Pomegranate Oolong

I had a sachet of this at work. I am trying to go through the bits and bobs that are in my stash.

I seem to remember drinking this a few years ago when I was verrrry first getting into tea and not being too impressed. Maybe I was steeping to long or not paying attention back then. My recollection was that the pomegranate was not to juicy and the tea itself was kinda lifeless and boring.

HOWEVER, I was super impressed with this cup this afternoon. It was fruity, juicy, and really hit the spot. Maybe because this was a single wrapped tea sachet it was fresher?
If you have the same experience I had this go around this tea is lovely. I am going to try again to see if this is how this tea usually is or if I just had the exception!

I received a sample of this in my recent H&S order. Thank you!

This was a really nice afternoon cup. It was a nice oolong flavor, slightly floral and the pomegranate really enhance the fruity sweetness of the tea. I didn’t brew this under ideal conditions and it was still pretty great. I am tempted to add a bit of this to my next order during the summer.

I drank this a few hours ago and didn’t make any notes… and now I can’t remember anything about it except that I didn’t finish it and that it just felt like a weak cup of tea. This is probably the most forgettable tea that I own. Its not that its BAD, it just isn’t something i have any real desire to drink. I keep meaning to try it cold and possibly sweetened, but even if that’s better… I’m definitely adding this to the swap pile.

Adding anything to Tie Guan Yin sounds like sacrilege to me, but this one turned out better than expected.

The aroma is of sweet, dried fruit, but surprisingly the fragrance of the tea is also very much intact. The flavors in this one lean more toward berries or currant, but not really pomegranate. Which may be a good thing—anything stronger or more tart would have been more suited to a black tea instead, but this level of fruit is just right. The overall effect is a delicate brew that has the lingering fragrance expected from a TGY. But I can’t give a higher score because something is a little off—maybe the preparation, the leaves, or the blending process, but the tea tastes as if it’s been overly cooked (panned/fired) even with a short steep. The first few sips even have a hint of oiliness to them, and made me think genmaicha, which is definitely not what you want here.

So, this is the tea I had with my meal at the Thai restaurant last night. I was eating a very rich red curry, so some of the subtleties of this tea were definitely lost on me. I was expecting not to like the pomegranate flavoring at all, but I was surprised at how pleasant it was. It reminded me a lot of currant, and it hadn’t occurred to me how similar pomegranate and currant smells (to me, at least) until last night. Anyhow, the disappointing factor in this was the base tea. I was just not liking it, and it had a weird taste in the back palate/aftertaste. I wouldn’t purchase this one again, but I remain open to trying another pomegranate tea from Harney & Sons with a different base…

I got a generous sample of this tea from DigniTea, thank you!

This is a pleasant oolong, not tart at all and with a slight sweetness. I bet it would taste even better iced. I don’t get any sharp bitterness at the end that I do with some other flavored teas without any added sugars or such. The pomegranate flavoring is pretty subtle, but not really in a bad way.

I enjoy this tea very much. The pomegranate is well balanced with the oolong tea.

I was in Corning NY, and strolled into a tea & coffee shop. They had open tins of loose teas that you could smell. As soon as I lifted the tin with Pomegranate Oolong I was hooked. Took some home and brewed a cup. I’ve had it at least once a day since then. I love the lightness, the fragrance, and the smoothness of this tea! You will not be disappointed.

Light, earthy oolong with the pomegranate sweeping in as a lively aftertaste. I wouldn’t try steeping it ANY more than twice; the flavor is the strongest in the first cup.

The only H&S I’ve tried that I didn’t like. This was a bland oolong for me. No discernable fruit.