Zen Tea

My order of many Zentealife.com samples came in today! Nice. I could probably try all of their teas, which would be bad, because I would love all of them and want to stock up on all of them. I started with this one, since it’s nice to have a rooibos chai around when you want something to drink at night without caffeine but still has that spicy attitude. This one is amazing. I love it. Very spicy and it also has oranges in it though they were not in the ingredients list. The oranges add a lovely sweetness to the blend. I like the nice variety of spice ingredients. There isn’t as much of a rooibos flavor, but that may be because when I poured into the infuser, more spicy goodies fell out than rooibos. This one is very flavorful and comforting!

Oh yum. A plain and simple and delicious assam.

Yay!

I do like this tea. I added a bit of honey and did a shorter steep than usual. I think the last time I had this tea I was still loading everything up with milk and sugar. How things change. :)

It’s light and malty, with that touch of astringency assams have.

I’ll probably end up picking up more of this one when I replenish my herbals. Zen Tea’s prices are generally pretty good, and their shipping is super fast because they’re so close to me.

Drinking this one right after the Earl Grey definitely shows me that I’m not loving earl grey teas so much anymore. :( They were what I used to drink ALL the time! Earl grey with milk and honey. A GIANT mug. I’d either guzzle it or reheat it throughout the day.

Maybe I should pick up some Twinings, just to see?

Even though they can be quite astringent, I really like Assam teas. This one is no exception. Steeped according to directions (1 tsp, 8 oz, 3 min, 203-ish F), this tea is really nice. Yes, there’s some astringency, but the flavour is rich and deep and I like it. Next time I will try a 2.5 min steep to see if I can avoid the astringency entirely.

With no astringency, this is a black tea I could enjoy without milk or sugar! (I added 1/8 tsp sugar and a tiny splash of soy creamer after I tasted the tea.)

I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison of this and the other Assam teas I have, to see if I can figure out which I like better, and why.

I am always looking for more decaf because its an easy way to get myself sleepy earlier. This tea has an interesting scent in the bag. VERY ginger with a subtle waft of peach to it. I liked that if only for the uniqueness of it. Most ‘peach tea’ is so PEACH that you can’t think of anything else about it.

On drinking it, it tastes like black tea with a very faint apricot/peach flavor. I don’t get the ginger in liquid form at all. As someone who’s not an enormous fan of ginger thats actually a good thing. The smell of peach is there faintly as well, but its not strong enough to change the drinkablity.

I would get this again. Definitly drinkable.

I drank this again and I liked it. I didn’t expect to either, especially after I smelled it. Thankfully it’s not as strong as it smells.

I wasn’t sure about this one at all as I’m not a big fan of tumeric or ginger, but it was $1 or something so I figured why not! It does have licorice which I like!

OMGsrsly reviewed this earlier and helped convince me to give it a shot. And you know what? It wasn’t too bad! I decided to ignore the recommended 7 minute steep time because that just sounds like ginger-overload, and I went for 3.5. This way I get a slightly sweet, slightly tangy cup and the ginger and licorice mix together nicely. The licorice gives me that nice cool mouthfeel, while the ginger/tumeric alternately kick things up a bit. Yet it works. It really does.

I’m not saying I’d go out and buy an oz of this, but my 20g pack won’t be too hard to sipdown and maybe I’ll get more? I want a nice licorice tea and this would be handy for sick days.

This is way better. So good, and with the nettle it has a nice bit of minerals to help me stave off my impending doom cold.

I love the medicinal fruity aspect of this tea. So delicious. And tonight, I’m even having it without honey!

A giant mug, with honey.

I tried to go to bed about 7:30 this evening, but ended up getting up about 9:30 because I couldn’t get to sleep. So tired, but no sleeping. Boo!

So now it’s midnight and I’m still up. Hopefully sipping on this delicious herbal will help kickstart the sleepiness. I have flux on my computer, so there is no blue light in my eyes keeping me awake. :)

This tea is delicious, sweet and fruity and medicinal all at once. I like it so much! Definitely something I need to keep stocked, especially since the price is so reasonable. (My other favourite hot herbal is Verdant’s Ginger Sage Winter Spa Blend. It’s on the opposite of the reasonable spectrum, but SO amazing in the winter or when I’m feeling under the weather.)

Yep. This again. A whole litre, hot steeped and poured over ice (then topped up with cold water because I ran out of ice!).

It’s been so good today at work, even if I didn’t get a chance to finish it. I’m drinking the rest now before I go make myself something hot.

I think I like this more than Bamboo Integrity. Something about the earthy fruity herbalyness just makes it work for me.

Out of all the weird-ass herbals I have, this one might be my favourite. It’s a bit of a toss up between Kapha by TeaG, Cacao Mint by Samovar, and this.

I think this one is more drinkable at any time, so it might take 1st place.

Sipping it hot with cranberry honey tonight. So juicy and medicinal… Yep, it’s a winner for me. :)

Steepster ate my note.

Essentially I forgot about this tea, found it tonight, and am enjoying it greatly with cranberry flower honey.

Yum.

This will be a good one for camping.

I forgot about this one in my cupboard, but I’m craving hot drinks so I rummaged through my non-caffeinated box.

This is so good. Well, I really like it. Nettles and verbena and cranberry, topped off with cranberry flower honey. So good. The Other Stuff keeps the nettles from being too nettle-y, it’s healthy, it’s not boring hot water, and I think I’ll package the rest of it to bring camping with me.

Mmm, this is a good tea tonight! I steeped 1 tbsp in 16 oz water while I went out for a walk with a friend. When I came back, I added 1/2 tsp cranberry honey (I know!) and it’s delicious.

Someone else mentioned pine notes, and that is totally true, but the little bit of sour honey brings out the cranberry and apple more. So good.

(From zentealife.com) I don’t really know what verbena and blackberry leaves taste like, but wow I like this. I can see this being amazing if steeped “forever” and then served on ice or reheated.

Yes, it’s a bit medicinal, but that’s pretty normal when you get things like nettle and lemongrass! Definitely use a fine strainer, as the nettle crushes quite easily and I have a lot of floaties.

As it cools I’m getting a tart cranberry flavour! Yes! Just make sure you get a piece of dried cranberry in your spoon.

So I had fun the other night and picked out all the licorice pieces that I could positively identify. (I like sorting…?)

The tea is much better now. Even more better with a squeeze of lemon juice and a healthy spoon of honey.

The licorice taste is in the background, and I can deal with it for the rest of the bag.

However… I got some fresh turmeric to dry to make my own version of the tea! :D So excited to play around with that. I might use fennel instead of licorice, because I like the flavour, not the aftertaste.

(From zentealife.com) I got this one because apparently tumeric is really good for inflammation. I’m not sure I’d ever drink enough tea to make a difference, but it’s nice to have something “healthy” to sip on after my caffeine cut off.

After the 7 minute (!) steep, nothing really overpowers the ginger. There’s licorice in the aftertaste (quite strong, actually), but ginger is still front and centre.

I added a little honey, and it’s… pretty good. I think it’d be better cold, but maybe with a 5 minute steep, or cold-steeped. That licorice has such a weird sweet aftertaste that I apparently really don’t care for. With less licorice, this tea would have a super high rating. Sadly, with the licorice, I’m feeling rather meh about it. It’s not undrinkable, but it can’t even approach a licorice-free rating.

If you like licorice and ginger, this tea is for you.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians! I have had a lovely day at a friend’s bbq drinking, visiting and eating :) now I am at home with the cat ready to watch the fireworks on TV and had to have a tea from a company based in Canada ( I will also probably have some DavidsTea later). So I dug out this tea, which I haven’t had in ages, and steeped up a cup. It smells delicious and is still too hot to drink, but I’m sure it will taste as yummy as always. Here’s to a good day! See previous notes on this tea :)

The weather has been nuts here today! Super crazy windy, then it has been snowing/raining on and off, cloudy, sunny, blizzardy..I hope it settles down! Anyways, the cold, blustery days always make me crave my yummy black teas, so I had to have a cup of this one. Steeped for 2 minutes, and I also shook the bag to get more cream pieces. This is good, but I don’t know, it seems to be lacking a bit of flavor from the first steeps? Maybe I’m just being fussy, or am not as focused as I’ve been studying all day. Regardless, I love this tea, and hope Zen Tea Life doesn’t discontinue it!! See previous notes!

Oh man, this is so good. I may have found a runner up for favorite flavored black tea right here! So my zen tea order came yesterday, and I had a cup of this yesterday, and it was AWESOME. I was too busy studying to log a note, so I made another cup today and I will log it now.

The dry smell is very nice and strawberry smelling, with a hint of creaminess. I steeped for 2 minutes yesterday and 3 today to see if there is any difference. The steeped smell is SO GOOD. Lots and lots of strawberries, a very sweet smelling strawberry, and a hint of cream. Might try shaking up my bag like yyz suggested to get a few more cream pieces, but it still smells heavenly!

As for taste, I think I prefer it brewed closer to 2 minutes than 3, at 3 there isn’t quite as much strawberry flavor, or cream. But it is still wonderfully delicious. The strawberry flavor is a bit more realistic in this cup than the one yesterday, that one was sweeter, this one is a little more tangy. I am so happy I went with a 50 g bag of this right off the bat, because I can see myself drinking this quite often, it’s cozy enough for rainy, cold days (like today) but fresh enough for summer sunshine. As it cools, it turns into more of a black tea taste, but the fresh strawberry is still at the back of the throat, must be the strawberry leaves that cause the authentic strawberry flavor in the aftertaste!

Overall, this is awesome! It actually reminds me of that strawberry cream tea I got at a local tea store, I will have to look into that one, it might even be the same as this one, since it’s in Canada! This one is giving Paris a run for it’s money for my favorite flavored black, and it’s not quite as sweet either! Yay for tea!

Starting to think that Roobios might just be something I try to stay away from. Not because the flavors aren’t good, but because they have an overwhelming flavor of mulch blended with all of them. Not to mention my strainers tend to let the small peices of roobios tea through and into my cup, which isn’t a terrible problem but it is a petty annoyance.

As for this tea, it took me til the second steep to be able to really enjoy any flavor. The woody ‘mulchy’ scent that I’ve complained about before was mostly overwhelming. Which was a shame because I love raspberry flavored anything. On the second cup it wasn’t a terrible tea, but not something I’d buy again.

On drinking this a second time, I enjoyed it far more. Still not a daily drinker but much more tolerable. Apparently I’ve discovered that the ‘mulch’ smell bothers me far more on certain days then on others, and as long as I find a good day, then Roobios is drinkable. Weird thing, but whatever, it just makes them for special days.

So I made this in my tea tumbler for work, knowing that generally fruit teas do better over the day then anything black. I drank a cup through the day when it was still warm and then when I got home I drank the rest. The one at work, moderately okay with an awesome scent. The one when I got home was delicious. Legitamatly not sure if this was because of the work situation or because of the extra time in the water. This is the first true cranberry tea I’ve had that was looseleaf, and I’m amazingly impressed. Probably going to buy more if only for using while at work.

Sipdown! (180)

This one would have been 1 year in July but I made sure to drink it now before it got stale! I’ve only got 3 teas now that are over 1 year: Tardis, a Russian Caravan and an echinecea herbal blend that I drink only when I have to. I’m happy about that.

I dropped the rating on this one because I’m not so excited about rooibos as I was when I first got into tea. It’s good – but I so rarely crave this one.

Oh! This is good!

I didn’t expect that actually. I know I like a lot of Zen Tea’s teas, but Almond Marzipan just sounded ho-hum and I’ve had this in my stash for a month or so without ever giving it a thought. I only made it today because I figured I’d better try it before it starts to get stale or something.

But oh! This is great! It’s nutty and sorta sweet and yes it reminds me of marzipan without being too strong that I don’t like it. (I like marzipan when it’s in things, but on it’s own it’s too much).

So thanks ozli! I now have more sleepytime options that aren’t just chamomile and lemon stuff.

Thanks to Kittenna for this sample!
I can definitely taste the hazelnut here. Well, maybe more like the hazelnut filling you get in chocolates. Or a creamier version of nuttella!
Will resteep and write more later.