90
drank Panyang Congou by Harney & Sons
257 tasting notes

I’m now stockpiling black teas by the pound that I find on sale. Since my days in corporate America may finally be over, I’m now on a fixed income and need to watch my expenses. However, I still want to make sure I have plenty of my favorite (or soon to be favorite if the price is right) black teas on hand while I’m in (or off) my rocker.

I found this tea on the Harney & Sons website recently for a very reasonable price per pound. I had never heard of the selection. But, based on my admiration of several other Harney teas, I am reasonably confident that I can make myself like it if my first few cups don’t go down nicely.

When I opened the very sturdy one pound package, a very strong aroma similar to some of the loaded French bourbon teas I’ve tried wafted from the bag. The leaves were fairly short and dark brown with tan accents.

I followed the brewing instructions on the bag and steeped the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The resultant liquor was a bright golden orange. The aroma was slightly fruity and sweet.

From the very first sip to the bottom of my cup, my taste buds were consistently greeted with a smooth honey and nut flavor that included an accompaniment of fruity undertones in the orchestra. These flavors could have become noisy together if overdone, but the medium-strength concoction made the combination seem well balanced and quite amiable. There was no astringency in the blend and the aftertaste was pleasant and brief.

It appears that I rolled the dice and won with this choice. I am enjoying four cups of it today at 5 PM. That is a revelation in itself as I usually stop drinking black teas by 2 PM so I can start winding down for the evening.

I have absolutely no complaints about this tea. It has enough good flavor and sweetness to make me more than satisfied with my purchase.

Flavors: Fruity, Honey, Nutty

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML
Bluegreen

I totally agree with your description. I also got it for the price and was pleasantly surprised how satisfying it turned out to be. And yes, not oversteeping it is critical, otherwise the taste becomes to jumbled.

Stoo

Hi Bluegreen! Thanks for weighing in on this review. I’ve learned that if you keep your eyes open and stay patient, you can find really great teas at excellent prices. There is a little browser extension called “Honey” that I use. After you install it and go to product purchase pages, it automatically searches for the best price available for the item and any discount coupons that you can apply to it. I’ve saved substantial money with it already!

Bluegreen

Wow, thank you so much: downloaded, installed and it does work amazingly. No more tedious googling around for coupon codes and going through sketchy websites!

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Comments

Bluegreen

I totally agree with your description. I also got it for the price and was pleasantly surprised how satisfying it turned out to be. And yes, not oversteeping it is critical, otherwise the taste becomes to jumbled.

Stoo

Hi Bluegreen! Thanks for weighing in on this review. I’ve learned that if you keep your eyes open and stay patient, you can find really great teas at excellent prices. There is a little browser extension called “Honey” that I use. After you install it and go to product purchase pages, it automatically searches for the best price available for the item and any discount coupons that you can apply to it. I’ve saved substantial money with it already!

Bluegreen

Wow, thank you so much: downloaded, installed and it does work amazingly. No more tedious googling around for coupon codes and going through sketchy websites!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

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Bio

I ventured into the world of serious tea drinking in the Summer of 2011. I started out slowly and gently with bagged tea but climbed to the incredible flavorful heights of loose leaf teas in October of that year. Once you go leaf, you never go bag (except when you get free samples)!

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South Carolina, USA

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