Pomegranate Green Tea

The dry leaf reminds me of candy smelling of sour pomegranate flavoured hard candy so I was surprised when the brewed tea reminded me of Christmas. It has a spicy fruity scent that is widely available at that time of year. I’m not sure how old this sample is as I received with an order from I Heart Teas, but the dried leaves still looked bright green and fresh.

As the tea cools one can begin to smell the underlying sweet notes from the sencha, mixing with the fruit and spice. In general the flavouring mostly obliterates the sencha, but I can detect the sweetness and a faint bitterness underneath it. The liquor feels at first creamy on the tongue and the leaves a slight freshness. The pomegranite flavouring is sweet almost like grenadine, but not quite, and the spice seems to be a mix of cinnamon with some cloves and leaves a little cooling sensation in the mouth.

The second steep has less spice and stronger fruit taste it is also not quite as sweet bringing out the tart notes from the fruit. The tea base is still quite strong underneath, suggesting that it will hold up to further steeps. Quite nice.

First I want to thank Courtney of Little Mew Brew for Rescuing that tea from Retirement. I had never tried this tea before now and I am so happy I got it.

This is sweet, juicy, fresh, and the Sencha is delicate and buttery. I have tried this hot so far and although I imagined it would have been good it had surpassed actually surpassed expectations. Delicious and I can’t wait to try it cold.

A review of Pomegranate Green (Sample) by iHeart Teas

Company: iHeart Teas
Tea Name: Pomegranate Green
Tea Type/Varietal: green
Region: China
Steeping Vessel/Amt Leaf: cup / loose leaf
Liquor Color: light green
Leaf Characteristic: fine leaves when brewed and green in color

1st Steeping:
Water Temp: 190
Time: 3 minutes
I finally gave in to sampling of this tea today. When I opened the tea pouch, tea smells very chocolaty and coffee like.

I poured the pouch content into my tea mug and add in the boiled water and left to steep for several minutes. The aroma is that of chocolate and smells sweetly and when I taste of the tea, it is the chocolate that I am met with; tasting more like bitter chocolate and something of this tea makes me think of those black teas I had sampled earlier on that I did not like. Although this says that it is green tea, it taste more like a black tea except the tea’s color is light greenish brown and the tea leaves are green.

Overall tasting notes: Tea has a lovely chocolate aroma

Classification: Year, and region of production; Product of China

Cup’s characteristic: green tea

Liquor color: light brown

Taste: tea is slightly bitter with a chocolate over tone. I did not taste the pomegranate. Or I don’t know what to look for. So I look for the description with another tea company that provides more descriptor for this tea.

Jolie Tea Company of Hamilton, MA offers the same name tea:
Pomegranate Green
Ingredients: China green tea, pomegranate pieces, rose petals.
Description: In ancient Greece, a queen sits with a bowl of ripe pomegranates. Their fragrant scent fills the air with a delicate perfume. Her hand reaches for a dish of seeds that glow like rubies…..
Be transported as a cup of pomegranate green tea steams and releases the bloom of its intoxicating aroma through the room. The color of the tea is pale jade. Anticipating the sweet taste, your hand reaches for the handle.

I received a free sample of this when I placed my iHeartTeas order (thank you SO much, Rachel!) and so I brought it with me on vacation.

This one pinged the boyfriend’s radar (I really just give up on trying to predict his tastes), so I opened it before we left to travel up to Asheville yesterday. The smell was amazing – mostly the fruity note of pomegranate and a small background hint of green tea. The leaves were actually big and whole for being in a sample size – it looked like a sencha but without the jade green color of the Japanese green – maybe a Chinese sencha?

Ah – yes. I just looked it up and that is exactly what it is. I’m now super proud of myself for being such a good guesser.

I had this plain, steeped in boiling water (I’m not as proud of myself for this, in retrospect) for about 3 minutes. And honestly, I need to give this tea credit for not turning into an astringent mess with that kind of treatment. It still had a nice fruity note in the forefront, with a slightly bitter green aftertaste, which I wholly blame myself for.

Luckily I have enough for another cup or two (thank you again for your generosity, Rachel!) so I will hold off rating for now. I have a feeling it’s going to be something I really like, though, based on that first impression!

So I figured I should try this seeing as I brought it out of retirement with Frank. I must admit it is pretty tasty! I had a sip while it was hot (before adding ice) and I loved it. After I had it on ice for a bit I tried it again and it is equally as good. I’m really happy with this choice. This is a really refreshing summer tea. I am going to rate as I haven’t tried it before this cup.

Awesomely fruity and nice. I enjoy this one iced.

I haven’t been in the mood for the smokiness of gunpowder lately but I do appreciate the juicy-tart flavouring of the pomegranate here. The concept seems so simple but when I go through the list of tea flavourings I’ve encountered I realize this one is quite unique! At the beginning of my tea journey (2011) David’s Tea had a Pomegranate Silver Needle, which I thought was decent at the time, but I haven’t seen one since! Kudos to 52teas!

(2017 blend)

I’m glad the re-blend features Chun Mee and Gunpowder rather than Sencha as that might’ve been a bit buttery, especially for an iced tea. I knew I wanted to ice it when I ordered it. I prefer fruitier green teas iced or cold-steeped. It was an enjoyable cuppa. The pomegranate arils (and flavoring IIRC) add a nice tart fruitiness. The green tea is a bit grassy but not overly astringent or bitter. I think I’ll cold-steep the remainder of my bag, but this is a solid fruity green tea by 52teas. Very nice indeed.