Cofftea

Forgot to log this. Brownie #2 for breakfast w/ chai… I could get used to this.

Suggested preperation: 1/2 water, 1/2 Fat Free Smart Balance Milk w/ Plant Sterols

Suggested pairing: White Tea Brownies from Sanctuary T

THEY CAME! It’s been sooo cold and windy today, I was going to get mail about 4:30 because I expected these to arrive. But to my surprise, the mail lady brought them right to my door about 3:30. This both saved me a trip out into the wind, and gave Madison a treat! (The mail lady always comes prepared.)

When I opened the box I was greated w/ lots of surprises… a hand written thank you, a sample, and 8 small brownies instead of 3 large ones. I prefer this because there’s automatic better portion control and they last longer… definitely helps justify the price. But the real shocker was the shipping cost! I was charged $2.24 for shipping… but Sanctuary T paid $8.20!… this absolutely justifies the price.

Served it w/ a 16oz mug of 52teas Mayan Chocolate Chai (1/2 water, 1/2 Fat Free Smart Balance milk). LiberTEAS is right. These are SO FUDGEY! It looks like there may be caramel on them, but I’m thinking it’s chocolate as I’m not picking up a caramel flavor. The walnut chunks are fairly large- something I could do w/o… and there is that “different” quality… although I don’t think I could name it as white tea.

Conclusions: SO good! Will definitely be ordering them again. Even auto ship worthy. Love the smaller than expected size, but could do w/o the nuts.

Matcha OJ this morning in spite of it being INSANELY cold and windy.

a 3rd infusion w/ lunch. (hot dog- dang am I getting sick of ‘em). Steeped in 16oz heated water then added 8oz refrigerated water so it wasn’t extremely hot, but it was far from chilled. Still brothy, but less so. Thinner mouth feel.

My best friend just got her 3 this weekend and had this while studying for her DPT board certification exam… so I did too!:)

I knew after my matcha OJ on Saturday I’d only have 12oz left so I skipped it yesterday and had 12oz today as I knew I wouldn’t get to the store yesterday. Added 2tsp and shook well. I prefer a 1tsp:8oz ratio, especially with stronger matchas, but as this one is lighter, it worked well.

A double post… made 2 24oz infusions (4 heaping tsp/195degrees steep for 3.5 min 1st infusion, same temp 4.5 min 2nd infusion.) Had both w/ Subway- last nite and today for lunch. Tuna sub w/ pepper jack, banana peppers, extra pickle, tomato, lettuce, chipotle south west dressing, and light ranch on Italian Herb & Cheese. 1st infusion was clean, crisp, and smooth, a bit hay like. 2nd infusion was less hay like, more brothy… maybe even a touch buttery. Now if only I had a white tea brownie for dessert:)

I’ve had a rough 3 days all around… physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even sleep wise. Last night specifically my dog got me up in the middle of the night cuz she had to go to the bathroom and I was awake early… but luckly Madison, my dog, let me lay in bed for quite awhile. At 9am my phone rings and it’s my best friend Irina. She’s never called me in the morning before so I instantly know why she’s calling. Yep, I was right! As of last night, she and her boyfriend Brock are engaged! Seeing as she loves all things organic and drinks matcha frequently (although unfortunately just for the health benefits… she hasn’t found her love for it yet), I made a full chawan of this- 16 ounces! I haven’t had a full chawan at once since I got it back in Jan. This is also the best I’ve gotten it to froth- almost EXACTLY like at the cafe I had matcha at for the 1st time. It’s a great day! Congrats Irina and Brock!

Went after a career fair that ended up being a disaster (wasting 5 hrs of my time does not make me happy.) One of their nutritional boosters is matcha! Even if this is sweetened like Starbucks’ “matcha”, I’m fine w/ it- and I need matcha right now… so what to put it in? I was taking forever deciding (letting people go ahead of me of course) and the person at the counter asked, quite impatiently, if I was ready to order. I politely said I had it narrowed down between two and she asked which. I said I was debating between the chocolate chiller (chocolate and yogurt) w/ matcha or the strawberry beach (strawberry and yogurt) w/ matcha. She suddenly turned up her nose, made a face and said, “Well… um… matcha is green tea and it has a flavor, I don’t think it would be good with chocolate” Sigh… breathe… smile… I politely replied, “I’m well aware of what matcha is and drink it several times a day- and I love the combo of matcha and chocolate. Matcha hot chocolate is the best.” I decided to go w/ that since I don’t really like yogurt based fruit smoothies and was hoping the chocolate would cover the yogurt taste as I don’t like the yogurt/matcha combo either . (I think it would have been good though cuz it ended up tasting like frozen yogurt) and it was amazing! And chocolate in any from before 8am is absofreakinlutely amazing! =D After a few sips I thanked her again for the smoothie and told her it was very good. The shock on her face was almost as much as when I ordered it. Why must people not only insult your tastes but imply (or come right out and say) you don’t know what you’re talking about?

Same as w/ lunch- GREAT tea… just no fruit. On the up side the butteryness is also less.

Had 24oz of this w/ my favorite lunch: a plum, 2 vanilla Fiber One yogurts, and tortilla chips w/ 1/2c. corn, 1/2c. homemade salsa, 5 sliced green olives, topped w/ 2TB each mashed avacado and Smart Balance™ Reduced Fat Sour Cream. It’s not as bland as it was this morning, but still no fruit.

Matcha OJ before lunch.

OK… WHO took my raspberries and black berries?! Cuz I’ve had 16oz of this cold so far today and, unlike yesterday, there is NONE. :( I’ve never had cold tea deteriorate like this over nite before…

I got mine today! It took exactly 5 weeks vs. the estimated 4. Although I feel a lil jipped cuz a lady on their FB page said she got hers in only 4 days- oh well, I’m not gonna be petty- it was just an observation. I’m just happy that I got one of my top flavor choices.

Now for some preliminary observations (and, unfortunately, drawbacks). The packaging is a bit misleading- on the front, in a highly visible green circle it says it has “1 combined serving of fruit and vegetables” making it appear to have less nutritional value (save the green tea extract) than regular V-Fusion light. But there’s a small white cross that leads you to the back under the white nutrition facts box that says Each 8 fl. oz. provides 1/4 cup each fruits and veggies, bringing the complete bottle to 1.5 (combined) servings of fruits and veggies… I also don’t like that the white box names a serving as 1 bottle (12oz) instead the normal 8oz serving of juice. I also don’t like that this is only 50% juice. I know there is tea in here, but it’s extract. It’s not like they use steeped and decanted loose tea. I also don’t like that they don’t tell us how much tea is in here.

Ok, sorry about that- but I had to state the facts. Now on to the taste. Now I’ve had several of the regular V8 V-Fusions, including the raspberry. It’s almost as good as the blackberry which is my favorite. Unlike other flavors, there’s virtually no taste from the veggies… so let’s see how this one compares…

SCORE! Strong, smooth, slightly sweet raspberry flavor… no veggies! No tea either. Idea is wonderful, execution is horrible. If this sounds good to you, do your tongue (and the rest of your body) a favor- pick up a regular bottle of Raspberry V-Fusion (or any other flavor) so you get 2 servings of fruits and veggies per 8oz, add 1tsp of matcha, and shake!=D

Matcha OJ w/ 2 vanilla Fiber One yogurts to hold me til dinner.

Another gift from Meghann M! She didn’t give me enough for a full gallon, but she gave me the perfect amount for 108oz! (Anyone else annoyed when the last bit of tea… or the entire sample in the case of Golden Moon… only makes a partial cuppa?)

6TB leaf, 8oz hot water, 100oz cold water. Drank 24oz w/ lunch. The raw leaf smells like raspberry hard candies.

I steeped this a little longer than I normally would have and I’m not sure why. Glad I did though. Surprisingly the fruit aspect is extremely light, and competely raspberry candy-ish. No real fruit. No blackberry. Tasting the sencha base is not a problem here. Unfortunately instead of light, crisp, clean, vegetal notes that I love in green teas, I’m getting more buttered veggies. I normally don’t pick up on buttered veggie notes, and don’t ever remember picking up on them in an iced tea…

Had 24oz. w/ my favorite home-made panini:
chicken patty
a slice of breaded eggplant
goat cheese w/ crushed red pepper
a slice of roasted red pepper
a slice of tomato
Miracle Whip on one side of the French bread, Fat Free Italian dressing on the other.

In spite of their being no “cream”… and virtually no peach… it’s a pretty good iced tea that pairs very well.

Decided to put 2TB of vanilla creamer in my 16oz chai misto today. It’s funny, I keep various flavored creamers in my fridge for both coffee and tea, but this is one I don’t put in my coffee. Just not a vanilla girl when it comes to my coffee. But I think that’s cuz it’s the only flavor in it. I’m not a fan of vanilla flavored teas if it’s not blended w/ other flavors. Unless it’s vanilla green:)

Made a gallon of this cold and drank 32oz of it… raw leaf is slightly peach scented, but also has floral/perfumey notes… tastes a bit like peaches… spicifically peach COBBLER. Way more bakey than I expected it to be (since I didn’t expect it to be bakey at all). Still floral and perfumey… not creamy… hmmm… not gonna rate it til I can figure it out.

Cold version.

An excellent, healthier alternative to soda, koolaid, and fruit juice, but not a good iced tisane.

Sample 1 from Meghann M!

I LOVE blood oranges, but after their sour apple tasting NOTHING like apple, I’m not real hopeful.

2tsp/16oz boiling water/10min. Half hot, half in the fridge to chill.

This is the hot attempt.

The liquor reminds me of grapefruit juice. Hm… Interesting. The smell does smell like orange, but I can also smell apple and cranberry.

Well, this is better than the sour apple! The orange is actually there. But there’s too much other schtuff in it. Not real accurate, but I think it would be good (again not real accurate though) mixed w/ a black tea. Yes, I know, I don’t even really like non dessert or chai black teas lol.

Another pouch bites the dust. :(

Had this w/ a Lean Cuisine Garlic Chicken pizza. Inspite of only using half the suggested water (8oz) and putting salsa on the pizza, my mouth is still burning from the garlic, and I like lots of garlic…