865 Tasting Notes
Went to a new cafe for lunch and had this. SO nice to get real unsweetened iced tea! The liquor was EXTREMELY light… barely colored at at. But the flavor was just as strong as the liquor was light. Very good. Although because it was iced prior to my drinking the pearl effect was lost on me. It was also made w/ regular ice cubes.:(
1/2TB each MC chai and MC pu erh. 1 cup each water and Fat Free Smart Balance Milk. Drank while watching a documentary on the Titanic. You’d think I woulda gotten my fill in 7th grade (when the movie came out)- but ever since I can remember (probably kindergarden or before) the 2 things that have always interested me have been the Titanic and the Holocaust- and they still do.
Preparation
Decided to try koicha w/ this again, sifting this time. 1tsp/40ml water. MUCH better- not gritty or chalky at all. Although I’m not crazy about the fact that it requires sifting to be this good. One of the reasons I love matcha is the short time between “I want matcha” and “Mmmmatcha!”- but sifting adds 2 min. to the process! Which seems like a lot longer when you’re sifting.
I just bought a canister/sifter set (partly because I ruined the tin my teavana matcha came in – it got cross-threaded or otherwise stuck shut somehow, and would not come open. I desperately wanted matcha, so I took a can opener to the bottom of it…)
http://www.matchasource.com/Canister-and-Sifter-Set-p/xcry16.htm
Anyway… apparently once you sift your matcha is stays pretty well separated for a while. So I bought this canister/sifter with spatula and I sifted what I had left and put it in the fridge per their instructions. The downside is that now it’s in my fridge not on my counter, so I’ve forgotten about it since then. Can’t say how well it’s stayed sifted, or whether the refrigeration has effected taste/texture etc. yet.
I’m way too freaked out to refrigerate tea (matcha or whole leaf) raw or steeped so we won’t get into that lol. I got the cheap basket infuser from Lupicia (it was $3-4) and use a metal teaspoon to push the matcha thru. It works GREAT cuz the metal mesh is freakishly fine, but it also takes forever.
Definitely need this after such a long day. 1/2 heaping TB each this and MC pu erh steeped in 1 cup water then added 1 cup Fat Free Smart Balance Milk. Topped w/ whipped cream. SO chocolatey. SO sweet. SO spicey. SO… perfect! The only bad thing is whipped cream + hot beverage = almost instantly collapsing whipped cream.
Preparation
KOICHA! It’s been a looong day. Up too late last nite. Madison got me up too early this morning. 4 hrs in a car. All afternoon at the museum (which included LOTS of pushing my chair, several hrs in dark rooms, and spending a lot of time straining my neck trying to read exhibit discriptions). And trying to stay up til mite. So I need koicha.
Attempt 2.
1tsp matcha sifted and 40ml water.
Thank God this does not look or taste like a chalky sand castle! It’s actually VERY smooth and creamy (still very thick of course) where as all other koichas I’ve made have been on the verge of too chalky/gritty for my personal taste. I need to sift my other matchas and revisit koicha w/ them. I’d love to give this a 100, but since it absolutely needs to be sifted, I can’t give it more than a 99.
Ok, I love green oolongs and I’ve never had this (or any Jade oolong) before so when this came up as May’s Roots Campaign featured tea I was pretty much suckered in instantly.
2.25g/6oz
This may sound odd… but the raw leaf smells like matcha in a lot of ways. The tightly scrunched green leaves smell sweet, and vegetal, and just plain green. After steeping the liquor is a bright canary yellow and the aroma is a much lighter version of the raw leaf.
Yummm… light- but not weak, clean, smooth, crisp, sweet. Just plain delicious.
Preparation
1tsp in my tomato soup for lunch. Shocked at how light the matcha flavor is… you could probably add it w/o anyone suspecting anything- except for the odd brown color it creates. I’ve now had a total of 2tsp of matcha powder today… probably not a good idea since I need to go to bed early tonite so I can get up early tomorrow.
Craaap. Ok I really need to think when I’m making matcha. Remember when I said I like following methods/recipes for making tea cuz it lets me go on autopilot? Well that only works if I think just enough to remember the recipe. I wanted to make koicha, but I used 75ml of water instead of 40. And I even took time to sift it which took foreeever… It was good, but I’m rather annoyed w/ myself.
Forgot to log my Usucha from before church yesterday. 1/2tsp matcha/75ml water. Didn’t sift it, but thankfully I didn’t need to. It was very thick (thicker than other Usuchas possibly?) creamy, vegetal, and GREEEN!!! (extra “e” completely intended lol). I’m scoring it as 100 for now. If I can’t figure out koicha, it may go down a couple points- but not much.
Cofftea - I'm so disappointed that you found our matcha to be "quite bitter". That is very strange as I've typically heard the opposite especially when compared with DoMatcha's organic variety and our other competitors. Of course, I'd be happy to have your purchase refunded for you or we could send you a different tin and see if there might have been something wrong with the one you purchased (very rare ....but possible). Send me an email at infoleafspa.com to discuss. At LeafSpa Organic Tea, our customer relationships are the most important thing for our business obviously, so, I want to make sure that we do whatever we can to address this issue to your satisfaction.
Let me give it another try or 2- I LOVE that it sifts quickly so I’m not gonna give up yet. Thank you for taking the time to pay attention to the steepster tasting notes, I know running a business is quite time consuming. I love interacting w/ companies here:)
Sounds good. I hope your second try is much more enjoyable! Obviously, you’re a true Matcha lover so I wait with baited breath to hear your next thoughts…. Have a good night.