U.S. Tea from Harney & Sons is a British Favorite

By Sunamita Lim

Could it be that four o’clock afternoon tea, introduced in 1840 by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, is now, blimey, soaked up by a Stateside purveyor?

Since spring 2007, Harney & Sons Fine Teas of Millerton, NY, has been selling packaged specialty teas and steeping hot brews for Her Majesty’s Historic Royal Palaces gift stores and cafes.

From London’s Dorchester Hotel to Honolulu’s Halekulani Resort, this tea company that began in the Harney family basement in 1983 just keeps brewing stronger sales every year.

Patriarch John, and sons Michael and Paul, jet off to prime tea estates around the world to sample gourmet teas—resulting in business as brisk as the blends they create.

It’s even brisker since Harney & Sons introduced the pyramid-shaped “silken tea sachet” in 2004. “Other people are now calling tea bags, tea sachets, too,” John Harney says.

True, good tea has evolved for the masses. And, it’s still easy to make using these pyramid-like bags fashioned from food-grade nylon. Longer tea leaves unfurl their magic during brewing, thus releasing the essence of thé similar to tea brewed in the pot with whole leaves.

Each sinuous sachet hods a cache of black, green, oolong, or flavored tea. Harney & Sons produces over 200,000 “silken tea sachets” daily. Caffeine connoisseurs can also shell out $20 to $173 for one pound of Harney’s top-grade loose teas.

John admits to a touch of timely tea luck. After Harney created the Palm Court blend for his first big-time customer, New York’s Plaza Hotel’s tearoom, Chuck Williams of Williams-Sonoma, sought out Harney. Williams ordered en masse for his kitchen stores—25 years ago, when Williams-Sonoma had only 25 venues.

Harney’s successful ‘secrets’ are steeped in sensible, old-fashioned ways. “Have faith in yourself. Offer only quality products. Maintain consistency. Be strong in riding out the not-so-good years because not every year is stellar for harvesting good tea,” he advises. Harney co-authored two books, Tea Cuisine and Children’s Tea & Etiquette.

As you treat yourself to Harney’s blends, give thanks for how serendipitously tea drifted down from the heavens to revive our senses. Chinese Emperor Shen Nung was reported to have brewed the first cup in 2737 B.E.—when leaves of camellia sinensis fell into his pot of boiling water—a divine gift that everyone can now enjoy every day.

How to Make Good Tea

Here is the method Harney suggests for brewing tea correctly, from my book, Spa Living:

A good pot of tea cannot be made from bad tea. Always use quality tea leaves or sachets with larger tea leaves in them.

1. Use fresh, filtered, or spring water, and a level teaspoon of loose tea for each cup, plus one extra for the pot.

2. Raise the interior temperature of the teapot to the correct 180º F. To pre-heat teapot, pour boiling water into it, swish the boiling water, then discard.

3. Add tea. Pour boiling water over tea to saturate it. Adding tea to standing hot water is wrong, as it results in a lower temperature, and therefore poor tea.

4. Steeping Times: for black, white, oolong, and herbal teas steep at least 4-5 minutes; for green tea, use less than boiling water and steep 1-3 minutes. Place the lid on, and allow the tea to steep, covered.

5. Strain and pour into a warm teacup. The flavor is enhanced by serving tea in fine bone china or porcelain teacups. Black tea may be served with milk and sugar.

Peach and Ginger Glaze for Poultry, Seafood or Tofu
From Tea Cuisine (2006) by Joanna Pruess with John Harney

2/3 cup peach preserves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon English Breakfast or other black tea leaves
Crushed red pepper (optional)
4 chicken legs with thighs or 1-1/2 pounds seafood or tofu cubes
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.

2. Puree preserves, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and tea leaves in blender till smooth; add red pepper if using.

3. Lightly brush meat or tofu with oil. Heat a large iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brown meat/tofu for 6-8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper; turn over and repeat. Pour glaze over it.

4. Bake entire contents of skillet in oven, or transfer to ovenproof glass dish, for 40 minutes. Baste with sauce a couple times.

5. Garnish with cilantro or parsley before serving.

Visit www.harney.com.

Sunamita Lim is the author of Spa Living: Ideas, Tips & Recipes for Revitalizing Body-Mind-Spirit (2007) and two Asian cultural books, Chinese Style (2006) and Japanese Style (2007).

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