I don’t know why I thought that Harney & Sons Fine Teas were British, but I did. And I am wrong. John Harney started the company 30 years ago in Salisbury, Connecticut, making the company very American.
No matter.
The company is now based in Millerton, New York, part of the Hudson Valley. They are a family owned business which sources, blends, and packages over 300 teas.
Thinking that I would try a few, I arbitrarily picked several, and went home to a tea tasting afternoon on a snowy day in Seattle.
In no particular order, I began with Hot Cinnamon Sunset. The smell was wonderful, the taste familiar. In Seattle we have a local tea similar to this, and it reminded me of that, with it’s cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel. It’s hard to go wrong with this tea, or any tea with cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel, especially in cold weather.
Next I tried a decaf tea. Every so often, I try a decaf, just to make sure that I don’t really care for it. I don’t get what the fuss is about decaf teas when there are so many really nice herbal teas, but I tried once again a decaf: Harney’s Vanilla Comoro. I liked the name and the idea of vanilla in the tea to offset the decaf flavor. However, it leaves a bitter aftertaste that the vanilla doesn’t cover, so once again, I do not like decaf teas.
That’s just me.
On to Tower of London Blend, which I liked very much. It had a little bergamot and honey added, which made it quite nice. The tea itself was smooth and smelled like something I would want to drink on a snowy afternoon, which is what it was.
I followed with African Autumn, a rooibos with cranberry and orange, followed by Pumpkin Spice, which smells like the Fall, and both were welcome treats. It’s like dessert without the sugar.
I finished with the Organic Darjeeling, which was sublime. This was a perfect tea with which to finish my afternoon of tasting. It was light, almost smelling of summer peaches, and tasting clean, light and comforting.
Snow is starting to melt, and tea time is over.