This is the feed of all reviews of teas from Happy Earth Tea on RateTea.http://ratetea.com/brand/happy-earth/354/http://ratetea.com/review/3896/http://ratetea.com/review/3896/Sat, 25 Oct 2014 23:01:30 ESTMuscatel and plum scent, and the plum comes out with absolute loveliness in the liquor—sweet, and just slightly astringent. Additional sips bring out a blossoming plum and grape richness, that quickly gives way to a cooling tart astringency. Every sip is filled with juicy-ripe fruit. A beautiful tea, and easily an equal to Happy Earth Tea's Darjeeling offerings.http://ratetea.com/review/3891/http://ratetea.com/review/3891/Thu, 23 Oct 2014 22:52:00 ESTArya Ruby offers a rich aroma of fermenting fruit—grapes, apples, apricots. The first taste of the liquor is smooth, slightly sweet, and seemingly little else. But then notes of tangy fruit and a slightly drying astringency begin to develop on the back of the tongue, which, it seems, signals the real development of flavor. The tang is striking, and builds on the undersides of my tongue, but there are so many other flavors, scents, that seem to dance around and disappear before I have been able to identif...http://ratetea.com/review/3887/http://ratetea.com/review/3887/Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:52:47 ESTThis tea brewed to a cloudy copper tone, and smelled richly of honey, chocolate, and earthy spice—cinnamon, or allspice, or the peppery side of cardamom. It smelled as if it would be oily, in the way of a full-bodied Scotch, but also syrupy and sweet. The mouthfeel is smooth, but on the watery side compared to the silken quality of certain green teas. The flavor gave off hints of a peppery, fragrant spice on the back of my tongue, and yielded a slightly fruity aftertaste. Aerated in the mouth, it gav...http://ratetea.com/review/3840/http://ratetea.com/review/3840/Thu, 02 Oct 2014 21:11:13 ESTThis tea brewed an amber colored liquor and immediately gave off a strong punch of apricots, trailed by a musky honey scent. The first taste—still too hot—yielded an indistinct malt-floral taste. Later after allowing to cool further, the liquor still seemed mild and subdued, and so with a third sip, I vigorously aerated it in my mouth and was hit with a powerful sense of syrupy ripe fruit and sweetened flowers, which, after swallowing, gave way to a dry, slightly sour tang. It, too, was pleasant. Th...http://ratetea.com/review/3835/http://ratetea.com/review/3835/Wed, 01 Oct 2014 22:02:35 ESTThis was a very light brew with a bright golden color, and it smelled immediately of mint and other subtle floral and green fragrances. The sense of mint carried into the taste and mouthfeel, and it was never earthy or grassy. Later in the cup, I noticed a bit of the scent of asparagus. It was a really soft, beautiful tea with a gradually building astringency that made the cup very refreshing. The overall sense was an elegant balance of many subtle flavors and aromas that I was never able to tease apart. I...http://ratetea.com/review/3806/http://ratetea.com/review/3806/Tue, 23 Sep 2014 15:05:06 ESTVery smooth, fresh tea. I definitely like the lighter, non-bitter taste of Darjeelings compared against regular black teas. The first cup of this one was particularly good, while the second one was slightly weaker in flavor. Still, I enjoyed the very lightly floral taste, which contributed a pleasant complexity to the cup. I tried it again, this time with a bit of milk. They blend well together, but it's easy for the milk to overpower the delicate tea flavor. If you like tea with milk, I would suggest ...http://ratetea.com/review/3798/http://ratetea.com/review/3798/Wed, 17 Sep 2014 11:38:53 ESTDespite leaving the leaves to brew a little longer than I originally intended (meant to brew for 3 minutes, but ended up closer to 5), this is a very smooth tea. I brewed it at 180 °F. This would make a very good general purpose, share it with friends sort of tea. There's no bitterness, I like the almost-floral aroma, and the first cup was decently substantial in flavor--neither overwhelming nor watery. The second cup was a little weaker in flavor, but still pleasant. Someone brought sweets to work tod...http://ratetea.com/review/3698/http://ratetea.com/review/3698/Sun, 10 Aug 2014 11:18:26 ESTVery interesting tea! It's only my second Darjeeling and, so far, I think this will be my preferred style of black tea. It doesn't have the bitterness of most black teas, and this one has a light raisin-like flavor that works quite well with the delicately savory body of the tea. The aroma smells lightly of a licorice-like spice. Generally I'm not a fan of licorice, but it's subtle enough here that it works well as a scent. I brewed this one a few times, always at 190 °F but with different steep times....http://ratetea.com/review/3479/http://ratetea.com/review/3479/Mon, 02 Jun 2014 08:42:44 ESTDry leaf has less aroma than the other samples from Happy Earth from this year; aroma is fresh and light like the other teas, but is more suggestive of caramel. Upon brewing, the cup is not as obviously aromatic, but the flavor is similar. Sipping the cup, I notice pleasant floral tones, but they're fainter than in the other Happy Earth Teas. There is a hint of a certain enigmatic skunky quality, which I like, as it adds a bit of intrigue. As the flavor evolves, I notice some wintergreen notes, one o...http://ratetea.com/review/3462/http://ratetea.com/review/3462/Fri, 30 May 2014 09:24:53 ESTLast year's (2013) Puttabong was my favorite of the first flush teas, but this year I don't think it held that spot (this year, that would be Risheehat). This batch was slightly peculiar, and I found a little tricky to brew to satisfaction. I found it worked best when brewed with lower temperature water, and then when drunk at room temperature and sipped slowly. I'd like to try cold-brewing this for iced tea because I have an intuition it would work well. The dry leaf has an aroma suggestive of cak...http://ratetea.com/review/3459/http://ratetea.com/review/3459/Wed, 28 May 2014 08:25:40 ESTThis tea was remarkable, but I don't think it suited my personal tastes as much as the other first flush teas I've sampled from Happy Earth Tea, both this year and last. I can see others liking it more though. Imagine a high-grade Chinese white tea with the typical Darjeeling muscatel nuances superimposed on it. The dry leaf is long and curly, quite unlike the look of the other first flush teas. The leaf showed a mix of green, golden, and reddish-brown hues, and had an intensely nutty aroma, delightf...http://ratetea.com/review/3447/http://ratetea.com/review/3447/Thu, 22 May 2014 22:26:13 ESTThis tea took me back to summers spent sitting out at my parent's house on the deck... I've never experienced a tea smelling so summery and think it was because of its lemon and flower tones. I really could have spent most of my night holding the cup in my hand and taking occasional wiffs! Mmm... smells are one of my favorite things about tea and this one gets a A++ in my book. I thought the taste was equally as good as the smells and was extremely happy with my cup! This tea is truly exquisite and I ...http://ratetea.com/review/3442/http://ratetea.com/review/3442/Thu, 22 May 2014 08:51:37 ESTThis tea also smelled delightful, better than I remember from last year, and last year's tea was already fantastic. Compared to the other first flush teas, I found it a bit more nutty, but only very slightly so. Upon brewing, becomes more vegetal than the leaf suggests. Aroma is very floral, suggesting honey and flowers, but also tones of asparagus and cooked greens. As the cup cools, caramel tones come out more, and a faint toastiness. I find the cup smells more complex when it has cooled to room ...http://ratetea.com/review/3427/http://ratetea.com/review/3427/Tue, 20 May 2014 18:11:01 ESTA delightful, very green Darjeeling of the highest quality, sweet, aromatic, and reminiscent of summer. Reviewing Happy Earth's Teas is always a delightful pleasure...the question is usually, is this going to be among the best of the best teas I've ever sampled? Or is it just going to be a really, really, really freaking good tea? I'd say this is among the best of the best. The dry leaf of this tea smells perhaps the best of any tea I have ever smelled. It has a wonderful aroma, mellow, fruity, an...http://ratetea.com/review/2658/http://ratetea.com/review/2658/Sun, 01 Sep 2013 09:52:43 ESTThis tea has an interesting aroma. It brews really light, but it's surprisingly flavorful. A little bitter for me, but pretty good. I added cream and sugar. http://ratetea.com/review/2630/http://ratetea.com/review/2630/Mon, 19 Aug 2013 16:23:53 ESTI thought this tea was really good, it was definitely higher quality than most Darjeelings I've had. The description fits it to a 'T' minus the malty taste -- mellow and sweet. I liked it overall and thought it was much better than other teas I've had... while I didn't have an initial "wow" moment because of personal preference, I could tell that this was a high quality tea and would recommend it to Darjeeling fans!http://ratetea.com/review/2562/http://ratetea.com/review/2562/Wed, 24 Jul 2013 10:01:34 ESTThis was my favorite among the four first flush teas I sampled from Happy Earth Tea, and among my all-time favorite Darjeeling teas. Dry leaf has a very strong and complex aroma, with fruity, nutty, and herbaceous tones. Upon brewing, the cup becomes beautifully fragrant. The fruitiness is deeper, a little less like the typical muscatel aroma of Darjeelings, and more like stone fruit. Hints of wintergreen or mint, and vegetal and herbaceous tones. I'm not sure if I would describe this tea as hav...http://ratetea.com/review/2557/http://ratetea.com/review/2557/Mon, 22 Jul 2013 08:53:53 ESTYet another very high-quality first flush Darjeeling from Happy Earth Tea. All of their teas that I have sampled have been similar, and all have been excellent. Dry leaf smells strongly nutty and of caramel, only slightly fruity and floral. Upon drinking, I found this to be the most brisk and bitter of the four first flush teas I sampled from Happy Earth. There's not much bite, but there's an edgy undertone that emerges and actually comes to dominate, for an interesting experience. There are only ...http://ratetea.com/review/2545/http://ratetea.com/review/2545/Mon, 08 Jul 2013 09:56:31 ESTAnother top-notch Darjeeling first flush from Happy Earth Tea. This is the second tea I've tried from Sungma estate; the other was a second flush that I liked very much. Dry leaf is very green and has an aroma of fruit and flowers, with strong nutty tones. The brewed cup smells initially of muscat grape and caramel, and suggests a very smooth, warming cup, but upon drinking it is is dominated by very pleasant, fresh, light, herbaceous qualities. I do see the fruitiness as a little more berry-like t...http://ratetea.com/review/2544/http://ratetea.com/review/2544/Fri, 05 Jul 2013 10:25:06 ESTA fantastic tea, but tough to brew well. Dry leaf looks very green, among the greenest first flush I've seen, and has a typical aroma of Darjeeling first flush: lightly fruity and floral. The label "Black" I find rather humorous: there's nothing remotely black about this tea. I found this tea to be tricky to brew to satisfaction. I preferred brewing as I would green tea, not black tea, using water about 180F or even a little lower, and a relatively brief steeping (3 minutes max). The commercial de...