Harney & Sons

I was a little worried when I got this blend, I’m not going to lie. I am not typically a fan of Harney and Sons’ Pumpkin Spice but this blend is not that at all! It’s a pumpkin (without the spice) black tea with some spices along with vanilla and maple flavors. This blend tastes like a hot cuppa paired with some freshly baked pumpkin bread. It’s super yummy, buttery, and somehow light at the same time. I think I may need to grab some more before it sells out, plus the tin is gorgeous!

A strong CTC black tea. This tea often was unpleasant to drink because it had the tendency to go very strong extremely quickly, but this was a great tea for milk tea. I’m little sad that Harney & Sons doesn’t sell this anymore, though I completely understand why. The full version tastes way, way better and I would recommend that one over this.

sold for $8.5/4oz

Most companies get the ginger part right but completely miss the pastry side of their gingerbread/cookie teas. (Yes, this means you, Bigelow Ginger Snappish. Sorry.)

Our H&S friends have nailed both elements accurately. Not so much ginger it burns; and just enough “cookie” to make it believable without being cloying. Nicely done. Thanks, ashmanra!

This tea takes you places. There I was in my office, working away at my computer with a mug of this tea at my elbow. Then it was like I was sitting around a campfire, smelling smoke and sipping whiskey. This may not be my favorite tea ever, but I think I’m more impressed by it than any other tea I can remember.

Dry, it has a very pungent smoky scent with a hint of bourbon in the background. Brewed, the smoke is subtler, although still the dominant flavor. I slightly oversteeped my sachet, but the tea was forgiving and did not become more bitter or astringent than the bourbon and vanilla flavors could handle. There’s a slight mustiness to the flavor, but in a pleasant way, like the damp smell you get in the woods when it’s recently rained, and the sweetness from the bourbon flavoring comes through like burnt sugar.

If I made this an everyday tea, it would lose its ability to transport me, but I think it would pair well with certain experiences. Maybe I’ll drink it on my front porch one rainy morning. Maybe I’ll take it for a walk in the woods.

Except for the fact that it’s only early September and it got up to 90 degrees this afternoon, today was kind of a perfect fall day. I went for a walk in the woods in the morning, I baked a loaf of fresh bread when I got home, and this evening I sat down with a tea that’s named after my favorite season.

But what a letdown! First of all, let me say that I love hibiscus. It’s one of my favorite flavors, and all other things equal, if I have to pick between a tea that does have hibiscus and one that doesn’t, I’m going to go for the hibiscus. But in this blend, it gets in the way.

For the first couple of sips while the tea was still piping hot, the hibiscus was all I could taste, and somewhat faintly at that (although the cup was tart all the way through). There was a brief window at a warm-but-not-hot temperature when I got a faint hint of orange and a little of the woodsy body of the rooibos, but once this mug reached room temperature, it was back to hibiscus water. I can’t say I ever tasted the cranberry.

This tea smells beautiful in the tin and I do love hibiscus, so I’m not giving up yet. I’ll play around with how I brew it, but my hopes are not high. This is what I get for trying to rush Mother Nature.

Okay, technically I got this tea to take to the office, but come on, who can resist trying all of the new teas ASAP when they’re delivered?

I drank this one in stages. I had about half of it hot, and the first thing I noticed was the vanilla scent. That flavor doesn’t come through as strongly on my tongue, where the flavor is dominated more by the lemongrass and the richness of the coconut. I couldn’t identify the ginger at first, but once I’d read it on the label it was clear how much the sharpness of the ginger adds. I adore coconut in a tea (and in everything else), but it can sometimes create an oily mouthfeel, and this blend avoids that: it’s more velvety than oily. Between the coconut and the tea itself, I get a nice floral aftertaste with minimal astringency.

So that was Stage 1. Then I realized I was running low on time to run a couple errands, and I had to run out of the house. By the time I got back, the tea had cooled to room temperature, and unfortunately, Stage 2 cannot compete. I couldn’t taste the green tea anymore or even much of the coconut. It was all lemongrass and ginger.

Would I drink this one cold? Nope, nope, nope. But that’s on me and my bad time management today, so based on the hot tea, this one gets an A. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed a cup of tea since I restarted the tea habit.

Seems like forever since I have been on this site… but back to write a quick review. I wasnt a big fan of this… it made a really strange cold tea but I found that was my favorite way to drink it. Or maybe I just brewed it with too many leaves? j really wasnt a fan of this hot, it just wasn’t anything special. I think I was expecting looking at the blend if leaves.

I’m out of my routine this morning, and this tea is part of it. I love being up in the morning, but I hate getting up, and the window in between the alarm clock going off and sitting on the sofa with my coffee is the worst part of my day. It helps if I know my coffee is almost ready, so I normally set it up after I wash the dinner dishes, but last night I had evening plans and skipped the coffee routine. Big mistake. Turns out I’m almost out of coffee and can’t eke out a pot, or even a cup.

So tea it is! I got one bag of this English Breakfast as a sample in a recent order, and it’s fine for what it is. English Breakfast isn’t a style that sets me up for success because I’m prone to oversteeping, and I find the astringency of oversteeped English Breakfast stomach-turning. I was careful this time, though, and I’m … not not enjoying this cup. It has a pleasant earthy and toasty flavor, noticeably tart, with a sweet, almost agave-like aftertaste. I can’t imagine I’ll buy it again, but it did the job for me today.

Every time I drink unsweetened, unflavored chamomile, I remember the first time I drank pure chamomile. It seemed so improbable to me that a single flower could produce a tea that’s both grassy and almost farmy but at the same time so sweet. The magic of chamomile is that no matter how often I drink it, the sweetness is always a surprise and a pleasure.

I got a single bag of this as a sample with a larger order. I brewed it in a glass mug, and I’m glad that I did, because it produces a beautiful, bright yellow, almost golden liquor. I expected an apple flavor but don’t quite find it, although I’m enjoying the hay-like flavor so much that I don’t miss it at all. I’m going to need more of this one.

Ordered a sample of this when I was picking up their fruit teas. It just caught my eye and I was already deep into fall mode, so into the cart it went ha ha.

Honestly, I’m finding it a little disappointing. The aroma is lovely, but the flavoring is actually quite light. I taste cinnamon but not a whole lot of apple, and mostly I taste the mellow black base. There’s a hint of apple in the finish.

Not a favorite. There was an apple cinnamon honeybush I really liked from New Moon, I may have to look into getting more of that one…

A sweet black tea. This is probably my favorite tea from Harney & Sons. The website’s flavor description “like sun-dried hay” is accurate, but the tea also has a very strong honey note. When chilled the tea almost tastes like honey water. This one makes amazingly malty milk tea as well.

I wish other vendors sold this at a cheaper price, it’s weird this tea is so obscure that I only found one other vendor selling at an even higher price.

sold for $30/4oz

https://www.harney.com/products/songluo-full?variant=12568836374599

I’ve always been an “eh, chamomile always tastes like chamomile no matter what” drinker, but Harney’s variety tasted a little less musty than others I’ve encountered. Might’ve helped ease some kinks out of the back of my neck on a stress-uous (rhymes with “tempestuous”) afternoon.

I always have a hard time describing plain black tea – this sure does taste like golden monkey! It’s not one of my favorite sorts of teas, but it’s not bad either. Pleasant enough sweetened with milk. Nice to try from the TTB!

ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge – “A tea you serve non-tea folks”

I had to think about this one a bit. I don’t ever serve tea to anyone, so it was more what I would serve to non-tea folks. At first I was thinking maybe an iced chai latte, since that’s a tea drink that’s popular. But I decided on this tea, since it’s such a crowd pleaser and I can imagine it being a hit with kids as well.

And I’ve been longing for fall lately, so it fits in perfectly with what I felt like drinking! This supposedly has apple and orange in it, but it just tastes exactly like Hot Cinnamon Spice. Sweet candy cinnamon à la Red Hots! Sort of a guilty pleasure tea for me, as I don’t generally like sweetened teas. Once this runs out, I’ll probably eventually order Hot Cinnamon Spice since that’s offered in loose leaf and I can’t tell the difference. Very pretty and festive tin though! :)

A strong, robust tea. Would work well for a breakfast tea as well despite the afternoon name. Matches summer heat here in Florida. A satchet for the cup at 5 minutes. Buries a cube of sugar so not naturally sweet. Flirts with borderline bitterness. I think next time I’ll try a four minute steep due to that buried in the background.

On a visual note, the collectable tin is lovely.

It’s a basic black tea blend. It’s good. Got the satchets during a recent sale. It sweetens easily if you have a sweet tooth and lack bitterness thankfully.

I couldn’t’ resist some Disney tins and others in a recent Harney and Son sale. If I hate the tea, at least there’s the tins I suppose. I got Mickie, Minnie, Peter Pan, Disenchanted, and Snow White.

I’ve only had one cup of this one. Reached for a satchet for a nightly cup of decaf the other night, not expecting much honestly, but it was surprisingly good. I could taste the hibiscus but it wasn’t overpowering, and the tea was strong with fruity flavors. I was not, as they say, disenchanted. You never know with Harney’s blends, so it was a pleasant surprise

It does say mint is in there, but I couldn’t really sense it other than adding layers to the tea.

I have been so tempted by this tea ever since reading tasting notes from CameronB and other folks. I didn’t buy it partly because of my sipdown goals and partly because I am not a big fan of ginger or clove when they are too strong and they will put me right off a tea. If the pieces are big enough and the tea is good enough, I will pick out these ingredients as best I can.

I saw an ad for a new-to-me Harney tea and went to the website to check it out. Definitely not going to buy anything! I noticed that the large Royal Palaces style tin of this was on sale for 8.95 but told myself “no” and moved on. I didn’t buy anything!

The next day I had an email from Harney and Sons with a picture of this tea and a coupon to come back and try it with an additional $5 off, which I could instead apply to a different product if I wished. Believing that this was a tea Ashman would love, and in view of the fact that he has just started having tea instead of milk in the mornings on workdays, I reasoned that I should buy it because the sachets would be and easy for him to make so early in the morning.

My total was $3.95 for a tin of 30 sachets. Free shipping always with Harney and Sons in the US. It would be almost criminal not to use that coupon, right?

The aroma is worth $5 at least. I had braced myself for a clove assault, but all I got was sweet molasses cookie. Worth it.

Drinking it sans additions, it is not at all cloying or super sweet. Molasses leads the flavor and after lots of sipping the clove and ginger are building up in the aftertaste but they are mostly just warming and not hitting assault levels. This will be really nice in cold weather.

With a heat index of 110F (43.3C) today, I decided we should finish the rest of the pot as a cold latte. I added a little sugar and milk to the now cooled tea. Awwwww yiss. This is absolutely delicious. I think this is how it will go, hot or cold, from now on. Ashman loved it.

A Nice Black Tea Blend; Even steeped for a minute, not too strong, but forward Black tea taste.
Medium color, full black tea scent.

I love chamomile and lavender, so this was an obvious purchase for me. Drinking it with almond milk gives this some extra body, which I felt was lacking when I had it with skim. The chamomile is nice, though the lavender could be stronger for my tastes. I became bored with this one after a few cups, so I’ve started giving it my usual chamomile treatment, which means adding flavoring syrup and (soy) milk. I’m enjoying it again, but I think I prefer bagged grocery store chamomile.

To me this tastes almost identical to their Paris tea. I never did a taste comparison but I will not be able to tell this is Tower of London or Paris if I did a blind tasting. Very fruity, but not earl grey like.

sold for $10.50/4oz

https://www.harney.com/products/tower-of-london?refSrc=8584001606&nosto=productpage-nosto-3-copy&variant=1517299728390

A very sweet spiced tea. Like, it tastes like sugar was added to the tea kind of sweet. Most prominent flavor definitely is the cinnamon and the sweet cloves. Potent.

sold for $15/7oz

https://www.harney.com/products/hot-cinnamon-spice-tea?nosto_source=cmp&nosto=785535201&variant=1339236810758