Holiday Update

It's been an incredible holiday season sharing our teas with you at Harney & Sons SoHo.  We'd like to relay a few updates for the holiday season.

During the coming weekends we will be continuing to share our flight of Holiday teas: White Christmas, Holiday & Hot Cinnamon.

Holiday Hours:

• 12/24 - Christmas Eve: 10am - 5pm
• 12/25 - Christmas Day: CLOSED
• 12/31 - New Year's Eve: 10am - 5pm
• 1/1 - New Year's Day: CLOSED

Our early bird special is still alive and well.  If you spend $20 or more in the shop before 2pm, you get a complimentary tagalong (5-sachet tin).  Also, if you join us for tea and scones in the café before 2pm, your scone plate is 50% off!

Even if you can't make it in before 2pm, we offer specials for customers using different social media apps, like Foursquare (among others).  Specials change periodically, so make sure you follow us on Twitter & Facebook for immediate updates.

Following the New Year, we will start opening an hour later on Sundays, changing our hours to 11am - 7 pm!

Happy Holidays and a great start to the New Year for you all!

Flight Of Teas! December 18th & 19th

Happy Holidays!!!! This weekend we will be presenting three of our favorite Holiday Teas: White Christmas, Holiday Tea and Hot Cinnamon Spice.
White Christmas is a white tea blended with almonds, cardamom and vanilla. This tea was blended by our Manager, Emeric Harney!  It was inspired by Holiday sweets, and is a sweet, subtle brew.
Holiday Tea is a black tea blended with citrus, almonds, clove and cinnamon. It brews a strong, tasty cup. A perfect tea for the upcoming holiday meals.Hot Cinnamon spice is a black tea with three different kinds of cinnamon, orange peels and sweet cloves. This is a very potent tea, but inherently sweet because of the cloves!

Flight of Teas: December 11 - 12!

This coming weekend the consultants are excited to present a flight of Chinese green teas from Zhejiang province.  The first is Jin Shan, a green and white curly tea with a pale liquor and a subtle sweetness of caramelized sugars.  Chun Lu, one of the stronger Chinese greens with a robust flavor of steamed asparagus.  Last, but certainly not least is Lung Ching (a.k.a Dragonwell), possibly China's most famous green.  Dried in woks, it has a sweet, smooth grassy flavor, countered by aromas of roasted nuts.  

Jin Shan is both a tea and an ancient-tea growing region.  The bushes thrive in the cool mountains that separate Zhejiang from Anhui province.  Jin Shan is located just outside a large Buddhist monastery, where the monks developed the tea for their own consumption, for tribute to the emperor and for sale to support their monastery.  These same monks may have also been responsible for introducing Japan to green tea when in the ninth century they gave Jin Shan tea to monks visiting from Japan.  Jin Shan's brew has a compelling aroma; a mixture of floral, citrus and vegetal notes, whereas the flavor tastes more of steamed artichokes.

Chun Lu is produced in a region called Thousand Islands (Qiandao Lake).  These gardens are truly spectacular because they are one of the few that are surrounded by water.  The region was a mountain range that was filled since the completion of the Xin'an River hydroelectric station, creating 1,078 large islands, with thousands of smaller ones.  Chun Lu has a dark, curly leaf and is harvested later in spring which allows the leaves to mature a bit more.  This lends itself to the teas darker, more vegetal flavors of asparagus and spinach, something a bit uncharacteristic of Chinese greens.

Lung Ching is to Chinese green teas what French Champagne is to sparkling wines: the standard against which all others are measured.  With almost no tip, it has the classic green tea qualities of steamed bok choy and toasted nuts.  Though Xi Hu, or the West Lake, has been producing tea for centuries, Lung Ching became a tribute tea during the Qing dynasty.  Lung Ching means "Dragon's Well", which refers to an old well halfway up a hill outside Hangzhou, where the tea was originally grown.

New Arrivals!!!

For those Darjeeling, Oolong and smoky tea fans out there, we received new varieties on our order this week!  Come in to enjoy some great Sungma 2nd Flush Darjeeling, a smooth, roasted fruit brew at a great price.

Also, we've received some Rou Gui Oolong, a roasted oolong from the Wuyi Cliff regions in China, as well as our Dong Ding Dark, a more traditional take on the Taiwanese rolled oolong with delicious toasty notes.  

Last, but certainly not least, we got in our Wuyi's Finest Lapsang, an exquisite take on the classic Lapsang Souchong.

Be sure to come in and give these a taste next chance you get!

Flight of Teas: December 4 - 5

This coming weekend we want to take you on a journey through China, sharing with you it's various black teas and how different they can truly be.  In near central China, our journey begins in Hunan province, where we found our Hunan Black Buds, a deliciously light and sweet black tea.  Traveling east, we would find ourselves in Fujian, where deliciously simple and medium bodied Panyang Congou is harvested.  Heading north we'd find ourselves in Anhui province where Hao Ya "A', a strong and chocolatey Keemun.

Hunan Black Buds is a new find for Harney & Sons this year.  The leaves are light, fuzzy with a plethora of buds mixed in.  All this makes for a light brew in body with loads of toasted, caramel sweet notes.

Panyang Congou is a step further into the dark and smoky tea land.  It exhibits less sweetness and definitely more heft than Hunan Black Buds, less like honey, more like toasted apples.  Congou is a corruption of the Chinese words "Gong Fu", which means "Highest Mastery".  A tea trade classification for Chinese black teas with this particular twisted shape, the word refers to the masterful skill required to produce the teas by hand.  However, now the tea is almost entirely processed by machine.

Hao Ya "A is a Keemun, which are some of China's oldest and most renowned black teas.  Hao Ya 'A' is harvested later in the spring, when the leaves are bigger and more flavorful.  This allows the tea to have dark, chocolaty notes and an intense, roasted aroma.  As far as the gradations are concerned, the best tips become Hao Ya 'A', the rest become Hao Ya 'B', but these only exist in U.S. Markets.

Black Friday/Thanksgiving Weekend

We hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving Day!  The Harney & Sons SoHo staff enjoyed their day off, and are excited to serve you tea today and over the weekend.

We just received a large tea shipment today that includes: 1995 Pu-erh, 2003 Pu-erh, and Ziyun Pu-erh.  For fans of Pu-erh tea, these are incredibly rare, high quality Pu-erh varieties that are guaranteed to wow you.  If you've never tried Pu-erh, we recommend you come in and start with our standard Pu-erh, as it's a unique tea with an intense aroma and flavor.

Today's order also included: Panyang Golden Tips, Herbal Holiday, Lychee, Golden Blend, Har Sha.

For this weekend (thru Monday), we are offering all customers that spend $35 or more in our SoHo store a complementary tagalong (5 premium sachets in a small tin) of your choice.  It's our way of saying thanks!

Our weekend hours are unchanged from standard business hours.

We hope to see you this weekend!

[NOTE:  We originally said 1998 Pu-erh.  That has been replaced by 2003 Pu-erh.]

New York Magazine, Grub Street

Check out Grub Street New York (New York Magazine) feature: "What to Eat at Harney & Sons SoHo"

Thanksgiving Day

The shop will be closed Thanksgiving Day. We will reopen Friday at 10am.

Flight of Teas: Nov 26 - 28

This coming weekend we wanted to share some very unique Oolong teas and allow you to explore the differences between a high mountain, rolled oolong (Ali San) with inherent floral notes, an oxidized oolong (Fanciest Formosa) with natural fruity flavors and lastly a high mountain oolong that has added oils, creating new and more prominent flavors (Pomegranate Oolong).  

Ali San Oolong is a prime example of what are called high-mountain oolongs from Taiwan.  After experimenting with altitudes, growers found that higher altitudes yielded better teas.  Some say that the cooler temperatures and reduced sunshine in the misty mountains stunt the leave's growth, concentrating their flavor.  The cloud cover may also increase the amount of amino acids that give the tea its heavier, creamy body.  Whatever the reason Ali San is one of the creamiest oolongs, grown at peaks that are about 5,000 feet high.  In the liquor, notes of lime citrus and a light vegetal undertone can be found.

Fanciest Formosa Oolong has the classic peach and guava flavors characteristic of darker, more heavily oxidized oolongs.  What makes Fanciest Formosa Oolong very unique is that growers want bugs to attack and eat the plant.  What this does is force the plant to react defensively, producing more bug repellant which actually creates strong fruit flavors in the end result.  Bright, smooth and fruity, this oolong makes for a great cup of tea. 

Lastly, Pomegranate Oolong is a flavored tea of ours.  The base tea we use is a Ti Quan Yin from China and with that, we add in natural and essential Pomegranate flavors.  We chose this tea to show the differences between flavored oolongs and natural flavors occurring within oolongs. 

Come on in for a taste!

Your Harney SoHo Tea Consultants

Harney SoHo Tea Lounge, Open for Business

We're excited to announce that our Tea Lounge is now officially open one week after our Tasting Room opened.

Harney & Sons SoHo Tea Lounge will feature gluten free pastries from Tu-Lu's Gluten Free Bakery, located at 338 E 11th St, NYC (Twitter: @tulusbakery, Facebook), Harney & Son's Fine Teas ice cream blended by SoCo Creamery (Twitter: @SoCoCreamery, Facebook), crackers, cheese and homemade scones.

Our current menu (Direct Link):

SWEET THINGS

• Vanilla scones made fresh daily served with clotted cream and jam - $6.00
• Tu-Lu’s Bakery gluten-free brownies - $5.50
• Tu-Lu’s Bakery gluten-free “tea” cake - $6.50
• Tu-Lu’s Bakery gluten-free and dairy free pumpkin bread - $6.00

• SoCo Creamery’s tea ice cream made with Harney and Son’s Fine Teas:

• Earl Grey
• Chai
• Green Tea

• Single Flavor in mini cone or dish - $2.50
• Trio in mini cones or dish - $6.00

• David’s Biscotti from Pittsfield, MA

SAVORY THINGS

• Cheddar and chive scones served with a honey mustard compound butter - $7.00
• Ham and gruyere scones served with smooth dijon mustard - $7.00
• Lapsang gravlax on rice crackers with a green tea cream cheese - $8.00
• Sliced cucumbers on rice crackers with a green tea cream cheese - $6.00
• Cheese plate with our Tea Cheese and other Hudson Valley cheeses - $10.00

• House Roasted Nuts:
• Sweet & Spicy Cashews
• Honey Sesame Peanuts
• Herbed Macadmia

• Single flavor - $3.00
• Trio of nuts - $8.00

The Daily Meal

Harney & Sons SoHo General Manager, Emeric Harney, was featured in two recent articles on The Daily Meal:


How to Host a Tea Party, by Allison Beck
How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Tea, by Allison Beck

About The Daily Meal:

The Daily Meal covers every aspect of the food and drink experience: restaurants, chefs, food trends, cookbooks, wine and spirits, healthy dining, home entertaining, food-oriented travel, -- and of course cooking. We believe that cooking and eating together unite us and connect us with the outside world. These pursuits can and should be fun—as should a website dedicated to them. And they can and should be a communal endeavor. To that end, The Daily Meal serves up a well-planned mix of content, both original and carefully selected, and then encourages readers to speak up about their own culinary passions, skills, preferences, and opinions. The Daily Meal serves you all the food that’s fit to eat.

Follow The Daily Meal on Twitter: @TheDailyMealTweets

Mike Harney on CBS Sunday Morning

CBS Sunday Morning did a feature entitled "The Timeless Tradition of Tea", that was filmed at our new SoHo shop and featured Mike Harney.  Check it out...

Town & Country

Make sure you check out the December issue of Town & Country.  We're featured on page 191, right below limited edition Dom Perignon bottles.  There is no digital version that we're aware of, so go out and buy the magazine and enjoy it with a pot of tea.

Be sure to check out Town & Country on Twitter (@TandCmag)

We're Open!

As of today, Tuesday, November 16th, 2010, Harney & Sons SoHo is open for business to provide New Yorkers with over 250 fine teas from around the world.  We look forward to serving you tea for many years to come!

The View - Friday, 11/12/10

Check this out!  We were featured The View last week as one of Whoopi's Favorite Things:

Recent Features

Check out recent mentions of Harney & Sons SoHo:

• New York Magazine, Grub Street, 11/11/10: Oolong-Awaited Harney & Sons Shop Opens Tuesday
• Wall Street Journal, 10/30/10: Tea for Three (Generations) [subscription required]

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.