Zen

I’m house/dog sitting for my parents for the next week while they holiday in Whitby so that leaves me to finish some tea samples. I packed a large bag of random samples and it’s hopefully enough to last me a week. If not I will be popping home anyway to make my jewellery that has sold so I can always pick up more.

Plus I have an announcement to make which may not be huge to most of you but it’s big for me … at the grand old age of 25 I have finally sent off for my provisional driving license. I have never had any interest to drive and always put myself down saying that I could never learn but I decided to go for it anyway. Ideally I want a scooter (despite my mum saying they are dangerous and is even willing to buy me a brand new car) so I’m working towards it. :)

Right now down to the tea. Not a Tazo fan in honesty but I’m always willing to give their teas a try. The teabag has a lemon, spearmint scent that is not completely fresh but zesty enough to still be pleasing. The blend looks very finely chopped.

Once steeped this tea is gold in colour with a strong minty scent. Flavour is thick and sweet with both the lemon verbena and the spearmint being the two dominant flavours. They match quite well, better than I thought they would. It tastes fresher than it smells and it’s on the stronger side of mint teas that I have tried, especially for pre bagged.

The green tea is in the background but a little green astringency is noticeable. Also a little dry. I’m impressed, it’s not the worst mint tea I have had but is something I would drink again.

Friend gave my teenager a bag of this and he asked me to steep it for him; since I’m still trying to win him over to the tea side, I did so with great care to time, temp, and taste. Zen is consistently light and nice, but I wondered if it would be a good first experience with green tea for a newbie.

He drank it all to humor me and the tea-giver, but commented, “It pretty much just tastes like water with an asterisk.”

Oh, well, I’ll keep trying.

Bazinga Sil! LOL!

A student bought me a sampler packet of Tazo for a gift, awhile back. I put these out when I host tea parties for the Harp Society, & also for my students, etc, from time to time. Some people prefer the comfort of a bagged tea, I guess it saves them from having to think about measurements, etc.
It’s been awhile since I had a cup of this, & for a bagged tea, it really isn’t bad. Even though there is green tea in there, it’s not very vegetal tasting, & the herbs have a soothing quality. It seemed like a nice tea to begin winding down with.

Somehow I hit the sweet spot for this this morning: Recognizable as green tea, and both the spearmint and lemongrass were present. I was really liking the citrusy flavors this morning so this was perfect. Bumping the rating up just a little because it finally tasted as promised; now if only I could recreate it at home!

Thanks to Kristaleyn for this sample!!
I’m not a huge fan of green teas in general, but this one wasn’t so bad. I guess cuz my standards are generally low, the mix of flavours kinda brought up my level of appreciation.
I couldn’t really taste much of the “green” tea, which in my case… is good! Still, I’d have liked a bit more of a “tea” aspect.
It reminds me of Teavana’s Lemon lime kampai actually, only with a bit more depth.
and I did get three infusions out of it. Aided mightily by some agave of course (rather flat without it, sadly)
Anyhow, would I buy this to replace my stash? perhaps.
Odd, I seem to like this more than most people here :)

I have been meaning to try this iced for months and have finally gotten around to it.

It’s great. I love spearmint in green tea. This reminds me a lot of Sobe’s bottled green tea, but with a stronger, more authentic sencha taste. Sweet, minty, and a little lemony. A perfect spring evening tea.

You know, this really isn’t THAT bad. I get mostly sweet spearmint with a squeeze of lemon. The lemongrass is sort of there, trying to make up its mind whether or not to stay, and as long as you steep this in the right parameters, the base behaves. Maybe it’s because my bags are a little older, but the base has been turning bitter for me very easily.

Would I buy it again? No, but finishing off my last few bags won’t be an issue either.

Green tea and Super Mario Bros, that’s what I say! Went over to a friend’s house after class and ended up playing the new multiplayer Super Mario Brothers game for the Nintendo Wii. Before we sat down to conquer Bowser and save the princess, I stole a couple of his Zen tea bags and made us each a cup.

For a bagged tea, Zen makes a decent cup… enough for me to keep coming back to it if I want a quick brew. I adore spearmint. I believe this flavor, along with a touch of lemon, save the mediocre green tea that is in this blend. I guess I really like this one because it is a flavored tea that is not all about the flavorings. The green tea is most definitely the base in which the spearmint and lemon complement it – I taste the slightly grassy green tea first, the lemon provides a bit of acidity, and the spearmint is left in the end.

hey y’all! I’m in Boston! (Know if any good tea places around here?) I spent the last few days running around trying to get ready, so I didn’t have much tea. However, yesterday I did manage to find this in a pyramid bag at my Starbucks. It actually looked like real tea!! & it was a bit better than average, too. So that’s good news.

I picked up 5 new teas at Tealuxe today… so many new tasting notes to come once I’m back home with my tea supplies!

Hmmmm… I just don’t think I like the combination of the lemongrass and spearmint in this. It just doesn’t work for me. It’ll be something to sip on mindlessly during my second day of this training session.