Zen Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

77

I was not a good as other oolong teas that I’ve had, but I don’t know if it’s just because of how I brewed it. It wasn’t as flavorful as other oolong teas that I’ve tried, but I still liked it because i just like the wonderful tea taste. It was kind of disappointing because the tea was grown in the Wuyi Mountains in China, and that location is supposed to be famous for really good tea. Of course, again, it could have been my own fault, or it could be because of how it was stored and shipped.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

It was very bitter and tasted like grass, but somehow I still liked it. If anyone wants to make matcha themselves, I would recommend straining it. I don’t have an appropriate strainer so the powder clumped together even after mixing it and it was kind of gross. Besides that, it was good. If you like bitter tastes, matcha is the right choice

Flavors: Grass

Preparation
150 °F / 65 °C 0 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

I don’t like green tea as much as other teas but this one is okay. I didn’t notice the nutty taste until I read the other reviews, but when I had some more I could taste it. I would recommend this tea to people who enjoy green tea.

Flavors: Nutty

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85
drank Ceremonial Matcha by Zen Tea
15 tasting notes

Zen Tea’s ceremonial matcha was a little more bitter than their regular organic matcha. (Although this could be due to user error, since this was my first time making matcha the traditional way.) It was still very enjoyable, though, both with and without sweetner. If you feel the need to sweeten it, sugar tends to taste better than honey in this one. For now I’ll say that I liked the regular organic better, but I appreciate how the higher quality one doesn’t clump up at all.

Flavors: Grass, Green

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67

The ginger smell is strong, but enjoyable. It was slightly floral, and spicy from the ginger. It was pleasant.

Flavors: Floral, Ginger, Spicy

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85

The smell was very pleasant: earthy, woodsy, and slightly sweet. There is a nice woodsy, earthy first taste and turns into a slightly sweet, alcoholic aftertaste.

Flavors: Alcohol, Earth, Sweet, Wood

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85

This is the second kind of white tea I have tried. I’m not a tea expert, but I don’t think white tea is as bitter as other teas. It’s more delicate, I think. I’ve been trying to experiment more with different brews. I tried two brews: one with one teaspoon of tea and one with two teaspoons and slightly lower temperature. They tasted the same. They were good though.

If anyone knows a good way to brew this tea, please tell me.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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84

Second time trying this tea, but this time my husband made it since he wanted to give it a shot. It was very strong and very sweet, but I was expecting that since he usually adds enough sugar to fruity teas to rot someone’s teeth. It was a little much for me, but I still love the overall flavor and aroma of this tea. Definitely one of my favorites that I’ve tried from Zen Tea so far! The last time I went to Zen Tea, I made sure to pick up a bag. Definitely recommend it for any fruity tea lovers!

Flavors: Berries, Fruity, Mango, Strawberry

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84

Although I always prefer my fruity teas sweetened, this one was delightful even without sugar or honey. The strawberry was the strongest flavor, but it didn’t overpower the other flavors. The aroma was so pleasant and refreshing that I wish I could smell it all day, every day. I tried it in house at Zen tea House

Flavors: Berries, Hibiscus, Mango, Strawberry

Preparation
3 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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This is some of the best matcha I’ve ever had (excluding my obsession with iced green tea lattes from Starbucks). It was sweeter than others I’ve tried, which was perfect for my tastes, and not nearly as astringent as some of the first matcha teas I ever tried.

Flavors: Astringent, Grass, Green, Sweet

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100
drank White Jasmine Rose by Zen Tea
11 tasting notes

Great tasting tea, very natural and has a good aroma. I tried this at a tea house and it was great!

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25
drank hazelnut by Zen Tea
16 tasting notes

This was a strong black tea. It did taste a little butter like. Dark in color. Did not prefer this type of tea but it was not the worst black tea I have tasted. Would try maybe a different type of hazelnut tea from this brand.

Flavors: Butter, Hazelnut

Preparation
3 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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86

I really like black teas. This tea has a subtle fruity taste without artificial flavors. I tend to like stronger flavors and I was happy with this one. I also had some other people try it and everyone liked it.

Flavors: Fruity

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90

I like the smell of this tea; I keep taking sniffs of the tea leaves. It had a delicate flavor that went down smoothly. I don’t know if my brew was ideal but I thought it tasted good. It was relaxing. I think I like white tea.

Flavors: Jasmine, Rose

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80
drank Pu-erh loose by Zen Tea
12 tasting notes

This was my first time drinking pu-erh tea. The pack I bought had been fermented since 1992 and does not contain artificial smells or flavors. When I first smelled it, I thought I would not like it because it was so strong; however, I liked the taste. It definitely was not delicate, but I liked the gritty bitterness of it. The smell grew on me as I was drinking it. Unfortunately, my taste and smell are not very refined, so I can’t give much more detail about it.

I don’t think I steeped it for as long as I should have. My first cup was kind of weak, but my next cup was much better. I’m happy I drank it though. I’ll try for a better brew next time.

Flavors: Bitter, Burnt

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Bluegreen

sebarnett47. it’s very common with puerhs. They take some time to get wet and extract the goodness out of desiccated cells so first steeps are almost always weaker and typically forgettable. Many people simply discard the first short steeping and let the tea sit a bit before the start the secind one.

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70

It had been a few years since I had a bowl of matcha, so it was quite invigorating to drink~. I missed its bitter taste and gave me good boost of energy in the morning. I particularly loved and missed the sound of whisking the drink, and that alone brought me a nice sense of focus and calm. After taking some swigs of the mix alone, I had a little sweet with the rest, and it was quite enjoyable. I am pretty sure that there are better powders that I have to look for, but at least for now, this has been a good comeback~.

Flavors: Bitter, Freshly Cut Grass, Grass, Green

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82

I bought 50 g of this tea a couple years ago and am just finishing it now. Since the leaves were pretty broken up, I reduced the steep times to avoid excessive astringency. I steeped my remaining 6-7 g in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 20, 20, 25, 25, 30, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The first steep offers notes of lilac, violet, and other flowers, combined with grass, butter, lavender, and vanilla. The florals become headier in steep two, and the vague butteriness turns into custard and cream. This tea also has the tangy profile associated with four seasons oolong.

In the next few steeps, the grassy and lavender flavours come to the forefront, and the tea starts losing some of its complexity. It never really gets astringent, but the vanilla and florals fade quickly, leaving a pleasant but unremarkable tea by the sixth steep.

At under $10 for two ounces, this was a nice daily drinker. I’d happily buy more of it if Zen Tea decides to carry it again.

Flavors: Butter, Cream, Custard, Floral, Grass, Lavender, Lettuce, Tangy, Vanilla, Vegetal, Violet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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90

June Wedding! Another something borrowed from the last Here’s Hoping Teabox (thanks tea-sipper for organizing and all that contributed!) and this is a fruit herbal that honestly I was just sniff-checking because I figured the coconut in it would be off. I was shocked that it didn’t have that acrid smell, because I’ve had coconut teas only around six months old go off, and this tea company doesn’t even sell tea anymore, only teaware, so I take that as a sign this has got to be a pretty old blend. Ah well, if it smells okay I’m willing to try it! I saved enough to do an iced tea, so that is how I prepared it. I was excited it included dry pumpkin, though we’ll see if any of that comes through in the tea itself.

The tea is quite naturally sweet, and very tasty. It has a very pina colada sort of taste, with the coconut flavor coming through very strongly, followed by pineapple, but more of a sweet, candied sort of pineapple, rather than a tangy, fruity pineapple. It almost feels a bit creamy, reminding me of the White Coconut Cream tea I tried not long ago, but I wonder if the high sweetness of the tea is just giving it a somewhat desserty appeal. As I expected, the carrot and pumpkin in the blend aren’t really lending anything in terms of flavor (and I was really hoping to get some pumpkin notes, as I am a pumpkinholic!) But this tea has a very strong and natural tasting sweet pina colada taste, cold brews great, and is very refreshing, and since I love pina colada but dislike when pinapple flavors taste too overbearing or artificial, I’d say this is probably the best pina colada flavored tea I’ve tried. It’s just a shame this is the only time I’ll ever get to try it. If ZenTea was still selling teas, I’d totally grab more of this!

Flavors: Candy, Coconut, Creamy, Pineapple, Sweet

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more 4 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML
tea-sipper

Best pina colada tea? NICE. I know I’ve seen another tea shop with this exact blend… but I can’t remember who it was at the moment. If I remember, I’ll let you know.

tea-sipper

I FOUND IT! I saw an e-mail from TeaDesire today and thought “hey, maybe they have that pineapple tea”: https://www.teadesire.com/collections/fruit-infusion/products/sweet-coco-dream

tea-sipper

Also, that is probably the only reason I signed up for Tea Desire’s e-mail… to remember where that tea was sold. haha.

Mastress Alita

Ya, I found it myself just the other day too, even added it to the Steepster database just so I could add it to my Wishlist and not forget about it, heh. Unfortunately the shipping from Canada costs more than the tea itself… $20. Ouch. * sad face *

tea-sipper

Of course you already found it. haha. Maybe one day they will have a free shipping sale? It’s interesting both Zen and Tea Desire are Canadian shops, so maybe other Canadian shops will have this? Sometimes shipping from Canada isn’t always bad… I remember Zen’s shipping was usually around $5.

Mastress Alita

If the shipping were only $5 I’d totally jump on it! Haven’t managed to find the blend elsewhere with more reasonable shipping, and I did look. Guess I’ll have to hope for a free shipping sale at some point, though I know a lot of places exclude international shipping from those.

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drank Blood Orange by Zen Tea
1403 tasting notes

Tart and orange and red.

More on this later.

And nope, on day 10 of no caffeine after three, I kept drinking caffeinated until about seven. Ooops. And then this.

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84
drank Fengqing Golden Buds by Zen Tea
1792 tasting notes

Finally got to this sample size after all of this time. That says a lot since Zen nixed their tea offerings quite a while ago now. I drank it a couple days ago but from what I recall, this was mostly starchy, mildly astringent, and very mildly malty. A touch woodsy? Good stuff.

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80
drank Banyan Da Hong Pao by Zen Tea
413 tasting notes

I’m finally getting to the end of my Zen Tea samples. I steeped 5 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot at 200F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

This is a toasty, nutty Da Hong Pao. I get toasted grain, honey, caramel, charcoal, walnuts and other nuts, and tobacco in the first to third steeps. It’s drying without being bitter, with a persistent nutty and charcoal aftertaste. The tea acquires a mineral taste by steep four, but otherwise remains consistent.

By steep seven, I find, like other reviewers, that this Da Hong Pao starts to peter out, with the nuts and grain becoming attenuated. This tea thins out into a charcoal and mineral finish around steep ten.

This Da Hong Pao had a promising beginning, but faded quickly. What there was of it was good, though. Still, I’ve had other DHP’s with more staying power and complexity.

Flavors: Caramel, Char, Grain, Honey, Mineral, Nutty, Tobacco, Walnut

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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80

I’m experiencing a green Tie Guan Yin shortage, and while I know I should wait until the spring 2018 harvest comes out in June, going several months without one of my favourite oolongs seems dire. This is the second-last reasonably sized package of green TGY in my cupboard, and it’s pretty good. I steeped 5 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 120, and 240 seconds.

The first steep seems slightly more oxidized than a typical green Tie Guan Yin, with notes of orchids, butter, grass, honey, and miscellaneous florals, which become violets in the second steep. Nectarines and vanilla appear in steep three, making the tea much more interesting, but also more perfumey. The fruit leans more towards apricot in the fourth steep. The next few steeps maintain this balance of flavours before petering out into grassiness.

This is a nice Tie Guan Yin that hits the spot. It has few surprises and fades faster than I’d like, but it’s pleasant while it lasts. I hope Zen Tea continues to carry it in the future.

Flavors: Apricot, Butter, Floral, Grass, Honey, Orchids, Stonefruit, Vanilla, Violet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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68

Another entry for Love You Oolong Time! I had this one last night gongfu-style in my 150 ml beginner gaiwan. I am very much a beginner to Asian-style brewing… even with the beginner-style gaiwan I am still having trouble with the heat of the gaiwan against my fingers while pouring! Once I’m better at it, I’ll move up to purchasing the real deal, hahaha! This is only the third time I’ve done a gongfu session. I’m still very new to the process, but am really enjoying gaiwan brewing when I have the time to sit down and enjoy my tea at a more leisurely pace.

This is a tea sample from the Here’s Hoping Teabox (thanks tea-sipper and participants!) for an oolong I’ve never tried before, the Mi Lan Xiang Phoenix Dancong from Zen Tea Life (and from what I can tell, that site now only sells teaware, not tea). I used 200 degree F water, and my first infusion after rinsing the leaf was 30 seconds, and each subsequent infusion was increased by 15 seconds.

The first infusion was the most unpleasant for me. It had a malty sort of flavor with some lovely honey notes, but there was this smokiness to it that I found very off-putting; I am not a fan of smoky teas or flavors. But that was, thankfully, the only infusion where I got that particular flavor note, as the second infusion brought out some floral notes, and a slight bit of stonefruit, with a pleasant lychee aftertaste. By the third infusion the tea had become very sweet, and I was really getting the honey and orchid notes, with the fourth infusion very similar, with the sweetness tasting a bit like brown sugar or molasses. Sadly by the fifth infusion this tea was already losing steam, and my remaining infusions were a sweet, waning honey flavor with some subtle floral notes.

I had just a bit of leaf leftover, so I decided to just make this a sipdown and used it up with a western-style brew, sipping on the cuppa while watching the new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I used 200 degree F water and a two minute steep. The cuppa had a very smooth base with a malty, honeyed flavor. There was a brown sugar-like sweetness to the liquor, and just the faintest hint of lychee right in the finish, but I couldn’t pick out any floral notes when brewing the tea this way.

I really enjoyed the flavor of this tea, particularly when brewed Asian-style and getting to the sweeter infusions with heavier floral notes, but I was pretty unimpressed with how little stamina the tea had, and how quickly the flavor gave out, making for a fairly short gongfu session. Perhaps that could be to blame on me being such a beginner and needing to adjust and shorten my infusions (I’m still working at it!), or maybe it’s just not the best tea of this sort… who knows? What I do know is I definitely want to explore other Mi Lan Xiang Dancong oolongs in the future, since I really enjoyed the taste of this type of oolong and am very happy I got a chance to sample one!

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Floral, Honey, Lychee, Malt, Orchid, Smoke, Stonefruit

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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75

This entry is for the second flush version of this tea, while my sample is from the autumn harvest. I got it a couple years ago, so it’s probably too old to be optimal. I steeped around 4 g of Darjeeling in 476 ml of 195F water for five minutes.

My initial impressions are of rye bread, malt, molasses, muscatel, caramel, and mild florals. There’s a kick of astringency at the back of the sip, and lots of tannins and grassiness in the aftertaste.

This is a burly tea for Margaret’s Hope. I haven’t had enough autumnal Darjeelings to know if it’s typical of the type, or maybe its age has blunted the more delicate flavours. Either way, it makes a good breakfast tea.

Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Caramel, Floral, Grass, Malt, Molasses, Muscatel, Rye, Tannic

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 0 sec 4 g 16 OZ / 476 ML

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