35 Tasting Notes
Thank goodness for white matcha! I love green matcha but it’s too hard on my stomach. The white matcha doesn’t have that bright green flavor, rather that very delicate white tea flavor, but also doesn’t make me throw up, which is even better. I’ve been adding a few shakes of it to my favorite white teas and it blends right in.
I am a huge fan of Walt Disney World. I had never been before my now-husband took me right after we got engaged in 2012. I’ve been twice more since then (to Epcot, my favoritest). Joffrey’s is the provider of the tea and coffee in the Disney parks. They have kiosks all over, and a brick and mortar shop at Disney Springs.
Here’s a review where my favorite Disney Food Blog goes to review the shop: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2015/07/06/news-and-review-joffreys-tea-traders-cafe-at-disney-springs/
Yep it’s awesome.
Now I love me a chai latte, they taste like cozy. The blend is very important though. I want spicy, but balanced. Starbucks has too much cinnamon. I love cinnamon but not that much in my chai. The cinnamon chai latte Starbucks did last year, I was not a fan of in any sense. But this Masala Chai is perfect. It’s just the right blend. All you have to do is smell it. All of the spices are in perfect alignment with one another.
Get the chai latte at the Joffrey’s kiosk. I got four the last time I was at Epcot. It’s so creamy and comforting. Definitely my favorite chai. I got the loose leaf last time I visited the shop so I can make my own and the only difference is I can’t froth the milk just like they do.
Preparation
I’m re-reviewing this tea again because I’ve been drinking it for years. I don’t know why, it speaks to me.
So, I drink this tea in the loose leaf and also the bags. I buy the bags 250 at a time from the Stash website, a couple times a year. If I happen to see it out and about at a grocery store around the holidays I’ll grab an extra box or six. I drink at least 3 cups a day, every day.
Firstly, I haven’t died, so if this tea had a high lead content, I’d have announced it by now with my death, so that’s good to know.
I’m not sure why I’m so particularly attached to this tea. I’ve rated it 100 again cause its my favorite and I do what I want. It’s white, and I prefer white. It says it also has peppermint and ginger root. Peppermint I love, but sometimes peppermint tea is too oily for me. This is mostly all white tea with a little peppermint, and little flecks of ginger root. It’s got a nice light pepperminty flavor, and the ginger root you don’t taste at all, which is great for me because ginger is not my cup of tea, if you get me. HOWEVER, tea often makes me feel sick as I drink it often on an empty stomach, but this stuff is a concoction for a better tummy, which is awesome.
Now I’ve started doing something even funner which is I got some white matcha and I’ve started sifting a little bit of that into my White Christmas. You can’t even taste it because the white tea and the white matcha meld beautifully.
Make sure you use a lower temperature for it so it doesn’t get bitter. I’ve been using 176F.
Now the loose leaf is a little iffy for me. I looooove the bags. But for some reason I get wildly different results from the loose leaf pot to pot so usually I just use the bags cause I’m stodgy. With the loose leaf you need to be precise, and you need to shake the bag. It’s got really big pieces and if you’re not careful you end up with a big scoop of only one ingredient. With the bags I just chill out with the bag in the hot water, with the leaves they HAVE TO COME OUT or it will taste baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
Overall it’s the best and you all need to drink it so Stash will never discontinue it.
Stash, still waiting on that sponsorship.
Flavors: Peppermint
My husband is Irish and I’ve been to the UK six times, sometimes for a few months together. Eventually you get to a point where on a rainy day you could use a cuppa. This nails the concept of a cuppa. It’s not fancy. It’s not frilly. But its smooth and well-balanced. My husband just made a cup and yelled “Good normal cup of English tea” to me from his office.
Preparation
I had to add this thing but I know I’m not the only one of you nerds who tried it so maybe I don’t actually know what it’s called. Once again, don’t add more than a half teaspoon per 8oz of milk or it gets bitter. I add a half teaspoon of sugar. It’s lightly chocolatey. If you added cocoa mix to it you’d never know it was there. Good stuff. Not as good as the pumpkin pie spice one but what is?
Preparation
The trick to this matcha is do not. Do not. Add more than a half teaspoon per 8oz of milk. And a little extra sugar won’t hurt it. It’s creamy and a tad spicy in the right amounts, but go a hair over and it tastes like Pine-Sol.
Preparation
Intriguing. Gingerbread is my thing after pumpkin spice, I like them at least equally but as soon as the Starbucks Gingerbread latte gets in I get that instead of pumpkin spice for the rest of the season. Also, Bath and Body Works gets a candle in that is gingerbread scent and it’s amazing. So this stuff, the ingredients are “cinnamon, ginger, roasted chicory, roasted barley, natural flavors (contains soy lecithin) and luo han guo.” Luo han guo, as best I can decipher, is a sweetener sort of like stevia. It’s not very strong but I think with two bags it could be if that’s what you want (which is what I want and what I’m going to do next time). It’s sweet and cinnamon-y and ginger-y. I bet if I made it in hot milk (with a little sugar and vanilla? hm!) it would be delicious. I don’t like tea generally but I swing this pretty well, well enough that I will try the Apple Cinnamon one I almost got with it. It’s a nice way to feel festive without any calories which I can totally get on board with. Steeping it for a looong time in hoooot water seems necessary to coerce the flavors out.