Zhi Tea

This my go to tea when I want a black tea but I don’t know which one. The coconut and the assam go together well with no bitterness. I think this one would be interesting in cooking.

This was the tea that I tried iced in the store last weekend. I really enjoyed it then! I drank it warm yesterday, then cold brewed today. I went for three minutes steep with the hot cup, which made it too bitter, and hid the coconut flavor. However, I think cold brew is my favorite method so far. It brings out much more of the sweetness while still having the tea taste.

I really enjoy this blueberry tea! It’s a good equal mix of white tea flavor and blueberry. The blueberry is very sweet and smooth, not tart at all. I could see myself buying more of this one.

I bought my first matcha set yesterday at Zhi Tea, and this matcha to go along with it. I attempted to make up some matcha last night and it went horribly! I read up a bit more on techniques, and made some again today. It went much better! No giant clumps, and I even got it frothy and pretty! Much less bitter than last night. I mixed it with milk, and it was very creamy and sweet. There was a bit of vegetal taste, the matcha reminding you that it really was there. I can’t really say how this compares, but I feel that this is as good a place as any for the beginner!

Another tea that came to me from my mystery swap with Moraiwe. In the package it smelled interesting and caught my “senses” so I decided to brew it up. As it brewed it started to smelled like fresh cracked pepper. I’m not too sure of what I think yet if this tea it will take a few other testings. There is a berry After taste that i was not expecting at all. It’s definitely different and I’m glad I got to experience it. Once again thank you moraiwe for opening up my pallet:)
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Too much licorice and stevia for me. The peppermint flavor is nice, but pretty much overwhelmed for me by the licorice and sweetness, even if I steep at the low end of the recommended time. I feel like I’m just working my way through this tea. Anyone want it?

i should just stop getting teas with licorice in them.

This tea is starting to grow on me. It’s savory and peppery, while still staying light. There’s a cracked pepper tingle on the back of my throat from the shizandra and a subtle layer of sweet orange-like citrus that elevates the bai mu dan and makes it less dusky as it sometimes seems to get. It all pairs together to make something unique, special, and still tasty.

Cold steeped, this tea tastes like fresh arugula. This is so weird…but a good weird. I feel like I’m drinking what should be a salad, though. A really refreshing liquid salad. Did I mention this is weird?

This one is really strange to me. It smells peppery but tastes vegetal orange-y with a bit of tartness. The shizandra berry has a little bit of bite and I wasn’t really thrilled with my first two or three sips. In fact, the first taste seemed unremarkable until the layers of citrus and berry hit me. But I warmed up quickly to this tea after that and found I really like it!

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Water: 750ml at 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Strong toasty scent
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet (floral), toasty
Flavor: sweet, silky, toasty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: toasted, gritty
Liquor: translucent medium orange brown

Not the best oolong I’ve had, but a very nice one.

Resteep:
750ml at 175°F for 3 minutes and 30 seconds

Resteep:
750ml at 175°F for 4 minutes

It could have steeped more but I was headed home.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2013/03/zhi-tea-loose-leaf-oolong-tea-royal.html

Had a cup this morning and couldn’t really taste the chocolate but after resteeping just now it’s hitting me pretty strongly. I added a splash of whole milk and honey as usual and I’ve gotta say I’m really satisfied with this chai.

So there’s this magical place in the city called Doughnut Plant that makes the best donuts in the world. Seriously, there is nothing better than their creme brulee donut. It has actual caramelized sugar on top! But my favorite of theirs is the rose donut, filled with floral pastry cream. It’s so good!

And, happily, that’s what this tea reminds me of. Rose pastries! Rose cupcakes! Creamy, smooth, floral but not too strong with just the right hint of rose. I noticed a lot of reviews complain about it being weak but I cold brewed my cup and it came out quite strong! Kind of sad I only got a sample of this one.

I tried this tea again today. I found myself thinking about it the past few days and wanting more. The first steep was yummy and filled with subtle cherry goodness, again with no sugar. I think this may be a good tea to scale back my sweetener usage with. The second steeping had no cherry taste that I could pick out. I’m not sure if my taste buds are off today or what, but the second steeping was dull. Even so, I’m finding I like the first steeping of this tea a bit more than I initially did. I think it is growing on me.

I did a little local self guided tea tour the other day and Zhi Tea was my first stop. The cherry part of this tea caught my eye, so I got a sample. I love sample sizes! Dry, this tea smells like rich cherries. I can just barely smell the green tea behind it. The taste is pretty smooth and subtle compared to the loudly flavored teas I am used to and love. I can pick out some cherry on the sip, but most of what I am getting is on the after sip. There wasn’t any bitter or tart edge that needed to be balanced out, so I opted not to add sugar for most of it which is unusual for me. So far it has been equally good for two steepings and at the end of the second cup I added a little sugar which actually kinda killed the cherry. I like it, but it’s not the party in my mouth level of flavor that my favorite teas have. It feels like a more mature taste. I’m not crazy about it, but I feel like I need to explore this one some more before rating it. It has me a little puzzled.

Yum. Very, very strong coconut aroma – I can smell it in my work locker as soon as I open the door! The scent backs off a little once you brew it, but still pretty powerful. It’s ok because I love the way coconut smells. The flavor is sweet, nutty and buttery. Actual piece of coconut in the tea impart a slightly slippery feel… I hesitate to say ‘greasy’ because it sounds negative, but the oils in the coconut bits do come out after a hot steeping. I could see some people put off by it but it doesn’t bother me.

This tea sounds delicious, but the taste ended up being quite subtle. I didn’t like it the first time I tried it, so I brewed it much stronger this time. I am now able to pick up on the nuttiness of the pecans on the sip which is followed quickly by a brief raspberry taste. Adding sugar brightens it up a bit, but I’m still not impressed. I’m glad I bought only a sample on this one.

This works amazingly well iced. This is another one of Zhi’s newer teas, and it’s exactly what it says on the tin—fruity and nutty. It just smells so good! My only regret is that there’s no caffeine to kick-start me in the morning… and the steep-time is long enough that I find it easy to get distracted and wander off.

Normally I find anything lavender-scented cloying and overwhelming, but in a tea this hits all the right notes. I gotta say, I was NOT expecting to like this as much as I do. It’s delicate and floral without being bland, and it’s absolutely at its best over ice. I’m fortunate enough to live near Zhi Tea’s Austin shop, and I got to try this over the summer when it was brand new. I’ve made sure I always have some in the cupboard since, even now that it’s starting to get cooler.

I really don’t want to sound like a shill for Zhi Tea, but I love their tea and the folks at the shop are so incredibly nice I can’t help myself.

Ok, I hate doing this. I really do. But here goes…

Opening a tin of this Earl Grey Choice by Zhi Tea can be best described as being totally steamrolled by lavender! Overwhelming lavender. I get nothing that would suggest an earl grey in the scent, no bergamot, nothing. Just lavender! Reading the list of ingredients on the tin, it does not mention any lavender at all. Odd, I would say. So I brew this tea, and surprise, surprise, the liquor has an extreme lavender smell as well. Upon sipping, I can barely muster the energy to send it down my throat. It tastes soapy. But, in truth, describing it as soap-like is way too kind. I would find difficulty serving this tea to my most villainous enemies. Just having it in my mouth, I almost want to gag. This is not earl grey. Frankly, I don’t know what sort of monster this is.

So, I emailed Zhi Tea and asked them if maybe I recieved the wrong tea, or if potentially it’s a bad batch. Let me first say, the customer service at Zhi Tea is top-notch. I was responded to quickly and politely. They get an ‘A’ for customer service. I was told that they use an organic bergamot oil in this tea that has a lavender-like scent. I was also told that I can leave the tin open to air-out and maybe it will help lower the lavender-like intensity.

Let me say this, as a frequent earl grey drinker, I love trying interesting and creative versions of earl grey. This is not an interesting or creative version. This is a mistake. Zhi Tea needs to go back and reassess this one. It’s very possible that I just got a bad batch of it, a batch with an unfathomable amount of this organic bergamot oil. I’ve had an otherwise positive experience drinking Zhi’s teas, but this one is simply undrinkable.

Thanksgiving morning. A sample of Zhi’s Keemun Mao Feng is on the menu. Will I be giving thanks for this organic Chinese black?

The dry leaf scent is getting me somewhat excited as I pick up dusty-earthiness mixed with both some mild cocoa-notes. I don’t get much from the wet leaf, just toastiness, but with the liquor, I notice some smoke in combination with sweet-earthiness. Onward. Tasting this tea, I’m disappointed. It’s somewhat flat. The flavors taste muted and washed-out. The sip has mild smoke, a heavy overall consistency, and some dull cocoa-notes. It feels overly dense and there is very noticeable astringency. Following the sip, there is definitely some strong astringent dryness near the front of the tongue and some slight bitterness near the back of the mouth. Troublesome.

Overall, I’m able to finish the pot. It’s drinkable, but not enjoyable. The astringency is really the deal breaker. It single-handedly kills the experience of this tea. Any positive aspects are totally overshadowed by it. While I can’t give much thanks for this keemun, I can give thanks that I have the good fortune to explore lots of interesting teas. On to the next!

Chinese gong fu teas are known for being finely-crafted and have always been a personal favorite. My expectations for Zhi’s version of this tea, ‘Gong Fu Black’, were heightened after reading some strong reviews on steepster. Time to rip open a sample and test!

The dry leaf has a dusty-woodsy scent with a hint of cocoa. The cocoa-hint disappears in the wet leaf, but reappears in the liquor scent. The creamy-cocoa aroma arising from the liquor is quite inviting. Sipping this tea is just as the liquor scent predicts; a creamy black brew with strong cocoa hints. It’s rich, yet very smooth. After swallowing, the cocoa-notes sit politely in the back of the mouth leaving a satisfying overall sip. Enjoyable! If I can find any fault with this tea is that I sense a very miniscule amount of bitterness at the end of the sip. Most drinkers probably won’t even notice, and despite being present, it doesn’t detract from the overall experience. But, that’s me nitpicking at an otherwise fine tea.

While Zhi’s Gong Fu Black is not the best gong fu tea I’ve ever tasted, it’s very good gong fu nonetheless.

The description of this tea by Zhi Tea intrigued me enough that I was forced to order a sample. Forced! ‘Ancient Forest’ sounds so mysterious and mystical, doesn’t it? On top of that, this organic tea is from Vietnam; I can’t ever remember having a Vietnamese tea. The setup is for something truly exciting and magical.

Upon sticking my nose in the bag, the dry leaf reminds me right away of a keemun with a dark-forest-like scent and a hint of smoke. The wet leaf and liquor scents similarly don’t diverge much from a typical keemun. This rich amber brew tastes very average. It’s medium bodied, but unfortunately not all that flavorful. Some of the tastes that are typical with a keemun, seem a little washed out. I’ve brewed several small pots with differing tea to water ratios and have gotten the same results each time. The flavors are lacking. It doesn’t have much pop to it, and to be frank, is kind of a bore to drink. There is a slight caramel-note to it, but it’s slight. There is some astringency and the aftertaste leaves a peppery-note on the tip of the tongue. So much for the magic.

While this tea has a good story and comes from a unique locale, it is really just something middle-of-the-road. It’s drinkable, yet totally uninteresting and unmagical. And after the big build-up, I’m left feeling somewhat let-down.

So this is suppose to be Texas’s take on Irish Breakfast. Zhi Tea’s Austin Breakfast uses a Sri Lankan ceylon to get you out of bed and moving. Will this tea make Texas proud?

This dark brew is in fact very similar to a typical Irish breakfast. The dry leaf has a dark, weathered, assam-like scent, while the wet leaf transforms to being more toasty. I like the strong liquor scent that has a hint of sweetness buried underneath; It’s bold without being too intimidating. This ceylon is totally no-nonsense and no frills. It is sharp and in your face. Sipping this tea, you get hit with a full-bodied black from start to finish with almost no astringency. What makes this work is that there is little to no harshness to the tea. Many breakfast teas can be harsh leaving a somewhat unsatisfying sip and afterstate. This tea, while strong, remains relatively smooth throughout. There is a non-threatening intensity to it all.

I first recieved a sample of this tea as a gift and have since ordered a little more. It’s basic and to-the-point. If you prefer sweeter/flavored teas, stay far away from this one. If you like strong Irish breakfast tea, it’s worth giving this Texas-version of breakfast tea a shot.

This is awesome!

So rich and full-flavored. Overtures of cocoa with an undercurrent of burnt-sugar caramel, as I continue to sip, I notice hints of honeysuckle and fruit notes (sweet, juicy plum!) emerging. A really delicious, rich, warm tea … I love this!