Lately, I’ve been trying to find affordable organic green teas to recommend to friends and blog readers.  Fun, flavorful, organic, and affordable are important factors to me in a tea and I’ve been told they are important by others.

Zhi offers a green tea that meets the above criteria.  Zhi calls the China green tea | Cloud and Mist.  It’s from Zhejiang Province.  I’ve had several cups and each one was very enjoyable.  The flavor is oceanic and vegetal with a well-defined natural sweetness.  It’s very friendly to the palate.  The aftertaste pleasantly lingers many seconds after a sip reminding you just how good it was.  The tea does have a slight bite to it (slightly astringent), but that just adds to the character of the green tea.  I can drink this tea year round.  I consider it an everyday green tea.  I enjoyed making this tea in my Gaiwan.  I can easily get 3 flavorful steepings from the tea leaves.  The aroma pretty much mirrors the flavorful.  You get a spring-like vegetal aroma with an almost flowery sweet scent.  Another important characteristic to this tea is the fact that it is authentic.  I recommend this tea to both experienced and new green tea drinkers.  It’s the kind of tea that helps new green tea drinkers appreciate a type of tea without added flavors or enhancements.

Zhi describes the tea as: “In our search for superb and unique organic China Green tea we stumbled across this gorgeous delight from Zhejiang Province. Nestled in the Tian Mu mountains lies a pristine tea garden that lovingly creates this outstanding organic tea. Stylish, long and wiry emerald leaf produces a light green infusion which is slightly astringent and quite herbaceous, with distinct honey/peach notes. This is a very savory and luscious tea full of body and charm. Simple, yet elegant.”

Zhi’s website is very well designed and it makes the checkout process very simple.  I had no problems with my Zhi order.

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I was pleasantly surprised by this tea from the moment I broke the seal on the package.  The combination of green and black teas from all over the globe combine to create an incredible aroma.  It’s the smell I would expect to find at a tea processing plant.  It’s just a rich, sweet, and pure tea scent. Zhi’s Monk’s Blend is made of the following: Darjeeling (green), Keemun (black), Assam (black), and Nilgiri (green) organic loose tea leaves.

I have to say the black tea flavor dominates the cup, but that’s ok in this blend.  The green tea gives a welcomed accent of freshness.  Monk’s Blend has a very pure black tea flavor. It’s a refreshing tea that can be enjoyed almost anytime of the day (it does contain caffeine).  The tea has a very smooth mouthfeel and a pleasant aftertaste.  What can I say, it’s easy to drink and I’m almost out. If you want a simply pure and delicious organic tea to drink, this is for you.  Black tea lovers will enjoy this.

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If you’re trying to cut the caffeine, but still want a hot and tasty drink – herbal “teas” are perfect.  By default herbal “teas” (tisanes) do not actually contain tea.  Therefore, they are typically caffeine-free.  Today I’m drinking Zhi’s herbal Blood Orange.  It consists of: Organic orange peel, hibiscus, rose hips, Rooibos, apple bits, safflower, and a little natural orange essence. The dry fruits & herbs have a very strong citrus scent.  As you can see from the photo this is a very chunky herbal tea.  The ingredients are easy to recognize.  The tisane can be infused multiple times.  Each infusion yields a colorful liquor that is very tangy.  Citrus lovers, this is for you.  The citrus flavored herbal will have your taste buds hopping.  For some reason, I didn’t like the Rooibos mixed with the other ingredients. It’s the one ingredient I could have done without in this mix.  It’s not that it tastes bad, I just found it to be slightly intrusive on the other ingredients.  Overall I did enjoy the herbal, and I found it best with just a touch of sweetener.  Again, if you like orange flavored beverages, this organic herbal is for you.

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