Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Harney Sons’

This summer I had the pleasure of having a personal tour of the Harney & Sons factory and warehouse in Millerton, New York by Michael Harney himself! I was vacationing about an hour away in the Berkshires, MA with friends so visiting the famous Harney & Sons Tea Tasting Room was a must on my itinerary. One beautiful, sunny afternoon, my friend Lisa and I embarked on our journey through the picturesque mountains in western New York to the quaint little town of Millerton. Our plan was to have lunch in the tea room, shop in the tea store and of course taste some teas in the tea tasting room. As the tearoom is quite small, it turned out that the only seats available were at the bar. We took them and enjoyed our lovely lunch and tea selections. At some point during our lunch, Lisa struck up a conversation with the couple beside us and our server and one thing led to another and we discovered that our server was Alex Harney, the grandson of John Harney who started the company and the son of Michael Harney who now runs the company with his brother Paul. When he found out that I am in the tea business, Alex asked if we would like a tour of the factory with his Dad and we of course accepted! Anyway, as you can imagine, I was in heaven! I enjoyed the tour immensely and loved the whole experience of being there in little Millerton, New York on that sunny summer afternoon. It was definitely one of the highlights of our vacation.

When I returned home, I realized that I had a Harney & Sons sample waiting for my review and I thought it would be appropriate for me to make that one my next review.

Matsuda’s Sencha is a Japanese green tea. For a long time, I was not a lover of Japanese green teas because I was not knowledgeable about the proper preparation methods. Arguably, Japanese green teas are the most finicky of teas and if you do not prepare them correctly, you will be disappointed. It is easy to create a bitter tasting cup if you do not use the correct amount of tea, proper temperature of water and steep for the just the right amount of time.

The Matsuda’s Sencha dry leaf is a lovely dark emerald green colour and the leaves are silky to the touch. There is a mix of long leaves, broken leaves and some fannings. You can tell by looking at the colour and shape of the dry leaf that this is a premium sencha tea. I used 2.5g of tea to approximately 4 oz of 175° water and steeped it for 1 minute (you could even use slightly cooler water). The wet leaves were a beautiful bright green colour and had a sweet aroma. The liquor was a bright yellow/green shade and the taste was mildly sweet, slightly vegetal and very well rounded on the palate.

For the second steep, I used the same temperature and quantity of water, but I only steeped for 30 seconds. I did the same for the third steep. Subsequent steepings can then be increased to 1 minute intervals and you can probably get four or five steeps this way.

You will notice with many Japanese greens, that the liquor is cloudy and the second and subsequent steeps of Matsuda’s Sencha were especially so. The colour also becomes more of a bright green shade after the first steep. You will even notice residue in the bottom of your cup depending on how quickly you consume the tea. The residue occurs because the tea leaves are so fine that some of smallest particles end up in your cup. Don’t be afraid of a little residue in your cup of Matsuda’s Sencha because it’s filled with antioxidants and is good for you, so bottoms up!

In conclusion, I quite enjoyed this tea and found it to be a high end Japanese green. Compared to other Sencha teas that I have tried, this one is superior. I can see why this tea is Michael Harney’s favourite Sencha!

You can purchase the Matsuda’s Sencha directly from the Harney & Sons website.

Company Description: A delicious melding of black tea, nut and chocolate flavors.

This is my first tea from Harney & Sons and I must say that I have heard a lot of amazing things about Florence. I truly hope to not be disappointed.

When you first open the tin of Florence, the aroma of dark chocolate and hazelnut will fill the room. If you like Nutella, you will simply want to eat the dry leaves. They smell that good. While waiting for the tea to steep the full 5 minutes as suggested on the tin, I was tempted to cut the time short. I resisted and was certainly rewarded for my efforts.

I tried the first few sips plain, expecting the tea to be a tad bitter due to the long steep time. While there was a slight bitterness, it wasn’t the bitterness you would expect when oversteeping a tea. It was a very identifiable hazelnut bitterness followed by the taste of dark chocolate and black tea. I added a bit of milk to my mug and the tea morphed into a creamy, liquid Nutella-type beverage though not as sweet.

For my second cup, I added milk and sweetener which transformed the tea into the ultimate dessert in a cup. It is simply amazing. This may very well be the best tea I’ve had so far in my tea experience. If you like Nutella or are looking for a great chocolate tea that doesn’t taste artificial, this may be the one for you.

You can purchase the Florence directly from the Harney & Sons website.

Company Product Description:
A tea blended in honor of Malachi McCormick, that tea author of Irish blood. His out-of-print book “A Decent Cup of Tea” is small, but speaks volumes concerning the difficulty in finding well-prepared tea in hotels.

I start each day with at least 1 black or black flavored tea…my day “tea day” progresses from there…each day a new tea adventure.  BUT…I always HAVE to have some good, solid Black or Black Flavored Tea Favorites or Standby’s nearby.  With all the tea I drink I MUST have a HUGE variety in my stash. 

Recently I sampled Malachi McCormick’s Blend from Harney & Sons for the first time.  I received it from a friend in a tea swap!  Let’s just say it’s very satisfying and I am fairly certain that’s on its way to my Standby Pile…if not my “go-to” pile! 

It’s a medium strength Black Tea that is toasty yet sweet and oh-so-smooth!  It seems to be the perfect tea to sip or – if you are in a rush – gulp.

I don’t know what it is about this tea…but I think it’s a winner!

You can purchase the Malachi McCormick’s Blend directly from the Harney & Sons website.