Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zhi Tea
Tea Description:
We took our tip-top grade organic sencha we get from Japan (which would not normally be a blending base, the second grade is used for that), added organic grapefruit extract and organic pink grapefruit peel.
The result: a delightful top note that sits delicately over the rich grassiness of the sencha. Perfect, subtle, intoxicating aromatics. Very addicting.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a wonderful grapefruit flavored green tea. As I may have mentioned here before, I have been on a sort of ‘quest’ to find a spectacular grapefruit flavored green tea, and this one comes as close as any other that I’ve tried up until now.
A couple of years ago, I had tried a grapefruit green tea in Arizona, and I absolutely loved it. And while I have actually found the source of that actual grapefruit tea, somehow, that tea just doesn’t taste the same as I remember. I don’t know what it is. It could be the water tastes different here than in Arizona, or the water temperature used to brew it was different … or maybe it was just the magical quality of Tohono Chul Park that made the tea taste so indescribably good. So, even though I have actually found the source of the tea that I tried in Arizona, and it is NOT this tea, this tea actually reminds me more of the tea I tried in Arizona than the actual tea that is sold in Arizona!
It has a lovely pink grapefruit flavor – tangy but not overtly tart, with a pleasant sweetness that counters the tangy note and keeps it in balance. Sort of like that sprinkling of sweetener on top of a half a grapefruit, this tea manages that flavor without the addition of sugar.
And I think that is because of the tea base. The Japanese Sencha is sweet and just barely vegetal. Not a grassy taste, really, but more like a hint of freshly steamed vegetables in the background. I think that these two components – green tea and grapefruit flavor – have been masterfully paired by Zhi Tea.
It is delicious and refreshing as a hot tea. It needs no sweetener, but, a little sugar wouldn’t hurt it if you want a sweeter grapefruit flavor. And as wonderful as it is hot, I think I shall save the remainder of my sample of this tea to brew for iced tea, because I suspect that this tea is even more incredible iced.
