The Good: Good taste, Nothing bad in it, Caffeinated
The Bad: Minor aftertaste
The Basics: A decent tea that tastes like what it is supposed to offers a little caffeine, a lot of fruit flavor and none of the weakness most green teas have!
Do you ever get the feeling that perhaps the manufacturers of things you love are just making things up to see who is still paying attention? I'm there right now with Celestial Seasonings as I sit down with my mug of Goji Berry Pomegranate Green Tea. I am surrounded by very intelligent people and none of us have heard of "tea." Yes, that's a joke; it's goji berries we're all on the fence about and the ever-wise Celestial Seasonings box telling us that it is the "happy fruit" of the Himalayas isn't exactly inspiring me with confidence as to the truth of the existence of this fruit. If I had to guess from the flavors in this tea, the goji berry is a very dry tasting fruit. If anyone is hiking the Himalayas and wants to send me some goji berries, I'll try them, but until then, I'm going on the belief that Celestial Seasonings is just inventing this berry and it is in the same mythical category for me as "crunchberries."
As for pomegranates, I know of them. I've eaten them and a friend of mine once did art with some. In fact, I have even had some pomegranate tea since I returned from Celestial Seasonings this summer in the form of Celestial Seasonings Moroccan Pomegranate Red. And for the first time in a long time, I am happy to say I have a green tea to recommend!
Basics
Goji Berry Pomegranate is a tea from Celestial Seasonings. It is a 100% natural green tea that is caffeinated and made to embody the flavor of pomegranates and, snicker, goji berries. Goji Berry Pomegranate comes in Celestial Seasoning's standard stringless tea bags, which are paired together with easy to separate perforations that allow one to separate the tea bags. When I make pots of tea, I tend to use two bags and leave them connected. A box of Goji Berry Pomegranate comes with ten pairs (20 individual) of tea bags.
Goji Berry Pomegranate is marketed as a pomegranate-flavored tea and it lives up to that very well. And unlike many green teas, the weak green tea flavor does not overwhelm the fruit flavors in this tea!
Ease Of Preparation
Goji Berry Pomegranate is a green tea, which means preparation is as easy as almost boiling a pot of water! Green teas, as the directions clearly state, require water that is not quite boiling. Boiling water cooks the tea leaves and ruins the flavor, so water used for green teas like this one must be kept below a full boil. A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea, though reusing the tea bags yields little more than hot water. These tea bags cannot be reused and even credibly call the result "tea." Indeed, the second pots I've tried were predictably weak, though not as bad as most green teas. These bags are one-use only. I tend to make my tea using a 32 oz. steeping tea pot and that works well, though it is impossible to get a decent second pot out of the bags.
To prepare Goji Berry Pomegranate, simply heat up some water, and pour it over the tea bags in a cup, mug or steeping pot. This tea is recommended to take three to five minutes to steep and after a couple cups and pots, I've found that with almost boiling water, the tea is ready at the five minute mark and letting it steep longer does not truly change the results. Letting the tea steep more than six minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea.
Taste
One of the advantages Goji Berry Pomegranate has is that few people (including myself) have ever had a goji berry. I have had pomegranates so I can say that this tea actually tastes like what it is supposed to. Pomegranate is a rather tart fruit and this tea in its hot form has a very pleasant, fruity bouquet and a pomegranate flavor that is distinctive and easily overwhelms the green tea base that the tea is trading on.
While sufficiently pomegranate on its own - certainly enough for me to enthusiastically recommend it - Goji Berry Pomegranate reaches its full flavor with a little bit of sugar. A teaspoon of sugar cuts the sour aftertaste of the pomegranate and accents the fruity flavor of both the pomegranate and (assumedly) the goji berries.
Cold, Goji Berry Pomegranate is actually fairly juicelike with a strong pomegranate flavor. The goji berry might be what contributes a rather dry taste to the primary flavor, but it does not detract from how good it tastes cool or in an iced form. With sugar, the dryness in the flavor is cut and the sweetness accents the fruit flavor.
Nutrition
It is impressive that the green tea flavor is sublimated to the flavor of pomegranates and the mythical goji berries. The fruit flavor comes out despite the primary ingredients being: green tea, hibiscus and natural goji and pomegranate flavors. Actual goji berries are the final ingredient, but at least they are in there. Goji Berry Pomegranate tea is all natural, gluten free, and does contain caffeine. The brand new packaging does not include a caffeine meter to define clearly how much caffeine is in this, but it does not seem like it is sufficient to keep one awake. This is a good midday boost tea.
Were it not for the sugar I add whenever I make pots of Goji Berry Pomegranate, this tea would be devoid of any nutritional value. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates or protein. It is rumored to have antioxidants, but there is no meter or measure for that either.
Storage/Clean-up
Goji Berry Pomegranate is a green tea, but it comes out surprisingly dark. Still, cleanup is rather simple. The mugs and steeping pot easily rinse out. One supposes this tea will stain if it is left on fabrics, so simply do not let the tea cups or mugs linger on light colored materials that might stain!
Goji Berry Pomegranate is easy to clean up after - the tea bags may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. One of the nice things about this tea - like most - is that so long as it is kept cool and dry, it can last for a long time and it is easy to clean up.
Overall
Goji Berry Pomegranate is a decent green tea that is strong enough to make the drinker forget it is a green tea, yet flavorful enough to clearly present a pomegranate flavor! This one is definitely worth the attention of any tea connoisseur.
For other Celestial Seasonings tea reviews, please check out:
Organic Sweet Clementine
Decaf China Pearl White
Red Zinger
8/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page!
© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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