Awkward Soul

Drinking tea with my Dad before he leaves for Canada. Had this one after dinner made with soymilk.

Dad really liked this one, but back home he only has a DavidsTea and a Tea Desire. He asked if he could buy the matcha there and add pumpkin spice /sigh.

Drinking this amazing tea this morning!

So tired out and my feet hurt. Really, wearing a long wedding dress (mine was teal!) made wearing pretty heeled shoes pointless, but I did anyway and regret it. My husband and I went to grab food near the end as our feet both hurt and didn’t want to fetch food! His feet hurt as his shoes were too small and there was no time to return them to amazon.

Nice and floral tea! Mmm, I should look for a jasmine and rose bath salts to fake bathing in this tea! I usually like a stronger black, mate or guayusa in the morning, but I got a post wedding dim sum lunch. I will drink a pot or two of tea there (and watch the husband eat chicken feet, wahhhhggg!)

And this was the tea I took with me to my wedding!
I took a 1 liter water bottle filled with ice cubes and filtered water – I put 1/2tsp in and shook it. Done!
I sipped on this on the car ride to the wedding and while I waited for people to arrive (panicking, my grandmother in law was late, who was supposed to help me in the dress, but got caught in the space shuttle traffic in downtown LA).
This matcha is just so easy to use and comes out perfect every time! Gave me so much energy, especially since I skipped lunch due to wedding crazyness.

Wedding day has ended! Phew!

And.. this was the tea I had when in the morning! I was ready to strangle a number of people (like I was trying to do my hair and there was 3 people asking separate things). I had a big cup of Killer’s Vanilla, and everything is calm and nice. Smooth vanilla, calming lavender – it was amazing! I didn’t think I was going for this tea on my wedding day, but it called to me and came to the rescue!

I brought this tea with me to the rehearsal dinner – and man, I needed it.

Finding out wedding disasters (the fruit platter just vanished) and opinionated people nagging about non traditional wedding things happening plus self centered types driving me crazy. It’s impossible to have food to please everyone and their fad diets. I almost feel like I wanna do a wedding speech similar to Sookie Stackhouse (from True Blood TV series)’s speech at the funeral.

I steeped this one a couple times in a travel mug (Libre) and Strawberry Oolong held up and tasted amazing both times. Third time it got oolongy / weak – but I was also using a regular kettle and leaving the leaves in my glass. This tea kept me nice and calm too. The pink buds looked adorable in my tea glass and got lots of compliments on the appearance and smell of this tea.

Just came back from a huge brazilian bbq dinner with family that is visiting for the wedding. I really want an oolong tea right now, feeling that would make my stomach feel less explody but I don’t want to be up late tonight.

I finished off the sample tea, as I’m really really low on non caffeine teas that are not in my “Haven’t tried” pile. I shared a cup with my dad.
I added some light agave syrup, which really brightened the berry and vanilla. Very smooth tea. I don’t think I’d buy more of this, but was good while it lasted.

ARgggggg! I just finish making 4 pies (pumpkin, strawberry lattice top, apple and apple crumble) as well as 2 dozen butter tarts and a batch of nanamio bars for the wedding. Before that happened, I discovered the pipe under the sink broke, so I had to wait until the FIL could fix it before I could start baking.
So, about 6 hours of baking today. After that I needed tea.

Red Leaf Matcha Strawberry + Cheesecake = very tasty. However, I slammed it back so fast I didn’t notice it too much. Pretty much sat there at the dinner table, covered in steaming pies, chugging matcha. Think I need another round of tea.

hmm, I gave this tea a 70 before, but for this morning I steeped it for 3 minutes instead of 2.5 minutes and used a bit more leaf. The flavor is much stronger candied strawberry up front, with melty chocolate taste after and bold black tea. The tea isn’t bitter.
Way better cup that my first cup!

I purchased this tea as a “rooibos sneaking into my cart”. I had this iced previously and it was AMAZING.

DRY: Smells like creamy lemon drops.. maybe even lemon icing.

STEEPED: Dark reddy rooibos. Creamy smell.

TASTE: Sweet lemon flavor with a delicious creamy taste at the end of sip. Not very funky rooibos taste, but the lemon and creamy works with it making the tea smooth and icing like. I don’t find LC tart, more of the tart essence of lemon, without the pucker.

Sweetened, this tea gets more creamy and mellow lemon. Takes like lemon cake! The rooibos / honeybush here tastes almost caramelly with the tea sweetened.

WHO SHOULD GIVE THIS A SHOT: lemon tea lovers – even if you aren’t into roobios, this is pretty non – rooibosy.

COMMENTS: Wow, this is still amazing hot! Though, iced the lemon and creamy is more pronounced. I’d say this is the best rooibos tea I’ve had, and thats coming from someone who isn’t a huge rooibos fan. So my tea peeps, next Della Tea order, totally sneak this into your Try Me pack!

I chose to drink this tea tonight simply on name. I went out for sushi for dinner at Sushi Studio in Long Beach. They have a Caribbean Roll which is Asparagus tempura topped with salmon with lots of mayo and tobiko ontop! Yum! Though, I think the garlic edamame stole the show. I believe this sample comes from Kittena, ty!

STEEPED: pale brown/orange tea, smells fruity.

TASTE: Brisk green rooibos taste upfront with fruityness – some sips I get a zip of mango, other sips.. blast of soapy papaya (but for some reason papaya tastes soapy to me sometimes). The fruityness is pretty gentle, and lingers as an aftertaste as mango and papaya. Tea is on the light side. Not getting the orange or passionfruit. Not sure if I taste any floral. CP is not tart tasting.

COMMENTS: I should really get more green rooibos – the rooibos here is pretty good and not funky like red rooibos is. I love how the fruit waves in and out of this tea. However, I’d like the fruityness to be stronger. Though, this would make a very good ice or cold steeping to bring out the fruit flavor.

I believe this sample is from Rachel Sincere, ty!

DRY: Interesting little cubes in this tea, mixed with leaves and orange peel bits. Checking ESP, these cubes are caramel pieces.
STEEPED: Orangey smell mixed with a distinctive caramel smell. Pale yellow tea.

TASTE: sweet orange (a more artificial / candy taste) with a base of green tea – the tea is nice and mellow. Bit of a caramel smooth taste.

COMMENTS: I really enjoyed the green tea taste as it’s a perfect mellow and tasty. However, the orange was kinda weird tasting being artificial. I think this would be better as an iced tea

A selling point for teas for me is having white chocolate in it. I find white chocolate adds a nice sweetness and creamyness to teas. However, most often it doesn’t ring much in the chocolate department. Super pumped to see Red Leaf Tea came out with a white chocolate matcha! Let’s see how their chocolate flavoring works out

Specs on the matcha I’m drinking today:

White Chocolate Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/white-chocolate-matcha.html
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Distinctive

When I opened the bag, swirls of sweet chocolate smells came forth! I’m trying to remember if white chocolate smells differently than milk chocolate, but this matcha just smells simply “milk chocolate”.

Prepared as a traditional cup of matcha (1/4tsp plus 175f water, whisked), I get a nice creamy cup of matcha. The green tea taste come first – earthy and sweet with no bitterness, then a creamy mouth smoothness coats my mouth and lingers for a few seconds after my sip. I don’t get much chocolate taste, but the creamyness is nice. This matcha is great prepared traditionally, a new twist to the regular matcha with the flavoring being more a creamy sensation.

As an iced latte (getting so tired of this warm weather here in California) this matcha tastes green tea flavor equal to the added flavoring. I made this iced latte with fat free soy milk, but it tastes so creamy that I could be mistaken for full fat soy milk. I’m getting a white chocolate taste on some sips, other sips it simply tastes super creamy.

Overall, I prefer this matcha made traditionally, the only one out of all the Red Leaf Matchas I’ve tried, which I all liked as lattes. Maybe others would get more luck with stronger chocolate flavor with the Robust setting, but as Distinctive it’s not that chocolatey and tastes like the usual creamyness in teas with white chocolate.
I’m thinking this white chocolate matcha would be great mixed in with other flavors. I’m thinking White chocolate strawberry – for a creamy berry taste!

I love strawberries (though I love blueberries more) – the strawberries back home in Canada were petite and full flavor – all the strawberries packaged from California were kinda large and bland. Now that I live in California, the strawberries are GIANTIC and full of flavor! I procrastinated on getting this matcha.. just strawberry? I like wild matchas like Eggnog and Pistachio! But really, strawberry matcha seems like a mandatory flavor to try (and add to my cheesecake matcha).

Specs on the matcha I’m drinking:

Strawberry Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/strawberry-matcha.html
Matcha Quality: Classic Basic Grade
Flavor: Distinctive

Out of the gold foil package, the matcha smells like juicy strawberry, like smelling strawberry fruit leather or a strawberry flavored candy.

Prepared as a traditional cup of hot matcha, 1/4tsp of sifted strawberry matcha whisked in some 175f filtered hot water, the green tea comes out as deliciously earthy with no bitterness. The strawberry is bright and present, adding a hint of sweetness. The taste combined almost reminds me on when I eat strawberries too fast and I accidentally eat the stem or a leaf, which happens often haha!

Now my favorite part, making this matcha into an iced strawberry soy latte! I did about ¾ or 2/3 cup of light soy milk (ran out of milk), bit of sweetener, 1/4tsp of matcha and whisked it. The result: very tasty strawberry balanced with the taste of matcha. Even better than strawberry soy milk as it tastes just like strawberry candy. An amazing treat for under 90 calories!

Overall, very delicious if you are into the strawberry candy flavor. As a traditional cup it is pretty good, but even better as a latte. I suggest not to pass this one up.

EDIT: tried this straight iced, a tumbler of water with 1/4tsp of this matcha = really good! The strawberry is bright and barely sweet.

Now that I’ve tried a couple Delicate, Distinctive and Robust matchas – delicate is like the flavoring is really like a hint of flavor. Distinctive the flavoring seems 50/50 60/40. Robust is pretty strong flavoring, and depending on what you are getting (IE: eggnog, pumpkin pie) the matcha is barely there. I’m guessing fruity matchas are best at Distinctive or lower – my raspberry matcha at Robust seemed pretty over the top strong.

Arggg, I got a long day today with a crazy jitz class and making lots of filipino egg rolls (lumpias) for my wedding. UGGG.

Thanks to Zen Tea for a sample of this tea!

STEEPED: Light brown tea, coffee like smell.
TASTE: Light oolong taste, smokey roasted nutty flavor. I didn’t get much of the vanilla / creamy taste.
Sweetened, the nuttyness comes out more. I even get that nut skin taste. I think I prefer the unsweetened tea more as it seems more sophisticated in taste.

COMMENTS: This is a great alternative to someone who doesn’t want a black tea, but wants a bold nutty taste. Overall really good for hazelnut lovers. However, this wasn’t creamy for me and I felt this needed another dimension for me. Maybe a longer steep would bring out more of the oolong?

mmm I love walnuts in tea! I had to give this one a shot!

DRY: sweet, pineapple smell. I found I had a half a walnut in my tea! So tempted to eat it, but I left it in the bag.

STEEPED: nutty smell. Yellow tea.

TASTE: Sweet with a hit of nutty walnut. The tea is lightly creamy and green tea taste.

COMMENTS: I can’t help to think of DavidsTea “toasted walnut”. In comparison, WB is more sweet and the walnuts really pop out. However, TW is more creamy. Both good teas! I drank this one in record time – totally need this iced next time!

Apparently 2 steepings of green tea didn’t wake me up and I feel like sticking to green tea today for some reason. Time to bring in the matcha!

Had this iced. I didn’t bother sifting, just dumped it into a tumbler with ice and water and stirred it with my straw. This matcha is just so dangerously easy to use. I sipped away at this while I finished up my wedding bouquet stuff. So goood!

I had this tea on my wish list for awhile and with my last Butiki order, I snagged it. However, Stacy informed me that I snagged the last of the Spring Twist! Sorry guys…

DRY: really interesting looking fine and crimped looking bright green leaves
STEEPED: Beautiful pale light light green. As I pour the tea into my cup, a strong aroma of sweet veggieness and peaches comes out. Peaches?

TASTE: Drool worthy sweet! Lots of great flavors going on of fresh peas, buttery, fruity and like other tea peeps, I got that freshly picked cob of corn taste! With all that said, the taste is strong and full bodied. No bitterness.

Second infusion: vegetal flavor and slightly buttery. Not as sweet or fruity. Bit of astringency creeping in.

COMMENTS: Mmmm, very good! I enjoy how strong the flavors are in this tea – so this would be great for someone who wants a full flavored but unflavored green.

Sorry tea peeps that I bought the last of this tea. I’m not sharing though (and I’m not sorry about that).

Mmmm pumpkin pie! I make a killer and SNEAKY pumpkin pie. I use tofu in the mix with pumpkin and lots of spices. No one notices the tofu and the tofu keeps the pie nice and moist. I love mixing pumpkin puree into smoothies and I’m happy this is the time of year that the stuff goes on sale! But now, I got it in matcha form!

Specs on the matcha I’m drinking:

Pumpkin Pie Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust

Out of the package, this matcha smells strongly like spicy whole cloves with a bit of sweetness.

Prepared as a traditional hot matcha, (1/2tsp of matcha powder whisked with 175f water) the spices are very present over top a pumpkiny mellowness. Slightly sweet in flavor as well. I’d call this more of a “Spicy Pumpkin Matcha” than pumpkin pie. I did not detect any bitterness in this matcha, however the green tea is pretty background level due to the flavoring strength. Overall not bad if you are in the mood for spicy fall flavors.

Now, this is where Red Leaf’s matchas shine – in latte form! I’m doing a iced latte as it is too hot in SoCal still! I used soymilk, ice, pumpkin pie matcha and a bit of sweetener shaked up in a blender bottle. The result: very amazing flavoring! I can taste the pumpkin pie spice more as a whole, with a bite of spicy cloves and ginger. The pumpkin is present and my brain is making me almost sense the smushy texture of the pie as a I drink this latte. The green tea is in the background and sometimes I cannot detect it – this pumpkin pie matcha is pretty strongly flavored!
The spicyness is a good level for me (but I like spicy) and lingers in my mouth after drinking.

Overall, pretty good and spot on! If you like spicy pumpkin pies (like how my Dad makes them), this is for you. If you aren’t into spicy, try the delicate or distinctive flavoring options as I think they will be less spicy.

This matcha does protein smoothie well!

I was a little heavy on the protein powder (or cheap on the milk) and the chunky bits reminded me of cookies to go with the whole flavoring!

A good matcha smoothie to end a horrible work out. I had to bail on the last set as it was just getting too heavy.

Mmmm, this tea looked really fun so I had to snag it during my last order! I love candy apples – especially the crazy ones with cheesecake, cookies, chocolate chunks and marshmallows on them!

DRY: very fun looking! Cubes of caramel and tiny sparkley red candy bits!
STEEPED: interestingly, I smell apple skin. The tea comes out a brown with a bit of cloudyness.

TASTE: Tastes like biting into a real apple (skin and all) with a hint of candy sweetness and caramel. The black tea is very light here.
With sweetener, this tastes more like candy apple and brighter caramel. No tartness or bitterness.

COMMENTS: Very well executed! I’m surprised how natural the apple tastes here. I’m a little torn as I do like this unsweetened, but sweetened it’s totally a candy apple!

I won this matcha as part of a drawing here at Steepster and I was like “Ho hum, plain matcha” since I’ve been drinking flavored matcha these days. I was totally wrong. This matcha blew me out of the water and into space! With enough energy to swim back!

The tin is sealed and when I cracked it open it was a blast of sweet smelling matcha! It is obviously high quality and very fresh! I tried it and went crazy and needed to blog about it on my jitz blog.

http://bunnyjiujitsu.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/matcha-a-bjj-endurance-blaster/

The matcha taste pure and natural, not grassy or bitter. It has a light and crisp green tea flavor, but yet full of flavor and not watery (if that makes sense). The sweetness is like a mix of sugar snap peas in it with the green tea! I’m almost reminded of the sweetness in iceburg lettuce as well.

Oh man, I needed another cup of this so I made one iced. The matcha powder is very light and I didn’t have to sift it really. I just dumped it over some water and ice and stirred it for a bit and it was good to go! It’s got a great natural sweetness that I don’t need to sweeten it or add milk.

If this matcha becomes a regular drink in my routine, I’m bumping this to 100 rating. Pretty good stuff!

I’ve been really digging pu’rehs lately. I’m not sure why.

The super creamyness of this tea I love! Rich, bold, earthy! Nice and inspiring for me to work on my wedding crap. Boo wedding crap!

ICED TEA MODE!

I’m finishing up my sample of this – 3tsp steeped in a little 175f water, poured over ice and honey.

The result: Up front green tea taste, crisp and veggie like. Aftertaste of fresh pineapple. I like this better iced than hot.

I wish the pineapple was stronger, but this is a good tea for someone who wants a lightly flavored tea.

With my last Butiki order, I had to try this tea, sounds delicious! I’ve had onle 1 grapefruit tea (officially) which I enjoy despite it being rooibos (ESP brand passionfruit/grapefruit).

DRY: tarty grapefruit! Big chunky green tea leaves with a pretty spattering of red/pink.
STEEPED: Pale yellow, smells like pink grapefruit.

TASTE: Crisp grapefruit, and I’m talking real grapefruit! Juicy! All that grapefruit taste over a background of mellow green tea. I would almost call the after taste tart, but more of a tingly citrus sensation that tickles my tongue and throat. What kind of magic is this?!?! I was too lazy to try this sweetened.

COMMENTS: Am I weird imagining theres a happy yellow and pink dragon tickling my throat with its back spines while I drink this tea?

I’m thinking iced tea with Grapefruit Dragon. Seriously that would be amazing! However, not sure if the tickle throat effects stays iced, I’m finishing up my cup which as cooled and it is not as tingly. Would be killer with a little sweetener and slices of grapefruit!

On another note, SHAWL OF DOOM is FINISHED! I was blogging about it, why my grapefruit dragon got cold, boo!
lace detail http://awkwardsoul.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/img_1838.jpg
blog entry http://awkwardsoul.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/cloudy-tea-shawl/

Ugg. Now what to do? I guess knit some socks.