AuntTea Send Message

I bought Harney’s Special English Breakfast, looking for a replacement for PG Tips which no longer has the flavor and tea experience it had in earlier years.

Using filtered city water, and an electric tea kettle, steeped in Pyrex glass and drunk from a Corelle glass cup. Steeped three minutes.

First impressions: smooth, friendly, pleasant, strong, nice Breakfast Tea kick, bit of a pucker that, to me, calls for milk or half-n-half. But, I give first impressions the respect of drinking them plain.

First report: I will be trying this again and again, to see what steeping time suits me best, and what kind of milk/cream or how much I will add, etc.

The Harney website states that this tea consists of:
“Small dark leaves from the British Commonwealth: India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Kenya.” Harney gives part of the profits from this tea to a charity for low-income people in New York who come from the British Commonwealth….

I am rating it at 95, because, to me, the tea is exactly as described on the website.

From the Harney website:

“Liquor: Dark brown.
Aroma: Light toasted notes.
Flavors: Toast, citrus and hints of dark honey.
Caffeine Level: Caffeinated
Body: Full-bodied. The small leaves make for a strong tea with lots of body.”

Website gives following measurements:
Briskness 4 (out of 5)
Body 4
Aroma 2.

Harney says to steep this five minutes. The label on the tin states “4-5 minutes”.

I found that the second cup, with my usual goat’s milk, could have used a longer steeping to take the milk. Just my preference. Others, of course, will have their own preferences.

If someone is looking for a basic, good, get-going tea, I think this one is worth trying. It is not a multi-faceted, multi-layered taste or experience. It is a decent strong cup of tea, which for me, has a place in the tea cupboard.

I bought a four-ounce tin of loose tea, and have ordered another pound.

ETA: Another test: I put a bit of Harney’s Supreme Breakfast in with this tea, which gives this one a bit more flavor and interest, giving it a bit of a “fancy” tea experience.