Pomegranate Oolong Iced

My Harney & Sons tea order came in the mail today, and it seemed like a little bit of nostalgia. When I first started exploring loose leaf teas about ten years ago, the first teas I bought were Harney & Sons teas. So I kinda felt like I was coming full-circle having been on this tea journey for a decade.

Anywho…back to the tea.

The tin describes the mix as having extra large leaves of Ti Quan Yin oolong. As soon as you open the tin, you immediately get a strong whiff of pomegranate. Strong and penetrating. I figured that would carry over on the brew, but no…just the aroma. When brewed up, it tasted just like Ti Quan Yin (mellow, buttery mouthfeel, a touch of sweetness at the end). I got very little pomegranate flavor. But then I added more water to the brewed tea (H&S recommends steeping in 2 cups of boiling water, then adding 6 cups of cold water), and the pomegranate flavor started to emerge more. I guess the water drowns out the Ti Quan Yin, so it might be difficult to get a good balance of oolong and pomegranate in a particular brew.

The rest of it is in a pitcher in my fridge, but I’m not too wild about it. A pity.

Harney & Sons, you are letting me down! I had such high hopes of this tea, but so far I have only mediocre results.

The first time I tried brewing this, I used their directions (brew in hot water, remove tea, add cold water) and got a cloudy, weak tea with very little taste either of tea or pomegranate. The second time I cold-brewed it and got a much better tea that had an odd fermented-ish aftertaste that was mostly covered by adding sugar. Normally I go through a jug of iced tea in a day or two, but this one sat through several days of me taking a small glass, going “huh”, and taking another glass of something else.

There is a warm version of this now you can buy at Barnes and Nobles. I love the smell, but the taste is a little bitter for me. By the end of the cup it was so bitter I had to toss it. Far better was the Tropical Green Tea. Skip this one and go for the Green.