Product Review and Giveaway: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea

The people behind Zhena’s Gypsy Tea were kind enough to send me some samples of their tea for me to enjoy- and you might be lucky enough to receive a package from them to enjoy, too, just by entering this giveaway!

I first became interested in Zhena’s Gypsy Tea because they are 100% organic, 100% fair trade, and 100% natural (also, they have a really cool logo and very pretty canisters, but that’s beside the point). I am a big tea drinker; I like to drink white or green tea every day and I generally can go through nearly a whole pot on my own. Now that I have tried these particular teas, I am happy to say that they certainly lived up to expectations! All of the teas that I tried were delicious and I have been drinking no other tea except for them since they arrived. Plain white or green tea doesn’t really compare when you’ve got fancy teas to choose from.

My intentions were to make this review a video post, but unfortunately the video that I took which featured a couple friends did not turn out very well- the lighting and sound was truly awful, so a video post will have to wait for my next review!

The three tins of tea that came in the mail for me were Papaya Mango, Berry Bellini, and Sense of Peace. They all smell amazing, particularly the Papaya Mango and Berry Bellini. I almost forgot about tasting them because they smelled so good that I could just drink them in through their fragrance! The Sense of Peace tea does not have quite such an intoxicating scent as it doesn’t have the intense flavors of fruit, but it does have a lovely hint of mint, which is very refreshing.

Papaya Mango is part of their Seasonal Sips line, and is a caffeine-free rooibos. I drank this one with a couple of friends in the evening, and the fruity flavors were perfect for curling up in an armchair and engaging in cozy conversation. The friends that I recruited to help me review this tea both agreed that they would absolutely buy it and would definitely recommend it to others.

Berry Bellini, a green tea also from the Seasonal Sips line, is the only one that I have tried iced so far. All of these teas have brewing instructions for icing them, and I was very intrigued by this with summer having finally arrived. I only used two teabags for my batch (my pitcher holds about two pots), so it didn’t have quite as much flavor as it could have. I think that next time I would add another teabag or two. Over ice, this makes a lovely light drink and is incredibly refreshing. Add a considerably generous amount few splashes of red wine, a couple drops of lemon juice, and some fresh or frozen fruit and you’ve got your own spin on sangria! I really enjoyed it like that.

Sense of Peace is a white tea adorned with touches of rose and mint. I’ve been drinking it at work and it keeps me serene and pleasant when the day becomes stressful (or rather, I’m sure that it would, if my job ever became really stressful 😉 ). I like the freshness of the minty hints.

All of these teas are light and they are definitely not your everyday kind of tea. If you find tea to be bland or boring, I would suggest that you try one of these to see just how good tea can taste. As one of my friends observed about the papaya mango tea, the burst of flavor that accompanies each cup means that you don’t even have to add anything to sweeten it if that’s what you normally prefer.

Want to win some tea for yourself? Leave me a comment telling me about your experiences with tea! Tell me what you like about it, what you don’t like about it, your favorite way to drink it, or the kind of tea that you like best. Giveaway is open for one week and will close on Tuesday, June 30th. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st.

Also, as a follow up from Monday’s post regarding motivation, I have written a piece which is related over at Living Rhetorically in the Real World. Be sure to check it out!