Fusion Teas, Super Fruit Sencha

This tea was a surprise included in my box of samples. It is not one I would have chosen on my own. It would have been a shame to miss it. Here is what Fusion Tea has to say:

Now here is a combination that will turn heads. Gojiberry - blueberry and pomegranate flavors play the lead rolls in our newest green tea masterpiece. Summer fun-filled bright gojiberries bedded on rich, green Sencha with just the right spritz added by the lemon grass, the splash underlined by royal blue cornflowers. Allow yourself to be thrilled to the last sip: hot or chilled on the rocks a must-have this season!

And now what I think:

Wow does the dry leaf smell fruity! The scent at first reminded me of strawberries and cherries. Then I read the ingredients and realized I was smelling pomegranate and lemon grass. The sencha leaves are small grass clippings when dry that plump up nicely when steeped in to large lush dark green pieces. There are some stems and fruit pieces in the mix. I steeped per the instructions at 170d for 2 minutes.

The brew is light yellow green and smells really tasty. I am not usually a fruit person, except for bergamot, lemon, and peach, but this is a very inviting aroma. There is a hint of spinach in the wet tea leaf. I almost always use a packet of sweetener (Splenda). I did taste this without it first and maybe because I am not accustomed to unsweetened tea, it was a bit flat to me. A friend said unsweetened it just tastes like green tea without the aftertaste. The sip with a packet of sweetener is greatly enhanced and becomes very fruity. It now tastes like it smells but without the spinach. What stands out about this is there is no lingering nasty or candy aftertaste. The fruit stays on your breath but it is very pleasant.

The leaf smell of the second cup, @ 2 1/2 minutes, was Trix cereal! The brew scent and sip remained consistent with the first cup. This is really good. It surprised me as I was a little leery of trying this one. I thought it would be overwhelming and artificial tasting. It is miles above any of the bagged Republic of Teas fruit teas I have tried, and I kind of liked them at the time. If I could leave the cup alone long enough I would tell you what this tastes like cold. Apparently that will have to wait for another day as the cup keeps emptying while I am not looking. Yum!

Sample provided by Fusion Tea Room. First time customers at the time of this writing could get 10% off their first order by entering the code 10off.