Zhi Tea

Chose this one to prop me up today, and it has done so twice—once this morning out the door, and once this afternoon to celebrate selling the patch of dirt, all that remains of House that Was. Chapter closed.

Both cups from the same leaves—-if you’ve ever had a Cadbury Fruit and Nut bar, the kind that’s just packed with dried fruit—this is its tea equivalent. Second steep, of course, is a tetch lighter, but the shape of the flavor (if that’s not too weird a concept) is still there.

Here’s to moving on — in the care of the One who holds my future.

If Facebook is to be believed, evidently we slept through Oklahoma earthquake aftershocks in our neighborhood. I believe I’ve had enough natural disasters for one year, thank you very much, thus something strong and bracing to bolster my sagging spirit was in order.

The strong and bracing thing was actually morning devotions—Psalm 27:5; “He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity…” and while I was devoting, I accidentally let the tea steep a good eight minutes.

Expected an oops, but it was as smooth and cocoa-burgundy as if I’d done it right. This is so good, milk or sugar would be an insult. Adding this to my list of no-fail teas, which is becoming more and more appreciated.

May you find stable ground (physically, spiritually, and emotionally) under your feet today.

This was a most welcome surprise, courtesy of The Divine Miss JacquelineM (hope you like Bette Midler:)

This was phenomenally good; essence of dark, dark chocolate in the first steep, and even though it dissipated in the second, it was deep and winey and rich. Excellent!

An Obsession: this tea and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers (classic). The roasty, grainy perfect sans additions tea and the salty cheddary crackers? My idea of heaven! It’s gotten to be such a thing with me that I bought an over 3.5 lb box of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers at Costco.

I’m enjoying it right now. Mmmmmmmmm.

I finally know how to make my tea taste how I like it with my new set up! 500 mL water, two perfect teaspoons of (most) tea. Today I am enjoying a pot of Gong Fu Black that is so wonderfully delicious and perfect. Grainy, roasty, rich. Slightly sweet. Again, I think it’s a little better than in the brewer mug! Yay! I’m glad I gave it some time and didn’t run out to buy something I did not really need.

Just a little note of continued appreciation for this one. I am incredibly fond of it as a daily drinker. Good tea, roasty chocolate, excellent sans additions, good with any breakfast you can throw at it. Just a wonderful tea.

Not only is this an insanely delicious roasty chocolatey complex cuppa, but it is soooo good mixed with a little of Upton’s Rose Congou on the subsequent steeps. It’s like you get your powerful good morning cups in, then you can be a bit froofy (just a bit!) for the rest of the day. The subtle rose and pastry notes mingling with the earthy chocolate and good tea? My idea of heaven.

YUMMMMMMM! I needed a nice treat today, so I got out my current favorite plain black tea! So smooth and rich, and I simply adore that earthy cocoa flavor on the end of the sip. Little tea miracle! I love you!!!!!

Oh my roasty, chocolatey, earthy, touch of fruity/winey on the end of the sip, completely delicious friend, welcome to my cupboard! I completely agree with LiberTEAS that this brings to mind Dawn from the Simple Leaf, only a Chinese instead of Indian, perfect sans additions version! Wow, wow, wow! I’m completely head over heels in LOVE!

It’s really nice when you get to the place when you can read where a certain tea hails from, read the tasting notes from people who you share the taste of, and can order 8oz of a tea without tasting it and KNOW that you are going to love it. I have Steepster and my beloved Steepsterites to thank for this :) THANK YOU!

I hadn’t had this tea in about 8 years, and I got another sample of it not long ago. After these two very positive experiences with it, I really should order some, but my tea wall is groaning under the weight of the tea I already have!

I reviewed it for Sororitea Sisters and here is the link: http://sororiteasisters.com/2019/07/22/gong-fu-black-zhi-tea/

But since I don’t like to click on links, here is the review!

Really wanting to use my new gaiwan tonight, I pawed through my tea samples and my eye fell on this. Perfect! I don’t have to wonder if it is a good candidate for the gaiwan. The name tells me so!

The leaves are thin and twisted, and very dark. They have that heady chocolate aroma you find in black and oolong tea sometimes. After warming the gaiwan and allowing the leaves to rest in it for a moment, the scent is now much nuttier.

I experimented a bit and found that I like this one to have a little more time than I would give some teas. It didn’t become bitter – the main incentive for keeping a steep short would be to prevent bitterness – so I let those warm, rich flavors develop over a few extra seconds. The darkest steep was my favorite.

The tea is creamy, nutty, with a little hint of cocoa. It is so smooth that even a black tea phobe drinking with me liked it plain. Although there is virtually no astringency, there is the slightest briskness that develops over time in a very pleasant way. Walnut is the flavor that I most notice lingering.

I lost count but my guess is that we had about seven or eight steeps from this session. Overall, a very pleasant tea. I definitely want to have a look at this company’s other offerings, as well!

Many, many thanks to SimplyJenW for this nice surprise tea! Youngest and I decided to try it with our lunch today, which I’ll momentarily be followed by Rich Tea Biscuits with Nutella and MORE TEA! Whee!

Youngest said to put as her review, “Total win!”

Mine…this smells wonderful. It has lovely chocolate notes with honey sweetness over the top. The taste is smooth and sweet, there is no hint of bitterness, medium body, and everything a Chinese black tea should be. YUM! I took mine sans additions, youngest with milk and sugar.

Thank you, Jen!

This tea came today courtesy of SimplyJenW, many thanks!

This is indeed a beautiful tea to look at, even after steeping. The deep pink roses are beautiful. I steeped this one for three and a half minutes and do not find it too strong or bitter. The Assam base has a brightness that is reminding me of some Ceylons I’ve had. I taste more rose than vanilla. I really feel like I am drinking a French tea. The marzipan or honey flavors so common in French teas seem to be making an appearance here, though these flavors are not mentioned in the description. This reminds me of a fuller bodied version of Harney’s lychee. This tea is sophisticated enough for any tea party you could throw its way.

In my Foodzie tasting box, I received samples of two teas from Zhi, this one and the Turkish Spice Mint (I’ll be brewing that one a little later). Unfortunately, they were shipped in the same package, so I am tasting some of the mint and spice in this tea, and so I don’t think I’m getting a true representation of this tea. Therefore I won’t rate it numerically.

The green tastes light and has a moderate vegetative taste to it. The jasmine is sweet and floral, but not overwhelming or soapy. And as I said before, I can also taste hints of the mint and spice here.

I will be reviewing this more fully, together with the Turkish Spice Mint tisane on my foodie blog: http://hungryinportland.wordpress.com (It will appear tomorrow afternoon)

I disliked this at first. I don’t eat much sugar, so really notice “sweet”. For me, when I drank this on it’s own, the taste was overwhelmingly that powdery, coldness of stevia, which I don’t like. I didn’t finish the cup. Not wanting to waste it though, I tried adding a small amount to a pot of black tea. Yum! Chocolate liqueur tea. I may buy this again after all.

No flavorings at all with this one so the white tea base is very pronounced.
After a long day at work I enjoyed coming home to relax with this beautiful tea.
I Love the roses and the mild flavor.

Steep Information:
Amount: 5g (packet said there should have been 6 in there)
Water: 500ml at 195°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: none
Steeped Tea Smell: roasty, a little nutty
Flavor: nutty, roasty, toasted
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: roasty
Liquor: translucent dark orange-brown

reminiscent of a lighter puerh

Resteep:
500ml at 195°F for 4 min

Resteep:
500ml at 195°F for 5 min

Resteep:
500ml at 195°F for 6 min
too watery, still roast

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2013/07/zhi-tea-loose-leaf-oolong-tea-aged.html

Drank this again as an iced tea. I still really can’t get into unflavored white teas much, I think I’ve burnt my taste buds out with black tea. However, this is one that I really do enjoy iced. I think the flavor that I consider “too light” when hot, instead becomes light and refreshing when iced. Generally when I’m drinking iced tea, its because I need something cool and refreshing, especially with this Texas heat. So this is doing the job quite well! I generally drink sweet or fruity tea iced, so this is a bit of a change, but I do enjoy it. I think I enjoy having a break from all the intense flavorings and have something that is gentle in flavor, but still tasty and a refreshing iced tea!

I’m not experienced at all with unflavored white teas. Hot, this is still a bit weak for me. I can tell it has a nice flavor, but I’m used to black teas. I need to drink more white teas and get a taste for them. However, I made this iced and I really enjoy it!

Thanks to a deal from a year or so ago, I have a ton of 2oz bags of this. Luckily it works out since this tends to be a tea I can reach for when I’m not sure what I want.
I finally brought a bag in to work today and enjoyed a cup this morning

A go-to morning tea for me. This was a nice warm comfort on a rainy day.

I accidentally only steeped this for about two minutes today and there is basically no coconut flavor. Oops!

This was my morning tea for work today since I was out of milk. This one is great either way, and I love the creaminess the coconut flavor gives. I took a giant thermos of this to work because I think I’m getting sick, and it was a great comfort to sip on.