Harney & Sons

My weekender Assam; the treat I give myself for having survived the week. Sun-roasted honey and hay co-mingle with a light, Assam maltiness. Practically impossible to stew (but not completely outside the realm), it’s very forgiving in the teapot. (*NOTE: as always, I drink my teas straight, sans milk & sugar. Maybe sometimes I’ll have a biscuit with a cup; more often, not. YMMV with those things added; they’re outside the scope of my notes.)

Received from ashmanra, probably it was sample for her, as it was one serving foil wrapped pyramid sachet.

I wasn’t impressed honestly. It was quite generic black tea. Hints of malt, hints of astringency, but that’s all. But at least it seems it is caffeine boosting which is nice in the morning.

A gifted antique chair now fits nicely at the tea table. Wood and wicker, small and sturdy. I’ve never felt so comfortable sitting proper.

The chair has nothing to do with this tea. In fact, I am in bed just looking around with one eye open and I happened to notice how neat the chair is. It takes up minimal space. It’s made for a person of my stature. It possesses the type of artistry and craftsmanship that I’m craving in pandemic times. A glance at its figure brings comfort in this moment, something a soul-less ergonomic office chair on wheels will never provide. Guess I’ll no longer be hauling ass across a 2 foot radius of open bedroom floor or spinning, spinning in circles (weeee). I like this chair. I don’t like office chairs, or office work. This much I know.

This freebie sachet got me goofy. Knocked me on my ass. Guess that’s what happens when you steep it for 20 minutes. Peppermint is strong and sweet, like my favorite Pacific Northwest grown leaves. This blend and the linden I had earlier feel beneficial to my breathers after driving today with my windows down despite the smoke. The verbena doesn’t make a loud presence, bringing an earthy tone and citrus note. It tastes a touch soapy, like rancid coconut oil. Whatever, I still enjoy it. The long brew is oily viscous and the same color of my chair when the room is lit by a 7 watt lightbulb. There, I tied the tea to the chair.

The tea never did talk.

This was a desperation purchase to tide me over until my order was ready for pickup at the local apothecary. Had there not been a 25% off sale going on the moment I was browsing Harney’s website, I would have passed as these linden sachets are expensive. High demand in these strange times, reduced harvest, supply chain interruptions?

The full sachet contains fine sifted leaf. If I were served this blind, I wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s all sweet nectar floral, a bit of soft wood, forest herbs. A delightfully elegant full-bodied elixir.

One thing I have to mention is Harney’s absurd amount of packaging. The envelope is 2 to 3 times the surface area of the sachet itself (I noticed the same thing with a recent purchase from Rishi Tea). Twenty sachets to an oversized paper box. A large cardboard box stuffed with craft paper to ship it.

Should you not give a damn about excessive packaging, I do recommend Tilleul. Though it does seem, based upon other reviews, that I have the minority opinion of this tisane.

When I want to get hashtag #WOKE in the afternoons, this is one of my go-to teas. It really packs a wallop and makes itself felt in minutes. Tingly astringent, and easy to over-steep, so watch your weights and times, but done correctly and you’ll be rewarded with a naturally minty, citrusy, vegetal cup that will soothe the soul while simultaneously unleashing your inner beast. (*NOTE: as always, I drink my teas straight, sans milk & sugar. Maybe sometimes I’ll have a biscuit with a cup; more often, not. YMMV with those things added; they’re outside the scope of my notes.)

Another sample from Shae! I had this one with breakfast this morning and was honestly half-asleep, so I don’t remember much. :) It was nice and full-bodied and held up well to milk. Certainly a “decent cup of tea” but nothing outstanding. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as the Irish Breakfast I had yesterday, but still pleased I got to try it! I forget about Harney & Sons and they really do some excellent blends.

The lovely Shae surprised me with the sweetest tea package last week (including AQTT’s Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding, which I am over the moon about!) and this was one of the samples she included. I have to say, I think Harney & Sons nailed the quintessential Irish Breakfast blend with this one. It’s bold, strong, and malty, has tons of flavor even with milk added, and wakes you right up! I’ll be keeping this one in mind next time I order from H&S.

Another tea from ashmanra, and now a tea I actually liked very much. THANK YOU a lot!

Well, temperatures are hitting close to 30 even it’s around 10 am. There were cold days and kinda liked them bit more than those hot days. Yesterday I went to therapist, because my panic attacks and I had to get different pills (same effective drug, but different producer). To be honest it made me bit afraid. So, no more Elicea, but Cipralex now. But it should be same (I hope so).

Anyway to the tea. I almost let the water boil, but not completely. I think it could be around 90°C, if not even bit less.

Steeped for two, three minutes. Results were very nice — nice tea base, mellow, but present; lighlty vegetal, lighltly floral → nice white tea base. The bergamot (Earl Grey) notes were good, very refreshing, bit sour but nice for this hot day. This tea would be lovely if coldbrewed or iced, but as I had only one tea bag…

This is something I expected ashmanra. Really thank you for letting me try this tea, which was very nice to drink; and although it is not one of top ten teas I had, it was certainly worth trying. Maybe we are just more used to drink EG with bold tea base.

My two obsessions are bath and body products and …tea. Of Course! I don’t think I’ve had anything black currant flavored but I love trying Lush Bath and Body products and they have a Comforter bath bomb/bubble bar that smells heavenly. So that’s what I think about when I think of Black Currant. I was just throwing things in my cart, and this went in. I was very curious to try it. And….it tasted familiar. Like this berry Lipton tea. But….it’s not my thing. It’s not bad. But it’s not great either. I saw a few black currants in the tea. So I know they are there. I think it tastes more like flavoring than anything. The black tea is nice. It’s more broken up then I expected. No full leaves here…that’s ok though. It’s a flavored tea. I do like the black tea they use, it’s nice and strong but not overpowering. Overall, probably not something I would buy again. But as always..I was happy to try it. All 4 oz of it- I brewed my last cup today!

Yesterday, after long, long time I have received a package from lovely ashmanra! I hope mine will arrive soon. And today, I checked the Steepster and saw all the tastin notes that were hidden from my eyes and 150 notices! Oh, how glad I am that Steepster is back, at least in that what was left working.

So, let’s read all the tasting notes I missed; write (at least) one myself.

Unfortunately I wasn’t that much impressed of this one . I haven’t noticed any cherry notes, only nice green tea notes. I steeped it for around 3 or 4 minutes. Nevermind, it was gift (exchange, right), and hopefully there will be other which will be better. Noticed minty, or some cooling aspect drinking this tea.

So, thank you ashmanra for the tea, thank you all being patient, thank you Michael in background working on our favorite website! It was long 10 days, but hopefully it won’t return.

Backlog from August 3rd:

I remember having this once or twice before and not really being impressed. I read a few other tealogs and followed some advice mentioned here – I doubled up on the teabags, and steeped at boiling for a bit longer than recommended. It’s chocolaty, sure, but still just mediocre to me.

Another attempt; and little bit left. But Queen is Queen for a reason! said by gmathis

Meanwhile in the news: https://english.radio.cz/prymula-called-resign-after-violating-covid-19-measures-visiting-restaurant-8698006

Yep, our Minister of Heath violated his own rules that he declared earlier the same day!

To the tea…
I am incredlibly thankful for ashmanra ’s share. It is wonderful tea blend, and I liked the typical black tea notes. Yep, leather, creamy, smooth, hints of cocoa, red berries.

It was mild even it’s not top-notch quality leaf; not bitter at all, smooth and yet lots of to offer. Mild, but still full-bodied tea. Why exactly this one isn’t distributed by Czech distributor of Harney teas?

Yummy tea. No flaws. Mild, but caffeine boosting. Almost creamy.

A tea sample from ashmanra and…

Whoa whoa whoa…!
Took three teaspoons for my 300 ml cup.
Steped for 4 minutes, or something close by. I haven’t measuered the time. But turned out delicious.

While I have checked it here on Steepster, I saw “typical black tea notes”. I wasn’t sure what to acutally expect, as dry leaf was nice, but somehow common.

But brewed, cold enough to drink is it just great. I noticed mostly leather notes with cream. That sounds pretty much weird, but yeah it was like that. Then red berries (I haven’t got infected cup with fruit notes!). Overall awesomely smooth. It was even earthy, or rather bit peaty. But I don’t mind. It was great black tea.

Ashmanra, I can understand why is this your favourite tea. THANK YOU that you sent me little sample. It is so great for plain black tea.

This tea is very sweet, it’s almost hard to believe there’s no sugar in it. While I’m sipping it in the middle of Summer, the taste brings me right to October. It’s sweet and warming and smells like cinnamon. If you like sweet teas that evoke a cozy Fall, I’d recommend this.

I was really impressed with this Blood Orange tea — not overwhelmingly sour like most I’ve had. Pulled this out of a Sipsy box and loved it!

Outstanding! I absolutely love this tea. Strong and forward flavor of bergamot that is still well-balanced within the tea. Everything I love about Earl Grey or Earl Grey Creme teas, but with a clean and not overly sharp edge. Definitely buying this again!

Absolutely delicious! Strong flavors of bergamot, berries, and malt. A gorgeous, velvety tea! I hate to stop at two cups in the morning…. Strongly recommend.

Samurai Travelling Tea Box – Tea #33

It’s been so long since I last had a Harney & Sons tea, especially a straight one. They’re just not the most convenient to get here in Canada, and if I’m being really honest I think that the quality of a lot of their blends is pretty average – though at least reasonably priced for the quality!

I can’t remember if this is something I’ve had before, but if it is then it would have been years ago and I don’t remember. I thought it steeped up alright as a hot Western mug. I’d call it medium bodied, with a hint of pleasant astringency that reminded me of the dryness of walnut or almond skins. The flavour was fine (see aforementioned comment about the quality being average) but it didn’t dance on my tongue or anything crazy like that. More on the woody/umami end of the black tea spectrum that sweet and malty/cocoa-y, with a little tease of smokiness.

I’d drink again – but wouldn’t purchase.

Got this as a sample with my last shipment from Harney. The sample was one large bag with instructions to pour two cups boiling water on it, then steep for 15 minutes, then add six more cups of cold water and enjoy.

I followed the instructions and it turned out okay. Flavored teas are not my thing, though, so I can’t really speak to it. There’s definitely the flavor of coconut in it — far more overwhelming than I had hoped. I couldn’t taste any other flavors with it.

I won’t have this again, but my wife and my kids all enjoyed it and finished off the pitcher of the tea. I might actually order this for my mother, though, who loves anything/everything coconut. I can see her drinking this every day.

Tea of the morning and a sipdown.

I don’t have to go into work today, which is awesome because I have a million little things that need to be done here at home. It also means that I could take my time and enjoy my tea in the quiet of my kitchen rather than rushing through it. It’s the little things, you know?

This tea has a nice orange flavor with just hints of grassiness coming from the green tea. It’s not overwhelming in any way, but sometimes I don’t want to be overwhelmed. Even by my tea. The orange flavor is true orange, no icky artificial notes. I will say that I used the majority of my container for cold brew, and I do prefer it that way. The long steep pulls out more flavor from the green tea, and it melds with the orange notes seamlessly. The overall taste also remains very mellow and pleasant. This isn’t a tea I’ll replace right away, but if it shows up in my stash again I won’t be sad about it.

And now I’m off to pull weeds, wash a small mountain of clothes, and dust all the things. Happy Monday, y’all.

This has become one of my regular morning drinks lately. I first tried it about six months ago when I was looking for something with high caffeine for the mornings which broke out of my usual black teas, and fell in love with the taste. The caffeine buzz was also really nice.

The taste is unique — vegetal of some kind — mostly similar to grass, in my mind. I tried it with stevia once and really disliked that combo — I’m now sticking to the straight tisane with nothing added. The dried leaves are cut/torn into small pieces and are very lightweight, so I am hesitant to use the normal weight in grams for this teapot that I do with black teas — I have found 7-8 grams of these leaves seems to work well with 20 oz of boiling water for 6-7 minutes.

This is an interesting combo of smokey and strong (tannic/very bold) but also fruity (black current maybe?). It is good, but without milk it would be too bitter and tannic for me. A bit of soy milk mellows this blend out, however it isn’t something I would drink regularly if I had other H&S blends available. The cup of tea smells sweet and fruity, but when tasted the mouthfeel is almost smokey and there is a lingering bitterness like if you eat burnt toast and the burnt part has that weird mineral acrid taste. It is difficult to describe, but there is no sweetness. It isn’t bad, and I think many people like black teas that are very strong.

While the tea is rich in fragrance, it lacks taste. It does have pleasant black currant and caramel scent but tastes like water.