Amoda Tea

It looks like this tea might be from 7 years ago, based on the only other note on this tea, but I really don’t remember where/when I got it. Either way, it’s a straight matcha, and I’m really not keen on those, so it had sat unopened for quite a while. Decided to open it up and make a straight matcha eggnog latte this week and… I guess it was successful, but I definitely prefer other, more flavourful, teas as eggnog lattes. I did take a tiny sip of the matcha before adding milk, and it tasted… like matcha. Not overly bitter but certainly better with eggnog.

Probably have a cup’s worth yet; maybe I’ll find a creative way to use it.

2022 Sipdown 7/365!

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge January 2022: Spicy tea

Some good sipdown progress today! This was a sample from an Amoda order, possibly back when 52teas contributed to the Christmas sub boxes? It’s noted as a “relaxing turmeric latte blend” and well, that’s what it was. Very turmeric. I happened to have a partial can of coconut milk in the fridge and opted to “latte” it with that instead of regular milk, and then added the very last of my vanilla agave syrup from DavidsTea because it was just a bit too earthy and unsweet for me otherwise. End result was perfectly drinkable, and probably fairly enjoyable for those who enjoy coconut and turmeric; I’m not too keen on turmeric so wouldn’t buy it myself but it was nice enough to sample!

2021 Sipdown 123/365!

Picked up the latte variety pack from Amoda out of curiousity; this is the first one I tried – it’s labelled as a cozy latte blend with real pumpkin.

I’m not often a fan of turmeric in blends (too earthy), but this was actually not too bad, and I enjoyed the pumpkin. There was definitely spice, reminiscent of pumpkin pie. I can’t recall if I mixed it with milk or eggnog… I think it was the latter as I believe it was sweet, and the blend doesn’t appear to contain sweetener. I should try another packet of it in plain milk as well, since the eggnog would have contributed its own spicing as well.

A satisfying cup, made as it was, at least!

Promo offer during Amoda’s Black Friday sale; I think this was either discounted or free(?) Either way, it had caught my interest beforehand so I was happy to have it included in my order!

Initial aroma reminded me quite a bit of roasted green milk tea (with bubbles), and it felt natural to make a latte with it, so that’s what I did. However, I chose to make an eggnog latte, and I’m not entirely sure that it came out as I had expected – I think I may have used too much tea powder, or possibly, the flavours just clashed a bit? Or maybe, I was just expecting roasted milk bubble tea and that wasn’t what I got. Either way, the flavour was a bit stronger and grassier than I’d anticipated, and the eggnog just didn’t quite suit it. I’ll have to give this another round with plain milk and sweetener – and a lighter hand for the powder. I’m pretty sure I’ll like this once I get it right!

Matcha Latte (sorta) Sipdown (300)

I whisked this in hot water and topped it with milk. I took a couple sips and dumped the rest. These mushroom-infused matchas are not for me. This was better than the other one I tried by Amoda, but it ended up being a loose coconut milk flavor w/some umami notes from the mushroom. Thank you Sil for the chance to try it though since they were intriguing.

I have no idea what three of the ingredients are. This makes for an educational cup of tea, but also for too much going on in my mouth at once. Gynostemma is a vine kind of used like ginseng. But not with it’s taste or after taste. Eyebright powder? Huh, apparently it " contains several beneficial plant compounds". Horsetail. Very interesting. " It was used traditionally to stop bleeding, heal ulcers and wounds, and treat tuberculosis and kidney problems." Guess I got in all my good stuff tonight. My palate still doesn’t like it though.

Matcha Latte Sipdown (304)

I am surprised this didn’t already have a page but here we are.

A single serve package of this was given to me by Sil. The reishi and maca make this not as appealing to me but I am happy to give anything a try one…well, maybe not happy…willing to try anything once is probably more accurate.

I made this as a matcha latte using cows milk instead of nut milk as suggested. It’s meant to be like a hot chocolate but the flavor is definitely more earthy than the hot chocolates I am used to. Also, the powder has definitely settled at the bottom for the most part. The more I mix that powder in though, the stronger the earthy/mud flavor is.

Thank you Sil but I do not like this at all. It’s always fun to try something new though!

Not surprised I hadn’t reviewed this one; I may not have even tried it previously, as coconut greens are boring and I’d rather have coconut oolong if I want that profile. However, this tea was actually pretty tasty yesterday – I suppose I caught myself in the right mood for it! Nothing special about the base, and the coconut is a nice toasty flavour. Thankfully hasn’t gone off yet; I have 20g or so of this left to finish before that happens.

In somewhat of a comparison, I did prefer this to another coconut green I had in my cupboard, T by Daniel’s Jamaican Me Crazy.

Well, I take curcumin supplements regularly for their anti-inflammatory effect, but an unopened pouch of this blend has been hanging out in my stash waiting for the moment I need to haul out the big guns.

That moment has arrived. I am sick with a cold or the flu or whatever this is. It’s been several days now and I feel like hell.

This is a straight herb and spice powder. I made it up with boiling water, evaporated milk, and a dab of vanilla honey. And wow. Exactly what I needed. Beautiful medley of turmeric, fennel, anise, ginger, and cinnamon and they all seem to be coming through strongly. My throat is being soothed and I predict this will be having an effect on all the things.

Ayup, just what I needed.

I can barely taste the rooibos in this blend because of the floral and fruit overtones. I think it contributes significantly to the honey and brown sugar notes, though. Rose petals and lavender are a classic combination-and for good reason. The hibiscus is an odd choice, and although it didn’t ruin the blend, I don’t think it helped either. More dried currents (raisins) and blueberries would have been a better choice for adding those fruity notes. Overall, it is a very good blend and I enjoy drinking it, but the hibiscus is holding it back.

Sipdown (341)!

Made this one as an iced tea yesterday, at work.

I don’t know why but the entire time I was drinking this one I was filled with a sense of flavour Deja Vu – but I still can’t place exactly what tea it was reminding me of which is , the frustrating part. Honestly though? I thought this was pretty average. It was smooth enough but the two strongest flavours were the rooibos base itself which was very woody and a kind of sub par coconut note. The coconut did taste decently fresh though, but it also reminded me a little bit of my coconut body scrub which is… eh?

The pear/berry/other fruit notes were just so muddled and mild though comparatively! I really, really wish the pear had been more pronounced because I think a pear and coconut combination could have been really lovely but more than anything else I thought this was kind of apple-y tasting, with hints of the kiwi and a very generic/muddled tropical fruit flavour. Nothing even remotely pear like, and that was all kinds of disappointing. If you promise me pear, I fucking want pear.

But yeah – overall it was just mediocre. Drinkable, but nothing exciting at all. I think it falls prey to their just being too many ingredients for it to create any kind of clear, concise flavour profile.

I am rather relieved to get this one out of the way. Not my cup of tea. Rather bitter from the mushroom and turmeric, so I had to polish it off with honey and coconut milk.

Here we go with Matcha Spirit. I was thinking of making this as a latte before even opening the sealed bag then remembered this had turmeric and other savoury stuff going on so I thought it would be best to try it straight first.

Opening up the bag, whew, that is definitely turmeric. It even smells like a specific kind of ground coriander my family had a long time ago, which had a heavy earthy, lemony scent. The turmeric in here is slightly earthy and bitter with mustard and lemon notes. I can’t even smell the matcha in there, and mushroom powders could possibly be contributing to the earthy undertone, as well. Then the black pepper is super obvious. I also read up on reishi mushrooms and apparently they have a bitter taste to them too so perhaps that bitter aroma is coming from them too.

I frothed up one teaspoon in some slightly cooled hot water. The mushroom aroma comes forth now that it’s blended with water, but the turmeric and black pepper are still the main notes here.

Flavour-wise, it’s very heavy on the turmeric and black pepper. I’m mostly getting bitter earth from the turmeric and reishi, then lemon, with some heat at the back of my mouth from the black pepper. I can’t taste the matcha in here whatsoever. I’m detecting a brothy undertone and that could also be from the reishi.

This definitely isn’t something to be drinking for the flavour, but rather, for its health benefits, primarily, for immune support. Sources suggest trying reishi with honey or almond milk if you can’t get past the bitterness, so maybe next time I make this, I’ll add a bit of honey and see how that goes, and maybe go for that latte sometime.

Sipdown! Again, couldn’t taste any mint from this, and the Ceylon base is missing too. This basically just tastes like cacao shells, which can be a good thing for some people but for me, personally, I got a little tired of the straight up cacao shell flavour. I think I overdid it a few years ago haha.

Perhaps not the best way to try a tea for the first time, but I made this as a latte and added a touch of vanilla extract to my whole milk before frothing. Actually, I did taste this before adding the milk and it was like a standard cacao shell tisane, loaded with cocoa notes, and there was something smooth at the end. A bit vanilla-ish, but I swear I didn’t get any mint from it? I’ll try to pay more attention next time.

Nevertheless, with the added milk, this tasted like creamy cocoa vanilla. Not necessarily like hot chocolate/cocoa. Even with the milk, it has that distinct flavour from cacao shells. They are also so prominent that you wouldn’t even know that there is Ceylon in here.

This reminds me of how I have to retry the Tisano teas I have sitting in my cupboard now that I finally have them back after they were packed away for two years. Funny cacao shell tisanes were the rage a few years ago and I don’t see anyone drinking them anymore?

Sad sipdown! Would totally get more of this if they have a BF sale this year. Wonderful balance of spices and I can actually taste the pumpkin too.

I’ve been so busy with moving, and although everything isn’t done yet, it’s nice to finally have a day off work to just stay at home, unpack, and detox with some tea. I haven’t been eating the best lately so I’m hoping all these fluids will let me shed some excess water weight and relieve some of the whale-like feelings I’ve been experiencing as of late. Maybe I should try to schedule an appointment with my doctor on a day off too, seeing that it’s been four months since I fainted and fell, and my neck is still sore. Needless to say, I should get that checked out, hey?

I’m so behind on trying teas, seeing that I made this Amoda order quite a while before my more recent teas have arrived, and even then, that was like a month ago. I don’t care that it’s nearly June and already hot in this new apartment, I’m going for Happy Pumpkin because reasons.

First off, this smells like the most realistic pumpkin pie-scented dry leaf to date, beating out, in my opinion, DAVIDsTEA’s Spiced Pumpkin, which to me smells like my German great grandma’s no-bake pumpkin pie with a healthy dollop of whipped cream. This, on the other hand, concentrates more on the spices and pumpkin itself, so more like pumpkin pie filling without the whipped cream. The dry leaf is ultra chunky, loaded with pumpkin pieces, shreds of coconut, whole allspice, orange peel, and the tea leaves themselves are longer and fluff up the dry leaf, as well.

With some whole milk, this is creamy, pumpkiny, and spicy. Very well-balanced. The allspice, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon don’t overpower the other elements, but don’t compete with each other either. I can’t taste the orange rind, but maybe it depends on how much I got in my scoop. I hope Amoda never discontinues this, well, unless I got sick of it. We’ll see if that ever happens.

I got a chance to try this in the December monthly box from Amoda and it was by far my favorite from the bunch. Smells like high-end orange jelly candy, with a citrus fragrance that is specifically mandarin oranges.

The black tea taste is coated in flavors of candied orange, cloves, and spice, there’s even a rich, sweet note of caramel liqueur. Full and decadent without being too heavy or over-flavored, but bolder than your average orange and spice tea. Mandarin Spice is a perfect holiday treat.

See my review on Sororitea Sisters:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/10/24/happy-pumpkin-tea-octobers-amoda-tea-monthly-box/

Light, fruity flavor. Can’t pin down a specific fruit, so it’s probably Juniper that I’m tasting since it’s a little reminiscent of gin.

This is my favorite of the bunch, by far. I made this as a latte according to the instructions on the back of the package – 1 tablespoon mocha matcha, 2 ounces water, and 6 ounces milk. It is delicious and tastes like a lightly sweetened hot chocolate. The chocolate is the flavor I taste and smell most of all.

I ordered Amoda Tea’s matcha tasting set last month and have been working through each one to see which I like best and which I want to order again. We received a sample of their classic matcha in our last subscription box and my husband fell in love. He ordered himself a tin of their ceremonial matcha and I got the sampler to see if I might find one I can love too. Amoda sent an extra large pouch of the classic matcha (Thank you, Tegan!!) so now we have plenty to try. I’m still not quite accustomed to the taste of matcha or to the smell (I’m getting a lot of seaweed), but I’m trying to open my mind to it.

For this blend, I started with this recipe that I found online for a Mocha Maca Matcha – http://mylifecookbook.com/2015/02/15/mocha-maca-matcha/. For two servings, I used my full sample pouch of superfood matcha, two teaspoons of Amoda Tea’s culinary matcha, a half tablespoon of cocoa powder, a mixture of lite coconut milk and water, plus honey to sweeten. I doubled the rest of the recipe and pulsed it in the blender for a few seconds to make a thick and frothy morning drink.

The color is a muddy green, likely due to the turmeric, and it has a bit of spice to it from the cayenne so it’s definitely warming. It was bitter at first but a little extra honey tamed it nicely. I know that since I added the other ingredients it will be hard for me to determine exactly what the matcha blend tastes like, but I think I’m picking up on some of the flavors even after adding to it. I can smell the vanilla and cocoa in the dry blend, for example, and the matcha flavor is definitely there in the finished cup. I’m still not as big a fan as my husband, but I’m getting there.

I made this into a smoothie for breakfast this morning. It had oatmeal, milk, matcha, honey, vanilla, coconut milk, banana, and blueberries. With the addition of the oatmeal, this really came off tasting a lot like a cookie. I couldn’t really taste the matcha, though it did turn the smoothie a lovely shade of green. I’m curious – do most people cook with matcha for the flavor, the color, the energy boost, or some mixture of all three? Since I couldn’t really taste it here, perhaps I’ll try adding more next time.