Hip Hip Hooray! It’s Happy Blendings time! For the past six years, we’ve been asking our customers to help us create and choose an original tea blend that will join the Harney & Sons Fine Teas family. It’s always a fun time for us here to see what kind of new blend appeals to our awesome customers, then creating packaging for it and putting the new tea out there in the world. It’s a little like sending a kid off to college – both parts exciting and a little bit scary!
This year’s candidates vying for a place in the Harney lineup are:
- Smoky Mountains – Lapsang Souchong, maple and vanilla
- Matcha Earl Grey – Bancha, Matcha, and bergamot
- French Macaron – Mutan White, almond, vanilla, caramel, and lavender
- Meadow’s Mist – an herbal blend with rose lavender, spearmint, wintergreen, and sage
- Citrus Breeze – Ti Quan Yin, coconut, and lime
- Root Beer – Ceylon, vanilla, molasses, ginger, and liquorice root
If you haven’t voted yet, go to our form to vote and be entered to win our Happy Blendings Sweepstakes. Five random entrants will win a Harney & Sons $50 gift card and all six of our past Happy Blendings winners (must enter by 11:59PM EDT on Sept. 3). What are those teas, you ask? Read on to find out!
2022: Berry Cobbler
Who doesn’t love a fresh berry cobbler, especially in the summer? This winning blend is a naturally caffeine-free rooibos tea with blueberry, raspberry, vanilla, and cinnamon. Delicious. If you want, add a little cream to take the place of the ice cream you’d put on a warm piece of cobbler. Now it’s creamy AND delicious!
2021: Garden Party
It’s easy to see how this winning blend won the hearts of our voters. This wonderfully unique tea was inspired by summer parties in lush English gardens and starts with a green tea base to which we added rhubarb flavor, raspberry flavor, elderflower flavor, rhubarb, cornflowers, and lemon flavor. The only thing missing is the parasols, butlers and croquet mallets – that’s up to you!
2020: Bee’s Knees
Break out the flapper dresses and brush up on your Charleston dance moves, this Roaring Twenteas-inspired tea is a play on the eponymously named 1920’s gin cocktail. A great tea to enjoy when it’s too early for happy hour, it’s a playful blend with a lovely botanical aroma that brews up into a silky smooth cup. It’s a blend of white tea, juniper berries, lemon peel, gin flavor, honey flavor, and lemon flavor.
2019: Raspberry Mojito
Our 2019 contest winner offers a refreshing, caffeine-free brew full of bright, fruity notes. Flavors of juicy raspberry mingle on the palate with tangy, almost tart hibiscus and sweet apple, plus a squeeze of tart lime and eye-opening fresh mint. The result is a unique blend that’s equally refreshing hot or iced.
2018: Chocolate Chai Supreme
An instant favorite, our Chocolate Chai Supreme combines the flavors of a classic chai with rich chocolate and vanilla. We begin with a base of blended Chinese and Indian black teas, then add all the necessities for a delicious chai—ginger root, cardamom seeds and pods, cinnamon (ground and in chips), and nutmeg. Finally, we swirl natural chocolate, cardamom, and vanilla flavor through the blend, creating a one-of-a-kind tea experience you won’t soon forget.
2017: Victorian London Fog
This tea was the winner of our inaugural tea-blending contest. The beverage called London Fog is traditionally an Earl Grey served with steamed milk. With steam power originating during the Victorian Era, we felt it appropriate to add it to the name. This wonderful tea is a blend of black and oolong teas along with bergamot oil, lavender and vanilla flavors.
Which of the teas at the beginning of this article will be the 2023 Happy Blendings winner? If there’s a tea in that list you’d like to put in your cart one day, make sure you vote!
