Harney and Sons teas have had a place of honor in my tea cabinet for years. Their Peaches and Ginger black tea is my current Harney favorite, but over the years I've also enjoyed their Darjeeling, Florence (a chocolate hazelnut blend, yum!), Cranberry Autumn and African Autumn (rooibos).
The Harneys have been featured in many magazine articles, especially over the last few years, and they're rather revered as this country's First Family of Tea, so I was tickled pink when I came across John Harney and son Michael at the World Tea Expo.
I expected John Harney to be quiet, reserved and genteel, so imagine my surprise when he took a look at my media pass, grabbed it, and said, "What the (dickens) is Noooo-nan Koe-et-tah Magazine?" I explained that it's NEWNAN-COWETA (I guess you have to live around here to say it correctly), and that we're in the Atlanta area and I was covering the show since I'm an avid tea drinker. I said I was really enjoying his Peaches and Ginger tea, and the boisterous Mr. Harney said "OF COURSE YOU LIKE PEACHES! YOU'RE FROM GEORGIA!" He was, I thought, what we call here in the South "a mess," and I mean that in the best possible way. I loved him! (Loved the new bottled tea at the Harney booth, too. I tried the ... Peach!)
I met John Harney a couple years ago when the tea conference, TakeMe2Tea, was held in Las Vegas. He saw my tag which said I was from El Cajon, CA, and asked where that was? I said near San Diego but know one ever knows El Cajon. He started singing, "I'm an Okie from Ofrenokie...!" He just cracked me up! He is a very personable man, and very endearing.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to bump into the Harney's! I too am a lover of Harney & Sons teas. I visited their little tasting room back in the year 1999 and found myself in heaven. I hear that they have moved to New York since then, but not far from the place where they were in CT.
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