ashmanra

I am finishing the Chinese takeout leftovers tonight and wanted a nice green to go with. I haven’t had this one in ages, it seems.

This is the tea I used to introduce my eldest daughter to green tea when she decided she wanted to start drinking tea for health benefits. No wonder this was the first green she ever liked. The base is so nice, with a tiny spicy taste mixing with the pineapple. This is really yummy. It is smooth, and doesn’t bite my tummy like some teas do.

This is the other Red Leaf matcha that my friend brought over today for sampling and “matcha lessons.” First I made a fruit smoothie with organic blueberries, bananas, and strawberries, raw cane sugar, and Greek yogurt. I put all that in the blender and then sifted this on top of it. I added crushed ice on that, and turned the blender on until everything was smooth and creamy. It was so good!

Next I made a matcha latte with it. It was the usual method….sift matcha into tall glass, add cold water, whoosh, add honey, whoosh, add milk and crushed ice. Wow! The strawberry was strong! It was good, very good, but you seriously could get the distinctive flavor level instead for this one and not be disappointed.

We watched a movie and split an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin and I slurped on the last bit of water from the ice melting from my last latte. It was still sweetly strawberry flavored, which gave me an additional idea. With our muffin, we had “matcha water.” I got a sport water bottle, sifted some matcha into it, added a tiny bit of water, and shook it like mad. Then I added water almost to the top and crushed ice.

We poured it off into two glasses and drank it with our muffins. There is no sugar added but it is still an enjoyable drink. (We were just discussing how I feel so bad when I add a tablespoon of honey to a large latte and think nothing of downing a Coke, which has more than twice that amount of sugar! If you don’t see it going in, I guess you don’t think about it.) I like this for days when I am working in the yard and it is hot outside, or for a workout drink.

Bottom line, strawberry matcha was going on my order, too, until my friend told me that one of matcha they ordered is for my birthday, which is coming up soon! Squeeee!

I was going to sample the set of green bases from Red Leaf today but I got a text this morning from a friend who had ordered during the Red Leaf referral program. “Shall I come over and bring the ones you have never tried?” Why, of course I can make time for that!

This was the first, and my friend only knew how to make the hot lattes from watching me make them a couple of months ago, so we did some quick matcha training. I sifted a teaspoon of matcha into a tall glass and added a bit of water. I whooshed it with my aerolatte, added honey, and whooshed again. Then I added milk almost to the top and finished it off with crushed ice.

I have to say I think this is my favorite matcha for these lower fat/lower sugar iced lattes. Almond still probably holds top spot for the decadent ones I make that a basically a milkshake with matcha added! This does not taste exactly like the French vanilla flavor. I smell a touch of lemon when it is dry, and after mixing it is definitely more complex than the FV one.

We really enjoyed this, so on my next order it goes!

So I am finally drinking the last sample from Nina’s, the one that I opened and Samwise started dancing around me looking for the caramel cake. And I am caught off guard at first by the aroma. This isn’t the Vanilla Comoro-esque tea that I thought it would be. The smell of the base scares me at first. This is going to be too strong for me! And this is with a scant four minute steep at just under the boil.

But the sip is different, it isn’t as candy sweet as the smell made me think it would be. Instead, I find it to be a great first cup of the morning that is strong enough you know are having tea, but has a nice caress from the vanilla. This is a grown up vanilla tea, for people in power suits or ladies who lunch.

I made two steeps since the others have done well, and I drank a bit of steep one plain, then added steep two to what remained in the pot. I asked hubby to join me for tea since he likes vanilla. He always adds milk and sugar to his black tea and this was no exception. Since he said he liked it, I take it that it handles additions well.

I have a fussy tummy that doesn’t take to certain black teas well, especially since I drink almost everything with no additions. This one is not bothering me at all.

This is the serious, tall, dark and handsome guy, not the playful guy I thought it was going to be.
Sometimes that is the guy you want! I really like this, and would compare it more to Vanille des Iles than the Harney vanilla selections. This is going on my gift list for a friend who loves this kind of tea.

Thank you again, Nina’s, for the samples. They were all excellent and tasty teas!

This has a wonderful strawberry aroma! I found this to be a more bracing tea than Grand Amour, perhaps making it a better choice for breakfast for those who use tea as their wake up. (I don’t, tea is my after breakfast treat!) The base is a bit stronger on this one, more in sensation than taste, but the strawberry shines right on through!

I love that these are great resteepers! I am on the second steep now and I must confess I like it even better than the first. The tea is mellowed now, the strawberry softer. If you love Marco Polo, you really should try this.

As I sit here, I can not help but to exhale slowly through my nose while holding my jaw loosely so that warm strawberry taste gently fills my head, even after the sip. I think if I had a lot of this, I would make half as much tea as I really wanted, resteep immediately, and pour the first and second steeps together. That also cuts the price of your tea in half, and would put this at the perfect strength for me.

Thank you, Nina’s Tea, for these samples! They are amazing and I am so impressed with the quality of your flavored tea. The packaging is so beautiful…whenever I want an elegant gift for someone, I know where to shop!

I don’t log this every time I drink it, but I thought it was worthy of a note tonight because to my great dismay I saw the bottom of the tin tonight. I have about enough matcha left for two more lattes. I hope they have a sale or something soon!

I was preparing a big Valentine’s dinner for my hubby when my eye fell on the basket of leaves from making this earlier. I don’t often resteep a flavored tea because they usually don’t retain enough of their original flavor to keep me interested. But I liked this one so well, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.

It was a success! Yes, it is lighter in flavor than the first steep, but still had as much flavor as some teas give you on their first steep. It was wonderful! Lazey commented it was too strong, but maybe icing the first steep and drinking the second would work for you?

I have loved Fruits d’Alsace for iced tea in the past, but I think this one is going to be even better for a fruit flavored iced tea.

Oh joy! Joy! Holy cow! This is not at all what I expected. Instead it is 18273658382 times better. (Tip of hat to JacquelineM there.)

Thank you, Nina’s Tea, for these lovely samples!

It was hard to choose my flavors for sampling from Nina’s Tea. There are so many and they look so good. A few French teas I have purchased have been unbelievably yummy, but a few required tweaking as the base could get bitter to me, like Dammann Freres Charlotte au Chocolat.

Honestly I made this tea because the Je T’aime smelled too good to drink yet. I wanted to save it for a really special time, not the middle of the homeschool day waiting for a student. It smelled so good the dog was dancing around my feet with his eyes wide because he thought I had a dessert hidden somewhere.

Now on to this one – the fruit aroma was absolutely arresting. It was so real, so fresh. So Garden of Eden pure. The fruit rides above, but is grounded and rounded by, the vanilla and caramel notes. I braced myself to sip, in case the base was one of the rough ones, but no! It is as smooth as silk, and you can taste the tea! Delightful, and delicious!

Just as exciting to me – this is a very close flavor profile to the tea my daughter bought in Budapest that we adored but have been unable to get again. Excellent, delicious, wonderful flavored tea, fit for a tea time with nobility. Even better, get it for yourself and sit down with a good book, some soft music, and a cup of this. You will feel like a benevolent Lady of the Manor.

Grand Amour, I love you. I would share you with the one I love, but I drank you all up.

Speaking of the one I love, a little old retiree lady called today to tell my hubby that she saw Safe Haven yesterday and that Josh Duhamel reminded her so much of him that she just had to call and talk to him!!!! I feel just a little bit jealous! LOL! (I confess, I think my hubby is gorgeous!)

I am so pleased! My hubby is a picky eater and it is hard to get him to try new things. He has started drinking green and oolong teas and that is a huge step forward, and he takes them plain which is so much better for him. I am hoping he will take a shine to the smoothies I have been making lately, so I gave this a try tonight.

One organic banana, four large strawberries, a big scoop of Greek yogurt, some honey, crushed ice, and a splash of milk. To this I added one teaspoon of Black Cherry Matcha. I did not sift it this time since it was in the blender, but I have found that when using the aerolatte it is best to sift. The good news is that he liked it and drank his whole smoothie. The last time I had him try one he said it wasn’t really his thing, he wasn’t a smoothie person, but that one didn’t have cherry matcha in it!

I served this at tea party today and it got an unusual reception. My guest sniffed it – we always sniff and swirl and observe and such as part of the fun – but she was really excited by the fragrance. “Is that caramel? And something else!” Yes, caramel toffee popcorn. Well, she curled her fingers around her cup and held it like someone would hold a hot chocolate when they just came in from a snowball fight!

I am definitely going to have to serve this one again and again for tea party day! It is a lovely flavored tea that needs no additions and is a great treat, and very satisfying.

This was my second Red Leaf Tea flavored matcha latte of the day! Earlier, I had a Butterscotch latte, but this evening after a too heavy supper I wanted another latte, and I wanted something especially light and refreshing. When I sifted the matcha into my glass, the loveliest lemony aroma filled the air. Even though I am whisking these with my aerolatte, I find that sifting makes a very noticeable difference.

I added about a cup of cold water and the honey, then whisked. Then I filled to nearly the top with skim milk and topped it up with a little crushed ice, because I like for these to be really cold! It was perfect, refreshing, and gone way too soon. I really shouldn’t have three in one day, should I?

I made my afternoon matcha latte with this flavored matcha today! I like this one both hot and cold, but for cold lattes I like Bavarian Cream, and plain matcha most of all! With honey to sweeten, and crushed ice, of course!

Thank you to Zen Tea for this sample!

I had a terrible night last night – obstinate, irritating, disappointing family stuff – so I am determined to drink tea until I feel better. I started the day with Queen Catherine, my usual bucker-upper. Poking through my samples to see what I could finish off, this one really appealed to me. I find vanilla to be a very comforting scent, full of “home” and peaceful. Paired with bergamot, which is bright and awakening, I hope this will help kick start me to a better attitude.

This one is so much about the aroma for me. It is so creamy and sweet smelling. Earl Grey lovers really should try this. The tea base is strong enough to be used for a wake up call, too.

Because it was the kind of day yesterday and I’ve had that kind of morning. Grrrrr.

Sadly, I finished my sample from Nuvola Tea today. Joyfully, I took a look at their website and saw that it is half the price of others that I have been looking at. I have been trying to get a couple of friends hooked on matcha lattes and have had pretty good success. Today I introduced them to unflavored matcha lattes.

My friend preferred this brand because she felt it was creamier and had a fresher taste than the first one she tried, though it could simply be that this one had more honey since I was drizzling it in and not really measuring.

Bottom line, this is a really tasty matcha for a price I can hardly believe. It is because this is made in Taiwan rather than Japan? Whatever the case, I want more, and I won’t be ordering just one pack!

Thank you, Nuvola Tea, for the sample. It was great to get to taste another matcha since I am fairly new to the type of tea. I have enjoyed every bit of this one!

I had no idea this ginseng oolong was going to be so different from Teavivre’s. There are a couple of obvious reasons why it is, though.

First, this is a Chinese oolong, while Teavivre’s is from Taiwan. Second, this uses Siberian ginseng root, while Teavivre uses American ginseng. I really thought there was licorice root powder on the Teavivre leaves but I asked them some time ago and was told there was not. I taste something similar here but no licorice root is mentioned and it is lighter.

This tastes like a Tie Guan Yin, and the ginseng is adding just a hint of flavor that comes as a sweetness after the swallow. It doesn’t even come close to the floral sweetness that follows with Teavivre’s, though. This is the level of ginseng flavor I would expect on their third steep.

Second steep is sweeter than the first, but still milder than Teavivre’s.

The Tin Roof leaves are still tightly balled up and coated with ginseng after the second steep. Now I have done the third steep and they still haven’t unfurled. I think something about their ginseng powder must have more sticking power and dissolves into the tea more slowly.

The leaves are still dark pellets, but the tea is getting a little sweeter with each steep – just a bit. I think this gives the tea a consistent level of flavor with lightly growing sweetness each steep.

Several people mentioned disliking ginseng. If you want ginseng for its benefits and like TGY, this would be the way to go. Personally I love the BANG POW of the first steep of Teavivre’s Taiwan ginseng followed by the gradually calming down of the following steeps.

I absolutely adore the Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls and the Silver Needle Jasmine White tea from Teavivre. I can not afford to drink them all the time and still buy ridiculous amounts of new tea, too, so I bought this as an economical drinker to go with meals.

When served with food, this has that perfect level of jasmine flavor that I find I all of their offerings. I love that it only has to steep about one minute, because when I walk in the door with the takeout boxes I already to eat!

Because hubby is now enjoying tea with our takeout, I give this one steep, pour that into my huge tetsubin and put it on the warmer, and make a second steep right away and pour it in. That way there is enough for both of us to have all we want with the meal. No more being polite about who gets the last bit, or who will go resteep the leaves! LOL! And because it resteeps well, that makes it even more economical.

I got two bags of this so we should be good to go for a while!

For drinking without a meal, Pearls are still my number one, but with a meal these are quite delicious.

I want to thank Bonnie over and over again for saying she puts her puerh leaves in the fridge to cold steep after she has had some hot steeps of it. I did that two days ago and just let it sit in a big pitcher. I am finally drinking it today and I have to say it is one of the most refreshing things you could possibly imagine.

I posted a link to the recipe for Ent Draught last week, but to me, THIS is what Ent Draught would taste like. It is so perfectly light, refreshing, and clean, clean, clean, while at the same time tasting of purest earth. I think I could actually gulp down the whole pitcher in a very short time, and it is so cooling and uplifting. There is not even a tad of sugar in it. It doesn’t need it.

Ent Draught is supposed to be clear, thus the distilling process, but this is the taste it should have! The color of the cold brew puerh is gorgeous – so orange and clear. It looks like really good Southern sweet tea. I would much rather have this, though.

I am almost looking forward to our sticky summer weather just so I can drink gallons of this!

This sample from Nature’s Tea Leaf was the first tea I served at tea party yesterday. It is a black tea but is oh so so sweet and mellow. The primary taste is sweet potato, and the mouthfeel borders on thick. It pairs well with sweets. It is fantastic to drink by itself. For me, it needs no additions whatsoever and would even suffer in my opinion if sugar or sweetening were added since it is so sweet and delectable all by itself.

This is one of the teas that should be a cupboard staple. This isn’t peppery, spicy Yunnan, this is sweet and smooth and creamy to the taste! Thank you, NTL, for letting me try this one!

Sip down! Wow, this feels like a landmark for me, because this very tin is the first oolong I ever bought.

Grace Rare Tea Company does not disappoint. They don’t have a huge catalog because they chose to specialize and committed themselves to finding the best they could of a few types of tea. They have done that very well.

My weekly tea guest who started out as a lover of black tea is very fond of this one. I will most likely restock it one day, but for now I am removing it from my cupboard simply because I have so much tea. I really have reached a point where my own tea collection is a little overwhelming to me, partly because I feel like there are so many things I need to be drinking, but I am always wanting to try something new.

I have given away one box and one bag of teas just to try to gain control of the stash but more needs to be done. I think a weekend long sample sip down is in order, too!

Formosa Oolong – au revoir! Until we meet again!

Today was tea party day, postponed to Thursday this week! And this is why I really bought this tea in the first place. My friend who comes loves blueberries more than anything, and has them need breakfast oatmeal practically every day. I was hoping she would really like this, especially since she used to have a very strong preference for black tea.

She really loved it! The aroma captures you. The taste is much softer than the aroma, which is great because you don’t want to drink grape Kool-Aid with double sugar, do you? That is what this can smell like! But the taste is really smooth and sweet, and this is a great resteeper. My friend mentioned that she found it very floral, and I showed her the beautiful blue cornflowers in this blend.

That is just one more reason why Mike Harney needs to give this to us in loose leaf form! It is a BEAUTIFUL tea that I would display with pride in my leaf holders prior to serving!

I am on my doctor’s naughty list, and I just saw him for the first time yesterday. I had said I would get my triglycerides down and at first, I did drop them 100 points, but they need to come down more and haven’t. My biggest vice is an almost nightly chocolate shake. I am trying to replace that with matcha lattes or smoothies. Much healthier, much lower in sugar.

I have Sil to thank for planting the seed that I should be drinking these. I had thought of it but it didn’t sound that good until she mentioned adding the flavored matcha. YES! I have been experimenting a lot and today was definitely a success.

I used a scoop of Greek yogurt, milk, honey, a banana, and three strawberries – just three because they were HUGE. I sifted in one teaspoon of black cherry matcha and I have to say this was so so sweet and fruity! I have had smoothies without the matcha and I tell you this really perked it up. So now I want more fruit flavors for when I want it super fruity, and plenty of creamy flavors for when I want more creamy and milkshake-y.

Looking forward to some positive changes in my weight, health, outlook, and energy levels!

Here is where to get it! http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/black-cherry-matcha.html

No notes yet.

My matcha latte experiments continue! I have had several plain and two flavored, caramel and almond. I prefer caramel as a hot drink, and almond is pretty unbelievable in a milkshake even if you put mostly milk and not a lot of ice cream! As a matcha latte they were good, but I was sure there was another flavor that was going to be perfect for this use.

Last night, the cartoon lightbulb went on over my head. Bavarian Cream! I was just sure it would be the super yummiest as a latte, and guess what? I was right!

I am ashamed to say that I finished my tiny jar of honey making so many lattes over the past three days. Hey, it was a TINY jar! So this time I used White Gold raw honey from Williams Sonoma. I bet I should have decreased the amount since it has the water spun out of it. I am assuming now that makes it more concentrated because this is really sweet, but I am loving it! I added about one cup cold water, sifted the matcha into it, added the honey, whooshed it with the aerolatte, added some crushed ice and about a cup of milk, and VOILA! A fantastic treat!

The Bavarian Cream flavor is so creamy and light in this, with a hint of lemon-y freshness. I think this is one of the best flavors for a latte of this sort. This is yet another flavor of Red Leaf matcha I do not want to run out of!