One of the first booths I encountered at the World Tea Expo 2014 was Zen Tea Traders, who were super nice. Zen Tea Traders has some interesting blends, as well as some solid classic unflavored teas. Today I have Earl Grey Tahitian Blend and Peachy Peony.
The teas I’m sampling came in tea bags, but Zen Tea Traders sells the tea in loose leaf. We also have a guest Oolong Owl assistant – Amigurumi Critter Fox!
Tasting of Zen Tea Traders’ Earl Grey Tahitian Blend
Earl Grey Tahitian Blend dry leaf has a bergamont zesty goodness scent and interestingly I can also smell a sweet creamy finish.
The steeping instructions for this tea is 200F for 3 to 5 minutes. I sampled throughout the sip and like how my tea tasted at the 4.5 minute mark. My steeped cup of Earl Grey Tahitian Blend smells great, like zest and sweet cream.
Earl Grey Tahitian Blend sips in a low to moderate bergamont intensity, dancing with a hint of citrus sweet. The black tea is lightly rich, bit of malt and easy to drink with no dry or bitterness. The finish is very tasty – a sweet creamy vanilla, kinda like good vanilla ice cream, yum! The balance of the sweet vanilla and low-moderate bergamont is a nice combo, especially over the soft rich black tea. Other Earl Grey vanillas I’ve had have a stronger bergamont to compensate, so this one is a real treat. This tea doesn’t need milk due to the creamy vanilla built in, and the tea is lightly sweet from the vanilla and bergamont. Hey, cut down your calories with less milk and sugar with great teas that don’t need it!
Tasting of Zen Tea Traders’ Peachy Peony
The dry leaf of Peachy Peony and a great scent. Pretty appearance too with the of yellow petals mixed in the white tea.
The steeping instructions for Peachy Peony is 190F for 2 to 3 minutes – I found at the 2 and 2.5 minute mark the tea tasted pretty good, I settled for 2.5 minutes, which gave me a nice peach scented tea.
Peachy Peony sips in juicy sweet white peony base, which is fresh, lightly floral with a slightly thick texture. The yellow flesh peach flavor weaves in near the end of sip. As my tea cooler, the peach flavor gets stronger – very tasty! I think this tea would be very good iced for a light peachy refreshing drink!
Comments
Zen Tea Traders has some great tea offerings – Earl Grey Tahitian Blend is a delicious earl grey for the sweet tooths out there, with Peachy Peony as a fantastic fruity lighter option. Totally check out Zen Tea Traders as the got some good prices for 1oz loose leaf. They have a small line up now, but a great and some unique offerings.
By the way, Zen Tea Trader’s Holy Hojicha (a hojicha/roasted green tea with vanilla and white chocolate) was very delicious! I had a sample of this tea back at the Expo, so I recommend sneaking this on into your cart as well!
(tea provided for review)
