Zhi Tea

YumYumYum

Such a beautiful tea to watch steep! All of the petals and pieces of fruit. The aroma is quite strong of pineapple and passion fruit, I could inhale this all day. Unfortunately, I’m not getting much of that flavor in the taste. Just a very slight hint of passionfruit on the back end of the swallow. I’m not even getting much green tea flavor. Maybe this needs a longer steeping time or cooler brewing temp. The packaging recommended 3 minutes at 185F, a bit hotter than I normally brew greens.

Ahhh…I found a bit more flavor. If I slurp the tea as it is cooling the pineapple comes through and a sweet fruit flavor that might be the papaya is also present. Okay, this is a little better now!

The flavor was stronger than I’d anticipated. This was a great afternoon tea with a delightful treat.

This is very high quality Sencha with a distinctly green color and grassy taste. The packaging recommends a steep time of up to 2 minutes but I found that 45 seconds is more than adequate.

This is a LOVELY tea! Thank you, TEAEQUALSBLISS! This is the second white tea EVER for me (I know, can you believe it?) and this one really delivers. It is smooth, it is light, it is sweet, fresh, and delightful. The mix is so beautiful you will want to put a small amount in a glass bowl for display.

Many of you know I’m a MINT FREAK…this is one of the few mint tisanes that I didn’t really enjoy much. Perhaps it will be a nice cuppa for someone else! See other notes

I’m really not sure how I feel about this one. It not great but it’s not terrible. It’s just as much licorice as it is peppermint and it reminds me of the one from TeaPigs that I hated but it isn’t as intense.

I revised a little bit of this again and have decided to finally open up the package I have been sitting on – no, not literally! LOL

This is a nice flavored green but I really like it iced. I am drinking it hot at the moment with Lentil Couscous Soup for lunch! YUM!

I just have to say that this smells awesome prior to steeping/infusing – it smells like tropical fruit and once you infuse it’s tropical fruit scent PLUS tropical floral scents tied in!

Taste-wise it’s all of the above but you can certainly taste the Sencha! It’s sweet, juicy, fruity, grassy, floral, and Green Tea!!!

This is a very good flavored green!

Parden me while I rant on this one a while, This is one of the best teas I have ever had. Simple, elegant, with such a pleasant life giving influence. It tasted best after I let it cool down a bit. After I enjoyed the first cup, I could sense a gentle warming of my mind, lifting the fog. The second cup brings the delightful satisfaction of a good cup of tea. Highly recommend this one.

This is a very satisfying cup of Oolong, smooth with a rich color. Loved it.

I quite fancy this baozhong. A bit different than most. While occasionally I get a hint of astringency, I love the deep complexity of this tea. It holds up well to several steepings and has a nice richness, a depth I don’t often find in most bao zhongs.
Really, really good.

Another pot this morning. It’s going to be a long day, I need the boost.

Once again another pot this morning with my poppyseed muffin. :P

I had a pot this morning once again, went well with my eggs and bacon. It really woke me up.

Another pot after breakfast this morning with some clover honey.

I had this with breakfast this morning. I can imagine I’ve had over a hundred cups of this tea. I will start logging this classic from now on.

Damn fine cup of tea!

There may be technicality in naming this, since some traditionalists will argue, that English Breakfast is a blend of teas, and not a single estate. However I do not really care about that.To me, this is what English Breakfast is suppose to taste like! I cannot comprehend how well Zhi has chosen this tea.

I brew this in a 26 ounce white teapot with an infuser. It is just like any black: five minutes at boiling. It yields a full bodied dark amber cup with VERY subtle but appropriate notes of citrus, and smokiness, ending with a sweet and astringent finish. It is very hospitable as you drink, and warming in your soul. If you are sensitive to caffeine I suggest to wash tea with quick spot of hot water before brewing.

I love English Breakfast because is it incredibly versatile. It offers an affordable focus over a pricey oolong. Pair this in the morning with a apple, and you can forget about the cup of coffee. It’s caffeine is appropriate for an English Breakfast, nice and lengthy, but a gentle lift, if you need more kick try an Assam, or a Irish Breakfast. It is a safe bet to serve to guests who are tolerable with very mild caffeine, as I know some individuals can be so sensitive to it.

This takes milk well, even half and half if you want it more rich. I sometimes take mine with a spot of milk/half and half poured in first, pour the tea, and finish there or with a sweetener, like Turbinado sugar, honey or agave nectar. It is good as self-drinking tea, or with just a spot of sweetener.

In it’s versatility, it is a good tea to help you when you are feeling ill, but you urgently need to be somewhere. Somewhat like a natural Dayquil. It’s all simple as adding a squirt of lemon and some honey, and micro-pinch of salt in your cup (optional) and adjust to taste. Pop this in a thermos and drink throughout the day, it helps me stay focus. You will notice the more lemon you add the more the tea turns orangey-red.

This is a staple, that I order by the pound. It is a classic tea that deserves to be in your cupboard. The added bonus is that it comes from Zhi Tea, and it is produced organically and responsibly.

I am having this after a real long day…

Had over four infusions with my gaiwan after having a Pearl’s Deluxe Burger. Boy did it help.

This tea has become a staple for me.

Like most Wuyi oolongs, it is complex, honeylike with a very harmonizing earth note, which seems to be my favorite thing about Wuyi oolongs. This Wuyi has decent leaf quality, with a nice contrast of brown and dark green leaves.

I brew this shy of boiling, or boil, and let the water cool for a minute or two. I brew my Wuyi oolongs on one minute ascending brews starting at one minute. This tea in my opinion will start loosing significant body on its’ third brew, but its’ quality is good enough for six brews, where I find that it’s body is watered out.

I take this tea often at dinner, especially if I had a greasy meal. It pairs well with Dim Sum. Delicate metabolisms can have you running to the bathroom, as with most oolongs. Overall, if you’re looking for a little more than average ORGANIC Wuyi, this is what I would recommend.

Good Desert tea. Would go well with cheesecake. The description above says it all.

I really like the tins these teas come in, besides that it’s a nice blend of Green and Black tea that is good by itself while you contemplate life’s mysteries. I wouldn’t steep it too long. It’s not a complex flavor, simply invigorating.