Musings from the Blue Room

My cupboard got full. Let's document these and discard the empties.

Harney Colorful Tins
grey: English Breakfast
lavender: Blackcurrant
orange: Mango
taupe: Vanilla Comoro
yellow: Peach Ginger Twist
green: Peppermint
blue: Winter White Earl Grey


Harney White Tins
blue: Paris
red: English Breakfast
iced tea: Peach
Ambessa Green-Lingonberry

Harney Historic Royal Palaces
red: Royal English Breakfast
purple: Tower of London

Harney Black Tins, Large
Brigitte's Blend
Murder on the Orient Express Blend
Eight at the Fort
East Frisian
Malachi McCormick
Orange Pekoe (Ceylon & India)


Harney Black Tins, Small
Stanley's Blend
Queen Catherine
Big Red Sun
Palm Court
Scottish Morn
Supreme Breakfast
Tippy Yunan
Brigitte's Blend
Khongea Broken
Kaimosi CTC


Fortnum & Mason
Earl Grey Classic
Royal Blend


Hugo Tea
Grey Line

So I went on vacation and came back with tea, and my sibling went on vacation and came back with tea for me, and _prepping_ for my vacation _also_ prompted tea buying. Whoops.

Harney Teabags
Paris caramel blackcurrant earl grey. I like this. Worth rebuying sometime.
Chamomile
AOH Hibernian, an Irish breakfast. It's over! It was okay.

Harney Samples (2019)
Apricot tasty, but how will the flavor shift with time?
Big Red Robe

Harney Small tin (2018)
Khongea "A bold, brisk Assam. Great for starting your mornings off right! This tea is produced by the Prakash family of Glenburn Teas. It is made on the south side of the Brahmaputra River in India." I don't love this. VERY malty honey.
Lunar New Year Huge leaf expansion. supposed to be oolong + lychee & lemon but I mostly get ginger
Chamraj Nilgiri FOP "an enjoyably mellow black tea with light citrus notes. It grows in the hills of southern India, on a sister estate to Korakundah." This is beautiful and brews three times.
Amba Ceylon Very big leaves. Brew twice. Don't rebuy.
Kim Tuyen Black " Vietnamese tea combines the best of both worlds for an unforgettable infusion. Visually, the brew resembles a black tea; steep the leaves, however, and you'll find a beautifully tropical aroma full of character with the subtle and silky body and fruity qualities of an exquisite oolong. Second brew is best.
Kaimosi CTC Kenyan. such small pellets! good flavor tho, and can rebrew 1/4 volume for weak color. don't need rebuy
Big Red Sun Kenyan Milima/ Kenilworth Ceylon, so it should be like an English Breakfast. Spouse likes it! (can rebuy)

Harney Large tin (mostly 2018)
Ceylon & India orange pekoe really nice. pleasantly zippy without heavy astringency. Plan to rebuy
Peach Iced Tea nice peach flavor and pleasant tea base. Fifteen Minute Brew Time! I don't need to rebuy, but do not regret this purchase.
Malachi McCormick's Decent Tea yeah, it's fine. Assam/Keemun. I got it for the box art.
Brigitte's Blend a honey-backed Ceylon? It keeps being fine-but-meh. Do not rebuy.
East Frisian my favorite of the last Harney order; softer than Irish Breakfast. I like this specifically better than Malachi McCormick and Brigitte's.
Ambessa Lingonberry Green
Murder on the Orient Express smoked jasmine earl grey teabag. needs food.
Decaf Vanilla Comoro purchased b/c decaf. vanilla flavor doesn't make it a winner.

Mighty Leaf (asst years)
Ti Kuan Yin brew three times. Second infusion is best.

Tao of Tea (unknown)
Rose Petal Black bought b/c container. I keep trying to love it and I don't.

Holy Mountain Trading Company (2018)
New Vithanakanda SFTGFOP (large) it's been pleasant. no need for rebuy.
Nepal Organic Kangchenjunga Black really quite excellent. medium body, light tannin. One spice-jar cap per pint of water.
Darjeeling TGFOP
Black [Amaranth] Globe: Qian Ri Hong
Irish Breakfast this is mellow and fine, but not as assertive as I'd have thought the "Irish" label would have indicated.
Assam TGFOP this is very nice. I like it better than the Irish Breakfast, and it is genuinely nice with milk.
Kenilworth OP
Purple Leaf Tea brews up murky purpley-brown, tastes between a green and an oolong.
Organic Golden Monkey this was nice.

Bamboo Tea House (2017)
Blackberry Black super underwhelm. so glad it's over.
Blackcurrant Black

Minto Island (2016)
Pan-Fired Green
Oolong

Steven Smith Teamaker
18: Brahmin individual bags. heavy honey flavor.
55: Lord Bergamot individual bags. Brahmin + Bergamot.

Others
Mishka's gunpowder-and-mint. This might be bulk Kusmi. (2018)
Spice Traders cinnamon/apricot (2017)
Blue Lotus Chai
Lupicia Elderflower Chamomile
TJ's Peppermint
Choice Organic: Organic English Breakfast
Teekanne Ostfriesian honey flavor
Townshends 6: Lapu Mountain Souchong
Trader Joe's Irish: everyday spouse-tea
PG Tips: weekend spouse-tea
Penzey's broken-leaf Spearmint: it's nice after-dinner.
Point Loma Tea: Butterbeer Rooibos
Cosa Tea: instant powder packets none of these were worthwhile. Mango green good, plain green bitter, oolong (dark roasty), lemon black (screaming lemon), english breakfast (good without sugar, terrible with sugar) Stash green tea-powder packets were better but still not impressive.
Typhoo Extra Strong plain but nice


What else is there? There's the handful of single packets that are leftover from things or samples from places.

Ahmad Blackcurrant was nice, more blackcurrant than tea. Worth rebuying.
Bigelow Lemon Lift is a heavy lemon spice. I liked it, but not enough to stock or rebuy.
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Chamomile is a hotel sample
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf English Breakfast is a hotel sample, but it's Very Good. Could rebuy.
My oil-change place has a coffee amusement machine and a basket of Bigelow samples. I Love Lemon and Orange Spice.
Souvenirs: Maple Ice Wine, Corn Silk
Southern Boy Blackcurrant White Ice Tea Quart-size.
Republic of Tea Pumpkin Spice from a catalog
Culinary lavender buds from a defunct tea company whose samples are in another container and NOT blogged here. Arg.
Five Mountains Organic Genmaicha: Steamed Pan-Fired Ryokucha Green Tea & Toasted Brown Rice
Origin: Kawane Mountains, Shizuoka, Japan This is rice-heavy and lovely. The container is ferociously difficult to open up.
YamaMotoYama Oolong never again. bland fannings teabag.


52 Teas
Apple For Teacher apple sage allspice. allergic to this.
Firebolt vanilla cinnamon
Amortentia strawberry green chai. mostly cardamom. no regrets, no rebrew or rebuy.


Summer Additions WHY WHY WHY
Choice Tea Lemon-Lavender-Mint Like Sleepytime, but lavender! Mostly minty lemongrass.
B'lure Butterfly Pea Flower For the novelty. Like hibiscus, but not tangy.
Ahmad Limeflower Linden blossom.
Ahmad Darjeeling Tea Bag it's fine
Ahmad Ceylon Tea Bag it's nice and also fine
Ahmad English Afternoon lightly bergamot. Fine.
Jasmine Pearls Bombay Breakfast Cardamom-Rose chai assam. I like, spouse doesn't.
Hugo Tea Earl Grey Smoky, alright. Don't do for Christmas
Nambarrie Irish Breakfast. Nothing particularly special
Twinings Everyday Teabags simple Yunnan blend
Scots QuadPack: whisky, S breakfast, highland and earl grey
The Art of Tea "Huntington Blend" is vanilla earl grey x jasmine green (2019)
Brodie's Scottish Afternoon (2019)
Bewley's Irish Breakfast (2019)
ROT Organic Assam Breakfast so mundane
Yorkshire Tea, Red string teabags.

2/8/18, the state of the cupboard
4/27/18, updated

2017 saw a lot of finish-the-samples and efforts to get things streamlined. I drank a LOT of Harney & Sons looseleaf, from a hand-me-down box of black teas. I buy Taylor's of Harrowgate, Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast, PG Tips, and occasional tubes of Republic of Tea. RoT used to be one of my go-to brands. Last year my annual-visit bricks & mortar tea shop closed to go online-only, which is unfortunate. I'd enjoyed their things for eight-ish years. I've finished off most of my Lupicia choices. It's a nice company overall, but pricier than I want to be drinking on a regular basis, so I keep writing them off as "special occasion."

I keep looking at the Kusmi Teas website. I've tried a few of their things, but am wanting to finish the pre-2017 teas before buying more/premium-price choices. Harney at 50c/bag is pushing things. The Peets/Mighty Leaf merger frustrates me, because the Peets things I liked seem to be unavailable.

TJ Irish
Twining's Earl Grey (2018)
Mighty Leaf Tieguanyin
Bamboo Tea House spiced chai (2017)
Tao of Tea Rose (Keemun?) (2018)
Taylors of Harrowgate Earl Grey (2017)
PG Tips (2018)

Harney Paris sachets, a caramel Earl Grey (2018)
Mishka's gunpowder-and-mint. This might be bulk Kusmi. (2017)
Spice Traders cinnamon/apricot (2017)
Steven Smith Brahmin (2018)
Steven Smith Lord Bergamot (2018)

Blue Lotus Chai

mixed loose bags. zomg many.
bulk dept hibiscus flower pieces
bulk dept spearmint leaf pieces

Harney Tippy Yunnan

Lupicia Elderflower Chamomile
TJ's Peppermint

Cupboard above (bin, hooray!)

Bamboo Tea House 2oz and 4oz looseleaf packets (2017) 4-Rose, 2-blackcurrant, 2-blackberry
Minto Island Pan-Fired Green (2016)
Minto Island Oolong (2016)
Ahmad Bags Blackberry (2017)
Twinings Mixed Berry (2018)
Choice Organics English Breakfast (2018)


Stash Double Bergamot Earl Grey teabags (2018)
Harney East Frisian (2018)
*Harney Murder on the Orient Express (2018)
*Harney decaf Vanilla Comoro
*Harney Paris teabags (2018)
*Lemon Lift teabags (2018)




Finished:
Lupicia Blueberry-Cassis (not worth rebuy)
Mighty Leaf Assam Golden Tip
Japanese samples from Illinois
Twining's Irish

Rosie Imports Organic Irish looseleaf
Harney Jasmine Sample (fine), Earl Grey Sample (good), Earl Grey Supreme Sample (odd) (2018)
Taylor's of Harrowgate Irish Breakfast teabags (2017)
Ahmad Jasmine Romance (Green) (2017)

Harney Darjeeling bags (2018)
Harney Irish Breakfast bags (2018)
Twining's extra-bold Earl Grey (2018)

Bewley's Original Blend teabags (2018) okay but not memorable

RoT Three Gardens Breakfast (2018) I liked this one!
Bamboo Tea House Persian tea (2017)
Massachusetts oatstraw, chamomile, tulsi. I'm not sure what this actually is. (2017) Given to Aunt K.

Barry's Irish Breakfast (2018) and remembering "Barry's Gold" (in the red box) was meh-okay. Irish Barry's was also mostly meh.


Tillerman Earl Grey. Napa small shop, closed now. So glad it's done. How old was this anyway?! IDK. I am sad about it, because I liked previous batches of this tea a lot when it was fresher.


Bamboo Tea House Irish Breakfast tea (2017)

https://www.harney.com/products/queen-catherine

"We created Queen Catherine, a Harney & Sons signature blend of three Chinese black teas (Keemun, Panyang and Yunnan), in honor of Queen Catherine of Braganza, who introduced her love of tea to the British. We are privileged to have this tea featured in the Museum of Tea in Hangzhou, China. Harney & Sons is the only Western tea company who has received this honor."

Okay, so then Wikipedia says:

"Catherine of Braganza (Portuguese: Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1662 to 1685, by marriage to King Charles II. She also served as regent of Portugal during the absence of her brother in 1701 and 1704-05, after her return to Portugal as widow. Catherine was born into the House of Braganza, the most senior noble house of Portugal, which became Portugal's royal house after Catherine's father, John, 8th Duke of Braganza, was proclaimed King John IV after deposing the House of Habsburg in 1640."


And as a TEA, what we have is a nicely balanced blend, strength-equivalent to English breakfast, but with the sweeter/mildly smoky/less tannic notes that make it Chinese. I would *absolutely* put boba in it, and be glad of the opportunity to do so.