Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Pomegranate Black Tea

So, I stole a few boxes of tea from my mom in order to make some cold brew tea.  It's obviously not because I need more tea or anything, but because I happen to like fruit-flavored tea for the summer and am running low on it and funds.  This tea is old and I don't know if this even exists anymore, but I'll use it.

Hot version:  the color is darker in this one.

 Outsides:  Celestial Seasonings has those weird sachets that I personally think are pointless to me.  They're not individually-wrapped  and don't even have strings on them.  For the hot-brew, I put one sachet in 8 oz of almost boiling water.  It's a light brown color with a hint of orange or red and it smells like cherries.

Insides:  The hot one has a nice balance between the tea and fruit flavors, partially because the tea is just not very strong or full-bodied.  There's a pinch of bitterness in there but it's not too astringent.  The cherry flavor is light but tends to overpower any other fruit flavor in the tea.  It's sweet but has a nice tart note that pairs well with the tea.  And no, I don't taste any pomegranate except possibly as it complements the cherry flavors.

The cold tea is a bit different.  There really isn't as strong of a tea flavor and cold brewing gets rid of a lot of the bitterness.  Thankfully, the cherry flavor is brought out nicely and makes this more of a natural version of Kool-Aid.  It's actually quite fragrant and smells a bit like cherry chapstick. 

Tilt:  I honestly don't even know how old this box of tea was but I'd guess it's easily two years old.  Celestial Seasonings is cheap for a bagged tea but something people will learn when they become closer to the ultimate tea snob like me is that you can get whole-leaf teas from various places that are cheaper and tastier.  I like it more cold-brewed and during the summertime or when I feel like having iced tea.  I also think that fruit teas are generally a good thing to serve when you have company around since most humans tend to like sweet, fruit-flavored things. 

Overall:  It's ok.  I'm glad I finished the box and my housemates drank it. 

My Rating:  Pass

Celestial Seasonings is an American tea company specializing in flavored teas with beautiful artwork on the packaging (in my opinion, the artwork tends to be the only reason to get the box).  

Prestogeorge Herbal Red Pomegranate

I need to review more teas from Prestogeorge, but since I have about 20 teas from Zen Tea and 10 teas from Prestogeorge, Zen Tea has won priority (although, it's also because I just bought higher quality tea from Zen Tea and it's something I really need to do at Prestogeorge).  I'm not the biggest fan of Rooibos since to me, it's not complex enough on it's own.  Pomegranate is another story and I will gladly consume anything that reminds me of that fruit, plus the sweet and tangy taste with a hint of floral should do wonders for Rooibos. 

Outsides:  What's unique about this tea is that it's a blend of green and red rooibos, which I rarely see together.  It also contains safflowers, rosehips and, of course, pomegranate.  I brewed a teaspoon and a half of this at almost boiling for 5+ minutes.  The color is lighter than most rooibos teas I've tried but still that rusty orange.  It smells fantastic, juicy, sweet and tart.

Insides:  The rooibos actually serves as a nice base for all of the other flavors and doesn't hinder the wonderful pomegranate smell and flavor.  This smells a lot stronger than it tastes, but there is a hint of natural sweetness and a little needed tartness from the pomegranate.  There's also a slight floral flavor but it's more of a complement to the fruit than a flavor on its own.  I think this would go great with sugar and would make a nice iced tea.

Overall:  I've decided to change my thoughts on rooibos to not liking it unless it has some stronger flavor added to it.  This is a very nice blend and worth the extra dollar or so I spent on it compaired to the other rooiboses.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Prestogeorge is my local tea shop in Pittsburgh.  They deliver to other parts, but their shipping is expensive so I'd just look elsewhere for other tea.  

Biglow Pomegranate Green Tea (K-cup Review)

This is one of two random tea K-cups that i just had sitting around and decided to review today.  I'm just going to be honest and say that I was never a big fan of Biglow.  I mean, you can buy it at Big Lots and for 20 cents more, you could get Twinnings, which uses a higher quality tea and actually individually wraps tea bags.  But this is weird because Biglow is one of the cheapest name-brand teas and Keurig sells some of the most overpriced expensive coffee.  Let's see how this turns out.

Outsides:  A standard K-cup (a few of them have little rings on the bottoms to prevent the liquid from dripping as fast, but those are mostly the espresso K-cups).  I brewed it using the 8 or 9 oz setting.  As you can see, the liquid is pink and not a green tea color.  Also, this thing smells like candy.  Not pomegranate, but like hard candy.  I'd actually be pleased if it tasted like this, despite me trying to be more of a tea snob.

Insides:  Well, this definitely isn't for the tea purists but it's actually surprisingly good.  The pomegranate flavor is nice and strong and gives a sweet and sour taste to the liquid.  The tea is weak and a tad too bitter, but the pomegranate flavor kind of overtakes that.  Ok, you can buy better quality for less money but for those people who want to have a few fruity teas around the house for their Keurig, this is not a bad option.  Congratulations Biglow, you have impressed me.

Overall:  Still overpriced as hell for what it is, but it's fruity and not offensive like some of the other ones.

My Rating:  Try it!

I don't feel the need to put a website here because Biglow is a brand of tea that can be found in the vast majority of supermarkets.   

TasTEA Time! Made! 10 calorie Pomegranate Blueberry Green Tea

Oh bottled teas.  Why are you usually too sweet?  Tea's supposed to be healthy for you, and yet you make it the non-carbonated cousin to soda.  One of the advantages of Made is that it's organic, and that'll bring up the chance that it's actually good and not overly sugary.  Another advantage is that it's diet, which still means nothing except maybe this tea won't go straight to my thighs.  Plus it's blueberry and pomegranate, two flavors that have to be good.

Outsides:  I think this is a PET bottle, or at the very least, one without BPA.  The tea itself is kind of this brownish reddish color, darker than normal green tea but that's probably the juice.  You can smell the blueberry and tea, though it's not as pungent as hot tea.

Insides:  It's actually not that overly sweet.  I mean, Sucralose was the last ingredient but you barely get that sweetener taste to it.  The fruit flavors come though nicely and have a pretty nice balance with the tea.  It's pretty refreshing and I'm even drinking it warm. 

Overall:  It's not the BEST bottled tea out there, but if it's cheap and in a fridge at your local 7-11, you should get it.  Hell, I prefer it to the Giant Peach Tazo.

My Rating:  Buy it!  Here's the site.  I'll probably be reviewing the Cranberry Lemon Green Tea soon. 

Review! Phenom Blueberry Pomme Coconut water

Greetings from Pitt!

What:  Blueberry Pom flavored Coconut Water

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  I love coffee but let's face it:  It isn't that good for you.  Caffiene, in all it's stimulating glory, is technically a drug and is something that when I personally get too much of it, it makes my brain crash.  So I'm attempting to get that morning boost of energy from other sources.  Now for the record, I also try to avoid those energy shots because they're supposedly even worse than coffee despite claims of grandeur.  However, I haven't heard anything bad about coconut water.  The other kind I tried (O.N.E) had all kinds of energy-botanicals to it so in a way, this is a step down.  But it's GNC, a highly-overpriced product (which I ended up getting for 75 cents) with vitamins and added goodness!

Packaging:  This one also comes in a Tetra pack for added refrigeration convenience.  I'm looking at the supplement information though and have to say, I'm not that impressed.  Yeah, it has 150% vitamin C but that's really the only stand-out.  It says it has more potassium than a banana but the information says it only has 2% (is it a typo).

Non-Taste Senses:  It smells kinda like (normal) milk with a hint of blueberries.

Taste:  There's no sugar added so don't expect this to be sweet.  As strange as this may sound, it tastes like a watered down, unsweetened, blueberry milk.  It has a decent blueberry flavor and coconut milk tends to be a bit thicker (and has a slight lactose taste).  The blueberry flavor also goes well with the coconut milk and works better than say, lemon lime.  Make sure to refrigerate it because the thick texture doesn't take room temp well.

Overall:  It's ok.  I think you really need to know whether you accept the taste of coconut milk and the blueberry (because there is no pom) lends well to the taste.  If you find it for a buck (which is probably impossible), check it out.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site but this flavor seems to be discontinued.

TasTEA Time! Hedley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea

What:  Cheap Pomegranate Green Tea

Where:  Apparently, Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  Well, I love pomegranate.  And this tea boasts that it is "the Finest Tea on Earth" and I just can't stand that.  

Packaging:  What's nice about this is that it's a metal tin with a foil bag containing the tea sachets.  Of course, this isn't so great for the tea sachets but if you buy loose leaf tea, it's nice to use this if you need a spare container.  

Non-Taste Senses:  It's slightly more golden than your average green tea (ceylon is like that) and it smells like pomegranate.

Taste:  Well, it's not the finest tea on Earth but it is a heck of a lot better than the Arizona Pomegranate tea I reviewed.  The tea itself is very light tasting and has very little bitterness.  This allows the light pomegranate flavor to come through nicely.  There's a little bit of tartness but I think that comes from the pomegranate as opposed to the tea and it's not enough to make me squint.  It goes well with sugar but I think it might be better warm than cold due to its lighter flavor.

Overall:  It's pretty cheap and is probably worth the money, but you can probably get better green tea for the same price.  If you like pomegranate, this'll be worth it for you.  

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.  I got this before the product redesign so be warned.  

TasTEA Time! Arizona Green Tea with Pomegranate and Acai Berry

What:  Pomegranate tea from a name brand

Where:  USA

Why Should I Care:  I...I don't care for Arizona Green Tea.  I know, it's a great value:  For 99 cents, you get a big can of badly-brewed tea and high-fructose corn syrup!  It's just, the tea doesn't taste real to me.  There's no flavor.  Oh, and that Pomegranate tea they sell is a LIE.  Companies seem to think that if you put pomegranate on the label of something, you can replace it with any other red fruit.  BTW, Cherries do not taste like Pomegranates, Arizona.  So, I got this tea just to see if the hot version was going to lie to me too.

Packaging:  The individually foil-wrapped bags give me a glimmer of hope.  Maybe this isn't going to be a bland, lifeless product of corporate greed?  Maybe this'll be decent!

Non-taste senses:  It's this cloudy pinkish red color and it actually does smell like pomegranate and some berries.

Taste:  So, the smell is kinda strong but that disappears when it goes into your mouth.  It's not BAD per say, but I feel like when you have that vibrant of a color and that strong of a smell, you should have a flavor to go with it.  The "green tea" portion is nonexistent or crushed by the taste of the berries.  I've had this cold and I will tell you that it's even more bland and also, sugar doesn't really do anything to enhance the flavor.

Overall:  I know you'll probably see it cheap and it may seem tempting due to the delicious pomegranate on the front, but it really isn't worth it.

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the website.  An interesting note is that Arizona Tea Bags was the third result after typing in Arizona Tea B.  The first two b's were Bankrupt and Bad for you.