Several months have passed since I did a post asking about favorite teas. It’s time for tea review. I am not an affiliate of any of the companies mentioned, so I received no compensation for my tea reviews.
I have very specific taste when it comes to tea. I drink it straight, without sugar or sweetener, and one of my criteria is being able to enjoy it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. As always, your mileage may vary.
Best everyday black tea
Chocolate by Harney and Sons
Briskness: 2 Body: 2 Aroma: 4 Buy: here.
I absolutely love this tea. I am a sucker for chocolate flavors and this tea has just enough of the right aroma and taste. This is my go-to morning tea. It’s robust enough to help me wake up but gentle on my stomach without creamer or milk.
Alternative: He Family Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea. Both teas have the China black base. The sample batch of the HFLB had strong chocolate aroma, but when I ordered in bulk, the taste and scent wasn’t nearly as pronounced, so I now prefer Harney & Sons.
Paris by Harney and Sons
Briskness: 2 Body: 2 Aroma: 4 Buy: here.
This is an exquisite tea, with hints of vanilla, caramel, and just a little Bergamot. As the Chocolate, it is gentle on the stomach but still packs the flavor and caffeine punch.
It might be just me, but I find that when I drink Paris several days in a row, I end up tasting Bergamot less. It might be just me, but I enjoy varying it with Chocolate or other tea flavors.
Best Green Tea
Dragon Pearl Jasmine by Harney and Sons
Briskness: 1 Body: 2 Aroma: 5 Buy: here.
This is a remarkable tea. In fact, I’m drinking my second cup as I’m writing this. It’s a complicated taste, delicate and subtle rather than rich, but never bitter as long as it’s brewed at the right temperature, which is for the green tea happens to be 175º. It’s pricier than some other options, but having brewed it many times now, I have yet to screw it up. The jasmine is less pronounced, but I have a fix for that coming up.
Best White Tea
Yunnan White Jasmine
Flavors: floral, fruity, slightly spicy. Buy: here.
If you want jasmine tea, this is the one. It has a definite jasmine aroma; you can’t miss it. It’s a very flavorful tea, surprisingly so for white tea, and I’ve been ordering it for month and had very consistent flavor throughout. It tastes almost creamy, as much as tea can taste creamy on its own. Highly recommended.
And there you have it. There are other categories that I wanted to cover, like herbal and iced, but I have to go work. Happy tea drinking and let me know your favorites in the comments.
Ooooooo, I LOVE Jasmine green tea…I may have to ask for the Dragon Pearl one for Christmas. I would love to hear your recommended herbals, too!
My favorite Jasmine Green so far is from the Bar Harbor Tea Company. It’s a little local tea shop, so even better!
I have been thinking about getting that Paris tea! Thank you for the helpful review!
Does anyone have a recommendation for a device to get the water exactly the right temperature? Ilona mentions one needing 175 degrees exactly, but right now I simply boil water and then pour it over the tea. Maybe it’s time I level up my tea game.
I use my instant read thermometer (what I use in cooking) to check the temperature of the water, if I’m not using boiling water. After a few times, you’ll probably get a feel for how long you need to let it rest after boiling or when to take it off based from the sound of the bubbles before it reaches boiling. Checking the temperature of things in the kitchen though is never a bad thing.
I’m sure there’s lots of fancy electric kettles that could do it for you, but I don’t have a specific recommendation for one. Hope someone else does though! ????
Thank you both! 🙂
I use a water kettle that has tea type-specific buttons to heat the water at the exact temperature for each. I tested this one with a thermometer and it’s fairly accurate.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JN2TK4Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I love the Tropical Fruit Cold Brew tea by Celestial. I realize it makes me a “heathen” but I prefer iced tea and require decaffeinated due to medical reasons. You taste pineapple, orange, cherry, and hibiscus really strongly in this mix and it is by far my favorite. Although from the box it also contains rooibos, rose hips, and roasted hickory. ????
Oh, and I don’t like sweet tea so I don’t add sugar. But the flavor is so good no sugar is needed.
Thank you! I am a self confessed tea snob living in the coffee obessed PNW????
I really like black tea and my current favorite is Pumpkin Spice Latte. Makes it feel like Fall!
I have also enjoyed the subscription box from Tea Runners. You can choose a different box each month and choose monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly shipments. Great way to try a small amount, 1 oz, of different teas.
I tend to like ‘builders tea’ – normal English breakfast types as my go to BUT my first drink of the day and for when I need something more refreshing I love spicy yogi teas https://www.yogitea.com/en/products/ I have tried 5 blends so far classic, licorice, choco, turmeric and rose, delicious ????
Egyptian Licorice!!! Yum! LOL Didn’t know they had a chocolate?
I am reading this post righf after reading the last chapter of the manga “The Duchess’ 50 Tea Recipes” and it is confusing.
I am completly colour-blind to anything others “see” in the tea so I dont like if that much. However, I enjoy listening to people talk about it, for me it is the unknown.
I’m a tea addict and absolutely love Japanese green teas. They are so many subtle flavors coming from them, it’s like tasting wine.
I love Matcha Love: Japanese Matcha, Apple & Ginger. It’s so refreshing without being very ginger forward. It’s got a lovely inviting fragrance and tastes perfect without any sweetener. I highly recommend it for morning or an afternoon pick-me-up.
What company is this from? I love Matcha too! Thank you for the rec!
We are sort of peasants, I guess. For black tea, P.G. Tips. We found out about it from British friends. It has, to my taste, a little note of citrus.
For herbal teas, depends what it’s for. Peppermint is my default, or a mix of peppermint and ginger. If I’m too tired to think about it, Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer.
My old herbal standby was Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger, but it’s hard to find now, and the currently available Zingers like Wild Berry and Lemon don’t really measure up to good old Red. It was so beautiful steeping in a glass mug, too.
I’m hooked on Yogi Egyptian Licorice. No sweeteners needed. There are some loose teas I’ve obtained from NOLA that are spicy but I can’t remember the names!
I LOVE Yunnan White Jasmine! ???? I also really like Tieguanyin Oolong (Spring) and Wuyi Gongfu Black (Spring). I started a kind of tea journal so I could keep track of what I had tried, what I liked, and what I didn’t (I knew that I’d never remember all those names). It’s also been really fun getting the Tea of the Month from Verdant and exploring the different varieties. ????
By the way, I think I have a tea problem. They’re taking over the cupboard. ????♀️????
Oh, and my favorite herbal is Peppermint. I haven’t found a specific brand that I prefer over others, but I like it when I have a headache or need to settle my stomach.
Culinary Teas Black Currant Decaf in a Turkish tea glass…… having it right now.
My favorite tea is Diet Dr Pepper. In fact, that is my favorite coffee, too.
I detest tea and coffee. Blech.
I drink Lipton tea with no sugar. I cold brew my tea. It doesn’t have as much caffeine as hot brew tea.
I hate sweet tea. I tried it once and spit it out. ????
Argh leaf soup, so not a fan
Anything from Jeju Island is awesome. You can get the Osulloc brand on Amazon.
They have a really good sampler pack, but it sells out. I keep it in my wish list and then buy when it pops up.
My favorite tea is from the Aubrey Rose tea room, its called buccaneer. It a black tea with a chocolaty coconut flavor. But my go to tea atm is Twinnings LadyGrey which is also a black tea with a note of orange flavor.
I’ve found my digestion is better if I have milk in my tea. So my favorites are the really nice homemade Chai at my favorite Indian restaurant and the roasted tea flavors of Hoji Cha or (last but not least) a good, strong, Oolong. Unfortunately, since I’m no longer in Japan, I haven’t found good sources for the last two.
Harney Hot Cinnamon!!!!
Davidson’s Organic Orange Spice tea. It’s a blended black tea. I got it in a stress-relieving gift basket and fell totally in love. I haven’t been able to find it in stores, so I’m going to order it online.
https://www.davidsonstea.com/Orange_Spice_Loose_Leaf.aspx
I feel like my eyes have been opened… I had no real idea that there was more to tea drinking beyond the strongest cup of English Breakfast (any brand is fine) that I could get my hands on…. so all those ‘frou frou’ teas are actually serving a purpose!?
I’m going to have to take the blinkers off and start brewing some specialty teas.
Thanks for the kick in the butt!
Yours sincerely,
A humbled generic tea drinker
This is awesome! Thank you for sharing. I drink herbal and fruit teas so if and when you get time I would truly appreciate your thoughts on those. I need to get some of these for my tea obsessed friend. I’ll win all the brownie points this Christmas! Lol
Love Harney and sons..a favorite is African autumn.wondered about Paris..will have to try. I think the prices reflect the quality but the Starbucks in Barnes and noble has specials sometimes (bogo at Christmas last year, but occasionally bog1/2 off) which is nice for trying new favors.stash lemon ginger also good esp when sick
I love omija beauty berry by Rishi. It’s sweet and sour and salty and bitter all at the same time. I can drink it anytime, no matter how sick I am. My MIL buys me this herbal every time Rishi has a sale. It’s a running joke that it’s my unbirthday present from her, spaced out throughout the year. They also have a good valerian herbal that helps me sleep and makes the cats high.
https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/organic-omija-beauty-berry-caffeine-free-herbal-tea/caffeine-free-botanical-tea
While I love Chocolate, their Organic Assam is my favorite across the board. Sadly, I can’t get a big bag right now, when I ran out, because they are out of stock. ???? CTC Assam is ok, but not as wonderful, but in a down year for Assam, compromise is all!
I tend to wander in flavors so I will have to give your suggestions a try. I am partial to Rishi and Lahaha which I found at central market. If you want something green tea based but a little different, I’d like to suggest Genmaicha, which is green tea with roasted sticky rice https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/genmaicha-organic-japanese-green-tea-blend/loose-leaf-tea.
Lately my treat has been tea with butterfly pea flowers, which is supposed to help some with stress, if you believe the hype. It brews a beautiful blue color. https://www.rishi-tea.com/product/blue-jasmine-green-tea-botanical-blend/loose-leaf-tea If you add lemon the tea turns violet purplish. It has a pleasant flavor without being overpowering to the jasmine.
I raise my cup of hibiscus I’m drinking right now to you and wish the best health and tea drinking pleasure.
Harney & Sons is a favorite! I love Paris, Boston (blend of black tea, cranberry, and almond flavors flavored black tea) and Capri (a flavored black tea that combines dried figs and tart lemon reminiscent of the Isola di Capri in Italy, with a hint of vanilla).
I don’t think of trying anything new. I drink Assam and don’t ever think of changing. But I must say this postin and the comments that flowed have made me want to experiment.
I would love to hear your herbal when you have time as I can’t do caffeine. Happy writing to you!!
Thank you so much for these recommendations. I’m definitely checking out the Paris tea!
One of my favorites is called French Breakfast Tea by Mariage Fréres. A lovely black tea with a slight chocolate accent and soft tannins that are not too acidic on your stomach in the morning.
Kusmi tea has a Russian Morning N.24 (or Thé du Matin N.24) black tea with hints of chocolate.
Fortnum and Mason have a royal blend that is similar. Slightly softer than other black teas and easy on the stomach.
I just ordered a tin of the Paris tea you recommended. Thank you.
Happy tea drinking!!
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll be ordering the chocolate, and probably a few others to try. I would like to know, do you prefer the sachets or loose tea?
Mt first cup of tea.
When I was three my dad told me we were going to have tea together. My first cup of tea, prepared with love. He ceremoniously took out his tea pot and two little cups and set about making us tea. It was a very pretty set, white with a Chinese design in green and purple. This was quite the event for my three year old self, my dad was making tea just for me. I was in awe that I was going to do something so grown up. So the tea is ready and he pours each of us a cup. We sit down and wait until it cools down enough to drink. I pickup my teacup and take my first sip… of Oolong tea. Turns out that I don’t like Oolong tea, but my dad had made it especially for me, so I was very proud to drink it.
Up until my mid-teens, at home we drank tea with milk and sugar or lemon and sugar. People around us didn’t drink tea, so we didn’t have a base for comparison. We made friends with a Russian family and had “naked” tea for the first time, without any sugar and lemon or milk. It took some getting used to.
Today I can drink “naked” tea unashamed, when my stomach permits me. I still don’t like Oolong, and I am not fond of green tea either. I like teas that have a fruity taste. I adore teas that have flavors reminiscent of almonds, caramel, chocolate or vanilla. I love English Breakfast and Earl Grey with milk and sugar. Up to date I haven’t found a rooibos tea I haven’t liked.
What was your tea experience like?
My current favorite tea is Cha Gorreana which is a black tea from the island of
San Miguel, in the Azores. It’s grown in a plantation that’s been there since 1820.
It is pretty robust but still has floral notes.
I’m a Jasmine Downey Pearl gal and mostly bought from Peet’s for several years. Then they started fiddling with their supplier when they bought Mighty Leaf. It is still mostly good for the price & accessibility but sometimes tins purchased in spring are from the prior year and less fragrant.
My current supplier is TeaVivre.com and they have 2020 harvest Jasmine Snail which has a nice 4/5 strength aroma https://www.teavivre.com/yu-luo-jasmine-green-tea.html which ships from the US warehouse. Their Superfine Jasmine Pearls is strongly scented 4.5/5 and ships from China via China Post which takes about 2 weeks to get to me in CA https://www.teavivre.com/superfine-jasmine-dragon-pearl.html
I’m going to go with candlelight white by Plum Deluxe. (Or is it champagne white? Gah… I’m not near my tea stash.) anyway, it’s a champagne inspired white tea, complicated with a hint of sweet and best served without any fixings.
I love white teas a lot.
What about decaf tea?
H&S decaf teas are just as good as their caffeinated ones
Thank you, Ilona Andrews, for the post. I will have to try the jasmine tea you recommended as that particular one I have not tried yet. I have a sibling who prefers jasmine tea.
I prefer black tea from Charleston SC. It was originally imported in 1700s and has been grown there since before the Civil War. It has a different taste from black Teas available in grocery stores. Difficult to find as limited production. Kind of like pancake syrup from real sugar canes. Difficult. So I will try your helpful recommendations and see if I like as much.
Thank you.
I was forced to give up caffeine due to a medical problem and for the longest time I have been miserable. I love both coffee and tea and most of the decafs I have tried have been less than stellar. I found a local tea shop that makes their own blends. They make a lovely lavender earl grey for me that is quite lovely. For when I travel I enjoy the Stash brand and particularly enjoy the hazelnut chocolate and their early grey. Both are decaffeinated and lovely.
I’m a huge fan Harney and Sons. For chilly days when you want a hot tea with a little spice hot cinnamon spice is amazing. The aroma is warming yet exciting. Florence is amazing with a touch of cream as it seems to bring out the nuttiness in then tea.
I like Tea Forte teas especially their cherry blend.
Back to your other post, it is lovely your so loved everyone wants you to come live near them. Drink coffee myself but love green tea.
My favorite will always be the Golden Dragon yellow tea that I used to get from Teavana.
Tealyra’s Huaug Cha yellow tea is a passable alternative.
I love red teas (rooibos), especially with a dash of cream. I loved black chai teas as well, and Morning Thunder by Celestial Seasons (it’s a black tea that has a bit of yerba mate in it). I also like English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, and Earl Grey. I recently tried Lady Grey and I love it. I also love Earl Grey with Lavender…. yummy! I mainly buy Twinning, Bigelow, and Celestial Seasons because I can afford them on sale.
I used to add a bit of honey to my black tea, but now I only add a bit of cream or milk.
I like black and red teas brewed strong, but green tea, fruit flavored, and herbals brewed light. I don’t like yerba mate straight by itself.
You should at least get a couple of freebies from the company for those reviews Lol. I’ve never tried them but will be ordering now. I love an Earl Grey but in the evening I always drink Rooibos or otherwise called Redbush, it is delicious and caffeine free so doesn’t disturb my sleep. Coming from the UK I found your article on moving house shocking as I didn’t realise things were so bad there. We are very lucky here to have free health care but we, like yourselves have a very dangerous right wing Govt that would love to privatise it. Keep well.
I simply go with the chai, tea that’s made of actual tea leaves aka Camellia sinensis grown in east Asia. We have song for it- ek kali do pattiyan… ( one bud and two leaves)… Those tea bags that pass of tea are just “dust” of tea leaves.. Left overs..
Any Tea can be augmented with spices like ginger, or a pinch of corundum, or ground cinnamon etc. As long as you do not follow that stupid WebMed recipe they tweeted recently, and overload it with spices.. I would rather eat pineapple pizaa. …. If you must follow that webmed recipe, you can replace tea bags with rice and get a nice plate of “pulav”. Or even biryani instead.
We throw in other leaves or herbs in boiling water, sometimes but that’s Karha (i.e.also spelled as kadha now a days) .. or some Ayurvedic mix for health.
BTW I wanted to thank you for recommendation of Will Wight’s Cradle series . It follows the manga/manhwa/manhua stories that I liked.. the Breaker series combined with Naruto etc…
And I should have read and to edited out most of that rambling stupid comment I just made.. .. realized that a second after posting it and no delete button..
In the last six months I have moved from drinking T2’s Canberra Breakfast (which has oatmeal and is like drinking an Anzac Biscuit) to their La Fudgy. I was given the sampler box around Easter and was hooked. It’s black tea flavoured with maple syrup and caramel and utterly comforting. I had to buy a tea pot for the library where I work so I could drink it at work as well as at home.
I love white jasmine tea also, it’s very nice, light and perfumed ????
You love chocolate favors and I love caramel ones, for the moment the ones that satisfies me most is the one from Thé Damman ????
My favourite brand (but they are a more expensive) is Marriage Frère, very very good quality and the flavours … ????
I love drinking new tea maybe I’ll search and buy your recommendations???? I think I can also find Harney and Sons in France (hopefully ????????)
I have a green tea every morning to help detox my system, then good old English breakfast tea with soya milk through the day. Not every ones choice, but works for me x
I’ve been drinking plain ol’ grocery store tea which sounds so boring when compared to all the suggested flavors! Can’t wait to explore the tea world out there!