Product Review: Stash Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea

Regular tea drinkers probably know that green tea offers the maximum amount of antioxidants in a cup. While black tea gives the most powerful punch in terms of caffeine, nothing beats green tea in its ability to improve your health. While regular green tea offers a refreshing taste by itself (with or without sugar), part of the fun of drinking tea is exploring the different flavors out there. A recent discovery for me is Stash Tea's Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea. Browsing the various tea boxes and cans in Safeway's tea aisle, Stash Tea stood out to me with its Pomegranate Raspberry flavor. While lemon and honey flavors were popping up in every other brand, I believe Stash was the only one that had this unique blend of pomegranate and raspberry. Looking more closely at the ingredients, Stash actually combines more flavors than the two on the name of the tea, creating a delicate balance among all the ingredients. Aside from green tea leaves, pomegranate and raspberry flavor, it also has chamomile, hibiscus, orange peel, citric acid, and Japanese Matcha. All these ingredients work perfectly together, giving a uniquely refreshing and relaxing taste to your cup of tea. Here are some of the health benefits you may reap from the additional ingredients in this tea:

Chamomile. A popular ingredient in evening teas, chamomile is known to have soothing effects, making it perfect to relieve anxiety and combat insomnia. Also according to Lifescript.com, "Chamomile is also often used internally to treat digestive disorders, bowel inflammation, heartburn and even menstrual cramps."¹

Orange Peel. According to The World's Healthiest Foods web site, orange peel is a significant source of polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs), which help reduce bad cholesterol. Orange peels apparently contain tangeritin and nobelitin, the most common PMFs. As they suggest, "grating a tablespoon or so of the peel from a well-scrubbed organic tangerine or orange each day and using it to flavor tea, salads, salad dressings, yogurt, soups, or hot oatmeal, buckwheat or rice may be a practical way of achieving some cholesterol-lowering benefits."² Stash Tea's Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea is a delicious way to incorporate some PMFs into your diet!

Hibiscus. According to MedicalNewsToday.com, hibiscus has antioxidants that fight the build up of fatty acids and also lowers cholesterol levels³. Combined with the green tea leaves and Japanese matcha, the hibiscus components in this tea will really give you a good dose of antioxidants!

The ingredient that made me take a second look at Stash Tea and eventually buy their Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea is the Japanese Matcha component. Japanese Matcha is a variant of powdered green tea, very finely grounded and usually used in Japanese tea ceremonies. I think the tea having the Japanese Matcha component prevents all the fruity flavors from overpowering the green tea itself. While you can appreciate the citrus flavors of the tea, you still can tell that you're drinking tea and not just warm, diluted juice. Another great thing about this tea product is that all its ingredients are 100% natural, according to its packaging. Given that tea originates from Asia, the fact that Stash Tea gets their tea leaves from countries in Asia such as China, India, Sri Lanka, and Japan is a great testament to the high quality of their products, according to their web site. Also from their web site, Stash Tea gets their orange peel - an ingredient in their Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea - from California Valencia oranges, ensuring good quality as well.

One of the great things about tea, too, is that you can get high-quality ones without drilling a hole in your pocket. For about $3.99, you can get 18 premium tea bags in a functional Stash Tea box from Safeway. You can also order from their web site at www.stashtea.com and explore more of their outstanding flavors.

Sources: ¹Lifescript.com, ²WHFoods.com, ³MedicalNewsToday.com