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The aroma is light and vegetal. The flavor is earthy and smooth, a bit dry but not too much. I’m not overly impressed but I can’t say anything particularly negative about it either. It takes milk and sugar well. Overall I think this is a good basic cup of tea.

This tea is very light in color and has a slightly sour aroma. The flavor is lightly earthy, smooth, not very dry or bitter, perhaps even a little sweet. This tea is light enough to enjoy without milk or sugar and may even be overpowered by them.

This tea has an odd vegetal aroma…it smells like peas, actually. The taste is all tea, however, and is incredibly round and smooth, not bitter at all, and does have a slight sweetness as described on the Harney & Sons website. This is a pretty darn good cup of tea! It tastes great without milk or sugar but also takes both well.

Elaine’s Blend has an earthy, dusty aroma and a medium-dark color. Its flavor is smooth at first, round, and dry with a slightly bitter finish. I needed to add milk and sugar to soften the bitterness, though it remains rather dry. Perhaps five minutes was a bit too long for steeping. I will try four minutes for my next pot of Elaine’s Blend and let you know how it turns out.

Whoa – steeped this for five minutes, resulting in a VERY astringent brew. Milk and sugar were no help. I’m going to try again at three minutes and see how it turns out. Results to follow.

This tea has a very light aroma. I steeped for five minutes, which may have been too long as this brew is very bitter without much character. Cream and sugar helped soften the bitterness while tasting but the finish was still very bitter and dry. I will try a shorter steep time for my next cup but so far this is not the tea for me. It is just too bitter.

UPDATE:
My second cup was steeped for four minutes, which drastically reduced the bitterness. Even so, I found this tea still a bit too dry and the flavor uninteresting.

This tea has a light, toasty, slightly sweet aroma. The first sip of this tea was exquisite. The taste is full and round and blooms in the mouth from a robust, toasted, almost meaty flavor to a smooth, honey-glazed sweetness. Its briskness is refreshing and light, not bitter or smoky. The taste experience is full, complex, and lasting, requiring neither milk nor sugar. This really is an excellent tea and I believe it is now my new favorite Assam.

This is a smooth, dry, slightly smoky blend. The taste is at first round and bright, then becomes slightly dark and sweet. It leaves a bit of a smoky aftertaste. It’s a little too dry for me but a little cream and sugar help balance the flavor. I steeped this cup for five minutes; shorter steep time may limit the dry and smoky elements. It has a lot of character and complexity and is worth a taste.

This is a nice, simple Chinese black tea with just enough added flavor to complement rather than overwhelm the tea’s natural taste.

This tea has a very interesting character. It isn’t sour or bitter at all but does taste very earthy and somewhat smoky. I don’t usually prefer Pu-erh teas but this one intrigues me. I added cream and sugar and the resulting flavor combination was actually quite nice.