharing!

sipdown! heh thanks to fiddling for this one. I wanted to try this one in the event that i loved it and needed to pick up a tin of it since it is available locally at chapters. I love the choco-nut ambessa, but as this one is green, i wasn’t to sure how i’d feel about it. Also, i’ve never had a lingonberry before so yay for new things!

As it turns out, this is a little too “green” for me. It might be interesting as a cold brew but hot, it’s very much a green grassy tea with a hint of a fruity taste that i can’t place, which i assume is the lingonberry. Not a bad tea but nothing i’d kill to have in my cupboard. Thanks again fiddling! appreciate the share!

I was disappointed with this one, as it sounded like it would be such a hit. It tasted slightly smokey, with a hint of peanut…and then a SUPER weak chocolate note. The base tea was oily, which helped the peanut note, but it was just “meh” overall.

Tried sweetening with sugar – ehn. Didn’t improve it.
Tried with milk – brought out the nut note a bit more.

I have a couple Harney teas in my cupboard that involve chocolate that I like, so was a bit mystified at this blend. Maybe my sample was old? Who knows.

I tried this again today and it is definitely better with a LONGER steeping time of around 5 minutes, that helps to bring out the flavor. Raised the rating a few points this afternoon.

I liked it so much I made two cups… :)

I’ve been trying not to buy a lot of tea lately to focus on finishing off my stash but I did get a small order of mostly black teas and this was in it – the tagalong small tin with 5 teabags.

My first impression upon smelling this was it reminded me a bit of “Florence”, their chocolate hazelnut tea.

The tea brews up to be a light reddish brown cup and I suspect it is a ceylon of some sort. I’m finding the flavor to be a bit thin and only vaguely reminiscent of chocolate. I do detect a brazil nut type of flavor especially in the finish of this blend. I was not blown away by it but will certainly finish off what I have at some point. It benefited from the addition of some soymilk and sugar.

If anyone wants to try this I would certainly consider swapping…

sipdown! (182) my cupboard WOULD have been at about 155 today and I easily would have made it to my dec 31 goal however i received my package from Miss B yesterday and now i’m up at 182 haha. that may change a little if i get enough energy to pull my swaps together that need to go out but i’ll consider my goal achievable and just aim for 140 by the end of January. I had a rare thought that i would try to get my cupboard down by 10 every month in 2014 so that by November i’d be able to order 60 teas and still be under 100 haha. I’ll probably still aim for that, along side of my goal of not having teas older than 10 months in my cupboard. :)

I had the last couple of bags of this tea as a latte and i’m glad that i did. it makes this a MUCH better cup of tea by making it a creamier, stronger chocolate tasting tea. Not a restock for me, but it was tasty to drink.

I need to work on some of my older tea bags so I pulled this one out of the cupboard this morning as well. I find that the strength of this one isn’t all that great so i usually double up on the tea bags. overall, not a bad brew but nothing i need to restock when in finally finish up!

backlog from yesterday

I took this with me out to visit with friends. i wanted something that would travel well and these ambessa teas seem to do well in the travel mugs. I think this tea is more of a safety net – toss a few sachets in my purse or something for when i’m on the road. I wouldn’t necessarily buy this in loose form as I think there are better. if that makes sense? It’s still a tea that i enjoy but it’s partially for the convenience factor heh.

Totally forgot i had this one today until i was taking the last sip out of my travel mug. This one tastes a lot like H&S’s valentine’s blend to me. It’s likely slightly different, though not so much that I can recall what about the other blend is different lol.

Which means that suits me just fine. I’m not getting the nut flavour out of this one but that might be how i steeped it. I got distracted at work and steeped it forever. I also put in twice the normal water, assuming it was like H&S sachets even though the directions are crappy and say nothing about water volume lol

Straightforward, uncomplicated breakfast tea. Some body, no bitterness, and good with milk and sugar. A little earthy, toasty, but no smoke or flavors or nuttiness. As far as I know, this comes only in sachets, but those are handy for travel and for a day spent in long meetings. This is one of my go-to teas for when I’m not in the mood for deliberations about tea, analysis of tea, tea that comes with demands.

I couldn’t resist picking up this smokey version of Earl Grey.

The dry tea sachet smells very strongly of Earl Gray/Bergamot. Very similar to Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme.

Brewed the tea smells of a very blunted Earl Grey, only slightly citrousy. The taste of the tea is slight Earl Grey with a smokey finish. This is a good tea, not too strong, but also not too weak. The smokey flavour works well with the citrous bergamot.

Used one of the sachets with about 16 oz of water. The dry tea smelled like a strong Earl Grey. However after I steeped it the smokiness overpowered the bergamot. I added some sugar and as the tea cooled I could taste a hint of bergamot. Next time I might try this mixed with another Earl Grey to help fight the smoke.

Not a bad tea but not one I would buy. Glad I got to sample it.

So since my first review, I’ve sipped this and found the smoke heavy from opening the tin to sipping it hot. Delicious.

Seems silly that I couldn’t find it earlier. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for smokey greys.

When I opened the tin, I got fresh, crips bergamot. Brewed this up, and the bergamot is warmer now, mixed with tea and jasmine. Not getting much smoke in the scent.

First sip is bergamot first followed by jasmine. Not particularly smoky, though the base seems solid. I thought I smelt smoke when I walked into the kitchen to pick this up, but it was just my toast popping.

I think I’m getting a nuance of smoke in the aftertaste, though it might be a bite from the other flavours in the tea. It is a bit disappointing, I was hoping for a smokier blend (hmm, if not a lapsang or caravan base, why not keemun and bergamot…?). But it’s still a solid earl grey (even if I’m not a huge fan of jasmine in my earl).

I broke my promise not to buy any new teas until I’d slimmed down my cupboard. I picked up this after I’d crashed a new teashop that opened nearby (about 4-5 months ago) but which I hadn’t heard about until now (makes me feel out of the loop). It’s actually a very incredible little teashop (a lot of teashops have been popping up after Davids came to town—I like to refer to it as the “DavidsTEA Boom”—but this was a very modern-with-traditional-values shop. Gaiwans and yixings as far as the eye can see (which isn’t far because it’s a rather small space, but).

Both myself and the guy working the counter at the time were excited for this encounter. I guess more on that once I get around to reviewing the teas I picked up there.

As for this one. Harney and Sons likes to be deliciously subtle, they’re good at balance, and this is balanced, and definitely fills the craving for earl grey that I’ve been having recently. Fills that void in my earl greyless cupboard.

But I do wish it were a tad smokier. Maybe it’s there and the jasmine’s covering it. Hm.

Also’d like to try more earls with China bases.

Edit: As it’s cooled, I’ve been picking up a more prominent smoke in the base. Once it reached room temperature it was considerably more smoky; wish I could have enjoyed it more, but I had to rush out the door to class.

I steeped the sachet a second time – not much chocolate flavor, but there is still an intense brazil nut and apricot flavor. I can also taste the tea more now that the chocolate has faded. It seems to have the fruity-floral taste of darjeeling, though the brazil nut and apricot may be leading me astray here.

Wonderful aroma and rich dark chocolate and brazil nut flavor, with a fruity apricot undertone. The brazil nut flavor reminds me of Green Mountain’s Rain Forest Coffee. I added half and half and orange blossom honey, and it was a delicious lunchtime dessert! I wouldn’t drink this all the time, but on special occasions when I want to indulge my desire for good chocolaty tea.

Not bad for a breakfast blend. I didn’t get the toasted grain or citrusy notes mentioned in the H&S description.

Unlike Choco-Nut, I probably won’t buy this again but only because it isn’t a standout.

I had a Matcha Fruit Smoothie this morning to get me going.
Then made some nice hot black tea to take with me on my super crazy morning.
Of course, I left it on the counter by the door.
I promptly grabbed a glass and filled it with ice and poured in my poor forgotten room temp. tea and drank it mere minutes after I got back home.
But, this is my first hot cup of tea today.
And a huge thank you goes out to Ashmanra for sharing this tea with me!
When I opened the envelope she sent it in, I could smell BERGAMOT!
Yummmmmmm….
But, after I opened the little baggy and grabbed out a sachet and schmushed it up to my nose (ahem, I promise if any of you ever come to my house, this IS NOT how I prepare tea for guests, Just wanted to clarify:) I could smell something else…spicy and a little hint of smoke.
A Spicy Exotic Earl…well, hell-O!
It sort of calms down, scent wise, when brewing.
Taste is not overly strong, a small citrus bergamot bite and a small amount of the smoke, but it is very faint.
I might not even notice it if I had not read the description before I tasted it.
Personally, I could handle a bit more bergamot and smoke in the tea, but overall a very nice cuppa for the afternoon.
Very happy you shared, Ashmanra!
Next time I do order from H&S, I just might have to pick me up a tin of this.

I must admit, before you read the rest of my review, that I am currently at work enjoying this tea. However, in the process of brewing, I could not acquire boiling water, so I am not sure how this has affected the outcome. If I have an addendum to this note when I try it at home, I will certainly add it.

First, I was elated to see Chef Samuelsson’s name on a tea blend. Having just had my first experience of brunch at Red Rooster (highly, highly recommend!), and having followed his work on TV for some time now, I was encouraged that I would enjoy this tea. If you have read my previous note, you will know that I really don’t like smokey flavors added to my food, but the concept and sensation is growing on me. In the end, my appreciation for Samuelsson’s work and taste palate won the best of my curiosity and I plopped this tin in my basket. Figuring my love of Earl Grey and my boyfriend’s love of smokey flavors, someone would enjoy this tea (even if it wasn’t me).

So I cracked this bad boy open at home and was greeted with a bizarre, yet enjoyable combination of aromas. Familiarly, bergamot citrus was very obvious, but the camp fire back notes were quick to catch up. Not as intense as a Lapsang, nor as obvious as a pure Keemun, yet a definitive addition to this blend.

This morning, when I was packing up my lunch, I decided to throw a tea bag in with my cookies to be enjoyed in the afternoon. When 3pm came around, the post lunch coma was setting in so I decided to make myself a cup. I used the hot water from the water cooler, while being hot, was not boiling; I guesstimated about 185F, but it conceivably could be a bit less. I like the tea a bit strong so I left it for a full 5 minutes (despite my fear of tasting like someone lit a fire in my cup).

The smell you get from this brewed tea is nearly pure Earl Grey, but it has more foundation and body that any other I have had. The smokey that comes with simply the first whiff is much relaxed from the dry leaves, and that same idea translates to the liquor as well. While I get the obvious notes of citrus and body in this tea, the smoke quality lends a great balance. Its a very ‘dry’ undertone balanced by the sweet orange notes on both the nose and tongue. The tea itself is very balanced, with a very typical mix of body and acidity one experiences with Earl Grey proper.

I don’t know if its my tastes maturing or if it is just properly balanced, but this smoke flavor added to tea is really starting to grow on me. It adds a great, and in this case subtle, nuance to an already established taste palate. It counters the sometimes cloying citrus and floral tastes of Earl Grey with a woodsy, earthy feel. I really recommend this to someone who drinks Earl Grey, has every been scared away from the style, or simply wants to try an interesting combination of two styles. Samuelsson has done it again, and I really appreciate him venturing into a realm of taste creation rarely explored by seasoned chefs.

I had the pleasure of trying this out yesterday at the shop in Millerton. It was indeed a smokey take on the classic. I loved the hint of smoke and the light flavor of the bergamot, def. different and really nice to sip on while the rain came down in buckets outside! While I enjoyed it I didn’t pick any up to take home. No real reason for it, ok maybe the other 3 tins and lunch I bought was the reason…