790 Tasting Notes

91

Mmmm… this is mighty cooling. It sounded so refreshing when I saw it on the site. It did not disappoint. The fruit flavors are very good, not fakey tasting. The tea base goes well with the fruits.

I can’t even tell you why I ordered the iced tea bags rather than the regular loose leaf version of this, but I would certainly keep either version in the stash. I also think my southern aunties would like this one. :)

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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19

Well, this is not a tea about which I can find much nice to say. :(

It’s very pretty before steeping. The dry smell had something odd… what is that… don’t think I like it… what is it… oh, it’s like liquid Tylenol. Like medicine. Okay. Not looking forward to trying this. Hopefully it’s just the smell, right?

Nope. It tastes like cough syrup or the liquid medicine you get as a child. Not because it is sweet. No, it is simply medicine-y. I can taste maybe a bit of blueberry and some of the vanilla. It’s a very smooth tea.

Perhaps that is the rooibos. I haven’t tasted many rooibos teas to be able to tell – they aren’t my favorite. I think I have had about 2 that I like and they were all blended with black teas.

Anyway. This is not my cuppa. I couldn’t make myself drink it all. I’m not even sure I could drink it to be polite if it were given to me.

Perhaps others would like it better. I foresee it coming up in a swap offering. :)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
Alphakitty

Cough syrup tea :( It might be the rooibos, I find it to be quite medicinal.

Scott B

Pretty much every fruit-flavored rooibos tastes medicine-y to me. Of course, perhaps the flavoring exacerbates the medicine taste.

Nicole

Glad to know it isn’t just me. :)

Scott B

If you are looking for a caffeine-free tisane,I’ve had good luck with Upton’s Rooibos Chai and TeaGschwendner’s Winter Magic (that one’s not available til the holiday season). They are both predominantly spice-based tisanes and I think that makes a difference.

Madeline Alyce

If you want to swap it, you know where to find me ;) Our reviews of this couldn’t be more different, haha!

Madeline Alyce

Oh no, wait, I just realized you were stash clearing out this tea! Boo!

GiggleGoddess

@Madeline Alyce if I can’t get my stash to taste just right with future steepings I’m up for a swap!:)

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67

Smells lovely, just like pineapple. The taste is definitely pineapple. I don’t pick up much coconut, though. Mildly sweet.

Not bad. Not sure I like it enough to keep it around, but I’m trying to be in reduction mode so that may be affecting my thoughts on that. ;)

It definitely needs the 5 minute steep time recommended. It is a very light tea.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Della Terra Teas

Thanks for the review. This certainly is a lighter tea. We are working on another blend similar but with a bit more coconut/pineapple flavor. Perhaps calling it Pina Colada. :)

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81
drank Kaimosi CTC by Harney & Sons
790 tasting notes

Very dark brew. Quick steep, as can be expected from a CTC, I suppose.

No notes of anything to my tastebuds other than just basic black tea. Not astringent at all.

Probably won’t get this again. Nothing at all wrong with it. Simply don’t need another good basic black in the pantry.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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86
drank Indian Nimbu by Harney & Sons
790 tasting notes

This reminded me a lot of an Earl Grey when smelling the dry leaf. The steeped leaves are full of greens and a few different colors of brown – a very pretty steeping. The liquid is very dark. It is much darker than I’d think with such a light tasting tea. The citrus is light and nicely complemented by the hint of caramel on the back of the tongue. There is more Earl Grey smell to the steeped cup than Earl Grey flavor so if you don’t like Earls, don’t worry about it with this tea. The smell also has a bit of sweetness hiding in it – possibly the caramel.

I’m so glad I now have someone at work hooked on tea so I have someone to share samples with. This was in his last purchase. We both like it – he’s a Earl Grey fan as am I and he’s getting to be a fan of Darjeelings as well. So this was a nice blend.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 45 sec
LiberTEAS

This is definitely one of my favorites from Harney & Sons.

Hesper June

Oh! This sounds so yummy!
Might have to get it in my next H&S order.

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84
drank Chai by Harney & Sons
790 tasting notes

The coworker whom I introduced (ie. addicted) to loose leaf tea brought this in last Friday as part of his breakfast offering. He brewed up at home and added the milk and sugar there so I can’t really report on temp or time.

I normally am not a huge chai person. This, I could see a reason for keeping in my stash. I love, love, love cardamom and have been disappointed by chai blends in the past that have been very heavy on cinnamon, seemingly to the exclusion of other spices. With this, I can taste the cloves, a hint of ginger possibly and loads of cardamom. It makes a light chai, not a hit you in the face chai.

And after breakfast, coworker and I had to put in a Harney order. He used a lot of his Indian Spice to make the chai for the group and well, you can’t have too much tea, right?

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81

First, thank you to Amy oh for this sample!

Maybe I’m nuts, because I haven’t seen others note this, but to me, this has a very buttery smell when steeped. A little spinachy. No butter in the taste, though.

Light golden in color, a bit floral but not very much to my taste. To me, this seems a lot like a green with somewhat less vegetal impression. Somewhat astringent and dry mouth feel. Lighter than the seconds and autumnals that I’m used to drinking.

I like this, but I don’t know that I’m going to be a huge fan of first flushes. A bit too light overall for me for this to be a favorite.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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83

This does seem very sophisticated. Very ladies-who-don’t-need-jobs-and-who-do-charity-works-instead. And that isn’t a bad thing. It is a very delicate, high class tea. It reminds me of my grandmother. Totally not like me at all. I’m not a delicate lady. :)

The rose is very present, as is the lavender. The bergamot is underneath, but not as strong as the florals, by far. The tea base is somewhat overshadowed by the florals but again, I don’t consider that especially bad.

On smelling the dry leaf, I was about knocked out by the rose and I had my doubts. I am not a huge rose or lavender fan. My mom really likes lavender teas but she isn’t a huge fan of rose. I got this thinking maybe the rose would be faint enough that it might appeal to her. And, I’ll admit it – the advertising art swayed me. :)

All the not-fans-of aside, I like this tea, which does surprise me. Smelling it, both dry and steeped, would make me think this would be one that would be given to others. I am undecided at this point about purchasing again – that may depend on what Mom and the other tea party ladies think as well.

Because of the strong rose smell, I did err on the side of caution and steep this for half the recommended time. I think I’m glad I did but I’ll try it again with the full recommended time just to see what happens.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec
LiberTEAS

this sounds awesome… on my shopping list it goes.

Nicole

I’d be happy to send you some of mine to sample if you like.

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94

I like jasmine but have some issues most times. I am more a black tea person and it seems that normally jasmine is paired with green or white teas. Also, sometimes jasmine is too bitter.

This blend solves both of my problems. I like the black tea base and the addition of the vanilla mellows the whole thing out. It does feel almost creamy and heavy. The jasmine smells very strongly of jasmine flowers when you smell the dry leaves. Not really perfumey, which is what I get a lot of times when smelling jasmine tea. Instead this blend is definitely more floral smelling. The taste is not overpowering to my palate but I would say that if you are so-so on jasmine, this blend will push you over the edge one way or the other. I love the combination of jasmine and vanilla. Pairing it with a predominately black tea makes this a win for me.

If you are looking for the green tea here, I’m not sure you’ll find it very present. My palate may simply not be trained enough to find it, but this seems pretty much like a very black tea. Good but the only place I find green is seeing a few green leaves in the dry mix.

Update: Best hot. I do notice astringency subtly hiding in the background as this cools off.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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94
drank Golden Monkey by Harney & Sons
790 tasting notes

Light and smooth. Pretty liquor. The dry leaves are a pretty mix of gold and black. A bit of a malty taste. Somewhat easy to oversteep perhaps. I do like this quite a bit. If it were to go on sale, I’d get more. For now, I’ll stick with a sample now and then.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

This resteeps really well, too! To me it tastes best with no additions at all, whereas Teavana’s GM needed milk and sugar to make it interesting.

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Bio

Tea afficionado & founder of the Midwest Tea Festival. I wish I could make a living creating and serving tea parties, but alas, bills prevent that possibility. :) So I make do by catering tea parties for friends and co-workers and drinking tons of tea with my cats on my lap. :)

Location

Kansas City, MO

Website

http://www.midwestteafest.com

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