Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
As for this week’s tea of the week, we have a delicious (I had some with dinner as an iced tea) blend of our sweet Chinese sencha, dried cranberries, marigold petals and natural grapefruit and cranberry flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve mentioned before, 52Teas is my favorite tea company. This is mostly because I love that there’s a new flavor every week, and more often than not, it’s a flavor that you’re not likely to find anywhere else. It is the ability to experience the unexpected that I love so much about this company (not to mention the fact that their prices are pretty darned reasonable especially when you factor in the fact that at least within the US the shipping is free!)
However, every once in a while, this “unexpected” element does leave me feeling a little underwhelmed. I felt that way when this Sea Breeze flavor was announced a few weeks ago. Cranberry and Grapefruit? Hmm. OK … well, I love grapefruit green teas (and I have been on somewhat of a quest to find the greatest grapefruit flavored green tea for a while now), and I don’t dislike cranberry… but the combination of the two had me thinking “whoa … that’s going to be TART!” And… I’m not all that into really tart teas.
But, somehow the combination of cranberry and grapefruit works here. Yes, there is tartness, but it isn’t as tart as I expected it to be. And there is a smoothness that has developed between these two fruits, making this a very enjoyable tea to sip. It might actually be more sweet than it is sour, which is what I find most astonishing.
The Sencha seems to be the real star of this tea. It really seems to come to life in this blend. It doesn’t taste grassy or vegetative … instead, it tastes sweet and creamy. Buttery. But the buttery quality here is different from other flavored green teas from 52Teas because of the way the fruit flavors interact with the buttery flavor. It “infringes” upon the buttery notes, but in a way that is really quite acceptable in the opinion of this taster.
Because sometimes those buttery notes seem to deluge the palate … making it almost seem like I need to wipe the palate to get the butter off my tongue. Here, before they can become too much for the palate, the tangy citrus cuts through the buttery tones, as if to only give me a taste of the butter – an amuse bouche of buttery taste? – before cleansing the palate and letting me enjoy the aftertaste that is both sweet and tangy.
I love the contrasts here and how well they play together. This tea is delicious hot, but I have a feeling it’s going to be even better iced!
