My Overall Impression (Score of 86 %)

I feel like summer is over now.  While we are having a touch of warm weather this week, it’s getting into the 40’s at night.  My garden is slowing down from summer tomatoes and now I’m thinking about braising meats and stews. 

However, I still had to brew one more tea this week.  It was a hard choice, but I did find this one in my inventory.  Lancaster Tea Company has a unique blend called triple Berry Black.  Now, the interesting part is that it includes dried pomegranate pieces.  I love pomegranates!  I drink a great deal of the juice and Love to smash open the fruit to get at the seeds.  I know I had to review this just to see what the flavors would be.

This took me back to my childhood, eating those long freezie thin popsicles that somehow cover you with sticky syrup no matter what you do.  After opening the package, the house smelt like a blueberry bomb had gone off.  This is a high intensity aroma tea in the package.  While it’s muted after brewing as an Iced Tea, you still have a lovely blend of berry fruit, black tea, and pomegranates.  The brew is quite refreshing and led me to think about some great food pairing ideas to match.

While my sun brewing days are over for the year, I still plan to enjoy this tea.  It’s a great price for the quality and unique flavor profile.

What do I think this Tea’s Personality is?

• I want to go back to when I was a kid, eating a long popsicle, covered in syrup so everything I touch is sticky and drinking some refreshing water after.

The Price

The price on 8/27/24 is $5.99 for 2 oz (w) or 56 grams.

Broken down:

• 56 gm / 3 gm for steeping = 18 brews
• 18 brews from package = app. 33 cents per quart or 16.5 cents per 8 oz cup.

Love the value of this unique brew.

Aromas

• In the package, this is a high intensity fruit bomb of juicy red berries, dried craisins and pomegranate.
• It also shows hints of toasted malt, a floral sweetness and toasted coconut (maybe a bit artificial).
• Once brewed, the fruit was very muted with cranberries and unripe cherries dominating the fruit.
• It showed hints of the red berries and plums.

Flavors

• This tea is delicious, showing noticeably light dried pomegranate seeds and craisins.
• This is followed by hints of red berries, plums, unripe red cherries, and raspberries.
• It has a juicy texture that’s delicate and soft on the palate.
• This is tied into good acidity and just the bare perception of sweetness with nice structure.

Scores

• Aromas (4.4/5)
• Flavors (8.4/10)
• Overall impression (4.4/5)
  • Total score = 86 percent (17.2/20)

Foods to Pair and Why

• You just have to have a pomegranate seed salad with some type of pomegranate-based dressing to pair with this blend. Go light on the dressing to match the weight of the brew.
• I feel like a berry semifreddo would be an amazing end to the summer months and a great pairing with this.
• It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to afternoon tea, but this brew screams a smoked chicken craisin tea sandwich to pair.
• As I’m traveling, I love to munch on granola. Mixing some dried berries in with a freshly made granola would be perfect.
• Lastly, don’t ask where this idea came from, but I think a chilled soup would be very cool (no pun intended). A blend of freshly cooked berries to a light syrup consistency(to tighten the mix) with a hint of fresh cream would be wonderful.