Zhena's Gypsy Tea

Not a bad green. It didn’t stand out as awesome or awful, but it was a decent cup. I had this bagged, and I wish that it had better steeping instructions on the packet.

2 minute steep this time. Still not getting the raspberry, but at least the Bergamot doesn’t smack you in the face quite as hard. Lowering my rating; there’s much better Earl Grey blends out there.

I steeped for 3 minutes this time around. Slightly more raspberry than when brewed for 5 minutes, but the bergamot is still so very strong and overwhelming that you have to consciously try to taste the raspberry. It seems almost sacrilege to steep a black tea for less than 3 minutes, but I’ll try this one for two. Tomorrow. Noon has now come and gone, and caffeine consumption must cease.

Would like to be able to taste more of the raspberry than the bergamot.

Tried this earlier, treating it like I’d usually treat a sencha – lukewarm water around 70-75 degrees C, 4g per 150ml with a steep less than 45 seconds. Really didn’t have much flavor to convey other than dustiness and an off-taste like old bruised lettuce that’s been sitting out too long. Pushing the concentration seems to work better than the time and temp is working best around 85ish degrees C. Should prolly tweak around some more, but this tea really doesn’t inspire me to try too much… May have been okay at one time, but this is stale.
I thank AmazonV for this, as it’s interesting to taste the tea and then see what the company says about it. Had myself a good laugh when I saw they consider this to have “perfectly balanced flavor.”

2g per 60ml in a glazed ceramic gaiwan. 1 minute steep with 85 degree C water. Got a slackened second infusion out of it using a 2 minute steep and 84 degree C water.

Dry leaves are composed of 6 parts leaves (old cut grass-green with white reflection), 4 parts twig (pale yellow-green), 1 part stem (reddish brown). Dry fragrance is similar to a handful of dry hay. Slight off-ripe note like old wilted lettuce or rotten apricot in a plastic bag that you can’t quite smell but leaves an odd tint to the air in the room. Wet leaves slightly yellowish green and mashed together like most senchas… Not very much aroma at all. Wet leaf aroma is like the smell of sea foam, but very light. Liquor aroma kinda musty, like wet dust and a faint aroma of hedge trimmings. Liquor is clear and medium yellow. Hansa + Cadmium yellow with a little tiny bit of Zinc white mixed 1:1 with linseed and mineral spirits using oil paints. To those who don’t paint or feel this is too far a stretch at euphemism, I’m pretty sure this will come out looking exactly how it did going in.

Flavor? Couple bits of well-rinsed seaweed floating in the water I’m drinking. Body is sort of broth-like; thicker than I expected. Flat. When slurped, I can get more flavor, but it’s like slurping water from a stream with a lot of algae in it. Musty non-fruit “ripeness” through to aftertaste. I get the same sort of quality in the aftertaste of 7up that has sat out for a few days (well, remembered taste – I don’t drink that junk any more). Afteraroma similar to the exhalation after breathing in around washed up, withering brown kelp – sort of an oily sweet-sour impression in the nose.

Can’t call this okay or even unremarkable… won’t be buying it. Still, interesting to fiddle with for a spell to try to make something out of it. I get the distinct impression that this is the sort of “premium” tea companies oftentimes use to flavor/scent.

This tea brews a dark caramel liquor providing an aroma full of baked peaches and the hint of a spicy touch.

On the palate this tea morphs into something different. The profile is slightly astringent, drying the outer edges of the mouth. The peach flavor is more subtle at this point and the ginger tends to come through with just a tough more force. The flavor here is weaker than other peach/ginger blends I’ve had and I actually appreciate that.

I would recommend this blend to fans of peach flavored teas and lighter Indian and Ceylon black teas.

The coconut flavor is a great addition to this chai blend, very tasty.

I’m used to mint teas being very minty and fresh on the palate. While this tea may refresh the palate a bit, it’s flavor was far too subdued for my tastes.

The inclusion of stevia leaves takes the bite out of the mint I think, which disappointed me.

Overall I try not to drink too many bagged teas. The quality and flavor just doesn’t live up to what I am used to. If Zhena’s offered a loose variant of this I’d be willing to give it another go.

As it is, this tea was just ‘ok.’

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 heaping tsp
Water: 500ml at 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vegetal
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, vegetal
Flavor: vegetal, a little bitter
Body: Light
Aftertaste: grassy, bitter
Liquor: pale translucent yellow-green

I added 1 minute, the same result really.

MilitiaJim insisted it reminded him of genmaichai (toasty, rice)

I don’t have a strong love of green tea, and this one is not amazing enough, at least the way I prepared it, to warrant me getting it again.

I am greatful to LENA for sharing this tea with me, and her amazingly detailed notes and adorable little tupperware packaging.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/08/zhenas-gypsy-tea-loose-leaf-green-tea.html

Not much to say really, it was too juicy for me. Not much green tea flavor or characteristics, it tasted like a tart juice you would drink with breakfast. Not impressed and would not purchase; I received a sample so at least I didn’t waste my money on it and don’t you.

I’m a sucker for a great name and cool packaging. While not a huge fan of bagged tea, this one hooked me with both.

Opening the tin, you find that the tea is packaged in bleached, round wafer style tea bags. The fragrance is a dusty chocolate with a very faint note of mushroom.

From the name and description, this green tea should have some indications of a chocolate-cherry flavor component. After steeping for 4 minutes as recommended, you’re left with a straw colored liquid with very little character. In fragrance, you can barely sense some cocoa but the flavor is merely that of a very light, mild green. Once the cup cooled, the chocolate presented itself, but very faintly. Goji completely missed its curtain call.

I’m a marketing manager’s dream in that I’ll drop $10 on a tin of tea because of the packaging. However, I’m also their nightmare because I’m vocal when I don’t like something. This tea was the epitome of all that fails in a bagged tea.

A very delicious tea! I really liked this one. Zhena uses the same type of tea bag as The Republic of Tea, unbleached, round, no string. The rose flavoring is prominent but not overpowering, a very soothing and relaxing cuppa. The teas are the clean, medium-body from India and Sri Lanka. To take in the essence of the tea and then to taste it, is sublime. The longer the tea steeped, the flavoring does not get too strong; it stays nice and soothing, relaxing, gentle and delicious. I would highly recommend this tea.

Same steeping parameters and this was a sample. I would NOT buy…but a nice tea if looking for even more health benefits and if you want a “juicy” tea. It was somewhat juicy, but not as much as the Wholeberry [this one got a little too tart] I reviewed. Because of the Cinnamon Bark and the Peppermint Leaves, the juiciness was diluted slightly; I tasted cinnamon with a cooling effect, the peppermint. This was a tasty tea. I must admit, the duration steeping time barely effected the taste; the cinnamon only got a hint stronger but nothing intolerable; the peppermint however, got a little stronger too almost to the point of throwing out, but it was tolerable as well. You could not really taste the green tea because of the other flavors.

I did however, appreciated the packaging. Nice pyramid-style sachets which were wrapped for freshness.

My usual parameters for steeping. This tea is ok for what it is. It is juicy, a little sweet and tart. I don’t much care really for flavored teas because the intended flavor always seems to overpower the tea and in this case it did; this was a sample by-the-way. It was a little too tart because of the Cranberries but take into consideration my steeping methods; steeped to the “proper” specifications and it might be less tart, more tea taste. It was the better of the two I’ve had so far the other being Pomberry Green Tea [review of this tea coming soon]. The juiciness gets to be overpowering the longer it’s kept in the hot water. The liquor is a pretty, medium-colored pink.

This tea’s and the Pomberry’s characteristics remind me of The Republic of Tea, and if you’ve read my reviews of The Republic of Tea aren’t too favorable; the flavored teas between the two brands taste alike. Even though the ingredients are organic, the flavor(s) taste artificial and chemical to me. If you like juicy teas, then this one you may like.

I am anxious to try the other teas I actually ordered from this brand…my first try at them. Tasting notes coming in the near future.

I tried this cold and it brews to a beautiful red. I wish there were a bit more fruit and not as
much of the “spice” flavor. I really dislike teas that have that peppery kind of taste. Won’t be buying a tin of this.

The smell of this reminds me of Raspberry Truffles sort of. It’s an interesting taste…a little like raspberry/chocolate truffles, a little like green and rooibos, and a little like Licorice…but just a VERY little. I can usually taste the difference between chocolate and carob and in this one it seems to hit me as chocolate at first with a slow change-up to carob. Not bad. Actually…I think I kind of like this…yeah…I do…I like this. Everything seems to work yet there is a bit of mystery to it.

This is probably one of my favorites from Zhena’s, and I just noticed that they have a new green coconut chai… may have to look for it the next time I’m in Whole Foods!

This is yummy. I like that it has a latte feel to it without adding milk – the coconut makes it creamy and rich tasting. Delicious, warm, spicy… and warming me up on this cold afternoon!

I am really liking this. The coconut flavor is stronger than I expected it to be, and it is sweet and oh-so-yummy! The chai flavors are not as robust here as I usually like for my chai teas, but, the level of spice works really well with the coconut. I like how the sweetness of the coconut brings out some of the spices.

Really nice. I think this would also be very good iced.

Wow, this turned a deep dark pinky purple. Flavor-wise I found it a little sweeter than expected, but a little boring. Nice to try it, but not something I’ll search out.

Tonight is a very good night for this kind of tea. It’s rainy and quite gloomy. I normally stay away from black teas at night… But it just seems right. The scent kind of smacks you in the face. It’s definitely a mix of coconut and strong spice. I like it! I wish I had some milk so I could try a more creamy cup.. But right now I’m happy.

I’m liking this one. I tried it iced this time. Very fruity and light. Good for the summer!

I don’t think I’ll purchase this tea, but the cup that I did drink was alright. It smelled exactly like chocolate and raspberries. I think that I prefer this combination in an actual chocolate square and not in a tea. I made it about half-way through and then realized that it was a little too… rich.

I had breakfast with my friend this morning and picked this tea bag (which I had actually given to her) in hopes of possibly having a different experience. I honestly didn’t notice any of the vanilla or any kind of floral element to the tea. The only flavor that stood out was that of the Darjeeling, which isn’t necessarily bad, but this is supposed to be a Vanilla Orchid tea blend, not plain Darjeeling. Too bad that even this second experience was uneventful. No more Zhena for me!