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My 2nd powdered sencha, my 1st preportioned. Sadly, this was better yesterday when I was sick. The first and strongest flavor I taste is the water. Yep. It’s terribly weak. Then a roasted flavor… I did use the same jug I used for the Gen Mai Cha, but I rinsed it well prior to making this. Strange…
24oz of this today!
Thank GOD yesterday is over! In spite of 2 fans (we have no A/C) going and chugging 80z of cold tea I was terribly over heated and ended up getting heat stroke. I wanted this so bad, but was not physically able to boil water. Today is a LOT cooler- I haven’t even had to turn on my fan (one of them died last nite). So I think I’ll make up for yesterday:
2 TB each MCC and LatTEA steeped in 4oz almost boiling water, add 4TB instant double chocolate cappuccino mix and stir the heck out of it to make sure it’s mixed (I pretty much stirred it til it was cool). Add 4oz cold water and 8oz Fat Free Smart Balance Milk and stir again.
WHOA! VERY Chocolatey. And thick. And Creamy. The cayenne is in the back ground, but very mellow and the intant coffee gives it body. Not your typical chai (think blended iced latte vs frappuccino), but oh so good. Definitely put a smile on my face =D
Really don’t care at this point. I feel like death warmed over (literally). It was good though. I think. I chugged the entire thing in less than 5 min. Better review later.
Ok. So this one scares me the most. Especially cold. Gen Mai Chai is one of only 2 Japanese greens I do not like… I’ve only had it hot though.
The aroma of the powder is your basic toasted rice scent w/ quite a bit of sweetness.
Served as suggested.
The liquor is light like the powdered green oolong, but the scent is pretty strong. The Gen Mai is still strongly evident but the matcha like aroma from the green tea is there too.
Glug, glug.
Wow. Not my personal preference, but pretty dang good. Way better than hot. Like drinking rice cereal. But there’s also a stong sweetness and a nice smooth vegetal note from the green tea that pulls it together. Not gonna chance ruining it and making it hot.
Received this for winning a FB contest (along w/ powdered Gen Mai Cha and Secha). Prepared this as suggested.
This has a lot of similarities to matcha or powdered sencha, although much lighter in taste. One reason why I don’t like preportioned teas. I prefer hot matcha so I’ll try this hot, then more concentrated. I’ve got 11 more so I’ll do some tinkering to find the way I like it best.
After several days of drinking 10 cups of 1st infusion tea, it’s SO nice to get off the caffeine roller coaster and relax w/ only 3g of caffeine/16oz. Caffeine normally doesn’t bother me, but I think several days of 10 cups of 1st infusion black tea woud make anyone insane lol.
16oz before/during Prayer + Share this morning.
3rd 18oz bottle w/ turkey, tomato, and pepper jack panini w/ mayo and musk melon.
18oz bottle #2 w/ 2 vanilla Fiber One yogurts.
CLEARANCE BOX TEA 3/20:
Made a gallon iced. 7TB +1tsp/8oz water added to 120oz cold water. Couldn’t be easier. Drinking my 1st 18oz bottle.
The raw leaf smells very much like a strong apple black tea w/ a hint of candyness… I think… I’ve never had a candied apple lol.
When steeped, I’m quite suprised the DARK reddish brown liquor smells almost completely of a smooth, sweet black tea. Just a hint of apple and not really any candy.
Unfortunately the flavor of the tea tastes just like it smells… A WONDERFUL smooth and sweet black tea and… well… there’s not much “and” I’m think I’m getting a light candied apple note as an after thought, but that’s it. Get’s a 100 for personal preference, but not for accuracy. :(
90 degrees, high humidty, heat index in the mid 90s, and no A/C means I’ll be drinking very little hot tea today… so I wanted to do this right!
Equal parts MCC and Caramel LaTEA (1TB each), 1 c. water and 1 c. fat free Smart Balance milk.
Whoa! I may die of a caffeine induced heart attack, but I’ll go happy. Chocolatey. Caramely. Sweet. Savory. Thick. Chewy. A bit lighter on the cayenne than I expected. Hello perfection! Now if only I could physically and financially afford to drink it like this every day:)
CLEARANCE BOX TEA 2/20:
3rd 18oz bottle with dinner. Mom surprised me w/ Subway for dinner- buffalo chicken w/ pepper jack, light ranch, extra pickle, lettuce, and banana peppers on flat bread is awesome. Although they always look at me weird when I say I want it toasted at the end. Who would want cold condiments on a hot sandwhich?
CLEARANCE BOX 2/20:
18oz bottle #2. W/2 containers of Fiber One Vanilla Yogurt. Very good combo!
CLEARANCE BOX 2/20:
Wow I’m the 1st to review this!:)
Made a gallon of this (7TB + 1tps tea steeped in 8oz just below boiling water, then added 120oz cold water) and am drinking my 1st 18oz.
The raw leaf smells very much like both apricot and black tea- Have no clue what brandy smells like.
The concentrate is a VERY DARK syrupy reddish black and the gallon of tea is a much lighter reddish brown. The aroma doesn’t change much in ratio, but it is a bit lighter in general.
Called that one. Tastes exactly like I’d expect… not sure what brandy tastes like so I can’t tell if it’s there or not. But the balance between the black tea base and the apricot is perfect. I’ve never known apricots to be an overly sweet fruit, but there’s definitely no need for sweetener in this.
Getting to the bottom of the pouch. I think I’m gonna start a new pouch tomorrow then add the rest of this one when there’s room. Added 2TB of caramel coffee creamer to cut the extra spice. And it worked yummily!
Made this my usual way 1TB leaf/8oz water/8oz Fat Free Smart Balance HeartRight milk except I left the 2tsp of Caramel LatTEA in my ingenuiTEA. Doesn’t really give much flavor, but I felt bad wasting it.
Made mom a 12oz cuppa this morning.
Why must I crave a 16oz cup of this late on a hotter than blazes nite? A decaf option would sure be nice. Maybe w/ a honey flavored Assam?
2 16oz bottles of this today. 1st gallon is gone.
The usual. 1TB steeped in 8oz water, add 8oz Fat Free Smart Balance Milk. I’ve offically reached my goal liquid intake of 80oz once I finish this. Although I think I should have drank a little faster today. I have a feeling I’ll be getting up tonite.
Final 22oz of this tea for the day. I finished the last bottle w/ a corn tortilla pizza w/ taco sauce, green olives, pineapple, and home made salsa. I started this bottle w/ 2 containers of vanilla Fiber One yogurt. The latter is the better of the pairings by far. This would make an AMAZING frozen yogurt! Or maybe just a honey flavored black tea w/ fresh strawberries in the frozen yogurt.
2nd 18oz bottle. Unfortunately mom says it was a bit too floral for her… could it have been the honey?
I mixed a 1/2tsp w/ 1/2tsp mandarin matcha and whisked it (w/ my bent chasen…) w/ 6oz hot water. It’s funny, I have barely any strawberry left and I have more mandarin left.
CLEARANCE BOX 1/20
FInally drank (am drinking) this today. Decided to take it w/ me to Prayer + Share this morning. 4/7 people tried it and about half the gallon is gone- but I took about 18oz myself. Everyone that tried it liked it and said sweetener was not needed. The strawberry and black tea are strong and the honey lends a hint of floral sweetness. I’m not a black tea person, but for what it is, it’s very good!
Are you a company or tea blender on sites like Adagio that would you like your tea reviewed? If so, please e-mail me @ SMSchneider@live.com.
What I most enjoy from obtaining samples from companies to review is that it helps me to better learn to drink and review teas from a more objective perspective, meaning more of the “This tea is…” point of view rather than the “I like/don’t like” this tea. I feel objectivism in tea reviews is EXTREMELY important because no two tea drinkers tastes are exactly the same. I’ve also been extremely surprised by several teas. I love recieving a sample I think I will be only writing an objective review on, only to completely fall in love with it upon tasting it.
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Are you interested in redoing or starting your own tea related website or adding Search Engine Optimization? If so, please contact me at my work e-mail address: owcprojectmanager@gmail.com
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Tea tastes:
I will ALWAYS pick loose leaf over tea bags. I only drink bagged tea if that’s my only choice or I find a flavor that I can’t find a loose leaf version for. When I do drink bagged; however, I always weigh my bag and am constantly curious as to the weight/flavor ratio- sometimes I am quite surprised by the flavor punch of light bags.
I have a preference for organic and fair trade teas (preferably both), but would never pass up an amzing tea just because it isn’t organic and/or fair trade.
I love savory teas.
I’m currently searching for a chai flavored soy powder or a soy based chai mix (either already mixed or a recipe).
I hardly EVER sweeten my teas. I feel that sweeteners (unless flavored like tea honeys, brown sugar, ice cream topping syrups, flavored coffee syrups, etc) do not add anything to the flavor profile of tea- in fact, I’ve found that they dumb down the flavors.
I NEVER serve my tea over regular iced cubes- I always make tea cubes.
I LOVE cooking w/ tea and making smoothTEAS.
I LOVE tea blending.
I rarely drink herbal teas unless they are mixed with true teas. My favorite herbals to mix with true teas are: spearmint, peppermint, lemongrass, rose hips, and gingeroot.
I can’t stand anything w/ fennel or anise. Hot black teas (except orange pekoe bagged tea that you get when you go out to eat and chai teas) tend to upset my stomach.
I drink matcha daily and love flavoring it. I’m also in a constant search of preflavored matchas.
I’m constantly searching for information on how to prepare tea authentically according to its country of origin.
My Tasting Notes Ratings (edited 8/8/10)
1: I can’t even stand the raw leaf enough to make this (I’ve never owned a tea w/ this rating, but I’ve smelled some before buying resulting in me NOT buying them that were that bad)
2: I steeped this tea but couldn’t stand the aroma enough to get it past my nose
3: I immediately gagged at the 1st sip and spit it out.
4: I manageed to get the 1st sip down, but I tossed the rest.
5: I drank the 1st cup but I can’t bring myself to resteep
6: Made it thru the entire set of infusions but I can’t bring myself to tinker w/ the parameters and won’t be making it again.
7-10: Does not taste anything like the ingredients or name suggests (i.e. Adagio’s Sour apple)
11-25: I can taste some of the ingredients, but the flavor is severely lacking
25-49: Teas that I would not consider bad in their flavor profile, but certainly below average
50: Average.
51-69: Teas above averge, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them “good”.
70-75: Very good, but still room for improvement
76-85: Above average flavor profile
86-90: REALLY good flavors
91-99: Almost PERFECTLY achieves the goal of the ingredients and name of the tea.
100: Abosolutely perfect teas!
Other Interests: GOD! and all things pertaining to Him and His children, my dog Madison, travelling, and coffee.
Favorite Music: ANYTHING Christian. I don’t normally listen to secular music, but I do love jazz and swing.
Favorite Movies: Romantic comedies mostly. My Sister’s Keeper, P.S. I Love You, Fireproof, National Treasure Trilogy (I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 3rd ONE TO COME OUT!), Night at the Museum 1 & 2, Sister Act 1 & 2, Yes Man, Bruce & Evan Almighty, rarely watch animated movies but LOVE anything 3D.
Favorite Books: THE BIBLE!!! & My Sister’s Keeper
Favorite Quotes: “A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ”- John Stienbeck "
Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”- Aristotle
“You should always carry burdens, but they should never be your own”- me
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill
“Mom was right, ‘because I say so’ is enough- at least when it comes to God.”- me
Favorite Foods: fried calamari, lemon chicken, anything w/ buffalo sauce.
Favorite Places: WA state, Switzerland, Orlando
Places I Want to Visit: Hawaii, Africa
Anything Else: I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida which is the failure of the spinal column to close en utero. Because of this I am a parapelegic and use a manual wheelchair.
Oshkosh, WI
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