Tea type
Black Herbal Blend
Ingredients
Black Tea, Rose Petals
Flavors
Floral, Rose, Sweet
Sold in
Tea Bag
Caffeine
High
Certification
Fair Trade
Edit tea info Last updated by MacchaMan
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 15 sec 9 oz / 266 ml

From Our Community

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21 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I found it funny that my sister gave me some of this in her christmas gift to me of 12 teas. This is the only one from her that I had tried before, and was not a very big fan. Its a heavy and very...” Read full tasting note
    54
  • “I purchased the Romance sampler from Zhena’s awhile back, and this is one of the offerings contained within. It steeped to a rather vibrant red (nothing like the photo!) in a mere 2 minutes, so I...” Read full tasting note
  • “Last of the 4 from the sample pack. I needed another cuppa this morning, and I figured it would be good to finish up this sampler before I leave on vacation. Smells good, is good iced. I’d...” Read full tasting note
  • “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...” Read full tasting note
    74

From Zhena's Gypsy Tea

The fragrant notes of rare grade Sri Lankan tea leaves are punctuated with the aromatic petals of select hand-plucked roses which give this brew its soft pink hue. You will pleasure in the intoxicating, fragrant bouquet that lightly scents the rising steam.

Ingredients: Sri Lankan black tea, red and pink rose petals, organic natural flavors.

Embossed recyclable air tight tin containing 22 sachets of certified 100% fair trade and organic tea

Steep 3-5 minutes

About Zhena's Gypsy Tea View company

Company description not available.

21 Tasting Notes

54
2964 tasting notes

I found it funny that my sister gave me some of this in her christmas gift to me of 12 teas. This is the only one from her that I had tried before, and was not a very big fan. Its a heavy and very perfumy rose tea. I love rose teas, but this was a bit too much, even for me.
But maybe its because its the last bag of this, but I dont mind it at all today. Still, I wont be bringing this back into my cupboard myself.
Sipdown!

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1112 tasting notes

I purchased the Romance sampler from Zhena’s awhile back, and this is one of the offerings contained within. It steeped to a rather vibrant red (nothing like the photo!) in a mere 2 minutes, so I removed the bag and took a sip – a little flat. A single, scant teaspoon of sugar helped. A pronounced rosiness. I wouldn’t dream of steeping it a second beyond the two minutes that I did. As it cools, it is getting a little bitter, and rosier. This is not a good thing!

Would I buy a whole tin? No!! I am not able to finish my cup, and I am actually thinking of using the remaining tea bags as sachets to tell you the truth! The tea base is a little iffy (as a rule I don’t enjoy Sri Lankan and Indian tea without milk, and I absolutely do not like rose teas with milk!!), and the rose is veering a bit into Lotion territory. I have a few teas that I love with rose as one of many flavoring ingredients, but I have not as yet found a just rose and black tea that I love. Do any of you have recommendations?

My first disappointment from Zhena’s :(

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Kaitlin S

I like the idea of undrinkable tea bags as sachets. :) Way to make lemonade out of lemons! It would probably be pretty nice steeped in a bath or foot soak, too!

JacquelineM

I was thinking that too, until I remembered that women in the 1940s used to bathe with black tea and it would tint their skin so that they would look like they had stockings on (this was during WWII rations and stockings were hard to get or unavailable). I like my natural pallor – do not want to risk turning any other color :) :) :)

gmathis

I deliberately buy dollar-shop black tea (tagless bags) to make eye compresses.

Kaitlin S

Hah – that is an interesting bit of historical trivia. I would think you’d have to get your bath tea pretty concentrated to change your skin color! But, who knows.

JacquelineM

I also use tea to dye fabric – I bet the rose fragrance will last through the first rinse! Right now the remaining tea bags are in my lingerie drawer, and I’ll take them out and use then for my next dyeing project when needed.

Batrachoid

Use it to scent some homemade cleaning solution. It’s allergy friendly and whatever offending tea you use often has a good medicinal use. Right now I ’ve got a bottle of cinnamon rose infused cleaner for my drawing desk to keep me alert and lemongrass peach to keep the bathroom refreshing.

JacquelineM

Thank you Batrachoid! That’s a great idea too! I put on some very nicely scented unmentionables this morning :) and I’ll try the cleaning solution trick once the sachets lose their scenting ability. I love making natural cleaning concoctions! Then I will compost them and they will help grow flowers and veggies. I feel at peace :)

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330 tasting notes

Last of the 4 from the sample pack. I needed another cuppa this morning, and I figured it would be good to finish up this sampler before I leave on vacation.

Smells good, is good iced. I’d definitely like to try another tea company’s rose tea, I find this one interesting. There’s something about this one that makes me not want this specific one again, but I’m not sure what. I definitely find it intriguing though.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Lupicia has a very nice rose tea. Have a wonderful vacation!

Skulleigh

Thanks Bonnie! I’m trying to figure out if I want to bring some tea along with me. I’m not sure what kind of access to hot water I will have through.

I hope they get the fires near you put out soon!

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74
2145 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
scribbles

I do stuff like that too….buy teas for the tins…

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75
82 tasting notes

I got this back in the fall, and then went to drinking nothing but teas with ginger or cinnamon in them for the last six months, so the tin has been sitting untouched in my cupboard. Oops.

I haven’t really tried any new tea during that time, either, so I figured I should start remedying that. This rosy blend was at the top of the list. Opening the tin, it smelled a bit like potpourri, overwhelmingly rosy. Any more and it would have been overpowering, but somehow the scent manages to stay on just this side of the stomach-turning line, and it’s actually pretty pleasant after a few seconds.

The aroma is fantastic once the hot water is added, mellowing beautifully but not coming even close to disappearing. The flavor of the tea is a little lacking, but the rosiness makes up for it nicely. It’s not anything exciting, but it’s definitely a pleasant cup and I’ll have no problem finishing up the tin. Not sure it’s one that will become a permanent fixture in my cupboard, though.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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100
54 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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77
307 tasting notes

After my first tiny sip, there was already a lovely floral taste left in my mouth. The immediate flavour, however, made me wonder if I had oversteeped it, although I had followed the directions fairly closely (3-5 minutes, boiling water is recommended).

After drinking a bit more, I’m pretty sure that it isn’t overstepped after all, but that the rose petals just give too strong of a first impression on the tongue. The scent and lingering taste that the rose petals are lovely, but that first flavour still leaves something to be desired.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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60
50 tasting notes

When I open the desk drawer that this tin is stored in, I think about who at work might like to take this off my hands. The closed tin fills the drawer with a strong, perfume-worthy rose smell. Then I make a cup, smell the more pleasant and fainter rose aroma of the steeping tea bag, and then taste the cup with a dash of milk and decide to stash the tin back in the drawer. The rose flavor in the cup definitely takes a back seat to the black tea, which is a nice, strong, sharp black tea, but I can still taste the rose. I don’t think I’ll run right out to replace this tin when the last bag is gone, but I’m enjoying this tea now.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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80
100 tasting notes

Very light, pleasant. Unsure if additives would do anything to improve the flavor. Light rose/floral, basic rose tea flavors. Not sickly sweet. Tasted 09.2018

Flavors: Floral, Rose, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 9 OZ / 266 ML

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84
72 tasting notes

Long ago, I bought a huge amount of this as loose-leaf. I had just gotten into loose-leaf, and was awed by low per-unit pricing. Anyway, I’ve still got like a quarter pound of it sitting around, because, as it turns out, I don’t feel the need to have rose tea every day.

This tea is…a very, very, rosey tea. It doesn’t work for me as a general drinking hot tea, because the tea flavor is secondary to the rose flavor. That said, it makes a wonderful base for a sweet milk tea with boba, and is a perennial crowd-pleaser iced. As it’s getting warmer, I’ve been keeping a bottle of it on hand for social teatime. It’s pretty perfect as a sugary treat for warm afternoons, sitting outside and enjoying a book. I won’t be sad if I ever manage to sipdown my piles and piles of Gypsy Rose, but it’s a respectable flowery tea, when I’m in the mood.

Lexie Aleah

Sounds delicious. I’ve not loved Zhena’s chai teas but should try this one sometime.

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