Cherry Rose Organic

I bought this more for iced tea but seeing that I’m going to Banff tomorrow (exciting!), I’m not going to start busting out my mom’s iced tea jug only to have to clean it again.

Anyway, the dry leaf smells very subtle. There is a touch of cherry. Middle of the road scent, neither natural nor artificial if that makes any sense.

Hot, it’s what I had expected. The cherry is on the duller side. It’s there, and a little on the sweet side. It’s not tart at all. The rose is hardly palpable here.

It’s pleasant but there’s nothing more to really say about it, except that I’m sure it’ll make a better cold brew.

I received this as a sample with my order. Now I don’t drink a lot of cherry green teas, I don’t find myself craving them a lot but I do enjoy them a lot…if they are done right. So often I will try a cherry flavored tea and it will taste like cough syrup. Other times there’s a lot of hibiscus added to help bring in extra tartness. This has neither of those bad qualities.

This is a very nice smooth cherry rose sencha tea. I had one a few years ago that I really liked and could never find who did made it. I think it was a local store blend that you could only buy to drink in house. You couldn’t buy any to take with you. But this tea tastes a lot like that one. It’s silky smooth sencha that’s not totally buried, but the grassiness is subdued. The rose is nice and floral soft. The rose doesn’t overpower as I find it does in so many other blends. The cherry isn’t really tart at all, kind of tastes like those jarred cherries that you use to top sundaes, I have no idea what they’re called, but they are nice and sweet. This is a really nice tea, plus it can be steeped at least 3 decent times. I’ve gotten it up to five already with plenty of flavor left!

TYs out to Zen tea for a sample of this tea!

Blarg, I’ve been mostly drinking unflavored teas that can survive the “Dump into tea pot without strainer and sit there all day” treatment, as I want to pound out my writing for NaNoWriMo without having to stop and make tea and wait for it.

DRY: Smells like those really sweet red cherries in a jar. Maraschino cherries? DROOLDROOLDROOOOOL

STEEPED: Strong floral mixed with a zing of sweet cherry!

TASTE: Lots of flavor! Strong rosey floral taste that is very fresh tasting. Distinctive cherry taste, not very sweet as it smells. A little bit of bitterness, maybe from the floral. The green tea is in the background, and it’s smooth, bordering silky.

COMMENTS: If you do not like floral, stay clear of this one!
This tea is pretty strongly floral – the cherry is a nice flavor. I did not like the bitterness I got, but I think I will steep this at 175 next time, which I think will help. Overall, pretty nice – but I love floral teas.

One thing I love about Zen Tea is that they include the steep times right on the package. I’ve been spared many an over-steeped tea thanks to companies that take that extra step (putting the info up on their website just isn’t the same!).

I was worried that the tea would be a bit cough-syrupy from the very powerful dry leaf smell. Fortunately, that’s not the case at all. The tea retains the cherry smell once steeped, but the taste itself is much more subdued. It’s rather floral, rather grassy, just a bit fruity. Everything is in moderation and it’s very smooth on the palate.

I wish I had ordered more than a tiny packet of this now that I know it doesn’t taste like candy, but c’est la vie. I’ll enjoy what I have and hope that it’s a tea that comes back when they restock.

When I smell this tea brewed it always reminds me of two things, cherry soda crossed with cream soda, and babysoft perfume.

Having said that it is a really nice tea for those who enjoy floral cherry senchas and like all of the Zen Tea green teas I have had it comes to you incredible fresh tasting. I like that for this tea I was provided with harvest dates and provenance.

The dry leaf was quite pretty a bright rich green sencha scattered with rose petals. The dry leaf smelled about the same as the brewed but the brewed tea does smell sweeter.

The sencha underneath the tea is quite sweet, with little to no astringency. The tea has a medium body, and has a sense of thickness and creaminess in the mouth.

A sweet cherry flavour is prominent followed by a clean green flavour which is very slightly grassy, followed by a spicy floral taste from the rose, The rose doesn’t seem to be adding the bitterness I find it can add at some times. All of these flavours are neatly distinguishable from eah other and as it cools the tea base comes more to the fore front.

This tea resteeps well. I have resteeped it up to 5 times before and it keeps a consistent flavour for the first three steepings, at least, before it starts to change.

I don’t find that it tastes medicinal like some people report with cherry teas if anything the rose can make it taste a little powdery but the cherry is sweet enough that I dont feel like I am tasting perfume. It leaves an aftertaste like the one I get after eating black cherries. This is a nice example of this classic flavour.