The dry leaf reminds me of candy smelling of sour pomegranate flavoured hard candy so I was surprised when the brewed tea reminded me of Christmas. It has a spicy fruity scent that is widely available at that time of year. I’m not sure how old this sample is as I received with an order from I Heart Teas, but the dried leaves still looked bright green and fresh.
As the tea cools one can begin to smell the underlying sweet notes from the sencha, mixing with the fruit and spice. In general the flavouring mostly obliterates the sencha, but I can detect the sweetness and a faint bitterness underneath it. The liquor feels at first creamy on the tongue and the leaves a slight freshness. The pomegranite flavouring is sweet almost like grenadine, but not quite, and the spice seems to be a mix of cinnamon with some cloves and leaves a little cooling sensation in the mouth.
The second steep has less spice and stronger fruit taste it is also not quite as sweet bringing out the tart notes from the fruit. The tea base is still quite strong underneath, suggesting that it will hold up to further steeps. Quite nice.
