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I was in the hospital for low potassium and a couple other minor maldies recently. All the first morning, I was told by a well-meaning (but paranoid) nurse that I couldn’t have caffeine because it’s a diuretic. Five hours later, the doctor said a little tea was fine and she should calm down. I got this from an over priced Boston Stoker stand.
It had a strong, tart berry flavor that almost eclipsed the tea. Not in a bad way, but I just wanted green tea, not fruit tea. The smell and color were great. Those alone made up for the price. I would buy this again if it were organic.

Well, folks, meet your emergancy cooking matcha. I was delighted to replenish my supply with my recent visit to Phildelphia’s Chinatown. It has worked in everything I’ve tried from cupcakes and frosting to matcha based sauses and protein shakes. It even comes with a plastic teaspoon that’s very convienient and tucks right into the side.
But avoid actually drinking it straight unless you’re doing for pure health benefits. In that respect this tea smacks of ash and low standards. I’ve made tolerable “usucha” with hot soy coffee creamer or juice and this matcha when I’d rather choke a bit than diminish the covetable and costly ceremonial stash. For a $15 two pack of 200g, I can live with ashy and non-organic sometimes. So, for usefulness I give it an 8/10. Taste? 3/10. On a good day. With a sugar fix.

I don’t know why but my throat was caving in on itself today. This was the only thing around at work without caffeine (forgot my stuff). Fortunadamente, it was just the right thing to leave around, eh? =)
The licorice and fennel dominated but some other things like the mallow gave it depth. It wasn’t very different from other cold/throat teas I can remember but I can name a few organic teas that sooth throats with better tastes (Bija’s teas are still my staple “cure-most” teas).

I made this iced for the first day of my new job. After an overnight steeping, the sencha and sakuranbou realy stood out and were exactly the energizing boost I needed at lunch. I crunched some teacubes in it and it made a kalaidascope effect. It’s a useful visual distraction after four hour of repetive labor.

Yesterday the wind was against me during my entire bike ride. I had some ice cream to cool off afterwards. But..
It cooled me off too much. :P So I made a big stove pot of this and froze the extra in teacubes/iced tea. A very simple and cheap way to combat nausea and chill.
Granted, this isn’t the brand of bulk barley I get at the Korean grocery but I’ve had Puripan and it’s close in its subtle toasted cereal taste.

Perhaps the batch I got was off but this was bitter, sour, and barely tasted like green tea. The sell by was next year and I put it in the fridge the same day. I only had it once but if 45 cents more gives me a more surefire on-the-go tea, I’d rather play it safe.

…Then again, this is the only sencha bottled tea availble to me. Confustigated grocery constriction….

This was perfect with a berry scone as my birthday breakfast. The green tea had a nice asparagus flavor that highlighted the sweeter rose. It was a sample from a friend who had one pot’s worth left and decided to share it. And my “to buy” list multiplies threefold again…
Great if you want a floral green tea or something that you can smell brewing acoss the room. I’d like to say more but I’m aware my sample was a bit dated.