My daily chai and milk servings! 8g tea, 8oz water, 8oz milk. I can’t wait for Smart Balance to come to WI so I can try it w/ this.
865 Tasting Notes
Ummm… wow… holy crap! If anyone wants to talk at 2am, just gimme call- I’ll be awake!
I love matcha! I also strive to prepare my teas using athentic steeping parameters and teaware. I haven’t really done that w/ matcha though. And, I admit- it’s a money thing. Most of the time I only use one chashaku of matcha and use less or more water (3 or 8oz) depending on if I want it “thick” or “thin”… Well, I’m determined to at least try to transition to more authentic Usucha and Koicha.
I decided to start w/ Usucha (thin tea) prepared with approximately 1.75 grams (amounting to 1.5 heaping chashaku scoop, or about half a teaspoon i.e. level teaspoon) of matcha and approximately 75 ml (2.5 oz). This must be really light matcha cuz it ended up being a crap load of matcha… like 4 or 5 scoops. I can’t quite remember.
The result was a thick, slightly foamy, very dark liquid that is more bitter than most times I enjoy matcha but was the bitterness was balanced perfectly by the sweetness, vegetal notes, and astringency. Now, the question is- will I sleep tonite?
YAY! MY FIRST SAMOVAR ORDER IS HERE!!! It took forever to get here though! The tracking said it was out for delivery at 7:48am, but didn’t get here til 1:30pm. My UPS guy is normally here ~11.
After forcefully pulling myself away from my (first) yixing pot, I made this. Someone (takgoti?) said that steeping instructions come on the packaging, but I was deeply disappointed that it did not. Also, it’s in a silver bag that is not resealable… bummer… 2 disappointments already and I haven’t even opened it. I went online to contact them, but the only contact info they give there is email and I wanted to drink this now so I looked them up in the yellow pages and called. Meg, the woman I spoke to, said I should steep it using the steeping parameters: 1tsp/160 degrees/1-3min… argh… generalized steeping parameters. Another disappointment. Oh well, this is not “3 strikes and you’re out” so I use the other suggestion I got, from Networld and steeped it like a premium Gyokuro (2g/140 degrees/2.5 min.
Mmmm… The yellowish green may look like a lot of ordinary green teas, but it definitely smells like matcha as the raw leaf does. The aroma is very grassy and vegetal w/ just a bit of bitterness. My brain just doesn’t know what to think of tencha yet. On one hand, it tastes a lot like matcha, but the mouth feel is so much thinner… Definitely a tea for those that love matcha as well as those that don’t like the texture of matcha. I can’t wait to nail the steeping parameters for this!
Continuing my leaves from last nite- 4th infusion, 8min. I can’t believe how good this still is!
My 1st Ti Kuan Yin! I’ve seen lots of amazing tasting notes about Samovar’s version(Monkey Picked Iron Goddess of Mercy), but I wasn’t sure how big the sample size is and I have a butt load of frequent cup points accumulated, so I figured I’d try this 1st. It is the 3rd most expensive sample they offer (outright cost, I’m not sure how it compares when comparing cost/gram), but this is the featured tea for March for their Roots Campaign so I thought now would be the perfect time to try it.
It’s definitely a green oolong and is beautifully rolled and twisted. 2.25g/6oz just below boiling water.
I could watch this unfurl forever… who says only blooming teas are pretty? The liquor is a very light yellow- lighter than I was expecting for the 5 min it steeped. The aroma is light, slightly vegetal, and… there’s a hint of something else… maybe lemony notes?
The flavor is very much like the aroma- light, slightly vegetal, subtle lemony notes, and just the slightest hint of astringency. Inspite of this astringency the mouth feel is still very much clean and smooth- it’s also thicker, almost broth like. I can see why people devote yixings to this one! Due to the subtle lemon notes I think this would be excellent yixing steeped then chilled for iced tea.
If you’re hesitant to drop $6 for a sample, I encourage you to try this WONDERFUL tea and support tea farmers!
Decided to try it double thick (2 scoops/3oz water) and I was really surprised! While ever so slightly more bitter it was not chalky like I feared. And it stayed homogeneous w/ the water longer because the matcha:water ratio was higher. YAY!
Ugh… craaappp… sigh… I was gonna make a double cup according to premium sencha parameters, but totally spaced and made it a double cup according to flavored sencha parameters… I hate when I do that. It makes me so mad I almost don’t want to make tea for the rest of the day. It’s ok… but not nearly as good as it could or should have been…
Had this w/ lunch (breakfast food- a chocolate chip waffle and breakfast sausages). Decided to make my own variation of maple bacon tea by adding 1tsp of maple syrup to my cuppa. Pretty good. It didn’t really sweeten it, but changed it from HOLY CRAP- IT’S BACON!!! to Mmmm… It’s bacon!
My 1st TeaGshwendner tea! Got this one from teaplz. =D
The raw leaf smells sooo good! Like liquid chocolate w/ just a hint of spice. I was quite shocked at the steeping time, but decided to follow it. The resulting cuppa was much more red in color than brown and the perfect combo of chocolate, chili, and black tea.
In spite of the short steeping time, the flavor is just like the scent. The chili is much less potent than in 52teas Mayan Chocolate Chai, bit it is definitely there. It rounds out the other 2 flavors and warms the mouth. So good!
What a morning! Got up, showered right away, talked to my someone special, then made lunch. I’m just now having my matcha! I made it thicker (1 scoop matcha, 3oz water). It seems more spinachy today which went great w/ my salad. Odd that I don’t like spinach, isn’t it?
3rd infusion, 1min 40sec. Lighter liquor- less green, more yellow like a white or raw pu erh. Stronger flavor though, clean, crisp, smooth mouth feel and sweet.
Made this for my mom even though she isn’t a fan of black teas. She thought it was pretty good.
It’s been 60 the past few days, but today is insanely windy so something that coats my tongue is nice!:)
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day and today’s Steepster Select, I decided today was the day to try this sample I got from Emeric.
The leaves are finely chopped and look like parsley… and they smell just like matcha.
The back of the bag says Japanese greens are to be steeped ~1min. While this isn’t exactly true and all Japanese teas are different, it’s a heck of a lot better than the even more general “3min @ 180” so I’ll give it a shot. I have no water or leaf volume instructions so I guess at 1tsp/6oz water @ 160 degrees.
The liquor is a very light lime green and smells sweet. While extremely light, the flavor is sweet, vegetal, and clean. It’s very good, but I’ll hold off on rating it til I get more authentic steeping parameters.
Served w/ a TB of white chocolate creamer in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day- yum!
Matcha is as green as you can get for St. Patrick’s day so does it surprise anyone that I made some since I do every day anyway? And I love flavoring matcha so does it surprise anyone I made a matcha Irish Creme cappuccino? It shouldn’t… well, maybe just because I’m not the least bit Irish:)
6oz water, 3 level TB instant Irish Creme cappuccino mix, 2 scoops matcha.
The Irish Creme is definitely stronger than the matcha, but it’s still there. I would have put more matcha in, but I didn’t want to overload myself on caffeine lol. A perfect morning wake up for St. Patrick’s Day!
My 1st Mighty Leaf loose tea! And what a unique tea at that… A friend from Prayer and Share was telling about her and her husband’s cruise to Aruba and their trip to an aloe plantation and that reminded me that I had this!
The only experience I’ve had w/ injesting aloe is aloe juice. And it’s grrrooossss- and the thick texture doesn’t help.
1/2TB of leaf per 6oz of water. Hot and clean.
Another pretty tea to watch! The aloe and rose make the green tea not just a typical green tea. Once steeped, the liquor is a golden color.
The aroma is that of the raw leaf- floral, sweet, vegetal, and something else… the aloe I’m sure.
Yay! The flavor is exactly what I expected based on the aroma of both the raw and steeped leaf. The light floral notes and vegetalness from the green tea blend well (thank God) w/ the aloe which is sweet… but not a fruity or honey like sweetness. The texture is smooth, but the mouth feel is a little different… thicker. Will definitely be buying this!
The liquor
Matcha is the only way I can function at 6:30am. 1 scoop w/ 3oz of water this morning before Prayer and Share. Can I go back to bed now? lol
My Life in a Teacup samples are here! I grabbed this one 1st because it’s so unique. I love bamboo shoots, but I rarely eat them so I can’t really remember what they taste like… So I’m kinda winging my description.
The sample is 6.86g. YAY for getting a large sample, but not yay that the bag isn’t resealable.
2.25g of leaf/6oz water ~200 degrees F.
Wow! what an interesting tea. The leaves look very needley like silver needle, but are much more sharp on the ends. Once I add the water, this is one of the most gorgeous non blooming/rolled teas to watch steep. The leaves start floating on top of the water, but then some of them slowly begin to drift down in a verticle position. The liquor is a wonderful golden color.
The aroma is incredibly sweet- not fruity or floral sweet, but almost honey-esk. This is the 1st time I’ve had a tea that smells like honey.
The flavor is also really sweet and honey-esk… but there’s also just a hint of something else… I just don’t know how to describe it… is it bitterness? Astringency? If it is, it’s not a bad thing. If it wasn’t there, this’d be too sweet.
It’s a very sweet tea so it’s not something I’d drink all day every day, but I will be ordering it again. Thank you, Gingko!
I didn’t get to talk to my someone special yesterday, but when I woke up I had a REALLY sweet ecard waiting for me! Made this after reading it. Today is gonna be a great day!
Yesterday was nuts! Bible study and church 9:30-11:30am, then lunch at grandma’s, organ dedication concert at 3, cantata practice 6-8. This was the only tea I had all day. But it’s my favorite so that’s ok:) After being out of the house 11 hrs (which means my shoes were on and I was in my chair all day- big contributors to my chronic pain), I was just too tired to make anything when I got home… not to mention I didn’t sleep well Saturday nite and was jipped out of an hr.
For some reason I never had my matcha this morning- so I made it thick (1 scoop/3oz water) and had it for dessert w/ a pocky stick!=D
Cinoi fed my addiction! No milk in the house so I added 1TB chocolate caramel coffee creamer. WOW! The cayenne is definitely there, but it’s much lighter than in the past. The extra chocolate gives it a richness and the caramel gives it extra sweetness. I LOVE this creamer!
This tea reminds me of my uncle Tom. He LOVES chocolate… he’s an absolute chocolate fiend. He also absolutely loathes peanut butter… I’ve never seen anyone hate a food so much. So I’m chuckling to myself as I drink this.
oh… my… gosh… The raw leaf smells exactly like a peanut butter cup. This surprises me considering the peanut butter flavor comes from just a few peanut butter chips.
The liquor is a fairly dark reddish brown and the aroma is that of the raw leaf w/ a little more black tea added.
Wow… They did it. Nearly perfect. A smooth chocolate flavored black tea (can’t lose the black tea flavor) w/ a hint of peanut butter (which could be a tad stronger). Very similar to drinking an unflavored black tea then taking a bite of a peanut butter cup. Gonna try it w/ milk or creamer next time.
