Pomegranate Oolong

This is the first Harney & Sons tea I’ve ever had, courtesy of Sandy.

I’m not the biggest fan of ‘green’ oolongs as of yet. It’s not that they’re bad, they’re just kind of subtle, and not exactly that… you know… awesome.

However, the pomegranate flavoring of this tea just seems to be the flavor that tea guan yin needs. It’s not overpowering at all in this tea, but it is very apparent. It works very well. Although, I don’t taste any of the ‘juniper’ taste that I normally get with a TGY or assorted green oolongs (high mountain, monkey picked, etc). I’m not sure if that’s just a matter of it blending with the pomegranate, or if this particular TGY doesn’t have that quality at the back of the taste.

Also, if you should happen to be able to pick up a sachet of one of these… I recommend it for nothing else other than the comical value of the post-brew sachet. Missy was giggling so hard at the way the sachet expanded from the TGY almost to the point of bursting. She said it looked like a tea balloon, haha.

So recently discovered that a friend of mine is a tea fan, and she gave me a two bags of this and a bit of unidentified loose green as a way to cheer me up. My pet rabbit was recently discovered by the dorm RAs, and was promptly kicked out, which makes me terrible upset BUT she will take care of him for me till summer. So all is well once again! And now with added tea.

So this is one of first hot oolongs that I’ve had in sometime and it was as delicious as I remember them being. The tartness of the pomegranate melted into the light taste of the oolong. I really like how delicate and light the tea was overall. Downside, kind of bitter and doesn’t re-steep very well. Very pleasant, but may not something I buy with my own money.

I received a sample of this in silken sachet form with my most recent order from Harney & Sons. (I didn’t realize how much I had ordered until I started unpacking the box. It was like a circus car full of clowns.)

When you first open the packet, there’s a burst of a bright and fruity fragrance with a bit of tang. This was a perfect representation of pomegranate at its most ripe state. The sachet was full of bright green rolled oolong nuggets.

Upon steeping, the leaves plumped so that the bag was almost bursting. The fruity and nutty fragrance was strong and wafted from my desk; no need to get your nose into this tea.

The tea brews to a very pale champagne color and the fragrance in the cup is even more nutty.The tanginess of the pomegranate compliments the butter and nut oolong very well. The lingering aftertaste of the fruit was a little surprising since it wasn’t overly prominent in the tea.

Usually the free samples from H&S don’t do much for me but this one goes on the reorder list!

So, my favorite lunch place on Peachtree has Harney & Sons tea now! They have a few different teas there, so I picked two to go in my purse for later. This one intrigued me because I haven’t had many flavored oolongs in the past. Also, the package said it was a tie guan yin (Iron Goddess), and I’ve had a few of those that I really liked.

Anyway, the fruit flavor is very powerful in the scent. It burst out as soon as I opened the packet. At first glance, I thought the balled up leaves were a little small, and not as glossy. However, they expanded enormously in the pyramid bag, filling it completely. I gave the tea 3 minutes to steep, and it became a pale straw-like yellow. Upon tasting it, I think it could have benefited from steeping longer.

The fruit is in the forefront, as one would expect. It does taste a bit like tart pomegranate, but also sort of like strawberries. Real ones, not the artificial strawberry candy taste. The actual oolong flavor is hardly present. It’s more present in the scent of the tea. Still, I like it. I would probably grab another and try again.

I got a sample of this (loose leaf) from Harney & Sons. With the loose leaf tea I know that I steeped a lot more leaf than one could get in a Harney bagged tea. While this tea was simple and sweet and not particularly impressive as I drank it, I started to notice that the after-taste was quite authentically pomegranate and very sweet and fruity.

It would not surprise me if I never think of this tea again.

It would not surprise me if I suddenly have a deep craving for it in the future. It’s made an imprint, at the very least.

I notice that they suggest this as an iced tea and I think that it would make a very tasty and flavorful one.

I recently placed a huge order on a tea impulse buy from a company clearing out their Harney stock. (Impulse buys? Me? Never!) I’m not mentioning that company’s name because my disappointment is in no way their fault. I didn’t realize that I was buying teabags in this tea blend and a couple others. I thought I was buying sachets, and now I’m super disappointed to have a 50-count box of this tea in individually wrapped teabags. Gish…

I’m also disappointed in this tea. The pomegranate flavor tastes really artificial to me, and the oolong is bitter. Maybe I got a bad teabag, maybe I over steeped it, maybe this tea is just better in loose leaf form (I don’t even know if it’s sold in loose leaf). This is not what I’ve come to expect from one of my favorite tea companies.

There could be many factors at play here so I’m not going to rate this tea now. I’ll try it again later because I want to believe that it can’t be as bad as I think it is at this moment. If any of you tea-obsessed kiddlets are a fan of Pomegranate Oolong, or if you just want to give it a try, please let me know because I have PLENTY to share.

I think green oolongs are growing on me . This is pretty tasty! Better review to come later…

I was browsing Barnes and Noble today and was excited to see that they had a few Harney and Sons teas for sale in sachet form, and I decided to try this one. I was expecting it to be a darker oolong but it turned out to be a tie guan yin, but I was still just as excited. It’s pretty good, nothing remarkable but solid. The oolong is lightly floral (much less so than Teavivre’s tie guan yin) and there’s the slightest touch of juicy tartness that goes well with the floral aspect. Not sure if it’s gonna go on my list to re-purchase, but it’s good.

This one comes from VariaTEA. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, but I took it out of the sachet first. I don’t trust oolongs to bags! And it was a good call, because the leaves ended up taking up the entirety of my mug-size steeper.

Brewed up this is a decent flavored oolong. It reminds me a little of Teavana’s Six Summits but much more naturally flavored. It’s an okay light oolong underneath the flavoring, a little green-tasting with just a little bit of fruitiness. It’s not exactly sweet but it’s a nice rounded cup. For being as inexpensive as H&S is I didn’t expect this to be as solid as it is.

Another sample that I received in my latest H&S’s order.
When I first opened up the little packet, and took a big whiff, I became very frightened.
It had a very strong and overly sweet odor.
Almost candy-like.
I could not identify any Oolong odor at this point.
Then I added the water.
And immediately sighed with relief, the Pomegranate mellowed and out emerged a nice earthy Oolong.
The Tea is a lovely golden color.
I think if I had more then just a sample, I would try this Tea cold-brewed.
Overall, This is a nice fruity Oolong.