This was another sample provided by the good folks at our local Provisions store. So far, I’ve enjoyed three other selections by this company and was anxious to see how this Pomegranate sencha (Japanese) green tea with rose petals matched up with the others. The word “sencha” means “simmered tea,” referring to the method that the tea beverage is made from the dried tea leaves (Wikipedia gets the credit for this definition).
When I opened the sample package, my nose was bombarded with a loud and very sweet fruity aroma. I didn’t detect any rose smells. Perhaps a rose by any other name WOULDN’T smell as sweet as this unbrewed tea.
I steeped the full green leaves and pink rose petals for four minutes at 175 degrees. The finished product was a light greenish yellow. A powerful fruity aroma burst up from the pot.
My first taste of this tea produced an extremely sweet and fruity flavor. I’m not a pomegranate connoisseur, but based on my limited experience with the fruit, the flavor of this tea was like the pomegranate that I remembered. I thought this was admirable since the ingredients listed on the package stated that it was “artificial pomegranate flavoring”. The fruity sweetness of this selection was too dominant for me to even notice any rose presence.
The very sweet fruity flavors remained strong and steady, but without bitterness, throughout my cup. If you like to add sweetener to your tea, I would recommend abstaining from it for this blend. I have a mouth full of sweet teeth and this tea tasted incredibly candy-coated straight-up.
The aftertaste was long-lasting but nicely subdued. I thought that was surprising considering the exceptionally robust flavors.
To sum it all up, this is another fine tea from Sandy Creek Herb Co. I enjoyed two cups of it very much. It even scratched my usual itch for something sugary like a donut or cookie to accompany my cups!
