May 14th, 15th: New Spring Teas!

Snow Dragon 2011 Like the first flowers poking up through the snow in New England, this was the first tea of the new season. Snow Dragon Tea is light and sweet and quite pleasing to the eye as well.  It s Downy whit tips and light green leaves give this tea wonderful balance of white tea sweetness and body worthy of a delightful green.

Bi Lo Chun 2011 is a frizzy white and green tea curl made by hand on Dongting Island in Jiansu Province. It is light in body and has wonderful light floral aromas, possibly from the surrounding orange trees. 

Namring Upper 1st Flush 2011 This is from the upper part of this huge tea estate. It is a great First Flush Darjeeling from a banner year. A true delight, this tea is light in body, incredibly flavorful and very fragrant. let the freshness of the aromas transport you to the lovely mountains of Darjeeling. 

Flight of Teas! May 7th and 8th!

In honor of the Harneys return from they're sourceing trip, for this weekend's flight we will have teas from three of the many gardens which they visited!

                                                               

           Fresh Mejiawu drank in the traditional way, loose in a glass, from Hangzou, China.

Meijiawu Lung Ching is an early spring tea. It has similar characteristics to our regular Lung Ching, but the process of hand pressing the leaves in woks rather than by machinery leaves the teas with a sweeter, fresher flavor of young spring grass. One of our top Chinese green teas, This tea rouses one's tastebuds in the most savory of all ways with steamed bok choy and toasted nuts coming to mind. After tasting many Lung Chings while in Hangzhou, China, this stood out universally. It is a very elegant Lung Ching that is really from Meijiawu District. The brew is a light and clean flavor with a nice body.

Okayti 1st Flush Darjeeling is light citrusy and fruity in aroma, the liquor is a light bronze and  emits flavors of toasted almonds and dried apricots. A true delight for lovers of Darjeeling teas, this brew has a bright and fresh quality given its astringency. One is sure to enjoy the sensational flavors of Citrius fruits!

Assam Tea going through the different
stages of the oxidation process

Mangalam Broken Assam is a vibrant broken leaf tea. Perfect for mornings, this Mangalam has a good briskness and body, yet it is still an elegant tea. This would be a the tea that we will drink most mornings (with or without milk or sugar).

Flight of Teas! April 23rd and 24th!

This week we will be offering a selection of our Tea consultant Sarah's favorites for you!

Fenghuang Shuixian is a beautifully twisted Chinese Oolong, with deep browns and hints of russet. When brewed, the tea has a light roasted spice quality and lovely fruity bright peach flavors which overlay a pleasing, spicy astringency. The flavors in this tea are very active, seeming almost effervescent at times. When tasting this tea, the development of the flavor from brilliant peach to toasty subtle spice are quite enjoyable. This tea is created by the artisans high above the city of Fenghuang China and is a favorite of Mike Harney. He enjoys seeing how they transform the big leaves into twists of brown sepia.

Risheehat 2nd Flush Darjeeling is a great second flush Darjeeling. Full of body yet balanced. Capable of standing up to milk, if you take your tea that way. Interestingly, this tea is from “China” tea bushes, meaning the plant stock is descended from Chinese bushes taken to India over 150 years ago. 

Bangkok (Green Tea with Thai flavors) The rich flavors of Thailand are the inspiration for this tasty blend. It is a combination of green tea, lemongrass, vanilla, coconut and ginger. It is a tribute to one of the world's great cuisines. So please come in and enjoy this weeks flight!

Welcome to Harney & Sons SoHo

Or better yet, "Hello New York City!"

Harney & Sons has been serving tea in the city for over two decades, and now we are excited to announce that our new shop in SoHo, at 433 Broome St (between Broadway & Crosby St) will be opening on Tuesday, November 16th.

Harney & Sons SoHo combines the high quality teas that continue to define the Harney & Sons brand,  with a knowledgeable staff and a beautifully designed tasting room & cafe that will allow you to enjoy over 250 single-estate and blended teas from around the world, in SoHo and at home.

In honor of our upcoming Grand Opening (to be announced soon), we'd like to highlight a flight of teas that will be available at our shop.  Our staff will present a flight of fine teas each week based on a variety of themes to help you decide your next tea or teas of choice .  If you aren't in the New York City area, you can order those teas from the Harney & Sons website.

The theme of this flight of tea is teas from the major growing regions.  For those of you that don't already know, tea (camelia sinensis) originated in the mountainous regions of China but spread to regions throughout Asia, most famously India and Japan.

Keemun Mao Feng

Keemun tea, from Anhui Province in Eastern China, between Shanghai and Beijing, gained popularity in the West when the British combined it into their English Breakfast blends, adding milk and covering up some of the complex flavors of this tea.  We prefer to honor this particular selection of Keemun by drinking it in its natural state to enjoy the light and sweet flavor, with hints of chocolate and baked apricots. For fine teas like our Keemun, we like to add a little extra to the tea pot and steep for 4 min 30 sec at 200°F-205°F (93°C-96°C).

Risheehat First Flush 2010

Darjeeling is a Himalayan region within the Indian state of West Bengal (major city: Calcutta), and is regarded as the "Queen of the Hills" by locals.  Our 2010 Risheehat First Flush SFTGFOP (Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe...yes, that's the official classification) is a light and brisk tea with aromas of tropical fruit that was a bit of a surprise considering the drought that hit Darjeeling prior to picking season.  This is the type of Darjeeling tea that feels subtle at first, but lingers in the mouth and keeps you coming back for more.  Steep it at 208°F (99°C) for 3 min.

Sencha Scent of Mountains

Japan's green teas vary greatly from the bagged green tea that was commonly consumed in the West up until only a few years ago.  Sencha, loosely translated, means "whole leaf green tea" and ours comes from Kawane, in Shizuoka Prefecture, on Honshu Island (the "main" island of Japan).  We love to enjoy this highly vegetal tea, with a bright and sweet flavor, for 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minute, and no hotter than 170°F (76°C).  Try resteeping this tea a few times to get a sense of how the flavor changes.

We hope you can join us for tea service at our SoHo shop, located at 433 Broome St, between Broadway & Crosby St.  Be sure to check back regularly for our weekly flight of tea, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook,  Foursquare, and Steepster for additional updates and specials.