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More Tea Tasting
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Back in February I ordered some tea from Harney's and did a mini-review for each one.

I recently ordered some more loose tea from them, and just finished tasting the other day. I've rated the various teas below, trying to describe the flavour and my opinion of each. All except one were black teas, steeped for 5 minutes with boiling water. The green tea (Gunpowder Green) was steeped for 3 minutes without preheating the teapot and using water short of boiling point.

These ratings are subjective, and it's quite possible I'd rate them differently on different occasions! I've also listed in brackets whether I bought a tin or a sample packet (these are $2 a pop).
Let's get to it:

Caribe Blend (tin)
I came across this new blend in the latest Harney's catalogue, marked as their Staff Pick. They've blended black and green teas with hibiscus, guava, coconut and strawberry, and to top it off, they've accented with marigolds and cornflowers. This is a delightfully fruity tea that tasted like a combination of their Paris Blend and Egyptian Chamomile. Delicious!
I just noticed the website has this one marked as temporarily unavailable (my order was delayed, but I received the tin earlier this week), but hopefully it'll be back soon.
Rating: 9/10

Earl Grey Supreme (tin)
We tried a sample of this one last time, and liked it so much we bought a tin of the stuff.
Rating: 8/10

Egyptian Chamomile (sample)
This tea is made from the heads of chamomile flowers, and has a strong scent and an intriguing fruity flavour. Apparently it is often served as a calmative--it definitely had that effect on me! The only downside is that it was rather difficult to clean from our mesh filter, but that's a small price to pay. We'll definitely be getting a tin of this in the near future.
Rating: 9/10

Gunpowder Green (sample)
This is a nice everyday Chinese green tea that's probably the most well known variety. The leaves look like rolled balls, with a greyish tinge. This one is supposed to have a slightly smoky flavour, but I could barely detect it.
Rating: 7.5/10

Palm Court Blend (sample)
Harney's designed this one for the famous (?) Palm Court Room in New York's Plaza Hotel. This is a nice blend, with a bit of body and moderate aroma, and goes well with milk and sugar. It's a nice tea, but it isn't as distinctive as the others we've tried this time around. I prefer the East Frisian which has a similar taste, but with a richer flavour.
Rating: 7.5/10

Lapsang Souchong (sample)
Holy smokes, this stuff is strong! Imagine imbibing the smoke from a campfire in liquid form, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this tea is all about :) Personally we found it hard to drink, but apparently some people like it. Harney's reckon this one is good when you want a change of pace (they're not kidding!), and say that it goes great with apples and aged cheese. I'd suggest trying a sample before getting a whole tin of the stuff!
Rating: 2/10

English Breakfast (sample)
This is a nice, mild Chinese black tea (100% Keemun) that the English have been drinking for centuries. Some might think it blasphemous, but I actually prefer the Twinings teabag version of English Breakfast ;)
Rating: 7/10

That about wraps it up! I highly recommend Harney's for anyone looking to make the jump to finer teas that you won't find in any supermarket. They've got so many varieties that I reckon they could even win a few converts among coffee drinkers!



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