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One of my daughters brewed a pot for me to try tonight and it was delicate and delicious. it made a lovely golden brew that had a nice taste, but I could not identify any particular note.

He made the journey to my house and arrived yesterday evening.
After such a long trip, I had to try him. He is my new best friend. Yes, Marco Polo lived up to his reputation. At first, I wanted to wait, as I had a huge fear of possible disappointment. But at my daughter’s urging, we forged ahead. Once I told her that I ordered him because when I googled “best tea in the world” his name popped up, there was no waiting. At first whiff out of the sealed bag, he instantly took me back about 50 years to the smell of my dad’s cherry blend pipe tobacco. He smelled like leather and tobacco with a mysterious fruity fragrance… is it cherries, strawberries, raspberries, or some berry type blend? Then we brewed, being ever so careful with timing and temperature. The aroma fills the senses like a great wine. The taste and flavor fills your mouth with a full bodied chewy goodness that you don’t want to ever leave. I love him. There was no bitterness, just smooth fruity and full bodied black tea goodness. Can you tell I love a good black tea? Why did I only order 2 oz.? Foolish virgin!

This morning, I did a second steep using the same leaves. I couldn’t bear to throw those leaves away. Its even smoother, more velvety and has lost some of the more pronounced berry and cream flavor. There is still great yummy goodness. It is still fragrant with good body. What is in this tea??? Does anyone know? Marco Polo and I may go on a long journey together. I love him!

This tea is not for me. There have been other roobios that I loved (Paromi’s Cinnamon Chai), but there was something about this that simply did not taste good to me. Fortunatley my daughter liked it pretty well so at least the other 4 sachets will get used more than likely. It is disappointing not to like it as I needed another decaf choice for night-time.

Yesterday my errands took me to a Starbucks located in my local Barnes and Noble bookstore. Fortunately they stock a few of Harney’s special blends. After smelling the Hot Cinnamon and thinking it would be way too much like a cup of liquid red hots (am I wrong?) I decided to try the Pomegranate Oolong, which was a good choice. Oo la la, Loved it. At first it seemed a bit weak but the longer it brewed as I slowly sipped, the better it was. Smooth and delicious and the pomegranate taste was delicate and light. As I ordered a medium size and they used one sachet, in the future I might use two sachets for that amount of water. My preference is for a more robust tea so using two sachets may be the trick. By the time I got home and was still sipping I was wishing I had bought the 30 sachet canister. There are only two places in town that I know of that carry Harney & Sons and both have very limited flavor selections. This is excellent as a hot tea but it seems as though it would make splendid iced tea as well. I have on order already some of the Harney Black Current so hopefully it will turn out to be as good.

I bought a tin of the Paris sachets over the weekend at my local Fresh Market store. After reading all the positive reviews online here, I was excited to brew it up! Definitely, I am in the process of learning what flavors I prefer in teas. While this was a well blended tea, there is a taste in it that is not my preference. Its the same taste I pick up in the Vanilla Comora by Harney so I am presuming its the vanilla. While my favorite coffee creamer is vanilla, that does not seem a preferred flavor for me in tea. It is puzzling to me as I KNOW that I would love eating a vanilla flavored cookie with most any tea! If anyone has any idea what I may be tasting in these two teas other than vanilla that may be a common flavoring please let me know. I wanted so much to like Paris so it is a bit disappointing. I still have lots of others I want to taste by Harney & Sons and others. Does anyone have any samples of the Diamond Jubilee tea? I can trade for something in my cupboard!

This is a pleasant tasting tea, but it did not seem to have the body and brightness of Harney’s regular English Breakfast. Its adequate, just not special.

Last night I received my Harney & Sons order which included several Tagalongs to try. I have traditionally been a black tea consumer and my experience with green teas is limited. This morning at work, I opened up my Tagalong container and from the moment the tin was opened, I was enchanted with the aroma of the blend. Visitors to my office notice the bouquet and admired the smell too. Adding hot water to the sachet just made it better and after watching it brew a few minutes and having the first taste, I feel as though I have a garden party in my mouth. It is wonderful. Someone else mentioned lemon drop candy, and yes, I agree, there is a taste of that with the flowers mixed in. At first I simply noticed that it was citrusy and floral and the longer I drink it the more lemon I taste. It is smooth, mellow and has body to the tea. The color is a medium to light honey color. Overall, I like this very much and will definitely buy more. I am not able to discern what the floral tastes are. I may pick up a slight rose taste but there are more flowers than that. The tea blend itself is beautiful visually and has large chunks of what appear to be orange peel, even though it taste more lemony. Yes, I will definitely add more to my cupboard of this blend. It will be among my favorites.

This is a good tasting tea and enjoyable. However,I used one sachet per 8 oz and it is rather light. The clove taste is definitely predominant. I could use a bit more cinnamon, more robust tea and more citrus in this blend. I pick up the almond flavoring as more of an aftertaste. Next time I may try two sachets instead of one and see if it gives a deeper flavor without more bitterness. It is one to steep longer, around 5 minutes. For a spicy tea, I prefer the Paromi Chai, which is more of a tisane if I remember correctly.