Bossa Nova

A unique blend from Zen: a roasted oolong with hazelnut flavor. I’ve never seen these flowers before, so I’m not sure what they taste like. From the blend in general, I’m tasting cream, vanilla and nuttiness. The description says hazelnut and vanilla, so the flavor is very accurate, though not a pronounced amount of flavor. This is a roasted oolong that doesn’t have too much charcoal flavor I don’t like. It reminds me more of a light houjicha. It’s light, sweet and would make the perfect dessert tea (though I can’t tell how much caffeine is in this one.) The color of the brew is a light brown just like these odd flowers. The second cup was even tastier – it seems like the flavors melded together. Another nice one from Zen!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp // few min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min

This sample came from Mandy! A dark oolong with one of my favorite flavors? Yes, please! This is clearly a very oxidized oolong, the loosely-rolled pellets are almost black in color. The website doesn’t specify whether it has been roasted or not, and I can’t tell from the smell because of the flavoring. Dry scent is sweet vanilla and caramel with a bit of that alcoholic “flavoring” note. I did a 3 minute steep.

Oolong is always so amazing to watch! I love how huge the leaves are when they’re unfurled, and I find it interesting that even these leaves ended up looking fairly green once wet. The aroma is vanilla custard with a background note of autumn leaves. I was surprised that the oolong is actually the strongest flavor in this tea! It tastes like autumn leaves with a bit of a roasty note. The vanilla flavor is very creamy and pudding-like, and the hazelnut accents it well without being entirely identifiable by itself. It mostly manifests as a creamy roasted nuts flavor. Unfortunately, there’s a bit of an artificial, almost alcoholic aftertaste to this which makes me very sad. Too bad!

AND I’M BACK!!!!

We had an awfully hot summer here in NZ, so now that it’s very much winter, true to my Canadian heritage, I’m ready to GET LOGGING! Haha, that was terrible…. I think we’re off to a good start.

First tea is Bossa Nova by Zen. Holy moley guys, the dry leaf smells amazing! Like ferreo roche, but without the chocolate.

Smells so good when brewing with the addition of what seems like roasted? oolong. (Obviously, to the oolong portion)
Alrighty, plain I can really taste the nut and the vanilla is faint, but still present.
w/ sugar –Alright, didn’t love it with sugar.
w/ milk – prefer than with sugar. Helps to bring out the vanilla and creamy hazelnut note
w/ milk and sugar – better than just plain sugar, but definitely preferring this one without the sugar.

Plain or with milk was my pick for this one. I steeped it to 3 minutes at one point to try and that was definitely too long, so 2:30 is the magic number for me. This is definitely something I would keep (in a small quantity) in the cupboard.

Sadly I have run out of my sample (Many thanks to the generous Zen Tea – Kenneth is such a sweetheart), but when I make my next order I’m looking forward to mixing it with a chocolate black tea and seeing what comes of that… because it sounds really really good in my head.

Edit: I read notes from 2 years back and a common thread was that this tea tasted artificial. I didn’t find it artificial at all. I wonder if they’ve tweaked it in the elapsed time, because I have eaten fresh hazelnuts today and this seems pretty on point.

I actually was avoiding trying this tea. It was included in the amazing box of goodies MissB sent me and I just wasn’t sure it was something I would enjoy. I maintain I don’t care for oolongs. Well I will now extract my foot from my mouth because this is now the second oolong I have really liked.

This is delicious and creamy and the hazelnut comes through nicely. I am very much a fan of this now. Glad I chose this rainy Saturday to give it a shot because it is absolutely perfect and perfect for today. I will not be passing this on like I thought I might. mmmmm….

It’s kinda weird to try an oolong that isn’t roasty or floral tasting. It definitely tasted like hazelnut, with a hint of vanilla. So different than what I’m used to…But I really like it! :D
It’s a light, smooth flavor. So makes it even more different than I’m used to. But still good. (:
Thanks for the sample, Mandy! ^^

So, while at Target today, I picked up a four pack of cafe cup coffee pod things for $10 that are supposed to be used for keurig, just to hold me over until I get a better steeping mechanism (I’m really wanting a nord or perfect cup from David’s Tea). They’re pretty small, so I’ll probably limit teas that really expand to 1/2 tsp at a time, but its better than twist-tied coffee filters.
Anyway, so I chuckled a little when I saw that MissB had included this in my box. I just placed an order with Zen Tea this weekend, and this is probably the tea that I’m most looking forward to from my order, haha.
I’m definitely glad I ordered it now, I love just about anything vanilla or hazelnut, and the nuttyness from the oolong goes perfectly. I’m finding that oolong is one of my favorite bases for desserty blends. It just complements the vanilla-y, caramel-y, nutty flavors that are in most dessert teas so well.
And I just love how much oolongs expand. Seeing how 1/2 tsp expands and fills the whole cafe cup is so neat to me. of course this means that since theres not enough room for the leaves to fully extend, the teas probably isn’t living up to it’s full potential.
Deifinately a yummy dessert tea! (I feel like I say yummy too much in my reviews)

Mm creamy and tastes like chocolate.. perfect for a rainy day :)

I received this from the amazing TheTeaFairy. Thank you so much.
When I saw this one in my most recent package from her, I tought “why didn’t I order this?” This is right up my alley – I should love this and was surprised that I didn’t have it in my cupboard.

This tea is FANTASTIC, it’s everything it should have been. I love it. For me it was nutty and a bit caramely, toasty, roasty, dersserty with a hint of vanilla. Yum is all I have to say. For sure on my next order.