Zen Tea

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85
drank Assam borengajuli by Zen Tea
31 tasting notes

All around good strong cup.

Flavors: Bitter, Malty, Tea, Toasted

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85
drank Assam borengajuli by Zen Tea
31 tasting notes

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50
drank Karigane by Zen Tea
31 tasting notes

Mild, sweet. I would like a little more body in my teas.

Flavors: Dry Grass

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83

Warm sunshiney and floral

Flavors: Cocoa, Floral, Jasmine, Toasty

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80
drank Gyokuro Uji by Zen Tea
4169 tasting notes

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #5 – A grassy tea

A Zen tea that I have never written a note for, and it looks like no one else did either.  I think I bought this because it was on sale during their closing (or at least, their sale for not selling teas anymore, rather than only teaware.)  It doesn’t get much grassier than gyokuro.  It looks like fresh spring grass clippings.  The flavor is okay, but obviously the nuance at this point is missing. I bet it was much better… many… years ago. Tastes a bit like matcha, a bit like sweet corn.  I was intending to finish this tea for the prompt, but it’s such a rarity at this point, and I don’t have much Gyokuro otherwise, I think I won’t be in a rush to finish it.  I wish I had gotten around to writing a note years ago…

ashmanra

I miss a few of their teas. A lot of their tea ware stays sold out, too, but I have enjoyed everything I have purchased from them

tea-sipper

ah yes, I probably ordered more from Zen than from any other tea shops (well, maybe tied with Butiki & 52Teas.)

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drank Earl Grey Cream by Zen Tea
14 tasting notes

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drank Earl Grey Cream by Zen Tea
14 tasting notes

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drank Earl Grey Cream by Zen Tea
14 tasting notes

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drank Masala Chai by Zen Tea
1403 tasting notes

This masala chai blend is heavy on aniseed, far too heavy on the aniseed.

I get around that by adding a spoon of the ultimate black tea improver, Keemun Classic by Capital Tea Ltd, and then a glug or two of store-bought eggnog.

This new, to me, eggnog I bought is thinner and sweeter that the previous one. Works well.

After more than a week of drinking only straight teas with no additions, this cup feels quite rich and extravagant.

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drank Masala Chai by Zen Tea
1403 tasting notes

The last time I steeped this up, the anise was too intense, even with my eggnog solution. I don’t know whether it was just that spoon of leaf or whether it is all the leaf.

Regardless, I added a half spoon of Capital Teas Ltd’s Keemun Classic to the leaf to tone it down. It worked. A glug of eggnog and Bob’s your uncle.

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drank Masala Chai by Zen Tea
1403 tasting notes

So, I went shopping in my stash for a chai and came across an unopened packet of this one. The sensible thing to do would be to keep all my chais cloistered together, but I may not have the organizational wherewithal to get this job done .

My neighbours—Bless their hearts—woke me up at four and kept me awake till past seven at which point the condo construction began.

I am knackered, clearly, and need something reliably punchy. Even then, I may not be all that functional, but let’s see.

The past few days, I’ve been drinking lovely delicate French teas and what a delight that has been.

This moment calls for something else entirely, either a fiesty breakfast blend or chai, which is often a breakfast blend plus a whole whack of spice. And that is exactly what this is.

I tend to be a big fan of Anne’s chai blends, so this one has sat neglected for a long while. The spice blend is different but good.

The anise competes with the cardamom. I prefer anise far more in the background, so instead of milk and sweetener, I added a big glug of eggnog. Exactly what is needed here.

The vanilla and creaminess of the eggnog soothe and sweeten the spice and strong base.

It may not be enough to put me in motion, but it is certainly doing much to put me out of my misery.

And I do miss Zen Tea Life.

Cameron B.

Did you wake up on the British side of the bed this morning? Just giggling at all of the British slang he he.

Evol Ving Ness

Hahaha, i lived in London for a couple of years some time ago. Occasionally, bits of that slip out. Also, I’ve been watching a bit of British telly lately, so that refreshes things too. And, well, TEA!

Evol Ving Ness

Also, I see only one British-ism in my post plus telly.

Cameron B.

Ha ha, I was thinking of “knackered” and “whack of”. Love it!

Evol Ving Ness

Knackered, yes, but I’ve never considered a whack of something to be particularly British. That said, we, Canadians, use a lot more British-isms than Americans do. Ha! Who knows?

Cameron B.

Maybe it’s not? It’s just not something I ever hear in the States, but I’ve heard it on British shows I think.

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drank Earl Grey Cream by Zen Tea
1 tasting notes

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#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #113 overall / Tea #29 for March /

Thursday 3/25/21 — ZenTea Atlanta almond papaya rooibos. So a few weeks ago was my 3 year anniversary of dating Micah. 2017/18/19 was also my heyday of traveling like mad and working a lot trying to afford the trips. In September 2018 I found this tea shop in Atlanta and this was one of the 15? 2 oz foil bags I got after spending awhile deciding what teas to get. I have learned that I don’t enjoy rooibos but it is one of my my boyfriend’s favorites. In fact he literally texted me other day ‘Thank you for the tea I like the almond’ (although I can’t remember if it was this tea. I think so.)

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

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83
drank Hojicha by Zen Tea
292 tasting notes

I’m sipping down old tea samples that have probably lost a little of their potency, so bear with me. I’m trying to clear through several of them today. I had a sample of this in the cupboard awhile. It’s unusual for me since I’m more of a black tea drinker familiar with that; green is a world waiting for me to try.

I liked this one. It’s mild but different. I steeped the minute with 2 tsp. as recommended, then added a bit more time to see the difference (again, older). It’s very earthy and makes me think of mushrooms a little. It’s roasted and cozy. I’d buy more of this one.

Flavors: Earth

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML
Cameron B.

I love hojicha! And it’s definitely a good choice of green tea for a black tea drinker. :)

Lupiressmoon

Cameron, it was a nice surprise and I agree, I’m curious on trying others of this type. :)

Courtney

Hojicha is one of the green teas I enjoy as a black tea drinker as well!

Cameron B.

Lupiress, I can send you some samples to try if you’d like!

Lupiressmoon

That’s so sweet of you, Cameron! I don’t really have many samples so don’t trade I’m afraid. Expecting some new ones soon, been doing some small orders

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Day 5 ADVENT CALENDAR

I’m loving trying new loose leafs and finding new tea companies I never would have heard of if I didn’t participate in this project!
I double steeped a tablespoon to make a big 54 ounce pot – I had three cups. my roommate had two, and we refrigerated the leftovers for breakfast this morning. This tea was great – I loved that there were no notes of bitterness in it – it was smooth – I feel like I"m one of the few people I know that actually enjoys rooibos teas – this was a good one – I am sure I will order this at some point!

Preparation
3 tsp 27 OZ / 798 ML

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75
drank Taiwan Ruby by Zen Tea
3986 tasting notes

I think this swap sample came from Arby. It’s in the tiniest ever little kraft paper zip-top bag. I was chortling to myself trying to imagine how she managed to get the tea in there while I was steeping it… XD

This is an interesting one, and not at all what comes to mind when I think of Taiwanese black teas. It seems closer to an Indian Assam to me, with the main notes I’m picking up on being malt and raisin. Luckily, it lacks the strong astringency of a typical Indian Assam, though there is perhaps a hint. It’s a rather smooth and somewhat light tea, and I can taste a bit of grain and slightly musty hay.

I enjoyed the small cup, though it was not at all what I expected. Typically with a Taiwanese black tea, I find strong honey and usually cinnamon notes, which I didn’t get here at all. Still very pleasant though!

Flavors: Astringent, Grain, Hay, Malt, Musty, Raisins, Smooth

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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71
drank Bamboo Buddha by Zen Tea
6444 tasting notes

Cold Brew Sipdown (329)

This is one of the teas from my swap with Evol Ving Ness back in 2017 that is sort of just lingering around. Thank you Evol! It’s been a while since I have seen her on here though so hopefully she see this…and perhaps I shouldn’t take forever to go through swaps

This tea is the same as the blend that I really enjoyed from Tea Desire. I had a lot of that and grew tired of it. Plus, it got sort of bland so I mixed it with things near the end of my stash. It was nice to have just enough for a few cold brew cups to revisit it.

This is not punch-you-in-the-face flavorful but it does have flavor. It is soft, light, and refreshing with a fruity sweetness. I actually get more goji berry than anything else but overall it is like a generic fruit flavor with a goji note at the tail-end. Nice and definitely different from a lot of the other herbal/fruit tisanes out there…except for the Tea Desire version which is the same tea.

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71
drank Bamboo Buddha by Zen Tea
6444 tasting notes

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71
drank Bamboo Buddha by Zen Tea
6444 tasting notes

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85
drank Taiwan Ruby by Zen Tea
961 tasting notes

Sadly, I’m coming to the end of this bag. I didn’t love it quite as much as the other black tea I tried from Zen, but it’s still very nice: long, unbroken twisted black leaves that brew up smooth and malty and rich. Perfect for this grey, rainy Wisconsin morning!

Flavors: Malt, Smooth

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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88
drank Jin Xuan by Zen Tea
52 tasting notes

Brews up deep golden and there’s a satisfaction in watching the tightly curled leaves unfurl in the infuser. Definitely one that needs room to breathe – very tempting to just drink the second steep grandpa style and say screw the finely honed infusing process.

There’s a mellow earthy flavor that reminds me of the smell of freshly broken twigs with a mouthfeel that’s almost silky. It’s not a robust kind of tea, but the mild comfort of its mineral notes are soothing in a way that entices you into multiple cups before you realize what’s happened.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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50

Earl Grey is usually black tea, but this one is white. I didn’t like it at all; the smell of the lavender was so strong it burned my nose. The taste of lavender was so strong it made me cringe. Oddly, the lavender taste was so strong, it almost tasted like lemon. It was just bad.

Flavors: Lavender, Lemon

Preparation
2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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