Zhi Tea

Thanks to MzPriss for sending me a sample of this tea. Evidently I forgot I already tried it two years ago when Charles sent me a sample of it (I was looking through the tasting notes and found mine, he he).

I am still finding this to be pretty tasty overall. The aroma and flavor of the tea are very “cocoa” and the finish is slightly winey like a keemun, without being overwhelming with tobacco or bitter notes. I actually found this to be really good with a tiny pinch of raw cane sugar but otherwise I’m drinking it plain. I’m really glad I got to sample this again!

Thanks so much to Charles for sending me a sample of this!

This is definitely a keeper – delicious smooth mellow tea with hints of chocolate (but no, it is not flavored). I am getting something buttery here which some people are picking up as caramel. A little bit winey at the finish. A really great tea to start my morning off with, it is definitely worth the accolades it has gotten here on Steepster… :)

Yesterday afternoon I completely reorganized my tea drawers. Yes, I used to have only one (these are very large, deep drawers), but my tea collection has rapidly expanded. It’s a good thing I have an office with a lot of space! Now I have one drawer for large pouches and tins, and one for samples. Anyway, as I was going through things I realized that I hadn’t yet tried this sample that was sent to me by SimplyJenW, which clearly got lost in my jumble because a vanilla rose tea is definitely something I want to try. Thanks Jen!

I never realized that vanilla and rose would combine to form some aroma that is both evocative of both but also distinct in its own right. It’s an interesting combo, and I guess one I’ve never experienced before! This tea is an Assam, and I don’t know how much I like Assams (though I suspect they are not on my list of faves), so I’m interested to see how it plays out in this tea. Overall it’s pretty nice, but there’s something about this rose, or perhaps the rose combo with vanilla, or perhaps both with the Assam, that is throwing me off a bit. This is the first rose tea I’ve had that I really think tastes a bit perfumy. To addess the Assam, well for me even at this low temp it is bitter and too strong for me. I’m pretty sure at this point that I dislike Assams in general. C’est la vie, they are not for me who has a sensativity to bitterness. Maybe I can brew them really weak and see how that goes, heh.

This was a pleasant surprise. I held off from sampling at first because I usually am not fond of chamomile. Yes, I can still smell and taste the Cham…but there are other things contributing to the overall flavor which is nice.

The orange peel, licorice root, lemon grass, lavender help cover a bit of the Cham but all mix well together.

The cardamon, fennel seed, stevia leaf and organic plum flavor are all really subtle or even unnoticeable at times

hibiscus…is VERY light…thankfully. There is barely any there…just enough to tint the color and add to the plum flavor, I think.

I am really trying to reduce my stress levels today so I wanted to drink these sort of teas and tisanes to see if it would help.

Two chais in one day? Yep… I just got back from the post office and I wanted something warm to cuddle up to, and since hubby is at work, I opted for something better … err … um … chocolate-y instead.

YUM! The chocolate here is more of a dark, bittersweet chocolate (I guess you could add milk if you wanted a creamier chocolate, but I like it just fine as is). The spices are warm. The black tea base offers a solid background of flavor – not a strong flavor in the foreground but it seems to enhance the overall cup very well.

I like this one a whole lot. Makes me wish I had bought more than just a sample of this tea.

This tea is a wonderful morning brew. Now that I have done away with my coffee habit I am searching for a great way to start the day. If there is one positive from my hospital stay it is doing away with coffee. My true love is tea in all of its forms. All of a sudden my love of tea has grown to unimaginable heights. My quest for a morning brew continues….

This is todays noon brew. Brewed one cup basket style. This seems to be the winning brewing style with me for blacks. I used 2 tsps and the result is fantastick as always only better with the increased leaf amount. It is a great first cup of tea. It really gets you prepared to tackle whatever the day has in store. We know the flavor profile. It’s a winner. Did someone believe this was the same as the Bailin Gongfu? My second steep is so rich and smooth. Truly a black tea lovers paradise….

I am upping the dosage on all black tea after yesterdays Mao Feng. Todays tea from Zhi is already a well known winner. I have tried to make it better than I have had it in the past. More leaves and a longer steep are the perfect recipe for black tea. This tea is not only energizing but so full of flavor….

Chocolate . Cocoa. A gorgeous, lush tea. Thanks to the many who recommened this tea. Steepster was a good idea whoever thought of it. I am glad to be a part of it.

Day #2. I brewed up one tablespoon in the one cup Yixing pot. Much better than last time. I think I have to add more leaves to achieve the taste I know this tea can deliver….

My first purchase from Zhi. I brewed up a pot with two spoonfuls and steeped for 4 minutes. I liked it but I think I should add more leaves and brew it for 5 minutes. I think it’s too soon to rate. My 2nd infusion is brewing now…. Ok, I should’nt be so shy with the tea leaves. Stay tuned for brew2… ps, the pot was a 4 cup Celestial Seasons Sleeytime pot. One note on the first infusion: The nose, it smelled like Christmas, PINE.

Another round two tea from the Earl Grey side-by-side tasting. I’m doing 5 at a time, each tea brewed under the same parameters: in a tea filter bag, for 3 minutes with 205°F water. I dunked the tea filters around to make sure they were getting enough water flow since I don’t usually use them.

This one is another that probably doesn’t really belong here, but I forgot that it had lavender in it until I had already portioned it out. Oh well! The lavender really makes this one stick out here, and it is, like I tasted before, very strongly lavendery, which gives the tea an herby character. As far as lavender Earls go I think this is a little too much lavender.

This tea comes to me thanks to SimplyJenW! I always welcome a chance to try a new Earl Grey, and I’m curious about this one since it includes lavender. I’ve had hits and misses with lavender Earl Greys, so I’m interested to see where this one falls out. It’s an aroma combination that I love, but it can go so wrong in the flavors!

The dry tea on this one certainly smells nice: a good blend of lavender and bergamot that is neither overwhelming nor too faint. This one brewed to a really dark mahogany color, and the aroma seems to be a decent mix of the lavender, bergamot and the black tea base, which has come forward a lot. The flavors here are pretty decent. The lavender is a touch strong, I think, but it doesn’t come across as soapy or too herbaceous. The cup is a tad bitter as well as overall stronger than I would like, so I’m thinking a lower steep temp and possibly a shorter time as well might help. Otherwise it’s a fairly decent cup, though I wish the bergamot was more forward to balance the lavender a little better. The black tea base is pretty smooth and pleasant.

Backlog: I like this best when it has had plenty of time to steep (I steeped it for 10 minutes this time) and when I add just a pinch of sugar it helps offset the weird aftertaste from the stevia. I am not a fan of stevia … I’d rather not have sweetener at all than have the stevia, but because it’s in there, I wanted something to alter that aftertaste a bit.

Tasty, but certainly not my favorite from Zhi Tea.

My tin says “Desert Blend” but the ingredients are identical, so I am fairly certain (99.9%) that Desert Blend and Sweet Desert Delight are one in the same.

This is a sweet and tasty blend. I guess if I had one complaint, it would be that there is stevia in this, and I often find the aftertaste with stevia to be unpleasant. That being said, the stevia aftertaste is not too bad here (noticeable, but not a strong aftertaste). The funky aftertaste in the rooibos is not noticeable either. Mostly what I taste is coconut and deep chocolate-y tones, with a kiss of cinnamon and a hint of licorice-y taste from the anise.

Enjoyable.

I got a sample of this tea and thought it was superior. I then purchasesd a larger size and the results were extemely disappointing. It was watery-like (like the last reviewer stated) so far from the sweetness and depth of the sample that it could not have come from the same batch. Perhaps they had a bad batch that they went and sold anyway. This was not a cheap tea. I would not have sold this to my customers.

I looked but couldn’t find this tea on their website. This is an iced tea blend, prepackaged in a large teabag for cold brewing (or hot brewing if you prefer). I cold brewed it.

TART!

I had to add an ample amount of agave nectar to this to curb the tartness. It is now quite drinkable (and tasty), but, I don’t think I could have drank it without the sweetener.

The hibiscus is still the strongest flavor, with the peppermint lingering in the background. It’s refreshing and tasty, but as I am not a fan of hibiscus, I can’t say it’s my favorite from Zhi Tea.

ChOTD…..

Looking for a good dose of ginger for my cold. This was divine. I am really loving chai. I need an herbal chai very soon. Any good suggestions? Rooibos will be fine for this as long as the usual chai flavors are very present.

Prepped by the usual pan method.

ChOTD

Yes, I forgot this one was in transit….
This one is lightly chocolate, and definitely has a heat to it. I think it might be the ginger. It is good if you like a spicy chai with a little twist. Very enjoyable, but not top on my list as I tend to shy away from the more spicy blends.

1 1/2 cup water, 3 heaping tsp chai, simmer 3 minutes. Add 3/4 cup skim milk and simmer for 2 more minutes. Strain. Lightly sweetened.

Tea of the morning….

I recently ordered from Zhi to stock up on Gong Fu Black, and this was a 20 g free sample. Smell is of coconut, and the steeped tea is rather smooth, slightly malty, lightly coconutty. There is a good balance between the base and flavor. Even though this one is also slightly buttery, it is much more subtle in flavor than something like David’s Buttered Rum. I would call it more sophisticated. I do think this will be up for condsideration the next time I order at Zhi, but it is not the kind of tea you plan an order around, if that makes sense.

24 oz teapot, 6 actual tsp tea, freshly boiled water, 3 minutes. Lightly sweetened. Second steep at 5 minutes was just as good as the first.

The more I drink this cup the more that lozenge feeling comes out over my mouth and is getting unpleasant. I’ll have to rate this one pretty low because of that despite the actual flavor not being bad.

This smells of green tea and cherry syrup… not badly, but there’s definitely a candy aspect to the cherry scent.

The taste while very hot is a pleasant mix of the green tea with the cherry flavor a little more Sucrets-ish but not strong. It is lightly there overlaying the green.

As it cools the flavor stays quite nice, but that Sucrets lozenge feeling stays in your mouth (especially along the roof) after you swallow. Not as a flavor, just as a feeling.

It’s not bad but I doubt I’ll have another cup.

Ah, what bliss, starting my Sunday with this most satisfying tea! By now I am convinced that this actually IS the same tea as Panyang Bohea Supreme, just going by a different nom de the. Having a supply of it makes my cupboard and my tea-drinking life complete.