This is one of the sample teas that I purchased from Harney and Sons – loose tea samples cost $2 and it’s a fantastic idea.  I would have saved myself an order worth of tea if chains like Teavana embraced this view.  Anyway, that’s a rant for another day.

I’m not a fan of herbal teas, most of them have so many additives to them (either flavour or colour) that I inevitably end up the mother of all migraines and I’m in abject misery for two or three days.  No thank you.  Same with Rooibos also known as Red Bush.  Ow.  Just ‘ow’.   Unfortunately the current trend with teas leans towards heavily flavoured teas or rooibos or yerba mate teas which just don’t do it for me.  Give me nice crisp clean black or oolong tea.

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Blue Ginger Tea

When choosing from the website, I went systematically down the list at Harney’s under the Black Tea category and I stopped when I hit ”Blue Ginger”.  This is a tea that they make for Ming Tsai’s restaurant Blue Ginger – it’s classed as a Briskness 2, Body 2, Aroma 4.  Harney’s describes it as a combination of Fujian black tea, floral lychee fruit with a hint of ginger.  Once again, pardon the lousy cellphone picture.  This is the sample packet and the loose tea in the cap of  one of my tea tins.  Given the sample amount, I was able to make a 1.5 liter kettle of tea and still have enough leaf left over to make another pot.  That’s a fair amount of tea leaf for a two dollar sample – well worth the price.  It’s a great service and one I hope they continue.

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A lovely rich cup of Blue Ginger

I enjoyed this tea a lot, it produced a nice colour, great aroma and a very pleasant flavour.  However, if you love ginger (and I do), this is not the tea for you.  The hint of ginger is a bare whisper, a mere allusion to the name of the great restaurant.  Still, it’s an enjoyable tea if you like flavourful black teas and I would willingly drink it again.  In this case, I’m probably going to send the rest of the sample along to my SCA belt-sister since she’s responsible for my ordering from Harney’s (even if she’s trying to pass the blame along).

The Verdict: B-