Zen Tea

It’s actually been months since I’ve had this tea. I went from drinking it pretty much every day in the winter and spring to not drinking it at all. Maybe it’s because this evening was rainy and cool, but I decided I had to have a cup of EGC.

I’m still head over heels about this tea. For me it’s the perfect blend of tea, bergamot, and vanilla. I’ve bought a few other EGs, but I keep coming back to this one. It’s well balanced, smooth, and there’s no funky aftertaste. Plus, it resteeps well.

Speaking of buying… my stash of this is incredibly low. I was trying not to buy tea until September, but since zentealife is having a sale I’m breaking down and stocking up now. When I told my husband he kissed me and said I made a valiant effort at reducing my stash. :) I don’t know if I’d call it valiant, but it has been tasty.

Updating from the last few days. I’ve taken to making this by the pot rather than the cup. It saves time, and while I prefer to drink this hot I like to iced, too. If I get distracted and my tea cools I just pour it over ice and go about my day.

Cups:57

We have started a major house renovation due to some damage that occurred way back in October, so I have not been able to log much of what I have been drinking lately. This EG is the only tea I have kept track of, but hopefully I can write more reviews soon. For this tea I kept a tally sheet on my fridge for the last few days. My husband and the contractor might think I went around the bend. :)

The idea of everything that needs to happen (I currently am walking on the sub-floor, have no lower cabinets, counter tops, a sink, or dishwasher in my kitchen) is overwhelming, so I’ve been drinking lots and lots of this tea. In fact, I need to place an order because last night I actually saw the bottom of my jar. Yes, there was a moment of panic. Reorder will be made today!

Before we started this re-do I decided to host a tea party for my friends when everything is over. It will be a fun way to show off my new space, and a way to say thank you because all these ladies have heard me talk about lately is paint colors and the cost/benefits of tile vs. wood flooring. When I do have the party this tea will definitely be on the menu. Then I can treat it with all of the daintiness and fun it deserves. Right now it is yet another friend that reminds me that at the end of all of this noise and worry will be (hopefully) something that I love.

(My earlier reviews have my thoughts on the tea itself)

Cups: 36

My morning pot. Drinking this while getting ready for church and tending to my son who is feeling under the weather. Right now I am very thankful for caffeine, especially when it is delivered in such a tasty tea.

Cups:16

Another insanely busy (but good!) day. Today is my son’s birthday, and between his class party and our own little family party I am tuckered out. He had a great day and is now happily playing with his new loot. That means I have time for a cup of tea. I didn’t even consider making anything else. The black tea, the bergamot, the vanilla… it’s perfect. And if I happen to have a piece of birthday cake with it, well that’s even better.

Cups: 11

Oh, sweet nectar of the gods! I have been thinking about this tea all day. All. Day. The only cup of tea I had today was early this morning. That’s not sufficient tea consumption for this girl! I’ve been craving a cup of this EG since 9am (it’s close to midnight here), and sitting down with it now feels like a true gift. A great way to unwind after a day of going, going, going.

I am going to drink a couple of cups of this and then tumble into bed. Even the caffeine won’t be able to keep me awake at this point.

Cups:9

Made myself a cup before going to church this morning. Perfect for sipping on the drive there. I was a few minutes late getting there because a friend of mine said she was looking for new herbal and fruity teas, so I made her a big bag of samples to try. Yay for sharing the tea love!

Cups:7

In an attempt to delay my afternoon chores, I made myself a cuppa. My husband and daughter went to see a zombie flick, and my son is happily playing in his room. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as a quiet house and a cup of Earl Grey.

But alas, the laundry beckons.

Cups:6

Backlogging. I’m using the month of February to track how often I drink this tea since it is undeniably the tea I drink the most. More for my own curiosity than anything else. I’m counting resteeps as their own cup, but I won’t write a separate entry for them. Total cups consumed so far will be at the bottom of the page.

Yesterday started off great but ended horribly. Bah. So, while the day was going along swimmingly I made myself a cup of this and resteeped it once because this is a happy tea. Then, when everything blew up in my face last night I made myself another cup (which I also resteeped) because this tea is comfort in a cup. Hopefully today will be better.

Cups: 4

I think I am going to track how often I drink this tea during a month. It is easily the tea I drink most often, but I’ve only logged it here a few times. Part of me is afraid to face my massive Earl-Grey-tea-drinking addiction, but my curiosity is greater than my fear. Maybe I was a cat in a former life. :)

The tea. As always, wonderful bergamot vanilla-y goodness. I can resteep this tea once and get a good flavor. Not quite as intense as the first cup, but still perfectly enjoyable.

Well, 2013 has been kicking my butt so far. I was down with the flu for most of last week, but I think I can safely say I’m on the mend. My celebratory cup of tea had to be this Earl Grey. I know I’ve raved about this before, but Zen Tea has done an amazing job of choosing a high quality vanilla and mixing it with the bergamot. Love it.

My morning cup, and my favorite Earl Grey to date. This is so well blended. The bergamot and vanilla are excellent together. It’s warm and comforting which is just what I need today.

Used the last of my sample this morning. This tea is on the top of my to-order list. Delicious, comforting, wonderful tea!

Thank you Zen Tea for this sample!

This tea is fabulous. When I opened the bag I was struck by the fact that the tea smelled creamy. There was the classic Earl Grey scent, of course, but the vanilla was present in a very pleasing way. The dry leaves with the blue cornflowers are also very pretty , which I appreciated.

I really like this tea because it is well balanced. The bergamot is not over done, and the vanilla blends in with the other flavors beautifully. In the past I have stayed away from Earl Grey Creams because the vanilla usually taste fake. Not here. It is smooth, and there is no weird artificial aftertaste. Yay! Half way through the cup I added a bit of sugar which intensified both the bergamot and the vanilla a little more. I expected it to play up the vanilla, but the flavors stayed in balance. The tea is exceptionally creamy and taste like a treat. A cup of this tea, a blanket, and good mystery novel would make me a very happy girl!

Thanks again Zen Tea. Your tea is lovely!

So this tea re-steeps better than I expected it to! Though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised seeing as the flavor is so strong. STILL DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE TEAS!

Backlogging a bit; I’m trying to decide which Genmaicha is my favorite between Zen Tea and Adagio! They both have a slightly different tastes and very different brewing times. I think I’m leaning a bit towards the Zen Tea but it’s a hard choice!

HAVE I MENTIONED how much I love this stuff? Let me tell you again: MOLTO DELIZIOSO. I may just have to order this at some point.

Another of my free sample teas from Zen Tea! WOW as soon as I started brewing this the smell of the rice grew to be REALLY strong! The puffed rice looks like popcorn it’s pretty great. My only experience with genmaicha is bagged, which I like quite a lot, so NATURALLY I really love this too! The nutty flavor is much stronger here than what I’m used to; all in all the tea is just much more flavorful and aromatic than what I’ve experienced and IT’S PRETTY DARN GREAT. Love this tea! Could go for another cup now, heh heh.

Thank you to Zen Tea for sending this to me! It smells so good! I’ve never had a chai with coconut in it. I was also excited that it was pu-erh mixed with yerba mate!
For some reason when I try teas with coconut and chocolate they taste like plastic to me :[ and it’s ALL teas with chocolate and coconut. But I do know it’s just my taste buds because everyone I pass those teas on to LOVE them. Curse my taste buds :[
I’m getting a little bit of that with this tea but the chai makes it drinkable. I’m getting more of a chocolate chai with the weird coconut flavor after. It is a wonderful tea and I’m so happy I got to try it! But I give up on chocolate, coconut teas :[ And I’m still mad at my taste buds…

So there I was lying in bed this morning, wishing for a nice breakfast tea to begin my day that I wasn’t committed to having a long gongfu session with so that I could move on to Mrs. Li’s Dragonwell from Verdant. I was actually hoping for something fun like hazelnut, though I had already tried Adagio’s the other day. When lo and behold there was a clank below my window. The mail man had come by early and when I made my way downstairs I found my prayers had been answered in the form of a package of samples from Zen Tea! Thank you Zen Tea

Not only that but when I opened the package I found that I had indeed order a hazelnut tea! And to top it all off I had seen this tea on the menu yesterday at the tea studio and had wondered why it sounded so familiar, I knew I hadn’t drank it before, but felt like I had ordered it. This is the same description and ingredients as the Bossa Nova hazelnut oolong from TeaGschwender so I can only imagine they get it from the same source.

This has a much nicer base than Adagio’s Hazelnut, no bitter ceylon, just a nice roasted oolong, good looking leaves as well, though it is hard to differentiate where the natural nut note in the oolong end and the hazelnut flavor begins, which may be a good thing. I have to admit I was a tad disappointed that this wasn’t darker, sweeter and richer, but it does taste like hazelnuts, like eating the nuts themselves and in this way the blend is successful.

I may just have to try this with extra leaf and bit of sugar the next time I make it, to try to meet my unrealistic expectations. The samples were generous enough for multiple servings. Glad I got to try it, will write my review on Zen Tea’s website after a second session. Thanks again to Zen Tea for their generosity, I’m looking forward to the roasted Tieguanyins!

Edit: enjoying this today, following the given brewing parameters for 12 mins, I also put in two rock sugar crystals. It is better, the hazelnut is fully present and it has a touch of sweet, but the oolong still feels “thin”. May end up blending my last teaspoon with Adagio’s hazlenut black oh wait I didn’t like that one at all or a straight black for more body. Edit edit: I did add a bit of Bailin Gonfu Black Organic from Teavirve to the second steep and based on the smell I thought I had created a delicious Nutella tea, but alas tis bitter, until the last sip which is dark and cool and sweet. So there is promise there, just probably need a lower temp, steep time and make it a first infusion. Yeah this aftertaste is quite delicious.

My sample of this is gone now oh nooo! Still not sure I liked it enough to actually buy it though. But is definitely good and definitely grew on me! A+ experience.

THIS ONE IS DEFINITELY GROWING ON ME the more I have it the more I seem to like it. Probably only have about one more cup left of it now, and I’m not sure if I like it enough to buy it, but definitely a good sweet dark oolong! —I ALMOST SAID BLACK TEA I actually tend to forget this is an oolong it doesn’t really taste like one at all.

I GAVE THIS TEA ANOTHER TRY. The chocolate smell was very off-putting the first time I had it and I think I may have steeped it too long too, but this time around… NOT SO BAD! I like hazelnut and this has a lot of that. I think I’ll actually raise the rating on it now, it’s not bad at all!

I got a sample of this tea and 3 others from Zen Tea! Decided to try this one tonight! AT FIRST I WAS A LITTLE BIT WORRIED because it smelled almost like… chocolate? And I’m a WEIRDO that dislikes chocolate a lot I KNOW, I KNOW, IT’S A CRIME. However it ended up tasting strongly of hazelnut for sure! It was pretty good actually, definitely creamy, but I’m still a bit ambivalent about it I guess. I think I’ll try adding some things to it next time.