ZenTea

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Recent Tasting Notes

77

Tea is like art. Sometimes it’s open to interpretation. That’s the case with this tea, the flavors are so subtle and ambiguous that it allows my subconscious to imply whatever it wants onto the canvas of this flavor painting.

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77

This tea is very much like a Pai Mu Tan. It even looks like one. The only thing telling me it’s an oolong (besides the label) is the golden colored liquor. It has a very sweet finish. Slightly citrus-y. This might be a regular in my cupboard.

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79

Trying to work through some swap samples. I still enjoy this one quite a bit :)

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79

Thanks for the swap My Friend Rashad! This is pretty good :) Hard to describe but good!

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78
drank Oolong Raspberry by ZenTea
6105 tasting notes

A bit of backlogging – I’m so far behind! Sipdown, 819.

Still quite enjoy the flavouring in this tea – I still think it’s more of a candy flavour than real, tart raspberry, but I enjoy in nonetheless. Brewing up a second infusion now as I inexplicably swelter in my not-all-that-hot (but presumably somewhat humid) house.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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78
drank Oolong Raspberry by ZenTea
6105 tasting notes

Ummm…. this is absolutely delicious! Thanks for passing some of this along as well, momo!

The tea in my baggie looks like a dark rolled oolong, even though the picture shown here definitely looks like a green oolong. Hrrrrrm.

Anyways, this tea smells like candy. Like really delicious, sweet, fruity, yummy candy. And that is exactly how the flavour is too – all candy-sweet and delicious atop a lovely creamy oolong base (so this is probably a green oolong that’s perhaps a bit old? Idk.) You know, this actually kind of tastes like cotton candy, in a way. I think I’d be hard-pressed to say that this is raspberry… it’s certainly a sweetened raspberry, if it is, because raspberries are usually more tart. It does have raspberry-ish tones to its fruit flavour, though, especially lingering in the aftertaste.

Regardless of accuracy, I’m really enjoying this tea! I haven’t had as many tasty flavoured oolongs as I would like, and this one is certainly filling a gap in there. I don’t think this is the first tea that I’ve really enjoyed from ZenTea; may have to look into trying more teas from there/making an order at some point! Thanks again momo!

ETA: Oooh, picking up some bitterness in the re-infusion, although it’s still tasty. Less candy-like, as other reviewers have mentioned. As with many teas, this one would be best with infusions done a bit closer together than 12+ hours, IMO. The leaves still had some aroma after this infusion, so we shall see if I end up re-steeping them again (possibly not; I have at least 6 other teas waiting their turn for an infuser downstairs, and I think 2 western-style infusions for most teas is pretty good!)

ETA again: I think I lied. Pretty sure the above re-steep was actually Leslie Grove Strawberry Patch. Drinking the proper infusion now, and I pretty much have the same opinion, except there is no astringency :) Also, it tastes more like raspberry.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec
momo

they have way more teas than what’s on their website, especially because if you buy four pouches, they’re $6 each. next time I go back I need to really take a picture of their menu because I’ve given so many of their teas out in swaps and I could probably make it easier for people that way!

Azzrian

YUM!!!!!

Azzrian

Yup just went to the website and it is not there. I would love to try this tea I will have to email them when I have tea money again!

Kittenna

Yeah, you should! I’ll have to look, but I seem to recall enjoying a few other teas you’ve sent me by them as well, and I’d probably be interested in trying more. (Actually, one of those teas may have been one with roasted cacao shell in it, ahahaha. And honeybush or rooibos.)

I especially would recommend this tea in particular to anyone who remotely likes such flavours… this definitely falls into the category of “why didn’t I try this sooner?!”

Kittenna

Yeah, I’m really enjoying this! Drinking it cold at this point, and it’s really hitting the spot.

Kittenna

Azzrian – this is a different company from ZenTeaLife. Correct me if I’m wrong, momo, but I think this http://www.ezentea.com is their website. I found it on there :)

TeaLady441

That sounds really good!

Also, it IS really confusing with the different Zen Tea companies out there. :|

momo

That is the website. Last time I was at Zen Tea, people had been sending Zen Tea Life sample requests to Zen Tea and I put two and two together and told her why people were asking for samples. She told me as of late last year they’ve had a trademark on the name Zen Tea. She did end up sending those people samples so I hope they know they came from a different company!

I’ll also see what I have currently, every time I go in there I get sucked in to the deal with buying 4 of them.

Sil

damn it… another company to look into since that “other” one has been voted off the island. oooh they have samplers…

sneaks off to her tea spreadsheet

Shmiracles

(wait…who was voted off the island? i like being educated)

momo

I’ll go back ASAP for you guys, I realize I said they are 4 for $24 but it was 4 for $20! So a bunch on there that are $8 are actually $5 if I get a bunch. The only ones that doesn’t apply to are the organic ones, those are the 4 for $24 ones if I recall correctly because I did buy one organic one once and it was $7

Kittenna

Schmiracles – ZenTeaLife did not handle a customer service issue very well, and some people are unhappy with them and therefore not ordering from there again. Really, good customer service pays…

ashmanra

Kittenna: I just posted a review of ZenTeaLife matcha. I paid $24, the website now says it costs $34.50 and is on sale for $19.99. It is decent matcha, but I was wondering if $34.50 is really their new price for this matcha. Do you know what the customer service issue was, or was it in a thread?

Sil

No thread…lots of ppl have had great issues. Long story short, there were some issues with the package, Indigobloom and I were made whole in terms of money, but we never got the tea, the hassle was a pain in the ass, and after being made to feel several times like it was my fault the package went missing it was only after I provided them with an example of good customer service, that they sort of made an effort…not to compensate me for the hassle but just to basically allow me to take advantage of the sale that I had already tried to. Soooo, if my business means that little, I’d rather not deal with the hassle since there are plenty of other companies out there who understand a thing or two about customer experience. :)

However, no issues with the overall product, if that makes sense….what few I tried before the mixup and hassle.

Indigobloom

I second what Sil said. They have wacky customer service standards. Who gives a refund without checking if its ok first?! I would have liked the option to have the tea sent out again (actually sent out, not implied lol)

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75

My neighborhood is the exact opposite of a food desert. A food oasis! It’s so packed with places to get delicious goodies that I honestly don’t know about even half the places within a 2 block radius. Might sound like I am exaggerating but it’s the truth! For example, 2 weeks ago I discovered a Chinese bakery literally around the corner from me that has been there for years. Yet I missed it! Considering that I am addicted to red bean buns this is like the best news ever.

Plus, everything is insanely cheap. Spent $4 today (no taxes since it’s cash only!) and got a red bean bun, a taro bun, a pastry cream stuffed croissant and a raisin & cream cheese pastry. Yum! Of course I can’t eat all of those in one day, I’m so stuffed from my late lunch of homemade korma that I don’t even have room for a bite right now. But they smell so delicious! I keep sticking my face in the bag and taking big whiffs.

Um, yeah, so this is supposed to be about tea. Whoops, I got carried away by my love for red beans! Can you really blame me? I made this last night while planning my bakery trip (see, they are connected!) thinking that a citrusy jasmine would go well with heavy desserts. This tea isn’t really what I expected, though. It’s floral and citursy but not in any identifiable way. I’d never go “oh, this is jasmine and lemon!” Really, it might as well be rose and lime or lavender and orange on the label.

It’s weird that the flavor is so vague. I am usually really good at identifying floral scents—we had all kinds of flowers in the garden when I was little and I spent a ton of time gardening with my dad (or rather, running around with the kitties while he worked ^^;) so I can generally tell the difference between lilac, magnolia, violet, hyacinth, rose, etc. But here it’s just… kinda generic floral. Like walking by a flower shop—you get hit by all these flowery smells but none of them are distinct. And the citrus is the same way! What kind of magic is this?

It’s not a bad cup of tea, it’s just… weird. Well, not weird tasting, but it’s frustrating not being able to identify smells and tastes. Ah well, lemon jasmine tea does sound really good so now I am thinking about hunting one down!

Mercuryhime

Oooh taro! If they have good flakey egg tarts there then I am officially jealous. ;)

Alphakitty

They do have egg tarts! They are quickly becoming my favorite too, they go very light on the sugar unlike some places so you can really taste the eggy goodness.

Mercuryhime

With the flakey shell or the pie crust shell? Pie crust is okay but a light flakey crust is heaven. Mmm…now I want one.

Alphakitty

Both kinds! They alternate day to day. Which, of course, means I want to go twice as often.

Mercuryhime

Marketing genius. :)

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90
drank Oolong Raspberry by ZenTea
1118 tasting notes

Tea #20 from the ‘Here’s Hoping’ teabox.

I am slowly becoming a fan of raspberry especially when paired with Oolong. With the first steep of this tea (3 minutes) the raspberry flavor was so light it was almost floral. It was sweet and soft while just hinting at juicy berries. Combined with the buttery flavor of the Oolong the tea was delicious. The second steep (5 minutes) gave a tea that was all raspberry with almost no Oolong flavor to be found. I was kind of surprised at how strong the raspberry flavor was, but it was still wonderful. I may do a third steep later tonight just to see what happens.

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77

Sunday Sipdown #1

Thanks to whoever sent this to me as a sample! It was so long ago I couldn’t even begin to make guesses!

I am trying (and actually succeeding!) to move away from adding soy milk to every tea that I drink and only drinking dessert teas, so I like to push myself with non-dessert teas that do NOT warent soy.

Anyway, for that reason, I started with this nice, light green. Though I am rather inexperienced in green tea, I think this one has nice, smooth base to it. The “caribbean” flavoring is okay, but I wish it could be stronger. I did add just over 3tsp to a 16oz travel mug, so I don’t think it’s brewed weak; I just think the flavoring is subtle.

Half of me wishes it was more “in your face” flavoring, but the other half thinks it’s fine just the way it is. Guess you’ll just have to decide for yourself!

This is one I’ll enjoy, but probably not re-order.
Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 45 sec
Courtney

The name alone sounds amazing!

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75
drank Connie's Choice by ZenTea
863 tasting notes

Had this as a latte at the Zen tea bar today with my mom. It’s the first time I’ve been there – or any tea room, for that matter. Mom tried the herbal Pitta blend (which was a nice combination of lemon and mint), but I wanted something decadent.

Steep notes: I don’t know, for a change! There’s something both awesome and unnerving (because I’m a control freak) about having tea made for me!

I didn’t really know what to think about it, though. I feel like there was an artificial caramel note that I could pick up on on some sips, and then not on others. And sometimes the texture would be nice and chocolatey rich, but then others – it seemed like it might have been made with skim milk and was therefore too thin for me. And then sometimes it tasted sweetened, but sometimes it didn’t…so weird, now that I think about it.

But I love that I got to try it, and that my mom and I got to just sit somewhere and relax with a pot/mug of tea and not feel rushed to go anywhere. Since mom teaches yoga and they offer classes I will probably go back with her one of these days to try it out. So fun!

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96

Backlogging: circa 2 months ago. I had nice detailed reviews written out and misplaced them in the boyfriends room! This was before the introduction of a tea journal unfortunately. :S

A sample I received from ZenTea months ago, this was my very first Earl Grey and in retrospect was the best earl grey I have had! The bergamot and citrus are so strong and delicious, with cream and sugar this made the perfect morning blend! The leaves are beautiful and high quality, I have seldom seen a broken leaf from a ZenTea blend. They also resteep very very well- I think I steeped the same bit of this tea 4 times over the course of 3 days, keeping chilled in-between steepings.

I want more more more! I will be buying this tea when I get the chance to do so!

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92
drank Jasmine Dragon Pearl by ZenTea
299 tasting notes

2 steeps of this yesterday, for some reason the 2nd didn’t turn out as good as it usually does. I love this tea, but I hate messing around with temperatures.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C
Ozli

Just made a Zen Tea order :D this tea, OF COURSE (because I only had a small pack last time) and a few caffeine free things (because I only have 2 that I LOVE right now, & something must be done about that!) >:D

TeaLady441

Nice! I just bought a few rooibos/honeybush things from Della Terra Teas because of the same thing! Those Dragon Pearls sound interesting. I think I’ll order from Zen Tea sometime too. I need more coconut oolong!

Ozli

I’m putting some of both into the mail for you on Monday! :D :D

Ozli

You should prob see your package on Wed/Thurs! :D

TeaLady441

“some” is used pretty loosely! Those packs were pretty big!

Ozli

oh yeah, because i knew i was getting more jasmine pearls ANY DAY and because i can take or leave the oolong, but you love it. :D

TeaLady441

:) Well thanks again. You made my day.

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92
drank Jasmine Dragon Pearl by ZenTea
299 tasting notes

Afternoon is for green tea! I would drink way more green tea if it wasn’t such a huge pain in the ass to mess with temperatures. I love this tea.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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92
drank Jasmine Dragon Pearl by ZenTea
299 tasting notes

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92
drank Jasmine Dragon Pearl by ZenTea
299 tasting notes

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92
drank Jasmine Dragon Pearl by ZenTea
299 tasting notes

I could really get into green tea. This is nice and light and a bit flowery. 2nd steep seemed MORE flowery and less tea-y. But yeah. I should have bought more. :P

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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83

Ancient Alphabet challenge – G

Another old tea I have enjoyed over the years. It’s sad not many of these teas lingering around are teas that I didn’t like. I liked all of these teas in the challenge so far. sigh. I always thought this flavor wasn’t exactly jasmine OR lemon but I just figured out what it reminds me of: that champagne flavor that is occasionally in a tea. Which fits: there are so many huge flowers in this blend it’s like a party in a cup. Maybe whomever named this tea just took a chance guessing this weird flavor.

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83

Additional notes: ICED edition. I steeped two teaspoons of this in a mason jar for 24 hours and I’m so glad I didn’t let it sit longer as the green tea got a bit overbrewed. A little bitter. It was also a bit too perfumey cold. So I guess I liked this one better hot. Really, I guess I’m just writing these iced tea notes for myself, so I remember what I did or didn’t try iced yet and what worked!

Terri HarpLady

And the Dashboard begins to move!

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83

Thanks Dinosara for the trade! The dry leaves here smell like a fruity champagne. I love the flowers. Though this says it it supposed to be a jasmine tea yet lists rose petals. This tea really could have used a brew basket instead of my infuser… hopefully next time. I wanted to order a brew basket but I just noticed Tea Lux is having a sale!! They have so many delicious sounding teas. Not sure if I should place two orders of tea right now — no money and too much tea! ha. Anyway, this one is very smooth, light, sweet, floral and slightly fruity (but not anything like hibiscus..maybe it’s lemony, but I can barely tell). It’s light flavored, yet complex. It’s very tough to pick out the white and green tea flavors, but I like that it is a blend of both. The steep color looked like it was going to be a light sea green color, before turning yellow. I’ve never seen that before! I really like it! I gulped this one down.

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71
drank Oolong Raspberry by ZenTea
4164 tasting notes

thanks again Dinosara for the trade! First, I must mention there are too many tea companies with the word Zen in them. I am getting confused. (But I must also mention that my very favorite is Zentealife.com!) Also, suddenly I have so many oolongs to write tasting notes for! Where did they all come from?
This one is good! The leaves smell like a sweet ripe raspberry (my favorite!) The first steep was three minutes. The raspberry tastes like a raspberry candy, rather than a tart raspberry. The oolong is hiding! I really can’t taste any. With the second steep (at five minutes), somehow the raspberry tastes more genuine, but maybe that is the oolong helping with that. The oolong flavor is much more present this steep. It is very vegetal but sweet. Not very floral or peachy. I’ll have to try this one iced…

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63

Another sample I received from Zen Tea!

This one is a sencha base with gojiberries, lemongrass, cornflower petals, blueberry and pomegranate flavoring. Dry, it smells fairly potent, it’s sweet and tart, and pretty to look at. I can smell the pomegranate and blueberry quite predominately. Wet, the leaves gain a slight grassy scent to them.

Taste is sweet and tart. Not quite as potent as the dry smell though. This tea is dominated by the blueberry and pomegranate flavors. If I search I can find the lemongrass. I can’t say I taste much of the sencha base, if at all.

I can’t say I’m impressed with this tea. It’s not bad, I just like to taste my tea base. Unfortunately, I cannot in this blend. Maybe I’ll try this cold brewed, I might like it more that way. Even with me not caring for this tea, I have to say that I’m still impressed with Zen Tea. This is only one tea that I don’t care for out of five different teas I’ve tried from them. The rest I thought were all delicious! One out of five isn’t bad, plus I got an awesome yixing from them. I like this company!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Babble

As a whole I really like Zen Tea’s teas too. I’m glad we get to sample them :)

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4

Before Steeping:
Scent- Bluebery, black tea and lemon

Affter Steeping:
Scent- bluebery, black tea and clorox… Appolling to the scences.
Color- Amber

Taste:
Nude- Bluebery, Black tea (a heavy earl grey taste) with Carpet cleaner
With sugar- Sugar and Pinesole.

*in all …EW!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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76

I think I’m not a huge fan of oxidized oolong teas. They just don’t seem like “real” oolongs to my tastes. This one has a nice caramell-y malty kind of flavor but it falls much closer to a black for the mood I was in.
I’m getting metal aftertaste flavors on this tea.
While I didn’t care for this much, it was exactly like it was described – If you like more roasty oolongs this might be for you.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Alphakitty

Bao Zhongs/Pouchongs are usually very very light oolongs, but there are a few darker ones with the same name… kind of weird!

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90

Sample supplied by Zen Tea. This is identical to the tea I claim as my comfort tea. Ashmanra said she has found it in a local shop. I say shop around and find your best deal but do try this one. It is just a fruity delight. Warning – do not store this in the same drawer as your other teas. It is not over the top flavored when you sip it but in the package it is kind of powerful. Love this one.

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