Zhena's Gypsy Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

85

Really really enjoying the sweetness of this!

Flavors: Plum

Preparation
2 min, 30 sec

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58

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Flavors: Licorice, Mint

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85

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Flavors: Raspberry

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 15 sec

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35

I dislike the way this tea smells – it’s kind of earthy and musty. Admittedly, it tastes better than it smells, but that’s mostly because the flavor is so nondescript. It’s clear I’m drinking something warm and flavored, but it’s hard to say exactly what it is – or even if it tastes like tea. There’s a hint of something sweet at the finish, but not much else. Not a good tea.

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45

Recovering from an illness I treated myself to a couple boxes of tea, this being one I chose.

Unfortunately, that’s where my excitement for the tea ends. I brewed it, initially at 190 degrees for 3 minutes but found it was almost flavorless. I put the bag back in and steeped it for another 3 minutes. The flavor was better but still far too subtle. I added a bit of sweetener and that seemed to help bring out the flavors of the tea. Even still, I found it to be far more subtle than I had hoped it would be.

The second steep was at 160 degrees. I sipped the tea at one minute intervals as it steeped. At one minute it was almost undrinkable. At two minutes, I got a hint of ‘fruit’ but still not enough flavor for me. At three minutes not much change from the flavor I got at two minutes. At four minutes I noticed another small bump in flavor, still not enough for me. At five minutes I’m getting a little bump again in flavor, but now I’m also getting a hint of bitterness. Since it is now starting to develop a bit of a bitter flavor, I ended the steep at 6 minutes and added sugar/milk to my tea to enhance the flavor.

The last brew I tried was the company’s suggestion of a rolling boil and infusing the tea for 2-3 minutes. This was my least favorite brew of the three cups I tried. It almost instantly drew out a bitter aftertaste.

I still have to try a cold brew of the tea, but, thus far I prefer the flavor at the 190 degree / 6 minute steep with some sweetener and milk. Really, I may return this tea. I find it that uninspiring and I already have a stack of mediocre teas I need to work through. This is the second tea offering I’ve tried from Zhena and both have been a letdown sharing one common descriptor from me: bland.

When I try a cold brew of the tea, I’ll update my review to include my thoughts on it.

Edit to Add: I opted to not try a cold brew of this tea and just return it as I have several teas to get through. I don’t need to waste any more time on a teas I could just return. So that’s what I opted to do in this case.

Flavors: Fruity, Pineapple, Rum, Vanilla

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 6 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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100

This tea was delicious! It is wonderfully aromatic and very easy on the palate; a delightful mix of white and green tea. The caffeine content is very low, which makes it a great pre-bed companion, and its effects are very soothing and calming. I would highly recommend this tea to anyone.

Flavors: Licorice, Rose, Strawberry, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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59

This is my second time trying this chai from the Zhena’s Chai sampler I bought. I added some soymilk and stevia to bring out the flavor. I cannot taste the coconut at all unfortunately but can taste some vanilla. The chai spices overall are pretty mellow and not very special.

Flavors: Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec

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40

I normally love pumpkin spice teas but this one is a pass. It has no flavor compared to other pumpkin spice teas I’ve tried.

If you like a bland subtle (almost to the point of no flavor), this is the tea for you. Otherwise stick to other brands that put out a higher quality blend.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Sample from a work buddy. Pleasantly surprised. You can taste the raspberry, and there is no essence of floor cleaner about it—always a caution when I’m drinking EG.

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60

This is a very strongly flavored tea. The hibiscus is very strong in this tea so if you don’t like that then this definitely isn’t the tea for you. Brews up really read, strongly flavored, definitely berry. I brewed the recommended about of time but I might shortened that next time to hopefully not be so strong. I drank it hot but it would make a great iced tea too.

Flavors: Hibiscus

Preparation
2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75

This is my favorite in the holiday sampler tin. Not strong on the ginger, but decently spicy. Yum!

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79

FRUIT FRUIT FRUIT!!! It’s so fruity, it almost tastes more like a hot cup of fruit juice rather than a tea of some sort. It’s good, just a little overwhelming.

Realistically, I probably need to adjust my brew style. I’m trying to brew this like I brew regular tea, whereas I think I should use less leaves and shorten the steep time.

Experimentation. I’ll get it some day, probably right before I run out. Or after.

Flavors: Floral, Fruit Punch, Fruity

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 min, 0 sec 7 g 32 OZ / 946 ML

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79

I keep forgetting about this gem in the back of my tea cabinet. It was a gift from a friend a while back. Time to give it a good try.

The directions say to use 2 teaspoons for each 8 ounces of water. My Bodum Assam holds 32 ounces, so I did the math and used the appropriate amount of tea. Seemed like a lot, but it’s the right amount.

The ingredients list looks like a short list of things that would go great with a Rooibos base, so this should be pretty good. Even for a guy like me who is not a huge fan of blends or fruit teas. I am looking forward to this. Maybe it will change my mind about fruit blend teas? We’ll see. Maybe I just haven’t tried enough really good, high quality samples.

OK, I’ve waiting long enough for it to cool a bit. Here we go:

The aroma is a whole lot of tropical fruit. Not overwhelming, just damn tasty. The Rooibos base is still there, present and accounted for.

The taste is just a fruity, mostly tropical with some citrus. The Rose Hips are a nice touch, they add an extra element making this overall a really interesting, well balanced tea.

There is a bit of an aftertaste, I can’t quite place it. Just a touch of tartness that sits at the back of my tongue for a few seconds. Not bad, It actually rounds out the overall flavor really well.

Overall, I like it. Looks like those really good,high quality fruit blend teas are actually pretty good. I guess I went too many years drinking the cheap ones in boxes from the grocery store.

This one is damn good. Well balanced, all flavors accounted for, nothing extra for no reason. Even with the tartness of the aftertaste, which I actually kind of like, this is a damn good tea.

Flavors: Fruit Punch, Fruity, Tart, Tropical

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 20 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML

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100
drank Fire Light Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
2955 tasting notes

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100
drank Fire Light Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
2955 tasting notes

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100
drank Fire Light Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
2955 tasting notes

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100
drank Fire Light Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
2955 tasting notes

This is one of the best rooibos chais I have ever had. The rooibos sweetness combined with a very spicy clove flavour is just fantastic.

Brews a dark amber brown, can be resteeped several times, is great as a latte, and you can forget about it/leave the teabag in without worrying about it oversteeping.

Flavors: Clove, Cloves, Rooibos, Spices, Spicy, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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Not really enough flavor on this one for me. No real coconut taste or rum flavor. Just tastes like green tea. Wouldn’t buy it again, but it was nice to try

Flavors: Green

Preparation
2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80
drank Coconut Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
216 tasting notes

I just realized I have not yet reviewed this tea as loose leaf. Yes, I went out of my way to order the loose leaf version and I totally and utterly regret every penny I spent.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, that I have purchased a loose leaf version of a bagged tea I love and find it is utterly undrinkable. Its bitter, astringent, no coconut flavor to be found, no creaminess, no spiciness, and totally and utterly dominated by CLOVE!!!! I tried different steep times, different temperatures. Utterly undrinkable.

Well at least its easy to find the bags.

Not changing my rating as I find the bags really are quite good.

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80
drank Coconut Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
216 tasting notes

I’m upping my rating on this one. I’m finding I’m working my way through this canister pretty quickly and I look forward to it as much first cup of the morning.

I may go a head and put in an order for the loose leaf. I do wish the spices stood out a little more, but maybe the loose leaf will improve on that.

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80
drank Coconut Chai by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
216 tasting notes

They keep saying how you can’t get sick from a flue shot. Then why did I get so sick less than 24 hours later as I was perfectly fine, healthy, and energetic before? Oh lord, my eyeballs even ache, my throat feels like someone has been going at it with steel wool, the brain baby refuses to stop kicking, and we won’t even talk about the stomach.

Ugh

Anyway, I picked this up from the store on my way home from that fateful doctor’s office and been sipping on it in the hopes that it might help settle my stomach.

First thing I learned. Unlike other bagged teas (I have the bagged), go for at least the full 5 minutes if not a wee bit longer. Otherwise it is too week. I went for the full boil as well. A plus to this is that there is no bitterness.

The coconut, at least to me, does not stand out in flavor, but it does appear to add a nice creaminess. I think I like it. The chai spices are there, but not overly spicy and, massive bonus for me, the clove is almost unnoticeable.

I think I like this, but I am going to have to revisit again when I’m feeling better. Its entirely possible my sense of taste and smell are messed up. As is, I think I would like it if it were a little spicier. Without increasing the clove!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Random

Ugh, skip the loose leaf. I mentioned in the bag tea that the spices were mild and clove was almost unnoticeable? The loose leaf is all clove as in can’t taste anything but clove.

Sticking with bagged.

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