drank Gypsy Rose by Zhena's Gypsy Tea
1112 tasting notes

I purchased the Romance sampler from Zhena’s awhile back, and this is one of the offerings contained within. It steeped to a rather vibrant red (nothing like the photo!) in a mere 2 minutes, so I removed the bag and took a sip – a little flat. A single, scant teaspoon of sugar helped. A pronounced rosiness. I wouldn’t dream of steeping it a second beyond the two minutes that I did. As it cools, it is getting a little bitter, and rosier. This is not a good thing!

Would I buy a whole tin? No!! I am not able to finish my cup, and I am actually thinking of using the remaining tea bags as sachets to tell you the truth! The tea base is a little iffy (as a rule I don’t enjoy Sri Lankan and Indian tea without milk, and I absolutely do not like rose teas with milk!!), and the rose is veering a bit into Lotion territory. I have a few teas that I love with rose as one of many flavoring ingredients, but I have not as yet found a just rose and black tea that I love. Do any of you have recommendations?

My first disappointment from Zhena’s :(

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Kaitlin S

I like the idea of undrinkable tea bags as sachets. :) Way to make lemonade out of lemons! It would probably be pretty nice steeped in a bath or foot soak, too!

JacquelineM

I was thinking that too, until I remembered that women in the 1940s used to bathe with black tea and it would tint their skin so that they would look like they had stockings on (this was during WWII rations and stockings were hard to get or unavailable). I like my natural pallor – do not want to risk turning any other color :) :) :)

gmathis

I deliberately buy dollar-shop black tea (tagless bags) to make eye compresses.

Kaitlin S

Hah – that is an interesting bit of historical trivia. I would think you’d have to get your bath tea pretty concentrated to change your skin color! But, who knows.

JacquelineM

I also use tea to dye fabric – I bet the rose fragrance will last through the first rinse! Right now the remaining tea bags are in my lingerie drawer, and I’ll take them out and use then for my next dyeing project when needed.

Batrachoid

Use it to scent some homemade cleaning solution. It’s allergy friendly and whatever offending tea you use often has a good medicinal use. Right now I ’ve got a bottle of cinnamon rose infused cleaner for my drawing desk to keep me alert and lemongrass peach to keep the bathroom refreshing.

JacquelineM

Thank you Batrachoid! That’s a great idea too! I put on some very nicely scented unmentionables this morning :) and I’ll try the cleaning solution trick once the sachets lose their scenting ability. I love making natural cleaning concoctions! Then I will compost them and they will help grow flowers and veggies. I feel at peace :)

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Kaitlin S

I like the idea of undrinkable tea bags as sachets. :) Way to make lemonade out of lemons! It would probably be pretty nice steeped in a bath or foot soak, too!

JacquelineM

I was thinking that too, until I remembered that women in the 1940s used to bathe with black tea and it would tint their skin so that they would look like they had stockings on (this was during WWII rations and stockings were hard to get or unavailable). I like my natural pallor – do not want to risk turning any other color :) :) :)

gmathis

I deliberately buy dollar-shop black tea (tagless bags) to make eye compresses.

Kaitlin S

Hah – that is an interesting bit of historical trivia. I would think you’d have to get your bath tea pretty concentrated to change your skin color! But, who knows.

JacquelineM

I also use tea to dye fabric – I bet the rose fragrance will last through the first rinse! Right now the remaining tea bags are in my lingerie drawer, and I’ll take them out and use then for my next dyeing project when needed.

Batrachoid

Use it to scent some homemade cleaning solution. It’s allergy friendly and whatever offending tea you use often has a good medicinal use. Right now I ’ve got a bottle of cinnamon rose infused cleaner for my drawing desk to keep me alert and lemongrass peach to keep the bathroom refreshing.

JacquelineM

Thank you Batrachoid! That’s a great idea too! I put on some very nicely scented unmentionables this morning :) and I’ll try the cleaning solution trick once the sachets lose their scenting ability. I love making natural cleaning concoctions! Then I will compost them and they will help grow flowers and veggies. I feel at peace :)

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Bio

I love to cook, bake, read, paint, knit, do needlework, and garden. I need my coffee, but I LOVE my tea. I work at an Art School, and attend a large public university doing post-bac work (my BA is in English). I’m interested in the liminal spaces between art and craft, the academic and the practical, the individual and community, and the old and the new. I’m currently exploring these ideas through the disciplines of education, literature, history, and psychology.

I enjoy writing tasting notes, but have decided not to numerically rate teas as of 9/14/10. For an explanation, see my looooong tasting note about Mountain Malt from the Simple Leaf.

My favorites:
Chinese black teas
A good “milk and sugar” English style black
Earl Grey (classic, and in all variations!)
Vanilla teas (classic, and in all variations!)
Jasmine, Rose, Violet and other froofy, flowery teas!
An Occasional Oolong
Flavored Rooibos
Herbal Tisanes

Location

Collingswood, NJ

Website

http://jackiemania.wordpress....

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