Cofftea

TTB Tea #13:

Another tea that isn’t on the website. I’m glad it’s here though because the tiny and tightly scrunched oolong leaves could almost be mistaken for green unless inspected carefully.

1 bag (3.4g)/6oz water.

In addition to the leaves, I can see yellow strands of something I assume to be flower petals, pink pepper corns, and silver balls… odd. The aroma is very fruity with a hint of floral.

After 3 min. the liquor is a medium peachy golden color… the kind that is lovely in a tea cup, but ugly in 1970’s flooring lol.

The aroma is that of pineapple and peach… I’m assuming the “peach” is guava- I have no clue what guava smells or tastes like.

The flavor is exactly what you’d expect from the aroma. Fruity, but not overly sweet… kind of the difference between fresh pineapple and canned. This is fresh. You can almost taste the firm texture of the fresh pineapple. The fruityness is grounded by a smooth, light oolong base. Quite lovely!- and I don’t even especially like fruity teas… or fresh pineapple for that matter lol.

TTB Tea #12:

I do believe this may be my 1st bagged white tea.

1 bag (1.91g)/6oz water. I really toned down the water temp for this. Boiling? I don’t think so.

The liquor is… well… apricot color. A muted, dull orange w/ tints of amber, brown, and tan. It’s very rare that a tea’s liquor so closely resembles the flavor.

The aroma is mainly apricot which makes it have jello-like qualities, but the white tea base comes thru to tone that down.

Interesting. It tastes virtually nothing like hot jello which is good. I’m quite picky about fruit flavored teas, especially those w/ a white base, for that very reason… but this is nice. The white tea base is light, but still solid enough that the apricot only sneaks thru instead of yelling “HI! I’M AN APRICOT TEA!” Exceeded my expectations of both a flavored white and a bagged tea of low weight- the weight concerned me since 2.25g of white tea can be over 1TB worth.

TTB Tea #11:

Another tea I didn’t know what I was getting into when I grabbed it. Couldn’t find it on the website either. Luckily there’s a discription here. I’m not a black tea fan, but I love all the flavors listed so I think I’m good to go.

The bag smells sooo good! The fruit is sweet, there are floral notes, and the ginger bites my nose. Speaking of that ginger- there’s only 1 piece but it’s huge. When I think of “petals”, I think rose… but I just see a couple tiny blue petals.

1 bag (3.71g!)/6oz just below boiling water. The liquor is a medium reddish brown- much lighter than I expected from the leaf/water ratio. The aroma is a bit muted from the raw leaf, but all 3 components are still there.

The flavor is lighter than I expected, but smooth. The passion fruit gives it a sweetness and the ginger isn’t over bearing. Very good.

Another misto. I’m feeling guilty about dumping my MC Pu Erh leaves after only 1 steep even though it was a 10 min one, so I dumped 5 1/3g of this on top of my Pu Erh leaves. This misto is almost as dark as the last, but more full and rounded flavors. Yum!

Misto style! 5 1/3g leaf steeped in 4oz just below boiling water for 10 min then added 4oz Fat Free Smart Balance Milk.

The misto is by far the darkest I’ve made. Ok… I wonder how milky dirt is gonna taste… I’m a little nervous. Yum! It’s actually very good. There is virtually no dirt flavor and the milk brings out the chocolate vs. having it neat. The heat is there, but doesn’t burn. All flavors are a bit muted compared to Mayan Chocolate Chai, probably due to the lack of spices. Definitely worth reblending… but w/ the addition of spices. I definitely wouldn’t steep this for less than 10 min, maybe even 11 if you’re making a misto.

TTB Tea #10

Exactly 6 months ago I had my 1st matcha experience. This matcha. The only difference is now I’m making it myself.

I should say I think this is Rishi matcha… the TTB log book says Lena was the only one that put matcha in so far ( that I could find) and she didn’t list a # so I assumed she only put 1 packet in, which has already been claimed, but then I found this. So for all intents and purposes I’m calling this Rishi matcha.

Gosh this is a devil to get out… half is stuck in the packet- I’m sure from being smashed at the bottom of the box for ages. Poor bruised, broken matcha.

1 packet/6oz water as my favorite cafe makes it.

The matcha incorporates with the water very well, even before I whisk it. I’m disappointed that it does not foam nearly as much as at the cafe, but it still is one of the most foamy matchas I’ve had. I’m sure the lack of foam is completely my fault and not that of the matcha.

It’s been so long, I’m having a hard time comparing my 2 experiences- and the foam affects it as well… but it’s a smooth, thick, vegetal, bitter, sweet, GREEN taste and mouth feel that immediately makes me smile… until… Remember the “sludge” I lovingly speak of? Well, this isn’t it. The last few sips contain hard, chalky clumps of matcha that literally almost made me puke. But again- I am not blaming this on the matcha. I can only imagine what damage is done to poor, sensitive matcha particles in that box. I will try this again. Although I can’t see me buying this (in powder, not by the bowla at a cafe) more than once purely due to the stupid packaging.

This came today! Can someone please explain how an order placed on 4/26 and one placed on 5/6 can come on the same day?

The raw leaf smells much like Mayan Chocolate Chai only with a faint fecality to it from the pu erh (which I’m assuming is shu) base.

I’m quite surprised by the steeping parameters on this… up to 10 min?! Ok, well I have tea I wanna get thru today so I think I’ll get as much as I can out of this cuppa before moving on.

1tsp/6oz just below boiling water for 10 min.

Whoa… this is BLACK like this text color black. By far the darkest tea I’ve ever seen. The aroma has the earthiness of pu erh, but the smoothness of chocolate and the spicyness of the cayenne. It even has complex qualities that are coffeeish.

When I take a sip the 1st thing that hits me is the cayenne followed, surprisingly, by the pu erh base. I expected more chocolate. There is an occassional chocolate sip, but most of the time the chocolate just comes in as smoothness. It tastes kinda flat and I think could benefit from chai spices.

TTB Tea #9:

Ok… the bag of the wrapper says “Pu Erh Oolong”… It really irritates me when a tea company mislabels a tea like this. They should know better. I’m glad this isn’t my 1st YMY experience or I probably would have been turned off from the company.

Steeped as suggested, no rinse. 1 bag (1.81g)/6oz just below boiling water.

Now this is not how I normally prepare pu erhs so bare w/ me…

The liquor is a dark, flat brown w/ just the slightest red tint almost as dark as some coffees.

The aroma is of the entire Chrysanthemum plant… dirt and all. I think I’m detecting a faint black pepper note as well.

The flavor is what you’d expect from the aroma. Based on the steeping parameters I was expecting to get lots of fecality, but instead I was surprised to get just earthy dirt with a slight floral;y sweet aspect. Unfortunately I’m not getting the “grass clippings” that others have gotten… but that could just be due to the color of the liquor. Not bad for a shu (I’m assuming this is shu) considering I’m not a shu kinda person.

TTB Tea #8:

1 bag (2.11g)/6oz water.

Steeped liquor is a medium, dull brown. Aroma is very toasty (personal “uh oh”). I’m not a fan of toasty teas, but this one has a sweetness that smooths and balances the toastyness. I won’t buy this based on my distaste for roasty teas, but for anyone that does enjoy them this is a pretty darn good bagged tea.

TTB Tea #7:

1 bag (2.11g) in 6oz boiling water- picked a 3 min steeping time at random because none was listed.

Whoa… ok, I should have checked here 1st. This is obviously isn’t just ginger root as I thought. The liquor is a medium reddish brown- not colorless like pure ginger root. The aroma is mostly ginger, but also other spices. WHen I taste it, I get lemon notes and unidentifiable spices along w/ the ginger. Not bad, But I prefer pure ginger.

TTB Tea #6

Ok… I have no clue what this is. No steeping directions on the bag or on here… I can’t even find it on their website. I do know that it isn’t the flowering tea it used to say here (I changed it), and it’s black. It does smell like the discription here though- nice and fruity w/ hints of rose.

The liquor is a darkish read color and the aroma is that of the raw leaf only I can smell more of the base.

This isn’t anything special. More fruity than floral… and unfortunately the base does come thrue… as a tad bitter.

1 bag (3.14g)/6oz just below boiling water.

Ok, I’m not good at distinguishing what a 1/2 of a scoop of matcha is, but I wanted to make Usucha… so? Problem solved. I made a double batch!=D There’s never such a thing as too much matcha, right? 3 scoops/5oz water. A bit bitter. Sweet. GREEN!=D

Ok, can someone explain why I did what I just did? I don’t like cold matcha. I don’t like milk in my matcha. And I don’t like slim fast. And yet… What did I do? I added 1tsp matcha to my french vanilla slim fast powder and 1 cup Smart Balance milk. (In my chawan of course) Yep. Tastes exactly like it should. Cold and matcha flavored slim fast. But… I do like it better than just adding cold milk (or even hot, I like that least). I still don’t get matcha lattes though.

For some reason… that even I can’t tell you… I never had my matcha this morning. Which is odd since my FedEx guy delivered my new DoMatcha chasen and chasen holder at 7:45 this morning- an hr earlier than normal! The prongs of my new chasen (around the edge as well as the center ones) are much curlier than my last.

1 scoop/3oz water. 52teas’s matchas always have mixed w/ the water very quickly- independently even, but I’m surprised that after a quick whisk my chasen is absolutely clean even considering the thicker consistancy. No vessicles. No matcha. Wow.

Suggested parameters (1c. each), cold. There are both the licoricey sweet burn and the sugary sweetness I’ve tasted the past 2 times I’ve tried it, but both are more tolerable this time. Comparable to the Tazo brand Starbucks uses (another reaso why it seems there’s anise in here)… it’s not however worth the extra 40 calories (or 70 if you use Fat free Smart Balance milk even considering the thicker texture)… not sure I would like it using plain fat free milk… but then again I don’t think the Tazo concentrate is worth the 200 cal for a grande either.

Given the awesome giveaway by DoMatcha, I couldn’t resist having another serving before bed. 1 scoop/3oz water. Thick, creamy, smooth, sweet, bitter, vegetal, fruity, and GREEN! And not enough liquid to fill my bladder before morning lol;)

Swapped the milk out for coffee this time. Thankfully no anise…! But… there is strong and sickening sweetness (not the same as from licorice)… not enough spice either…

In honor of today’s Steepster Select I had to make sure that I had my matcha before leaving for Prayer + Share this morning. I used my favorite ratio: 1 scoop/3oz water. Perfection.

On Earth Day Rishi was giving a box away every hr. for being the 1st to correctly answer a trivia question and I was the 1st to respond w/ their 11 World Tea Championship winners.

16oz. cuppa Made as directed (using Fat Free Smart Balance Milk) except I heated the milk in the microwave instead of on the stove.

Ok, what? There’s lemon juice in this? Why? Weird. At least there’s no anise.

Not bad… nothing especially tea like to it… but… wait… there’s a strange sweet burning sensation. Anise! But there isn’t any in here… is it the lemon juice? Eh. Extremely greatful to Rishi for being able to try it, but I’ll never buy it. But then again I don’t really like concentrates anyway. Not worth the 270 calories though.

I’m determined to figure out Koicha. So far I’ve tried 3 scoops and 3.75g (not the same thing even though wiki says it is) per 40ml of water. Today I tried 1tsp instead of using my matcha scoop. The result was a thick liquid that didn’t whisk well and was almost too bitter for my taste.

TTB Tea #5:

I love Adagio’s loose ginseng green so I was excited to try this- and just the tea for the morning. It was picked at random so God must have really known I needed it.

1 bag (2.33g) 6oz purified water.

I steeped it for the full 4 min (2-4 suggested) because I wanted to see if it got too bitter/medicinal. The liquor is a surprisingly dark golden orange, but aroma is just as surprising because it isn’t as strong as I expected (feared?). It’s vegetal, yet smooth and sweet. When I take sip, I’m even more curious as to the base that is used. This is not the over steeped cuppa I expected. It’s vegetal, smooth, and sweet. There is a slight bitterness from the ginseng, but it’s not overly bitter at all. Happy tongue!

TTB Tea: 4

I’m doing a “grab and drink” method so I didn’t do any research as to the type of green tea used so it’s general steeping parameters: 1 bag (1.7g)/6oz water served clean and hot.

The liquor looks sooo strange… I mean “Take-me-to-the-ER-I-have-a-UTI” weird. Luckily it smells vegetal, slightly lemony, and a bit bitter.

The flavor is what I expected from the aroma. The lemony notes aren’t there in flavor… but there is something I can’t place… maybe it’s just the bitterness…

TTB Tea #3:

This tea terrifies me because I absolutely hate rooibos… but I love white tea so I gave it a try hoping catering to the white tea for the steeping parameters would be beneficial to the rooibos as well. While it is not the most disgusting rooibos I’ve ever tasted (slightly lighter and more smooth), I dumped it. This would be a fantastic tea for rooibos lovers who want the health benefits of true tea.

TTB Tea #2

1 bag (2.22g)/6oz purified water served hot and neat.

I originally set the timer for 5 min (they suggest 3-5), but by 3 min the liquor was a quite dark burnt orange-ish brown so I decided to stop there. That wasn’t too surprising since the tea began smelling strongly of peaches (in they jelloy sense) as soon as the bag hit the water.

The flavor, thankfully, is not jelloy. Yes, there is a strong peachy flavoy that does in some aspects remind me of unset jello, but the oolong base is quite strong which saves it from being hot jello. A very good tea- one I appreciated drinking and would willingly drink again, but due to the vast aray of teas out there I won’t be adding this to my staples or even my “rebuy eventually” list.