Grapefruit Green Tea

I’ve learned that it’s safe to trust 52teas and now try all their teas in my stash, even if I don’t love some of their ingredients. Case in point, this grapefruit green tea. I don’t love grapefruit—but it occurs to me that I actually do like the flavour, I just don’t like the bit of bitterness it has more frequently than not. Here, we’ve got the lovely lightness and brightness of green tea, and the liveliness of grapefruit, without any of the bitterness. It’s fantastic.

creamer: none
sweetener: none
cautions: Drink hot. It got really bitter when it cooled.

Sipdown (808)!

Thank you to either Kittenna or VariaTEA – I forget which of you shared this one since you both sent a bunch of 52Tea blends my way…

I had this as my first TOTD at work this morning, and it was pretty accurate to the name. I worried I’d over steeped it as I’d forgotten I had left the strainer in and this tea got close to an eight minute steep instead of the recommended two minute one. However, it was neither bitter nor astringent, and overall I found the tea refreshingly citrus-y with a bright grapefruit character. It’s not a flavour profile that I personally would want to have stocked up, but if the idea of a grapefruit green tea blend sounds at all appealing to you then I’d suggest trying this one out because I think it’s a really nice example of one!

Sample from variatea. Not sure how old it was but I found that it was a super strong scent that didn’t translate in to the brew. For whatever reason the taste was really weak. I’m not sad because while I do like a good grapefruit tea, I don’t love green teas.

I have been watching Supergirl and totally forgot to drink this so it is warm, though nearing cool. I was worried because I am not a huge fan of grapefruit but I won this and still wanted to give it a try. Honestly, it is quiet good. Not surprising as most 52 Teas are quiet good but I did not expect to enjoy a grapefruit tea all that much. In fact, I was already trying to figure out who I would be giving the rest of this too after I inevitably tried it and didn’t like it.

The grapefruit flavor is there and distinct but not too in your face. I don’t love how sour/bitter grapefruits can be but this is the flavor without the sour/bitter. And it goes really nicely with the green base which is fresh and almost buttery. This is honestly a really nice citrus tea. So maybe I won’t be passing it along just yet. Thank you Anne for sending this my way!

Swap Sample Sipdown! (47)

Thank you Kawaii433 for the sample!

I tend to enjoy citrus in tea, so I’m happy to have the opportunity to try this one. The curly little green tea leaves are quite adorable, and there are nice chunks of dried grapefruit mixed in.

This is a lovely combination of base tea and added flavor. The Chinese green tea blend here is well-balanced, with tasty apricot notes along with subdued sweetness and more robust mineral and smoke flavors. It would perhaps be too robust for me to drink on its own, but the added citrus really brightens and lifts the whole blend. It’s not overpoweringly grapefruit, I think I could pick it out if I didn’t know which citrus it was, but it is quite close to tangerine as well. In either case, tasty zingy citrus goodness.

A lovely tea! But I do have Lupicia’s Yuzu green tea in my cupboard already, and I’m not sure I need a grapefruit green tea as well. Hmm…

So it’s affirmative, my crazy Sunday has bled into Monday. I swear I reached for the Bananas and Cream since Tea-sipper said their banana flavor is good… I opened my thermos (Mandala’s glass thermos is awesome btw, no leaks either. Still testing it daily.) and I smelled a lovely grapefruit aroma. Whaaat? Citrus? Is there tangerine in it? No no, it’s definitely grapefruit! This isn’t banana. Sipping it I tasted a nice green tea base with a bittersweet, somewhat tart, grapefruit flavor. btw, I’m a grapefruit nut. A bag of them is always in my fridge. My continued crazy thinking: Wow, this is great but it’s definitely not Bananas.

I went to check which one I actually put in and I saw their grapefruit green tea package in the front. Oh man, Kawaii, you’ve lost it. Anyway, their blend is of organic Chinese green teas: Yun Wu, Chun Mee & Gunpowder with dried, organic grapefruit wedges. It’s very smooth, light, natural grapefruit notes (slight bitterness like grapefruit has) with a nice smooth green tea base with a delicate sweet finish as per the usual profile of decent Yun Wu green teas.