Zen Tea

Tea & Cards TTB

Bloody delicious, this is…I’ve always been a fan of Earl Grey and I’m startled by how well it pairs with the cream flavouring (both hot and cold).

The bergamot is mellow and not overwhelming at all – while still being unmistakably Earl Grey – and then there’s this silky sort of vanilla-creme flavour that kinda slides around your mouth afterwards…it’s a simple sort of tea, but therein lies the beauty.

I’d drink it again, happily…and will probably order a batch when I clean out my boxes of samples lying around. :)

I purchased a sample pouch of this in my recent Zen Tea order. I was in a rooibos mood when I placed the order and it shows. Somehow I purchased 2 sample packs of this one unintentionally though. It wasn’t my favorite. It was a nice rooibos base with medicinal ginger taste. Oh well. You win some you loose some.

I ordered a sample size of this in my recent Zen Tea order. I manged to pick up the germs my daughter brought home from the daycare last week. It seems these days whatever germs come my way it knocks me out for a few days. When I am sick I do not like to drink tea. This seams odd, I know, but usually when I am sick water or fizzy water are the only things that seem appropriate to drink. Anyway, I eased back into drinking tea with this one. It was a nice treat. It was like drinking a raspberry hot chocolate, only with the nice rooibos base. I like it! Somewhat sad I only have a small pouch of it, but I guess that means if I run out fast I can order more right?

This morning I made fresh peanut butter to have with my toasts. It was warm and so creamy, I ate a big spoonful before spreading it!

Not all teas make the peanut butter list. (K S already know that) I usually have my regular straight Assam, Yunnan and Keemun to pair with it. Don’t like any flavoured tea with it.
You have to understand that I’m picky cause peanut butter is considered heaven food in my household.

K S mentioned in a recent post that earl grey came highly recommended on his PBJ tea list so I made a mental note of that (I personally am more of a purist, I prefer classic unaltered PB on my toasts, I ditched the J a long time ago).

So, I chose this favourite Earl of mine. I usually prefer this version cause the creamy part mellows the bergamot I sometimes find offensive in blends. The reason I like it so much is that unlike other EGC, this one doesn’t scream vanilla. I don’t mind vanilla when it’s done right, but it can be heavy and a little sickening to me. Here, it just rounds the edges of Miss Bergamot. It’s a perfect cup! And yes, it complimented wonderfully my PB toasts this morning.

So K S, thank you, earl grey officially makes THE PB list!!!

They suggest having this tea with multiple steeps, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Steep #1 was done somewhere between 3 and 4 minutes. It’s slightly metallic and, I think, leathery. Dry, and a little different than I’m used to — it actually reminds me of the Dong Ding that I sampled at the Toronto Tea Festival.

Steep #2 seems a little sweeter, milder, and very smooth. It still has the distinct taste that I mentioned above — I certainly get a different taste from this than Indian black teas.

Steep #3 was closer to ten minutes (it’s my final steep, and I was a little distracted). Thanks to it being a third steep, it doesn’t seem too overdone at all. It’s less sweet than the second steep, but otherwise similar. I think it would go very well with something hot and cheesy. (Though that may just be my appetite talking.)

Thank you for the sample, Zen! They probably figured this would be a good one to throw in seeing that I restocked on the ECG and got a bit of their EG lavender to try.

It’s a good EG. Just the right amount of bergamot, but I cheated and added some vanilla extract both times I had this, along with half and half. So it was basically like an EGC. Either way, it’s really good, but obviously as long as there is EGC, I won’t bother getting it. Still, any EGC h8rs, but EG lovers, check it out!

Gosh I love this stuff. A huge thanks to Dexter3659 for sending me a sample size, so that I could whet my appetite prior to ordering more. Smooth, spicy (with zero heat) and creamy delicious.

Note to self: only drink chai on it’s own, instead of with another chai. While I LOVE this chai, I brewed it next to Verdant’s Yu Lu Wu Chai (I’m sure I’ve mixed that up somehow). Verdant’s blows all other chai’s out of the water, and I should know better. This however, is still very, very tasty…

A huge thanks to Dexter3657 for sending me a surprise package of this, and a few other teas on my wishlist.

Had this last night and it was exactly, perfectly what I both wanted and needed. Steeped it longer than I do most blacks, and then added a touch of sweetener and some cream. I definitely need to order more.

Even oversteeped, this is a delicious chai. I was a bit concerned with my oversteeping, and yes, there was a (slightly) bitter quality to the tea as I drank it. I still downed it however as it’s what I consider to be a very traditional chai: heavy spice, low heat, sweet and delicious.

Thanks to Zen Tea for this free sample!

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

What did I do wrong? This just tastes like plain rooibos tea to me.

1.5 tsp in 12 oz.

Holy sweet licorice batman! I doubt I could drink this all the time, but if I was craving a super sweet licorice tea, I might go for this one.

I’d say this is a straight licorice tea – thick and sweet – with a few added tidbits in the mix that you can only barely taste. Do I like it? Yes. Would I drink it every day? Nah, it’s a bit too one dimensional for me.

1.5 tsp in 12oz.

Ooh, chocolate chai? Are you going to be my new favorite? It came in a pretty tin and looked delicious – large pieces of caradmom and black tea, with other spice bits in the mix. Brewed and hot, I found the tea almost chewy in texture, like there was something solid that had dissolved. Cooled (as it is now), it’s divine. Strong chocolate flavor with the spices in the background, mostly smooth cardamom with only a hint of ginger. It’s mild on the heat scale, and while I prefer my chai’s a bit spicier, this definitely hits the spot.

This tea is a regular but I ran out about 2 months ago and just restocked on it now. When I opened my order today (in a frantic fashion as usual), I fetched it out quickly cause I wanted it now!!

Im not one to seek after smoky teas, therefore, Keemun can be a real hit or a real miss for me. I like the more fruity type of Keemun, such as this one.

The smell is smoky, but very lightly, and even more so in the taste. Smoky in a way an egg would be when fried in bacon fat, yum!

The light smoke blends perfectly with the natural saltiness I find in it. Lol, did I just write that this tea basically reminds me of salt, bacon and eggs?
Winning combination, is it not? Need I to mention this is the perfect tea for brunch and breakfast.

But the main characteristics are the rich cocoa feel and fruitiness of this tea. It has no astringency, even when brewed longer (5 min. for me) and it is naturally sweet in a dried fruit kind of way. I personally would’t think of adding anything to it since it is so tasty, but this is the kind of tea that would sustain milk and sugar for sure. (And if your name is Sil, a dash of maple syrup would make it heavenly good!)

Zen Tea might not carry a zillion different types of the same teas, but I realize I hold many staples from them: a Darjeeling, an Assam, a Keemun, an Earl Grey…that tells me that Kenneth the owner chooses wisely what he decides to carry.

IMHO, This is tea is a steal and it compares to any higher end Keemun, it well deserves its permanent stash status in my cupboard!

Oh my. I have to say that I do like this one. I think I’d even like it more on a fuller stomach.

There was a chocolatey note that came through even when I was pouring it, and I was already excitedly looking forward to sipping from that alone. It comes through in the taste as well; dry and delicious. Perhaps a little light, but I like them that way when having them clear. I am looking forward to more cups of this soon!

I was very excited to try this tea, not only do I need every anti-stress thing available, I also really like licorice. This tea has a nice spicy smell to it dry. Once brewed it smells like cinnamon and cardamom, but it has a great licorice and fennel taste. If you like licorice, you should really like this tea. I only purchased a sample of this tea, but I can see restocking with a larger amount next time I order.

I love fruity green teas in the afternoon. They’ve got a nice mellowness to them that makes me feel relaxed and ready to face the rest of the day ahead.

This one is nice, and I have to admit that I like it better when it’s warm, rather than hot. It’s on the light side, but that works with the mix of grassiness and sweet fruitiness. It’s relaxing and blends well. I look forward to more afternoons with this tea.

This was a free sample that came with my Xmas order. :) :) :) I don’t usually go for oolongs overmuch, but this was great & hit the spot this morning. Trying to cut back on coffee.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one, but I’m a sucker for butter and florals. I’m not well acquainted enough with grass, veggies, and green teas to say where this one falls but it’s good and that’s good enough for me.. One of the roommates likes this as well, so two recommendations!

My first sip of this tea is creamy, milky coconut. Yum! It’s absolutely delicious! The sip quickly fades into that sour note that coconut sometimes lends to a tea. As it cools, it still remains milky, but becomes greener and more of the floral oolong notes come out. This is definitely a tasty tea, but I have to be in the mood for it. As this isn’t just a milky oolong, but a coconut one, I really have to want coconut for this to be a good cup.

This tea is getting a little old but is still very nice. The dry tea is a dark bilochun style nugget with some lighter brown notes and a few golden tips present. It smells very sweet of honey and cocoa. This tea remains quite sweet and retains it’s honey cocoa grainy malt notes throughout its steeping. Like others have noted it is quite a forgiving tea.

After a rinse and a one minute steep I had a deep maple colour brew with a scent of cocoa, honey and grainy malt. It tastes of honey, cocoa, a barley grain note, and aslfalfa with malt more present as it cools.

I steeped it again for 80, 110, 180, and 300s. The tea became slightly sweeter in the later brews with the malt rising in the early ones than blending more evenly with the other flavours a slightly nutty note appeared as well. Altogether a nice honeyed, cocoa tea with grainy, nutty notes. Quite enjoyable.

Sipdown, 259. I know, I know. Over 70 of these are samples. SAMPLES! So now that things are organized, sipdowns must occur.

This is a tea I keep passing up when I order from Zen Tea. Smelling it steeping told me that was probably a good idea. MissB gave me just enough to try, which is good!

It smells sickly sweet. Definitely a toffee/caramel smell, but with no black tea to hold that sugar down, I’m not really attracted to the bouquet. Drinking the tea, I get some white tea base during the sip, but then a mouth full of sugary toffee.

Objectively, yeah, I can see this as a good tea – something that people would like. Sadly, I just don’t care for it. I’ll probably keep sipping on this cup for a bit, but I won’t be able to finish it all. Sorry, tea. It’s not you, it’s me.