JoonSusanna

Made some last night for watching Goldeneye. How is it that that movie was made 18 years ago????

Anyway, this one was never my absolute favorite, but it was okay. Yesterday, made with only milk, I got a cinnamon tea – none of that yummy icing or bread flavoring. But it is an old batch, so I can’t be too hard on it. And it was a very nice cinnamon tea to enjoy on a cold night.

This is awesome with bacon on the side- even though I only added some milk to the cup to have with my breakfast, you would think I added maple syrup. I love how salty flavors bring out sweet!

The buttery pancake flavor in this really shines when there’s milk involved, too. No dice for the boyfriend – after how much he was liking that flavored matcha I got ambitious and made him try a sip of this, too, but his tastebuds must be back to normal because he’s on his unflavored only kick again.

Ah well – it was nice while it lasted. And on the plus side, at least this tea is all mine!

This one has lost the “bread” flavor over time, but it was still a good banana flavored black tea. Added some milk and enjoyed it really freaking early (can’t wait until I go into night shifts!) for my first day in the hospital. Woo hoo for gainful employment – even if it does mean a 5 AM wake up call.

Put this in the fridge from last night, and enjoyed it cold this morning. I also added vanilla protein powder to it just to have a breakfast shake in lieu of food, since I needed to get out the door.

The spices showed up a lot more when cold, though the pumpkin showed up less. It was still pretty amazing though – and I love that it works both ways!

The biggest achievement of this matcha is that my boyfriend PICKED IT OUT to try. He will not drink a.) flavored anything (except mint), or b.) milk in any hot beverage. So the fact that he had this period, let alone as a latte = BIG DEAL over here.

Perhaps the bigger deal is that he liked it! He was just as surprised as I was, haha. I used about 2 level tsp. to 4 cups milk (I figured while I was at it I’d make some to have cold for breakfast in the morning – I am curious as to what this would be like cold) that I heated in a saucepan to around 175 degrees using a digital thermometer. And then I put it in a clear mug so he could see the mint green liquor underneath a thick layer of foam – I think the fact that it’s green makes me feel smug because I’m being healthy but also indulging 100%.

This is definitely on par with the tiramisu matcha as far as the flavor accuracy is concerned. I get the spices (which makes for a very cozy drink) with the pumpkin flavor showing up at odd intervals, usually when I’m not looking for it. :) Though I didn’t add sweetener to it, the combination of pumpkin pie spice flavors and the natural sweetness of the milk puts this squarely in dessert territory. Just where I like it!

Absolutely wonderful. I’m already planning out my next order!

I forgot about this!

This was the third sample from my David’s Tea order but since I don’t really like mint, and my boyfriend does – I passed it along to him. Well, he didn’t really like it, and since I wanted something not too caffeinated with my dinner, and there was about 1.5 tsp. of this left…. it was a no-brainer.

And you know – it’s actually kind of good! I think it’s because of all the other spices in it, since like I said, I don’t really like mint on its own. But this – it’s like a mint chai, if you will. Which explains why the bf wasn’t too crazy over it – he’s not a fan of super spicy anything. I happen to love bold flavors and chai. This tea is an extra kind of fun, too, because normally with spicy flavors your mouth has a residual heat – and this fakes you out because the mint is so cooling instead.

I wouldn’t order it again because I just don’t drink mint often enough, but this was quite fun. And if I ever do want a mint tea – at least I know what I need to get!

Prepped as below, with a splash of milk.

It’s a cloudy rainy day, but at least I’ve nowhere to be. Nowhere but on my couch, listening to Bon Iver and enjoying this cup of tea.

First, the specifics of my order:

Matcha grade: Basic
Flavor: Distinctive
Size: 30 g.

You can order (and further customize the type of matcha/flavoring/amount!) here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/tiramisu-matcha.html.

This was my first experience with Red Leaf Tea, and I have to say the shipping was unbelievably fast! Like, two days door to door, and there are quite a few states between Georgia and Illinois. It’s like they knew I was waiting impatiently at the other end :).

This was also really my first experience with matcha. I love desserty things, and I love green tea, but I wasn’t so sure how the two would combine. Add to that the lack of traditional equipment and I was worried about not getting an authentic matcha experience. Well – I don’t know if it was authentic, but it was really, really good!

I prepared this latte style, all milk (heated in a saucepan) but no sweetener. I sifted about a tsp. of matcha into the heated milk and stirred to combine before pouring the whole thing into a milk frother. A few pumps of the frother resulted in some very impressive, thick layer of foam that didn’t disappear until I drank it.

And the taste was AMAZING! The sweetness in the milk was all that I needed to taste the cocoa powder and creamy marscapone cheese. There was still that nice vegetal green matcha taste to keep things from being OVERLY dessert-ish, though if that’s what you’re after you could certainly order more flavoring. I loved the balance between everything in this, and it’s a shame I only have an ounce of it. Oh well! Guess I better order more then! :)

Tonight was a crash course of Matcha Making 101.

I was able to get a gift certificate to Red Leaf Tea, and placed my order Friday. Their shipping was amazingly fast, because I checked the tracking number today to find it out for delivery. This was both very good, because it’s new tea (and when is that ever not good?) but also bad because I hadn’t actually looked into preparing matcha and here I was, the proud owner of 4 1 oz. packages of it.

I didn’t let that stop me.

I Macgyver-ed up system to approximate the matcha chasen, whisk, and bowl. Basically, I used my strainer from David’s Tea as a sifter, sifted the matcha into a stainless steel milk frother, and poured a small amount of hot water over. It frothed up, and then I added some more hot water into the frother before pouring that into a small square bowl that I drank it out of.

But going back to the matcha itself:

The powder was sort of an olive green, maybe a shade or so brighter. I went with the distinctive flavoring level for this one, which is one below delicate of their flavoring options. The scent was very lime/lemony more than anything else. I was kind of disappointed actually, because I was expecting a strong vanilla/custard note. But there was a tinge of creaminess in the scent, and I like lemon flavors, so I had high expectations.

I tried about 1/2 tsp. of the matcha with milk as the base first, and then water. The milk method resulted in a creamy, lemon tinged matcha with a grassy undertone from the green tea. I liked the flavor contrast from the creamier, sweet flavor to the slight bitterness of the matcha. I don’t know that I would have called it Bavarian cream, but I do know that I had two bowls of it because the first one made me want more.

The second bowl was made with just water, and after the milk option and all of its richness this rendition didn’t have much chance of winning the flavor contest. However, it did froth up nicely and the color of the liquor was a beautiful emerald green. I just spoiled my taste buds with the first option, and there’s no going back now. :)

So, do I like flavored matcha? Definitely. This is only the first of the four I bought from Red Leaf Tea, so that’s a good thing – I’m going to be swimming in this stuff for a while yet!

It was so good yesterday that I had to have more today. But the bad news is I probably only have enough for one more cup. :(. I’ll be shooting an email to Frank soon to get that taken care of (hopefully!)

Anyone want to split a pound of this with me – if it turns out he can do a reblend?

I don’t know why I forget about this tea. But it seems like what usually happens is I go through my standard favorites, then I want something new, and then I look in my cupboard on here and remember I have some and usually get up to make a cup as soon as this happens.

It’s like my ace in the hole or something. But I’m glad for it this morning, after the disaster my tongue just dealt with. Prep details – 2 tsp. leaf in 10 oz. of water with a splash of milk. Used the below parameters for steeping.

This is amazing. Maybe it tastes even better comparatively, but right now it is REALLY hitting the spot. A lovely vanilla/caramel/custard (I think someone used the term honeyed and they are totally right) with the perfect chewiness. It’s almost coffee-like in texture, too, which is a huge plus as I love tea with body to it. Honestly, if I put a pinch of salt in this I’d probably get the salted caramel flavor I envisioned from David’s Tea.

And it was in my stash this whole time. That’s kind of embarrassing.

Hmmm… this isn’t in the permanent collection with 52teas, though. Does anyone know if Frank still does the bulk (1 pound) reblends? I’d love to have it with me forever..

The last of my free samples from David’s…prepped at the below parameters with a splash of milk.

The dry leaf smell is INTENSE chocolate. The darkest kind of chocolate which is fine with me because I love dark chocolate. And also, something else…it’s vaguely spicy but I don’t necessarily think spicy. If anything it’s got kind of a chemically smell that I’m not fond of and I hope doesn’t have any say in the final taste.

Uh, yeah. It does. At first you are kind of sidetracked with the dark chocolate, which I think the milk nicely complements, and then you get slammed with something… I’ll go with chemically and medicinal. It’s pinging some kind of taste memory, but I can’t quite place it. Ugh. After it goes from chocolate, to yuck, there’s that pepper burn that is only slight and fits with the whole chai motif.

I’m not going to be able to finish this one. The beginning and end of the sip are fine, but that middle part totally drops the ball and ruins it for me. Again – uuuuugggghhh. I’ll be back shortly with a different tea once I rinse toss this. :(

So, what is the deal with Keemun in this one??

I ask because on the David’s website, no Keemun is listed in the ingredients. That’s probably shame on me, because they do say teas from Yunnan, but they didn’t specifically list Keemun until I looked at the package that had been shipped to me.

Now I’m super picky about smoke. As in, don’t like it. Don’t like the smell from campfires, from cigars, all of it is super offensive to my nose. So I was on hyper alert and sniffed the heck out of the dry leaf to see if any of that Keemun was there. And I guess I lucked out – because maaaaayyybe in the back corner of the smell, that last tiny speck of a whiff might have hidden some smoke. But it didn’t set any warning bells off so into my Breville it went: 3 tsp. leaf, 500 ml. water, at the below parameters.

Once brewed that tiiiiny scent translated into maybe a few little sips with smoke on the back end. I added some milk and it went away though. Whew! This led me onto more important things – comparing this breakfast tea to my gold standard, Upton’s East Frisian Blend. (see: all 20+ plus reviews of me singing its praises.)

I’ll just cut to the chase here and say that this one didn’t win. Although this tea is less astringent, even with a slightly longer steep time, it’s also got that thinner mouthfeel that I’m 3 out of 3 for with David’s blends. Even with the milk, it just doesn’t quite measure up. Both breakfast teas are very malty like good blacks are, but Frissy has more of a caramel-sweet note that is so homey and comfortable.

Also – as this one cools, or as I’ve left it alone for a second to write this review, that smoke is coming back on my radar. Smoky tea/milk – not my favorite.

Sigh. I feel like I’m being so hard on David’s! I don’t want to be, either, so I’ll say something positive here – I love their perfect tea mug, I loved their shipping and packaging of the teas that they sent to me. Everything is done with care and I know they genuinely love their customers and their products. And I KNOW I will love some of their teas – but I may have to wait for a store to come here (which – well, I live in Atlanta, Teavana Central) so I can sample smaller amounts at a time.

Who knows, maybe that Chocolate Chili Chai will be a contender..

One of the free samples from my David’s tea order.

After the disappointment of the Salted Caramel tea, I was relieved to open up the package and smell this one. It reminded me of pumpkin pie, which really was because of the strong cinnamon and pumpkin notes. It almost seemed to have a hint of graham crackers in it, which made me think of pie crust I think.

So anyway – wonderful smell. I used the whole sample in my new perfect tea mug and steeped it in around 10 oz. of water at the below parameters. Added only a splash of milk because the initial taste seemed a little thin.

That ‘thin’ texture seems to be my main problem with David’s so far. The tea tastes fine – it just seems so watered down. This chai was definitely on as far as the pumpkin and cinnamon was concerned, but I got no other real ‘chai’ spice, and the milk really had to help to get that creamier, chewy texture.

This was another one that was just okay. I have the Chocolate Chili chai sample to try next so hopefully that one will wow me!

I don’t think I’ve been so excited about tea since Frank announced the coconut cheesecake blend – which, incidentally, was my gateway tea way back when.

Salted caramel is absolutely one of my favorite dessert flavors ever. And both Teavana and David’s tea have blends for it this year! I got my boyfriend to spring for a perfect tea mug for both of us, then tacked this tea on (while he tacked the Organic Breakfast for himself). And then I waited for this sucker to ship from Canada down to Georgia.

My first cup was this morning, and I’ll be honest – I wasn’t impressed. I steeped it for about 4.5 minutes and added a splash of milk, but even before I added the leaf the dry smell was kind of off putting to me. Almost like musty and toffee mixed together. Even once I steeped it, that smell kind of remained. The milk made it creamy and perfectly drinkable, but – eh. Also, I got none of the salt. So I was unimpressed that first go around.

But obviously I wouldn’t give up that easily. So tonight I tried extending the steeping time with the hope that maybe that smell would transform into caramel with time. The steeped smell is a little more caramel and a little less toffee, so that’s good. And I think there’s a little salt in the sip, which is better. But plain – I’m getting some astringency that I’m not liking. We’ll see what the milk does…

The milk definitely makes it smoother – but there’s still that weird note in the background. I’m wondering if it’s the coconut or vanilla? I do get hints of caramel but nothing that makes me think of actual salted caramel. Darn.

It’s good, but not amazing. Sigh. Has anyone tried the Teavana blend? I would love to know how it compares…

Whew! I just checked and this is still available in the permanent collection!

Black tea in the morning has started to become a habit of late. This one has actually grown on me since cutting out sweetener – for some reason it tastes more like itself that way. Whatever the reason I’ll take it. And I’ll probably end up getting some more once I get that first paycheck of mine. :)

Second day of orientation – with a few left to go. Took a thermos full of this with some milk and it went by fast, really.

This is a backlog from this morning, but I believe I tasted more of the crust this time – and of course the caramel. It was a little light on the pumpkin, but the spice was definitely there too. Since I can only have black teas in the morning (I apparently will not go to sleep otherwise) I’m glad I got this one in today. It was ridiculously cold and windy for a Georgia October.

Oh, and I believe that I will be getting my first David’s Tea order tomorrow! So excited to be in the middle of hot tea season again!

I start my new (dream!) job tomorrow! So I can’t have black tea unless I don’t want to sleep tonight, but luckily I have some honeybush that can serve as my dessert instead.

Steeped at below parameters with a splash of milk. This cup is dead on for a slice of warm strawberry pie – with a nice cinnamon accent that pairs well with the pastry. Perfect on such a cold, windy night.

I was nervous about trying this tea again. When it’s good, it’s really, really good – problem was, it seemed to require milk and sugar to get there.

Prepped 1.5 tsp. tea at below parameters, added 1 tbsp. coconut milk. Can I just say that I love being able to eat pancakes without actually eating them? I love getting a mouthful of creamy maple syrup followed by the cakey note. The coconut milk is usually not my preferred additive, but it pairs really nicely here – I think because it adds a thicker, chewy mouthfeel. Whatever it is, I love it!

(Although I do still have some scratchy throat stuff going on once I get about halfway into the cup. What IS that???)

I haven’t had this one in a while! Actually, I have only really started tea drinking again, so most of my teas I haven’t had in a while. :) But on the plus side, I don’t really have to go shopping for anything – I have tons of variety right at home!

This is still fantastic – sweet and spicy all at once. Boyfriend went to bed early for the night so I just put on the kettle and am enjoying the solitude. This is the perfect companion.

Okay – trying this tea out with the coconut milk added (because DOUBLE COCONUT! Also because there’s no other type of creamer, but let’s all be positive!). I recently transitioned to a paleo/primal diet, which is very heavy on the coconuts. The oil, the flour, the milk, the flakes… they’re practically in a food group by themselves now. Luckily I’ve always loved coconut, or I’d probably have had a harder time with the transition!

Anyway, back to the tea. This is hands down one of my favorites from 52Teas. It’s a new batch, too – which may mean I need to tweak the parameters just a bit to get the results I want. I wonder if my tastes have changed or actual batches can vary just enough to require this?

The smell is decadent, though I’m not getting much hint of pie crust. I do get lots of coconut and sweet cream, though. As for the taste, I think the coconut milk may have overwhelmed the more delicate crust note – its more of a coconut custard in a cup. (Which really isn’t bad at all.)

Yup, as its cooled, no crust note, just a lovely thick mouthfeel and the taste of coconut and cream. Maybe an extra 30 seconds or minute steep will help tease out that crust flavor. Note to self: try that next time!

Weird – this had a scratchy throat effect tonight. That never happens, and I don’t like it. Especially because I’m just coming off a cold and got rid of my sore throat – I don’t feel like having it back already. Maybe it was the coconut milk? Whatever it was I had to add some honey and that didn’t even really calm the irritation.

Meh. Further research is needed. My old faithful let me down tonight :(.

Even though I think this is one of the more popular blends, it was never my most favorite. But that was back when I could eat a cinnamon roll whenever I wanted. And whenever I would add sugar to teas.

This time, I enjoyed it with a splash of milk and 1.5 tsp. leaf steeped for 12 minutes. The taste of that gooey dough was fabulous! Sweet, cinnamony BREAD! The cup disappeared on me surprisingly quickly. Good thing there’s no caffeine..

It’s lovely to start feeling better enough to drink this. I still can’t hack it without milk, but man, once that’s added it’s absolutely perfect. My lovely Frissy.

When I drink it I love imagining where it came from – I do this more than with any other tea I’ve tried. I know I’m romanticizing it but it makes me think of winter by the sea – gray clouds, wind and salted driftwood. It’s probably nostalgia more than anything else since I lived by the beach growing up. Still, something in the flavor is caramel and wood/earth. And shelter from the storm -cozy and comforting no matter what.

It makes the idea of winter almost tolerable.