Zen Tea

When I opened up my package of GenmaiMatcha was excited to see a couple of soft white popped rice kernels- I always see them in photos but never got any before. That was fun. It’s the toasted flavor and aroma of the rice that draws me to genmatcha, so I figured I was in for a real treat. I hate to say that I was disappointed that the rice’s lovely toastiness is muted in Zen Tea’s GenmaiMatcha. Not that this is a bad tea; I suspect that those who like a more subtle influence from the rice would be a fan of this version. My rating is therefore based on my need for a stronger influence from the rice.

My 3rd and final sample from Zen Tea. I had to get this as a sample. Not only was it a fruit tea, but the name was just so cute. Grandma’s Garden, aawww.

I had this while I making breakfast (at 3). When I opened the packaged I was smacked in the face with so many deep berry flavors I simply couldn’t wait to try it out!

It steeped into a mauve color and smelled just as great as the leaves did. This is tea has a more prominent dark berry taste than it does sweet berries, but you can definitely taste a bit of everything in there. This is a tea that would probably be really great with some honey or agave.

GOODBYE EARL GREY CREAM… YOU WERE REALLY GOOD… and I am going to buy more of you at a later date.

This very well may be the most delicious smelling tea I own.

Yummm love this so much has such a great finish and aftertaste!!

REALLY. GOOD.

My final sample from Zen Tea! GOLLY they weren’t kidding about the cream, you can even smell that when you open the bag AND I LOVE IT. MAN the only way I can really think to describe this tea is COZY! Probably one of my favorite earl greys yet, honestly. I usually add quite a bit of milk and sugar to my earl greys anyway, but this one barely needed anything. LOVE THE SMOOTH VANILLA and you definitely get that defining bergamot finish and YUM.

I am on a quest to find the perfect grapefruit tea, so of course I had to ask for this blend when I got my samples from Zen Tea! Anything with grapefruit, I’ll get. Orange grapefruit usually isn’t my favorite combo though, I find that the orange is often used to mask the grapefruit and in the end it tastes just like, well, an orange blend. I decided to be brave and cold brew this one: cold brewing anything with hibiscus makes me nervous since it tends to overwhelm everything when made that way. And when I strained this one, wow, it’s bright red. Like… Kool-aid red, fruit punch red. BUT there’s beet in this used to get that lovely ruby tone, so I wasn’t too worried about the tartness.

This blend is hibiscus done right! It’s so mild and really only comes in at the very very end of the sip, a little tartness which goes well with grapefruit and kind of mimics/adds to the grapefruit taste. And the grapefruit… wow! It’s really present! The orange doesn’t take away from it but just adds another layer of citrusy goodness, a little sweetness as well. Kind of like if you mixed grapefruit juice and orange-ade.

Halfway through my glass and I’m convinced something magical is going on in here. You can taste all the components: citrus from grapefruit, orange & lemongrass, fruity sweetness from the carrot & beet, a slight tartness from the hibiscus and a really nice, brisk herbaceous tone from the eucalyptus. But together.. it’s magic! SO GOOD! The eucalyptus is what does it I think, I’d swear it was juniper berry but it just ties everything together and elevates it into what I honestly think is the best herbal tisane I’ve ever had. I am so so impressed by these samples, and sad I only have one left to try! Definitely placing an order soon, hopefully with a ton of this beauty.

I totally forgot to mention it, but this blend is stunning! Whole orange slices, gorgeous whole herbs, bits of carrot and beet! Just lovely, everything about this cuppa is perfection.

My samples from Zen Tea came in yesterday, and man do they all smell good! I have two cold brews to try today, with this one being first. I was the most excited about this one, I even asked for the Green Coconut as well to compare the two. GMT’s Coconut Pouchong is one of my favorite teas, and I was hoping this one would be similar since they have the same base & flavoring combo.

The coconut flavor here is SO good! Kind of toasty bake-y, but also with some fresh coconut sweetness. It’s a nice combo, and really natural tasting. Fake coconut is… blargh, reminds me of suntan lotion, but thankfully this tea doesn’t remind me of a day at the beach. Well, maybe a tropical beach, sitting on a little foldy chair while sipping a drink from a coconut. Mm yeah, this is a vacation drink for sure! Some teas really transport you by association, kind of a mental vacation. And this, well, it’s so relaxing and refreshing, makes me feel like it’s still summer.

The Bao Zhong is lovely too, lightly floral and a little creamy. A perfect compliment to the succulent coconut! This obviously reminds me a LOT of GMT’s Coconut Pouchong, in fact I like it just as much. Coconut + oolong is a winning combination for sure!

I gave this tea another shot yesterday while making dinner. Instead of steeping for the recommended 2-3 minutes, I tried 6 in hopes that it would bring out the strawberry more. This time around I also decided not add milk, or sugar until I tried it plain.

The black tea was really strong when I took my first sip, with slight strawberry undertones. It was okay, but definitely needed sugar. After I put about a 1tsp of sugar in it tasted a lot better. Definitely not as creamy as the last time I had it.

I would have still liked the strawberry to be more pronounced in this. I saw that they have a fruit version of this tea as well. Maybe that version is more along the lines of what I was thinking this would be. It’s just not doing it for me. Next time I give this a go I will probably try it iced.

Another Zen Tea sample. I broke into this as something I wanted for dessert. The last cup of tea for the night! When I opened it I got a burst of berry… chocolate? Definitely smelled like chocolate which is really off-putting for me because, call me crazy, I don’t care for chocolate that much.

When I went to pour the leaves into the infuser I was not impressed by the look of the leaves either, it didn’t do much to calm my nerves. I saw a lot of dark leaves, and the strawberries looked dark too. At this point I’m wondering if I should have gone with a different tea that I’m comfortable with and saved being adventurous for another day.

I followed the recommended instructions, put the boiling water to the leaves for 3 minutes, then added some sugar and milk when it got in my cup. It smells a lot more like strawberry cream now, which is good.

Took a sip and yeah, this is strawberry cream alright. Unfortunately though, something just feels missing to me. It’s a really subdued mild flavor when I guess I was wanting something a bit more tart. Less cream, more strawberry. Next time I try this I’ll hold off on the milk and sugar and see what I get. For now I’m just a bit underwhelmed.

On first steeping, the tea had a nutty, creamy, and slightly sweet flavor. The texture was crisp with a lightness to it. The tea also had a very savory taste that was more pronounced with the second steeping. There was no bitterness. Some of the leaves were broken, but overall, a great tasting tea and a good Dragon Well with a complex range of flavors.

I’m raising my rating for this tea. A couple nights ago I brewed this tea and was able to resteep from the leaves all night long. I drank 1.7L of water of 2tsp of the leaves, and I loved it. I’m almost out of my sample pack though. The more I drink it however, the more I feel like I should restock on it once I’m out. So good!

This is from last night. This tea resteeped wonderfully. I ended up steeping it a lot longer than I had planned. My dog just got his first kong, and I was making him do his “be sneaky” trick to get it. He was being a bit stubborn with the trick though, and therefore by the time I got him to do it correctly I had way oversteeped the tea.

HOWEVER, that didn’t matter. The cup was still great. SO glad I grabbed this as a sample.

This was my first tea I broke into from my Zen Tea sampling! When I took my first sip of this my initial thought was, “Wow this is silky and smooth!” I’m still not used to getting smooth from my teas, but it’s definitely something that I like!

While I was steeping this I did not get much of a scent out of it at all, granted my sense of smell isn’t the greatest either. When I drained it into my cup though I got a definite light and invigorating scent from it.

Picking out what this tastes like is a bit hard for me, because like the description says, the taste is complex and layered. In fact I only have a sip left and I’m still not sure what is exactly that I’m tasting. Definitely getting some floral and almost.. grassy taste from it. The grassy-ness kicks in in the after taste I think.

Overall, I think this was really enjoyable and calming. I’m excited to see how this handles a second steeping.

Tea of the morning. I’m mostly drinking iced tea these days, but I like that it’s still cool enough early in the morning to sit out on my porch with a cup of hot tea and enjoy. In a few more weeks I may be drinking all iced tea all the time, but that’s ok since this EGC is mighty tasty over ice, too.

Tea of the morning. The kids had a two hour delayed start for school because everything was a slick sheet of ice this morning. That meant I had time to actually sit down with my tea and really enjoy it. That’s not something that normally happens on a Monday morning!

Tea of the morning. Still loving this one.

I’m taking it easy today and drinking some of my favorite teas. I still have lots of samples to try, but I also have a headache that won’t quit, so sampling new teas wouldn’t be much fun today anyway. However, I must have tea, and my faithful standbys are waiting to meet cup and water. Have I mentioned lately how thankful I am for tea? Love this stuff!

Ah, Earl Grey Cream, such a lovely mix of Ceylon, bergamot, and vanilla. The taste is creamy and full of citrus and vanilla notes, both of which I love. There isn’t an overly perfume-y taste that can often accompany Earl Grey teas. Instead the bergamot is well balanced against the vanilla, and it carries much more of a fruity note than a floral one. That, combined with a super creamy vanilla that has no artificial flavor to it, makes this a complete winner for me.

Happy to have this as my first cup of the day.

Knowing this was wrapped and sitting under the Christmas tree just about drove me crazy. I usually have a t least one cup of this a day, so I’m happy, happy, happy to have it back in its rightful place in my cupboard and my mug. All is right with the world. :)