Zhena's Gypsy Tea

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.

I searched last Summer for this tea because I love coconut and I love chai. When I found it I was disappointed. I think a may be biased and think I only like black tea chai.

I tried to keep an open mind tonight and followed the directions on the can(I normally think my way is the right way). The coconut is not over powering and does not have an artificial taste like some other teas I have tried. The spices are not as strong as I’m used to either.

I think I could grow to like this and maybe finish the can if I try, but I would rather find this with black tea and toss this one.

Maybe because it’s cold in the office, or maybe because I’m craving caramel..whatever it is, I found a bag of this in the cupboard at work since I forgot all my teas at home today except my travel mug, and it is AMAZING. Yes, so good today. It’s caramelly and spicy and just yummy. I didn’t time it either, just put the bag in until it looked sufficiently dark. And it turned out! Happy I found some of this, I needed some hot tea to warm up. See previous notes! Oh and I definitely might have to buy some of this sometime now lol. Increased rating as well!

One of the ladies at work brought this tea in, and I am trying a bag, with our new..drumroll variable temp kettle in the office! It’s the conversation starter of the week haha, it’s so noisy with it’s beeping, the CuisineArt glass one, but it’s soo nice. I can bring green tea to work! :D

Yesterday I had a huge migraine so I just used it to make peppermint tea, and today my migraine continues, but I had to try this tea. It smells so gingery in the dry bag. I steeped for 4 mins, and the flavor isn’t bad, it reminds me of Gingerbread by DavidsTea with maybe a smidge more spice. And there is a bit more of a caramel sweetness, which is nice. The rooibos is not bad for a bagged one. For the easy factor, this is a good tea, I might look into picking some up when I have room in my cupboard again just because sometimes I’m too lazy for a steeper. But for now I will drink this down and then probably pound more mint tea. Darn you migraine. Go away.

Sipdown!

I enjoyed this one a lot. I will probably buy it again as soon as my tea collection is under control.

Coconut, cinnamon, and cloves… who knew?

Dug this one out of my cupboard today after not touching it for months. I forgot how much I like it.

I think the coconut flavoring comes out a bit more now that it’s getting old. I could also taste more of the ginger and less of the nutmeg and the cloves, which is a-okay with me. The black base is nice and mild, and of good quality.

A perfect blend to drink as we transition from winter to summer.

I can’t get enough of this lately. I know I’ve posted about it a lot, so I don’t have anything new or groundbreaking to say about it, other than I’m really glad I decided to commit to a whole tin of the sachets.

It even travels well. I brought it into my internship this morning, and it was still wonderful. Smooth and warming. Everything you could possibly want in a chai masala, and then some, because of the coconut.

The wind was sooooo strong today! Traveling across campus was a real struggle.

This was the perfect antidote. Chai is the best tea for winter afternoons. Plus, the coconut made me think of summertime/ tropical islands/ not being here.

For once, I managed not to oversteep it, too. The coconut had an almost-oily presence, very similar to the texture of actual coconut milk, and the spices underpinned it nicely.

I didn’t add any milk or sweetener of any kind to it. It doesn’t need it! It’s perfectly delicious on its own.

Oooo boy, do I love me some Zhena’s.

Delicious chai. Smooth black tea base, perfect amount of spice (it’s there, but it doesn’t make your eyes water) and some lovely coconut to round it all out. The round sachets are awesome, and they really allow for a nice infusion.

Delicious!

Mmmm! I was expecting the coconut to be totally overpowered by the chai spices, but man was I wrong! The coconut is light and sweet and perfectly balanced with the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Delicious!

This green tea surprised me. The aroma smelled of something unlike any other green tea I’ve had. I could almost smell some fruit – peaches perhaps. When I steeped it, the aroma was stronger and I couldn’t wait to try it. Upon tasting I could not taste the peaches but there was a faint taste of lemon and it was very smooth on my palette. Very good tea to bring in the new year!

I tried this without any creamer/milk and about one teaspoon of local honey – it turned out great. However, if you’re wanting the “standard” Chai like ::cough:: starbucks ::cough:: makes you will probably have to go steam some milk. I think steeping for a shorter time has a better effect. I will experiment with the milk/creamer additive and report back later.

Both OMGsrsly and Courtney sent me samples of this tea. As far as chai goes, it is not that bad. I don’t particularly taste the coconut but I think it appears in the cup by mellowing out the spices. However, more and more I realize I am not a huge chai fan so this blend is not particularly for me. Nonetheless, it is a nice cup of tea and it goes nicely with a splash of milk (as so many chais do). This particular cup came from my swap with OMGsrsly but thank you both for giving me a chance to try something new :)

I am not a huge lover of chais but this one had particularly positive reviews so I asked OMGsrsly if I could try some in a swap. I guess I thought the coconut would balance out the flavors or something but alas this does not seem to be the exception to the rule. It is not bad by any means, it would just seem that I am not a huge lover of the chai spice combination. Plus, I am not picking up on any coconut which makes me sad. Honestly, I think this is just me so I won’t be rating this one but I am glad to have tried it out. Thank you OMGsrsly for sending it my way.

Likewise as the Fireside Chai, I think this one would benefit from the milk tea treatment.

A nice chai tea, but I think I would like it much better as a milk tea, which I have never attempted making by myself. Merits further experimenting.

Far and away one of my favorite teas ever. Its sweet on its own and tastes like candy with some milk and sugar. Its a beautiful color, has a pleasant aroma, and is one of the first teas I really fell in love with. If I’m ever without this one in my cupboard, I am one sad-ass panda until I get more.

Not as good as my favorite apricot tea, but this is a nicely sweet tea with just a teeny little bite from the ginger. I only had a sample tin of this, so I’d like to get some more. Its a nice tea to drink if you have a stomach ache, but don’t like an overwhelming taste of ginger.

This is one of my all-time favorite teas, and I have only ever been able to find a sample tin of it. T_T I weep forever that I cannot find more in stores. Its such a wonderful and delicious improvement on an already excellent classic.

I used the last of my tea bags for this cup. Of course since it was my last cup it was also the best. It actually tasted more like gingerbread this time. In the past I thought this treated like apple crisp, but today the spices were really apparent with the ginger heating up the back of my throat. So, not perfectly gingerbread, but closer than all the previous cups I had.

I can’t see myself buying more of this, but it was a nice herbal to have on hand.