99
drank Phoenix Pearl by Zen Tea
4334 tasting notes

I may have thought “this is my favorite tea” while I was sipping this one… I’m not sure! I was captivated by how delicious this is! It is DEFINITELY my favorite unflavored black tea. (Though I must admit, I don’t think I’ve tried many unflavored black teas yet.) The dried leaves are little bundles, black with hints of gold in color. The leaves smell like a perfect black tea and this tastes perfect. I may have used a bit more than a teaspoon. I steeped for four minutes. The flavor is amazing. The first to note is the unbelievable sweetness. How does a black tea taste like this? It’s almost like sugar was added. No, the description says it is naturally sweet. I made sure to taste the tea before biting into my breakfast of coconut custard pie.. and then I just wanted to enjoy the tea without the pie. The flavor is amazing: deep, earthy, smooth and full. NO bitterness. Even as it cools, the flavor might be getting sweeter. It’s not brisk or the strongest black tea, but I’d say it has more flavor than the two Teavivre black teas I’ve tried. (I love those as well. I’m just using them as a comparison for unflavored black teas. And I guess it reminds me of the Teavive, just with a stronger flavor.) I wish I could convey the flavor profile better! The second steep is just as good (5 min). I’m going to try getting a third cup later. I could drink this every day! Add this to the list of Zen Teas I must order. They know what they are doing giving out free samples! zentealife.com

Preparation
4 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

I love these pearls, I get mine from my tea shop here in town. They’re cocoa, malty, sweet but not too much and a little like pastry. So good! I end up either having a ginger cookie with it and adding nothing to the tea or adding half & half and a little raw sugar which makes it an indulgent dessert!

tea-sipper

Yep, that sounds like the tea I had!

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Comments

Bonnie

I love these pearls, I get mine from my tea shop here in town. They’re cocoa, malty, sweet but not too much and a little like pastry. So good! I end up either having a ginger cookie with it and adding nothing to the tea or adding half & half and a little raw sugar which makes it an indulgent dessert!

tea-sipper

Yep, that sounds like the tea I had!

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Bio

Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

Location

USA

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