Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Product Description:
Sweet, juicy and just a down right delectable green tea, who knew pear paired so well with top quality Sencha.
Taster’s Review:
I must admit that I am somewhat biased when it comes to pear flavored green teas because I developed a pear flavored green tea that I thought was out of this world.
However, this is a pretty good pear tea!
The green tea base is a Sencha (although I do not know if it’s Japanese or Chinese), and it delivers a light-bodied, sweet taste. It has a buttery quality and imparts a soft, creamy mouthfeel. There is some grassy taste to the tea but it is not a strong, off-putting grassy flavor. It is more like an agreeable grassy/buttered vegetable taste.
The pear flavor is soft and juicy – just like a pear should be! The buttery/grassy notes of the Sencha work very well with the pear flavor. These two flavors aren’t competing with one another, they are content to share the spotlight with each other.
This is a tea that I prefer iced to hot, although it is good as a hot beverage too. If you like your tea sweet, try this with a little drizzle of honey – the results are quite delectable!
A very good pear tea. Not the best that I’ve tried (then again, I am biased, remember?) If you like pear, you should definitely give this one a try.
Ramona’s Spiced Pear Bai Mu Dan from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Company Description:
This one was a request from a former employee, Ramona, who asked me repeatedly to create it. I just felt like spiced pear was never as exciting as some of the other crazy blends we were creating, so I never got around to it. Well, I never forgot about it either, so here it is. This one is for you, Ramona!
Taster’s Review:
Pear is one of my favorite fruits, but it isn’t always my favorite flavor for tea. Very often, the pear flavor will be so delicate that I can hardly taste the pear. There have been exceptions, though… like this one!
The light-bodied white tea is a lovely base for the softer flavor of the pear, because both the tea and the pear can be tasted without one overwhelming the other. The spices are skillfully balanced so that they do not overpower the other flavors. The pear is sweet, juicy and delicious. The white tea is fresh and crisp. The spices are gentle and warm, not hot or spicy.
The combination of pear, spice and white tea creates a lovely flavor that reminds me of a baked pear dessert! Delicious! Like many baked fruit desserts, this tea tastes best served warm. I made a pitcher of this to serve as iced tea, and it was yummy, but, I noticed that both the pear and the white tea became a bit muted. The result was more like a spiced cider – with the fruit flavor being pretty difficult to discern. It was still very tasty, but, not quite as sumptuous as it is when served hot.
Ice Wine from Design A Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Company Description:
One might ask…”Ice Wine Tea?” We sure did! We were asked to see what we could come up with- so we did a little research and found a great base recipe and added to it. This tastes just like iced wine. It’s a black tea base with ice wine flavoring (iced white grapes from Ontario) and organic pear flavoring. Together they leave a subtle sweet after taste of white grape wine. You won’t need to add sugar to this one, it’s sweet enough on it’s own
Taster’s Review:
I really like this tea!
Having tried one or two “Ice Wine” tea offerings from other tea companies, I kind of formed an opinion of this tea before tasting it, thinking it would taste very much like some of the others that I’ve tried.
Now, that’s not to say that I didn’t like those other Ice Wine teas, I did. But I like this Ice Wine tea SO MUCH better!
I really believe that what makes this Ice Wine tea so exceptional is the addition of the pear flavor. It adds a certain smoothness to the sweet-tart flavor of the ice wine grape which can be sometimes rather overwhelming. While I cannot pick out the pear flavor distinctly in this cup, I can taste the rich, nectar-like sweetness that it imparts, and I can taste how the ice wine grape flavor is affected by this addition.
The black tea base is smooth. It is not what I would call exceptionally brisk or strong. Mellow is the word I would use to describe it. But this mild quality is needed for the flavors in this cup, and a stronger tea would overpower the flavor of the pear and grape.
If you’ve been contemplating trying an ice wine tea THIS is the one you should try. This is a tea I’d recommend to all those out there who love a good, flavored tea.
And as good as it is hot – it’s even better iced. Quenches the thirst as it relaxes you – this is really a delightful tea.
Pear & Pomegranate from Townshend’s Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Townshend’s Tea Co.
Company Description:
A strong China black tea with natural fruit flavors and scents. The pomegranate delivers a tart but fresh taste while the pear contributes a sweet, light flavor. One of our most popular teas, hot and iced.
Taster’s Review:
I am very surprised by the flavor of this tea! Yes, I am pleasantly surprised, indeed.
First of all, I didn’t expect to taste the pear in this blend. Pear being such a subtle fruit, I figured surely the flavor would get lost in the flavor of black tea. And if, by some chance, the flavor survived the black tea, I was certain that the pomegranate would dominate the pear. But it doesn’t.
There is such a lovely balance of flavors in this cup!
The pear is succulent and sweet – and it tastes like I’ve just bitten into a fresh, ripe pear: smooth and delicious. And the pomegranate is tangy, but that tartness does not overwhelm the sweet flavor of the pear – instead it cuts through some of the sweetness just enough to make its presence known, and then there is a little tart-y “twinge” that lingers on the palate in the finish, almost as if I had just popped a plump pomegranate aril with my tongue and let the juice wash over my palate.
The black tea is brisk yet not overly aggressive in this blend. It has a place and a presence in this tea, but, it doesn’t overwhelm the flavor of the delicate pear or the tart pomegranate. Each flavor is in perfect harmony in this delightful, delicious blend.