Zhena's Gypsy Tea

I threw this into the teapot tonight because I’m trying to use up some of my bagged teas before payday – when I can actually build up my loose leaf collection. I’ve learned from experience that to enjoy Zhena’s tea I need to use two teabags, so I threw those into my 2-cup teapot and let them steep.

This particular batch is a little syrupy, but that’s probably because I ran out of Sugar in the Raw and lost count of of the sugar cubes I had to use instead. I’m glad I decided to use two bags, as this is still pretty light-tasting. The camomile is the strongest, but a faint licorice aftertaste follows in its sway.

All in all, I’m glad I pulled this down from the shelf. It’s been a hectic day – the end of the school year is upon us, and my seniors are all going a little crazy about graduation. But now most the papers are graded and I was even able to leave the rest at school. This cup is a fantastic transition for me – a sweet reminder that part of the day is over, and now it’s time to cuddle with the cats (Akasha and Mei-Mei – we’re nerds!) and curl up with a book. An unheard of luxury during the school year!

That’s no light task, and I’m impressed this tea managed to pull it off!

Okay, this just shot up in my esteem! Last time I made it, it was in my 3-cup pot with one teabag and about 2 tablespoons of honey. This time I made it in my 2-cup pot and used Sugar in the Raw with two teabags. Add a dash of milk and it really tastes like I’m sipping a chai latte at Starbucks. Maybe it’s because when I go there I’m a 6-pump chai girl – I just like it RICH and very sweet. I can’t go tea-shopping for another week, so I’m delighted that we have something I can enjoy in the meantime!

Despite this chai not being exactly perfect, I’ve really developed a taste for it. I’m about halfway through my second tin now.

I still prefer it without milk, mostly because it isn’t really spicy enough to stand up against it. The flavor still doesn’t scream “chai” to me… it’s more like a cinnamon bun!

Since summer arrived, I’ve been making it into iced chai and taking it places. I tend to let it steep for a good long time with two bags plus one bag of Harney & Son’s Vanilla Comoro. I generally use only a few ounces of water to steep it in, then add sweetener and enough ice to fill a pint glass. Upping my rating!

thank you kallieboo! I like this, though it’s not exactly caramel apple. i’m getting totally sleepy but this was a really nice smooth evening blend…and now that i realise it has chamomille in it..that would be why i’m sleepy lol

I was not impressed with this pot of tea. It’s possible that I should have used two bags in my teapot, but this particular batch was very weak and bland. I even let it steep a lot longer than usual, but the taste did not improve.

Having not had this in a while and needing to be at work early provided an excellent opportunity!

Feeling blah today. I fell yesterday and hurt my neck again. Instead of going to campus like I said I would, I’ve been sitting here working on a bunch of different CVs. Whee.

For my second drink today I used this tea, frozen, in a pumpkin frappa-whatsit. It’s really good. The coconut and spices work really well with pumpkin.

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Another favorite black tea. The heavy chai flavor is accented wonderfully with ginger and coconut. Like any black tea, if you steep it too long you won’t be able to appreciate the other flavors of the tea.

I made up some of this tea super strong, and froze it. Mmm, tea frappa-whatsits. My summer nemesis. At least this way I can combine the frozen tea with almond milk and control my sweetener. I like adding a bit of banana for creaminess, but it won’t go with all teas… Maybe I should add some coconut milk powder to this one!

(4 large ice cubes, 200ml milk, honey to taste, 1/4 banana)

I really have to want to take a walk on the wild side to drink chai since I’m allergic to cinnamon, and I guess today was one of those days. The combination of this intrigued me so much I just had to try it. I’m not normally a huge fan of coconut, but this wasn’t bad, although a little artificial tasting. It was very spicy with just a hint of sweetness from the coconut. I think next time around I’ll sweeten this up a little bit.

Is it bad that I bought this tea just for the tin? Gypsy Rose came as part of a set of 4 different types of tea all in one tin. I liked the individual sections for the different teas and knew that even if I didn’t like the tea I would reuse the tin when I travel.

I love rose tea and it is so rare to find it bagged that I almost always buy it when I see it. I’m a sucker like that. I didn’t think this tea was bad, but it I also didn’t think it was anything special either. The rose was on the strong side, but not overwhelming and the black tea was a bit weak, but not terrible. I wouldn’t suggest going a full five minutes with this one, even though the tin suggests 3-5 minutes. I think the rose would start to overpower the tea.

At 6.99 per tin this was a bit on the pricey side for the quality of the tea. I don’t really think I would buy this again for myself, but it might make a nice gift for someone just getting started with tea. The four flavors in the tin are pretty fun combinations.

I expected more peach out of this since peach is listed first in the name, I got a lot of ginger. This tea has a real bite to it with just a hint of sweet and that bite was more noticeable when the tea cooled.

I ended up mixing my first steep and second together to cut down on the ginger and it was a lot better that way. I was able to taste a bit more of the peach. I’ll probably save my last two bags for next time my stomach is upset, this will be perfect.

Not my favorite peach tea, especially since I spent most of the day drinking mellow mango peach from Della Terra, but this wasn’t bad at all for a bagged tea.

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not my favorite.
and i like mint teas.
i’m suspicious of the stevia.

once upon a time i bought this tea from the grocery store.
i was new to tea.
i did not like it very much.
i thought i did not like tea,
but the punch line is that i just don’t like chamomile and didn’t know any better.

from the Zhena’s stackable sampler, i remember this tea being my FAVORITE of the four teas by leaps and bounds. it was absolutely delicious. for a store bought tea, it’s an perfect 10.

Apparently I’m on a coconut kick today.

I picked this one up because I had seen Kittenna rave about it, and it was on sale. Woo!

It’s really nice. I’m not tasting much coconut, but I did a 3 minute steep to stay on the safe side. I think that 4 or 5 minutes would be fine with this tea. The spice flavours are so nicely balanced, I’m really enjoying it. Definitely a good bagged chai to drag around with me in my purse. :)

I know I have logged this one but I also know it’s been like 4 years.
I had a cup of this yesterday – loose. It was alright! It was Chai with Coconut. It was sweet but spicy. Tropical but ‘of the earth’, too!

It’s been so long since I last posted a tasting note. Class has me so busy lately. sigh

I have been wanting to try this tea for a while, and was surprised to find a tin of it at Ocean State Job Lot. Ocean State’s teas aren’t always the best (Ocean State is a lot like Big Lots) they tend to be old and dried up. So I was worried that I would not be getting the best possible first impression of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea. However the tin must have been well sealed, or the tea fresher than most tea I have found at this store, because it did not taste the least bit stale and has a nice aroma dry.

I steeped it for only 3 minutes but found it on the bitter side. Not too bitter but still a little more bitter than I would prefer my Earl Grey. A shorter steep time might improve the bitterness. I added a little sugar and it was better, bitterness-wise. Also a little milk does not hurt it.

Overall it is a good bagged Earl Grey, a lot of bergamot flavor and a good hint of raspberry. Most flavored Earl Greys do not have enough bergamot to satisfy me but this tea does. I usually wind up not liking raspberry teas but am happy to report that this is one of the raspberry teas I like.

I think this tin was like two bucks, I will have to get back to Ocean State and get some more.

Cold-brewed!

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