Zen Tea

This wasn’t bad at all, but I just had Persimmon Tree’s Mint Chocolate Chip Rooibos a couple days ago and it evoked that rich creamy dessert flavor more vividly. This one’s more on the “fresh mint” zippy side of things, which is good in its own way but I happen to prefer that ice cream-y treatiness! Certainly fine, just not as indulgent (and I was quite astonished at how accurate PT’s was, so it’s not a dis at all).

I wanted a genmaicha today but I couldn’t find the one I was looking for… so this was my next choice!

This blend is a typical green sencha with little specks of coconut in it. I waited for the water to cool a while and steeped for two minutes. Right away I could tell how sweet it would taste by the fragrance! It is so sweet and creamy. The coconut is perfect with the buttery sencha. I wouldn’t call the sencha “brisk” like the description does though. This is exactly the type of coconut I love. Smooth, silky, buttery sweet deliciousness!

I finished this up today too! All the teas I packed for today were sipdowns! #sneaky

I probably shouldn’t have brewed it because I was feeling a bit meh while drinking it, but I THOUGHT it sounded good.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I’m finally getting down to this. I have some cold brewing in the fridge, but for now, I’ve only experienced this hot.

The dry leaf smells like milky, creamy coconut. Toasted coconut. My mom commented that it smells good enough to eat, like baked goods. Macaroons maybe?

The taste is pleasant. A little more floral than expected, but the coconut is there. I wouldn’t be surprised if the coconut comes out even more in the cold brew. I think I may prefer DT’s version though. It’s more coconutty. I’m a coconut fiend so I always appreciate more. I see it’s not on their site anymore but I wonder if some stores still carry it.

I’m watching International Househunters right now, and they’re showing Kongsberg, Norway! Love this show. It’s a wonderful way to see the world. Paired with this tea, it’s a relaxing morning.

I love how creamy and sweet this smells both dry and brewing, more like really good pastry that includes fresh strawberries (a summer tart, yum) than most blah grocery store berry tea. That said, I was a bit nervous as I tend not to like astringent fruity teas and alas there was some of that element I dislike in the cup. A little bit of milk helped some but didn’t erase that zingy now-the-inside-of-my-mouth-needs-scrubbing dimension I just don’t like. Alas. If it was my sort of thing I’d be all over this though; it’s extremely well done for the kind of tea it is. Guess I’ll send some of it to my tea buddy via post, and/or ice it (bet it’d be good that way!).

Lol, this tastes kind of strange after eating lemon hummus! Anyways, I have a massive, massive headache due to how freaking windy it’s been here today, so I am trying to tame it with some caffeine, if that will help, I have no idea, but I also wanted this tea. Just going to wait til the hummus taste is gone before I have any more sips lol. Still tasty underneath though :) see previous notes on this tea!

This tea smells perfect dry—lusciously creamy earl grey without the harsh vanilla extract burn note some EGCs have. Just fresh, heady vanilla, flowers, and black tea. Brewed it just smells richer than many EGCs too. The flavor is strong but not too overwhelming, and with milk it’s so rich and creamy both texture and flavor-wise it’s almost shocking this is tea (looks and tastes almost like a vanilla coffee latte). Yum.

Bittersweet sip down. While this means I can go on and try something new (I don’t like having everything opened at once), I really enjoyed this iced. Coconut + green tea = Refreshment City. And the price is super decent too.

Yum! I must be on a caramel kick today, because I have just been craving that flavor and most of the teas I’ve had today have caramel aspects/full caramel flavor lol. This is my before bed cup, I am almost at the end of my sample :( I much prefer this cream caramel rooibos than the DavidsTea one, this one is much sweeter and a perfect way to end the day! See previous notes :)

TTB-A #18
Unsweetened it’s just ok.
Lightly sweetened its a liquid ‘thin mint’.
Need I say more?

My allergies are in full swing right now, so it will definitely be a stay in and enjoy the sunshine from the air conditioning kind of day. Sigh.

That being said, I hope to make the day better by sampling a bunch of tea!

So, thank you for letting me sample this one Shelley_Lorraine!

This is the first toffee flavored tea I’ve tried that actually captures toffee flavor to me. I get nutty toasted caramel on a slightly vegetal white base. I think the white base gives it a smoothness and sweetness that the black tea blends I’ve been trying seem to be lacking.

I enjoy the less full-bodiedness of this more than I thought I would for a dessert flavor. On the flip side, I think this is kind of an as-is blend, because I feel like milk and sugar might ruin the layers of flavor and make a giant cup of blech.

I’m not familiar with Assam teas on their own, although they’re in quite a few flavoured and breakfast blends I’ve had. I thought trying this and Butiki’s Taiwanese Assam would help me understand what “Assam” means, but the two teas are different, both in geography and taste. At least I know a little bit more than I originally did, but that doesn’t say much.

I really enjoyed this tea and every time I drank it I noticed something different. It’s fun for myself to note that I never would’ve liked this tea a year ago; it’s the mouth drying astringency that I’ve warmed up to recently.

I enjoyed drinking this with and without milk as both emphasized and curbed different things in the tea. Without milk, it really drove home that this is a full bodied tea with a kick, with a good dose of malt and astringency and a touch of dried fruit. I often had it like that for early mornings, when I needed something to wake me up.

I chose to drink it with milk today as I didn’t want to deal with the astringency (ok, so I haven’t quite warmed up to it). I guess it’s common sense that milk brings out cream but this gets really creamy! It’s like the difference between milk in a Cream of Earl Grey versus milk in a normal Earl Grey- it multiplies the creaminess instead of just adding cream. I don’t know how else to put it without sounding even sillier.

The cream is good but my favourite part of this tea is its quiet sweetness. It’s a “brown” sweetness- like raisins, maple syrup, or dates. The dry leaf and now empty cup smell of raisins and cocoa and the lingering aftertaste is fruity dark chocolate.

This is the best chocolate mint tea I’ve had so far… I mean, I haven’t had a lot but I really like this one. The flavor is very strong with a nice balance of chocolate and mint. If it was watery mint tasting, it’d be a no go.

Office sipdown!
21 to go and I’m at 100 teas again!

I’ve never had so many blossoms in one cup! I’m not a huge a fan of floral teas and this one was about average. No one flavor left an impression on me. I couldn’t really taste the Rooibos either. Not horrible my any means but not the first cup of tea I would reach for (and not one I’ll re-order.)

I just don’t think I’m a fan of strawberry teas, but as far as this tea went it was quite delicious. They really got both the strawberry flavour, and especially the cream flavour down. The black base added a nice touch – it wasn’t overpowering at all and balanced the flavours out well.

Thanks Cavovorax :)

Mmmm, coconut. I just couldn’t resist. The dry leaf smells like creamy, creamy coconut. Straight up, simple yet that’s how it sometimes should be.

I’ve only had this iced so far. In fact, I’m on my third jug, cold brewed, and I’m super happy with this. The base is mellow and refreshing, and the coconut tastes like freshly shredded coconut. Wonderful choice for the hot weather.

Definitely my favourite Zen Tea so far. I’m curious about the oolong, but will maybe wait a few more days before trying it.

I think I finally am getting the excellent flavor from this tea! I’ve drank it a few times before and it was not doing it for me, it was too bland or too perfumy or something. It might be the dry smell that puts me off a bit too, my bag seems very bergamoty and not creamy at all, almost soapy and very perfumed. But I have been craving EGC, so I needed a cup tonight, hoping the caffeine doesn’t bug me like it did yesterday!

I steeped for 4 minutes, that might also be a different, I think I tried 2 in the past and it was just too weak. The steeped smell definitely has some cream and is a lot lighter than the smell from the bag.

As for flavor, yes, there definitely is creaminess in it this time! I am finding that it seems to diminish as it cools, so might have to drink it hot in the future, or my taste buds might be acting up from my allergies. Anyways, it is hitting the spot and satisfying my EGC craving perfectly! Definitely a nice light black tea, but the creaminess makes it seem richer and just lovely.

Overall, I am happy that this is starting to work for me. I have a big 2 oz bag of it and I was worried I preferred the DavidsTea version better, but this one might make the cut after all! I’ll potentially up the rating after a few more cups at a later date as well.

This one didn’t really live up to its name and description for me. I couldn’t really taste the “sweet almond with cherry-like notes”. It wasn’t horrible, but I expected a deeper and richer almond flavor. (I probably won’t buy this one again, but if it were given to me, I would drink it.)

Quick sip down. Glad it’s out of the way. I brought a bunch of tea home with me and am hoping to finish off the majority of it to make room in my luggage, and to perhaps pick up some Tea Desire and Steeps goodies!

Not cherry enough and the base is meh.

Brought some of this with me on the drive over to my brother’s. I love ginger and lemon together, and if steeped 2 minutes at a cooler temperature the green tea base isn’t too bad.

I need to try this one iced.

Ozli was right. This is just an… odd/awful blend. She sent me two cups, but I don’t know if I’ll bother with the second one. Or finishing this one.

Too bad because the ingredients sound interesting.