Name: Pomegranate Lemon Organic Black Tea

Brand: The English Tea Store

Type: Black tea, flavored

Form: Loose leaf

Review: Warning! Warning! Warning! Pomegranate Lemon Organic Black Tea is a tasty tea when prepared correctly, but if you mess up, you’ll end up with a sour, bitter mess. But don’t worry, it isn’t that much of a fusspot, you just need to make sure that you don’t use too much leaf.

From what I can tell, this tea is made from a base of Ceylon black tea (I’m pretty sure it’s Ceylon) that has been flavored with pomegranate and lemon.  The scent of the dry leaf is surprisingly mild: Most flavored teas have a stronger nose.  The leaf is very dark brown in color (almost black) and is strewn with what appears to be some sort of flower petal (calendula?). Whatever it is, it makes for a pretty dry leaf.

Once infused, properly, it produces a light-bodied tea with a crisp, snappy flavor. Slightly sweet, slightly tart, and slightly fruity, this is a very refreshing tea when hot, and is really quite wonderful when served cold/iced. I don’t normally like lemon flavored teas as I find that the flavor can taste a bit stale, but for whatever reason, this tea doesn’t have that stale flavor. Instead, the pomegranate and lemon come together quite well.

What I do need to warn you about, however, is that the lemon flavor can become very intense if you use too much leaf. Don’t go over a teaspoon of leaf per eight ounces of water. If you do, you will get a bitter, sour, disagreeable mess. Not sure why a little extra leaf can change the flavor profile of this tea so profoundly, but there it is.

This is a tasty tea, just make sure to use a measuring spoon when measuring out the leaf!

Preparation Tips: Boiling water is fine for this tea and a three minute steep works very well. You may need to experiment with preparing it as an ice tea to avoid.

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