Harney & Sons
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I like a little ginger in my tea, but I’ve had trouble finding a palatable technique for brewing with ginger. Usually I cut a thin thin slice and throw it in the bottom of my thermos, but the ginger gets pretty strong after a few hours. This time I cut (and peeled) a thick slice and brewed it directly with the leaves and it worked out really nice.
Preparation
This nice strong tea has a rich malt from the mixed CTC and Broken Assams and the vibrant brightness of Ceylon and Darjeeling. Steep 3 minutes for a great morning blend, or more for a tea that holds up to milk and sugar.
-RA
Preparation
This black tea blend is named for East Frisia, an area of Germany’s North Sea Coast where tea is extremely popular, specifically black tea. This tea blends Assam, Darjeeling and Ceylon. It is also complemented well with a bit of cream and sugar and is a wonderful way to kick off this snowy day!
This weekend we’re tasting three different Assam Darjeeling blends at the tea shop. East Frisian is a blend of hearty Assam that is lightened by Darjeeling and Ceylon. It’s a great tea to put milk and crystallized sugar in.
Preparation
So me and my compadres went on an outing today and ended up in a Barnes and Nobel. Thusly, I had to check out the cafe for tea and saw 10 tins of beauty. Harney & Sons? Do my eyes deceive me? I know my contacts need to be replaced, but seriously? Seriously. Needless to say it took me forever to pick out the kind I wanted and went with this one due to the outbreak of Vanilla and Almond. I regret nothing. I also bought Candy Cane Lane earlier in the evening, so expect a epic Virgel style on that later tonight.
The first thing I noticed about the tea was that the water was way to hot, and that the white was definitely being mistreated. Then across the store after stopping and examining books, that I forgot to take out the bag in a timely manner. Needless to say, the white was being prissy and bitter about the whole thing. After the initial shock of “how can a white be so bitter?” comes very enjoyable notes of almond with vanilla, vanilla lingering a bit longer on the tongue. There is some astringency that is ill-fitting with the texture of the tea, not as crisp as it usually feels. I want to say more and feel like I would have more great thing to say, if only the circumstances had been different. Thus, a relatively low grade, as it is very bitter.
This tea and the other Christmas tea are selling for like 16 bucks together (60 satchels overall), and there is no isolated tin of White Christmas. However, the other tins are like $10 for one so I might just have deal with having another tea when I return to buy it. Life is so cruel.
Also, mentioning being a “tea fiend” in conversation has become a new hobby, that annoys most of my friends.
Preparation
I saw these at a B&N Starbucks! Debated buying the white tea, but mostly because I thought the tin was pretty :-p
They were selling this tea together with H&S’s Holiday Tea as a giftbox at Chapters Bookstore, so naturally I made sure the boyfriend-creature knew that it would make a very nice X-mas gift. :D
But yeah, hot water and oversteeping can be death to white tea as I’ve learned to my sorrow. :/
I like this tea a lot, but it’s a very strong spice-flavored tea. It’s finish is black, but the orange, clove, and almond are strong, so I have to be in the right mood for it. If Christmas had a flavor, this would be it. It is good alone or with sweeteners and milk.