So there I was in the tea section of a grocery store in western Colorado, realizing I had forgotten to bring enough green tea along on vacation, looking for some. The bright red, cylindrical tin with the black lid and white star caught my attention, as did the unusual brand name and flavor: pineapple, one I enjoy. This loose-leaf offering comes from an outfit local to Colorado, two brothers who got out of Soviet Russia and landed here to form their own coffee and tea company. Knowing how a lot of Russians love their tea, I figured it probably would be fresh and good-quality, and purchased the product.

By in large, it was a worthwhile buy. The dry-leaf aroma is very smooth and pleasant, but somewhat weak, as is the in-cup scent. The wet-leaf scent is slightly stronger, still weak, but not musty or moldy like some teas can get. In both aroma and flavor, the pineapple is noticeable, but doesn't overpower the base tea, and they selected a good, unpretentious, reasonably strong, full-bodied green tea here. Since pineapple can be an intense, sharp flavor, that's a delicate balance to achieve. The dry and wet leaves looked fresh, and unfurled and swelled up nicely, though I was a little disappointed to see quite a few stems in there (careless processing?). The liquid brewed up a clear amber-green that turned murky after a few minutes.

I'll recommend this to anyone who would like to chug some straightforward, good, fruit-flavored loose green tea, and who can at least tolerate the taste of pineapple (again, there but not too intense). This isn't the most exceptional or outstanding, but still very pleasant, and I'll certainly finish the tin. The price (about 7 bucks after tax, in-store) was a little high for my tastes, but put that in context:
1. I'm a notorious skinflint, yet
2. Fully realize quality loose-leaf greens can go for far more.

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