Dimbula Plantation teas are mostly grown around 5,000 to 6,000 feet on the island of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. The different altitudes make a lot of difference in the taste of the tea grown, and teas typically retain the name of Ceylon tea, this one being further identified as a High Grown Broken Orange Pekoe or BOP. Orange Pekoe refers to the size of the leaves that were picked and therefore also their location on the branch, as tip leaves are smaller, and broken tells us that this isn’t whole leaf tea.
While whole leaf tea is usually more expensive, that doesn’t mean that broken leaf can’t be good. If it came from good leaf, it just becomes broken good leaves. It can mean you need a fine strainer, and it does mean there is more surface area and therefore, you need to cut your steep time short to prevent bitterness, but made properly, broken leaf teas can be quite delicious.
This tea has a hearty, classic tea scent and bold flavor. The citrus notes are high enough to tingle your nose when you sniff the steeped tea. The liquor is dark orange and medium bodied. It has a nice briskness and goes well with food. I drink almost all of my tea plain, and this one is palatable that way, but if you like milk and sugar in your tea, this one can certainly take it. It also makes a good iced sweet tea.
I would have no trouble serving this as a breakfast tea, but it also does duty in my house as an afternoon tea with sweets, which is how I think I most like to use it.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zesta Tea
Description
Enjoy our regional tea packs featuring teas from five tea growing regions of Sri Lanka – Dimbula, Ruhuna, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Uva. This variety from such a small island is what made Ceylon tea famous – try it – from the low grown Ruhuna teas to the high grown Nuwara Eliya – a true journey in Ceylon tea, packaged in teabags for convenience and offered in a pine wood box. Perfect for gifting.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Ruhuna Tea from Zesta Tea . . . . . .
The Ruhuna (sometimes spelled Ruhunu) tea from Zesta is part of their regional tea tasting set. This black tea came in a beautiful red patterned box, and I’m tempted to try the rest of their regional tea set just for the eye-catching packaging alone. Beneath the red box is a foil bag of tea, so I popped it open and started brewing.
The dry leaves were small and tightly rolled, almost like pellets. When I put my nose into the bag of tea the leaves were very fragrant, with both earthy almost-tobacco notes complimented by bright lemony scents.
In brewing, the leaves unfurled and quickly produced a dark and potent cup of tea. The taste is definitely that of a strong black tea, but not so strong that it makes your mouth pucker. This is where the Ruhuna blend stands out. It doesn’t have the fuzzy and chocolatey mouthfeel of some assam or malty breakfast teas. But it is not sharp or bitter like other brighter black teas I’ve tried, even after a longer steep time.
Ruhuna is powered by its citrus flavors, tasting as sunny and lemony as you can without adding flavoring or lemon peel to the tea. Beneath that first flush of lemon, there are sweeter orange notes, all supported by a a robust and figgy black tea base.
Sweet without being artificial, and bright without being too tart, it is easy to enjoy such an uplifting and drinkable tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zesta Tea
Description:
Enjoy our regional tea packs featuring teas from five tea growing regions of Sri Lanka – Dimbula, Ruhuna, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Uva. This variety from such a small island is what made Ceylon tea famous – try it – from the low grown Ruhuna teas to the high grown Nuwara Eliya – a true journey in Ceylon tea, packaged in teabags for convenience and offered in a pine wood box. Perfect for gifting.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Zesta Connoisseur Collection Jasmine Green Bags. . . .
Let’s face it, pre-bagged teas have a bad rap in our circles. I saw some broken leaves, similar to Cut-Tear-Curl but not as uniformly cut.
Although Zesta recommends boiling water for this Jasmine Green, I’m much too impatient for all that waiting to heat up then waiting to be drinkable. I brewed at 160F and discovered a sunny, pollen-yellow liquor, with a strong jasmine scent.
Half the amount of sweetener I usually use brought out the green tea flavors considerably. I can taste the quality in the perfume of the Jasmine flowers, even though they’ve been removed from the pyramid. Jasmine really is the star of the show here.
All in all, Zesta offers a strong floral, yet inexpensive Jasmine tea bag.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Zesta
This delicately fragrant green tea adds a touch of beauty to your day with its imprint of natural Jasmine petals. Zesta’s Jasmine green tea is an exotic tea that can be enjoyed any time of day and is great as an accompaniment to food.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Jasmine Green Tea from Zesta Tea. . . . .
With how my life is structure, having a tea that I can pop in a bottle of iced water or freshly prepped water is key. I sometimes need a quicker route to tea than the traditional loose leaf variety. It sounds silly, but being a mom of 4 with all of the other work and home tasks that need to get done on a daily basis, I find that sometimes time just doesn’t always allow for the prep needed for my beloved loose leaf. Yes, I know. Prepping loose leaf tea takes a mere minutes, but sometimes I really do find myself up against the clock to grab shoes and get out the door with kids in two. This is where Jasmine Green Tea from Zesta Tea has been my hero.
Jasmine Green Tea is a bagged tea variety of one of my beloved teas. With a gorgeous elephant as their logo, Zesta Tea knows how to do give you a lot of flavor in a tea bag. Freshly prepped with hot water, this tea gives that familiar and soul loving floral flavor mixed with that brilliant green tea base. The jasmine flavor really is the star here and the green tea is a bit more gentle. . . quite a romantic combination in my opinion. The tea is smooth and really hits the spot when you need something quick. I do still enjoy my loose leaf version of jasmine green tea better, but this tea is perfect for those instances where I need to really get a moving.
What I found that I really adore about this tea is how marvelous you can brew up an iced tea. I fill my water bottle up with ice, water, and a few of Zesta’s Jasmine Green Tea bags. Stick it in the fridge and in an hour or so, I have wonderful iced tea. Perfect for those on the go moments that fill up my day everyday. And this iced tea always compliments whatever lunch I’ve scrounged up for myself.
For a bagged tea, this Jasmine Green Tea has really caught my attention. I’m excited now to jump into the loose leaf teas that Zesta Tea sent us to review along with the other bagged tea varieties. I see lots of tea tasting sessions in my future this weekend!
I’ve had other bagged tea varieties of this tea blend before and for the most part, have walked away disappointed. Not the case here. This may be a tea I need to pick up more of for those busy summer days that are quickly approaching.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zesta Tea
Description
Chinese green tea delicately flavoured by imprinting the leaves with natural Jasmine flowers and allowing the tea to absorb its fragrance. The flowers are then carefully removed by hand leaving behind this exotic tea that can be drunk any time of the day and particularly makes a great accompaniment to food.
