SoHo Blend is a chocolate and coconut chinese black tea blend from Harney & Sons, an US based tea company.
Hurray, Harney & Sons! I did an order with them around Black Friday to snag some tea ware gifts and tins and while I was there I decided to get some tea samples. SoHo Blend has been on my wishlist for awhile, as I do love coconut teas. I quite like how Harney & Sons does samples, so for only $2 I can about 2 or 3 servings of tea to try out.
Harney & Sons has pretty slick packaging on their samples. It attracted the gal Tea Owls!
Dry Leaf
SoHo Blend has a strong chocolate candy smell – like one of those caramel or mint hard candies with chocolate in the center. Love the dry leaf here as I am a sucker for those cute pink amaranth petals.
Steeping Instructions
Harney & Sons‘ steeping instructions for SoHo Blend is pretty simple and easy to follow: 212F/100C water for 3 to 5 minutes.
I steeped just under 4 minutes and my kitchen was smelling chocolately! Am I actually making tea here? It smells like hot chocolate!
Tasting of Harney & Sons’ SoHo Blend
Rich! Luxurious! SoHo Blend sips in a rich, smooth, lightly malty black tea base that is quickly taken over by chocolate! So much chocolate flavor, holy hoots! The chocolate in SoHo Blend is a dark chocolate flavor that even a milk chocolate lover couldn’t refuse. End of sip there is a light sweet coconut flavor and some creamy texture that adds a little tropical and sophistication element to the tea. The aftertaste of SoHo Blend is more rich chocolate that just melts in my mouth, with a hint of coconut and floral. I found this black tea blend on the sweet side, so I personally wouldn’t add additional sweetener to this tea. Finally, SoHo Blend is very easy to drink with its light sweetness as well as the base being free of bitter and dry elements.
Resteep: I did a 5 minute resteep, and the results were very impressive. Almost as good as the first steeping! The black tea base is lighter and less rich. The chocolate is light and sweet. With this resteep of SoHo Blend, the coconut flavor really pops mid sip, tasting like a coconut hard candy melting, swirling with chocolate, into the tea. Very delicious!
Comments
Harney & Sons‘ SoHo Blend is decadent luxury in a cup. Even if you aren’t a black tea drinker, this black tea blend is a smooth treat that is easy to drink. New tea drinkers would also love the rich chocolate flavor of this tea. SoHo Blend would also be a great dessert substitute too! Lots of potential with this tasty tea blend!
Overall, SoHo Blend is my favorite Harney & Sons blend, out of 4 others I’ve tried. I’d put it as a “Must try” if you are doing a Harney & Sons order.
Bonus: The gal Tea Owls gossip over tea.
