So Alphakitty sent me a bunch of H&S teas during our recent swap, which was awesome since I’m seeing everyone on here raving about them, and I had yet to try any! Also, I’m so taken by the city names… as if I needed convincing to want to try the whole line of such-named teas! Today I have brewed up Tokyo, Bangkok, Florence, Paris, and Boston. I have a SoHo blend too… uhhhh…. yeah, that’s it. Should have brewed that one up too!
I decided to make a game of this and guess the tea flavouring by scent/taste. I’m not actually terribly familiar with what each of these blends is, so this should be fun!!
Florence definitely smells quite like a fruity dark chocolate. The type of fruitiness in particular escapes me, although I could be led to believe it’s cherry, as the aroma reminds me a bit of chocolate covered cherries. I’m fairly certain it is not cherry, though.
The first sip tastes much like the aroma. I’m surprised to find that it’s a bit weak given my 4 minutes of steeping, 1.5tsp tea and 8oz. water, but perhaps it needed that additional minute that was written on the bag. It is definitely chocolatey though, with just a hint of fruity. I can’t taste the black tea base as much as I would like, and there’s definitely no astringency or bitterness, so an additional minute likely only would have helped. Still good though. Not a tea I’d purchase as it’s a familiar flavour, so I think it’s much like one of the teas from DavidsTea (Love Tea #7??), which is much more easily obtainable if I’m in the mood.
And the verdict? I think I came the closest on this one, yay! Definite chocolate, and I can see the cherry/hazelnut confusion (even if the rest of you can’t! Hmph!) One more sip and I’m more inclined to believe that there’s hazelnut in the blend than before, but I swear it’s still a bit like cherries, too :D
Thanks Alphakitty!
First there was a duplicate, now there’s a triplicate. But not when I edit the post. Anyone else see that weirdness?
I see it tripled. Maybe wait a little while and then try to edit later? I had some weird stuff going on with removing teas from my shopping list the other day, but now it’s working fine.
Good plan!
Yeah I see it tripled. I wasn’t sure if you were just excited or Steepster was messing up. :P
Both, maybe? I mean… it IS tea.
Ahaha. Editing didn’t work again. Oh well!
Oh that’s funny, I thought it was done on purpose to really enforce your point, haha!
Glad you liked it though. :) Chocolate hazelnut… :D I’ve been curious about Harney for a while. Is their shipping to Canada reasonable?
It’s $15 flat rate for up to $50. Most of their teas come in tins, and are REALLY reasonable, so the $15 doesn’t seem like it’s too bad. Better if you can share with someone, but I’d pay it. :) I haven’t ordered from them personally yet.
I’ve had a couple flavoured blacks, and I’d say their teas are pretty good, nicely flavoured. Not the “best”, but pretty darn good. And so reasonably priced.
Harney Teas were my first “fine” teas. I still love their Keemun Mao Feng, Ali Shan, Boston, Rose Scented, Huang Shan Mao Feng, and Golden Monkey.
So far their flavoured black teas are better than a good portion of what’s available locally. A lot of the local shops purchase from the same suppliers, so they’ll only have a few different teas. H&S also has tins! With shipping, the prices are similar by weight, which is fine with me. I can’t always afford Butiki or Verdant or stuff from the specialty shops (There’s an Assam supplier here, but they only do mail order!).