865 Tasting Notes
My matcha came today! This is my 1st ceremonial grade matcha so, of course, I had to make koicha!:)
1tsp/40ml hot water.
Hmmm… I’ve never had the matcha stay in one glob like wet sand when I add the water before… I’ve never had to… but maybe I should have sifted it?
It takes a lot of whisking, but I think I finally have a coheasive mixture. It’s thick and GREEN! As soon as I take a sip I realize it’s not really mixed after all… the chunkyness is not cool- it almost makes me want to gag. Due to this matcha fail, I’m gonna hold of rating.
Oh no I should be getting mine soon too. I am worried now. Maybe it was just bad luck.
Oh my! I’ve decided to finish up my teavana matcha before I open this one. I’ll be keeping an eye on your exploits — I hope it is better once sifted!
You should always sift Matcha (unless it’s a flavored matcha, because you may just end up sifting some of the flavoring bits out). Just like in baking, when you sift the flour and other dry ingredients, it helps to aerate the ingredients and the resulting product ends up tasting just a little better.
The same is true with Matcha – regardless of the company/quality of the matcha (except for, as I say, flavored matcha and matcha latte mixes)… you will have a better tasting matcha if you sift it. You should also always “pre-whisk” it, using just a little water and making a sort of thick paste out of the matcha before you add the rest of the water and whisk again. This will help ensure that your matcha is well blended.
LiberTEAS, I’ve never had a problem w/ not sifting it before… infact I’ve noticed that when I do it doesn’t mix w/ the water as quickly. I also have never had a problem not making a paste.
I’m not saying that it must be done, I am just saying that I have noticed a difference in the finished product when I sift, versus when I do not. Also… I just re-read my comment above, and instead of “thick paste” I should have said “thin” paste.
Of course, each person is welcome to prepare their matcha the way they see fit, with or without a chashaku (or even with or without a chasen and/or chawan) … if it works for you… great!
Yeah not sure why, until now, I’ve had better results not sifting or making a paste. Strange…
I will let you know how mine turns out when it comes in. It may have been the batch you got.
Liberteas, I agree with you. I’ve only had one matcha not require sifting for best results, and that was 52teas, I think because it gets double ground/mixed with the dried orange so it has less clumps. Then again, my results are very different from Coffteas….mandarin matcha is the only matcha I’ve ever had that didn’t foam, no matter how hard I whisked (I think because of the dried orange added in), but you’ve been able to get that (and the beer tea) to foam (without whisking, even!), so maybe you’re got awesome matcha skills I lack :)
lol no I think it’s pure awesome luck… because when I try to get it to foam I can’t. Or at least not as much as I should be able to. Exibit A being my Rishi matcha experience lol. But like I’ve said before- nearly all of my tea experiences are opposite of that of the general western tea population lol
Dude…you just lost a lot of customers, because no one likes a spammer.
Actually, they lost my sales earlier last nite. Posting a link to a woman wearing only a strategically placed bed sheet on FB is not ok. What’s with them today? Well that’s one place I won’t be getting my Breville.
Back on 5/7 Rishi had a FB contest. All you had to do was comment on what tea you’d add to chocolate and why. The winners recieved a 4 piece tea ganache variety pack and a canister of tea (found out the tea was Jasmine Pearls). I was one of the winners! I can’t resist diving into these so here it goes. Should be interesting since I’ve never had anything Earl Grey before.
Hmmm… Obviously getting nice creamy chocolate covered in a chocolate shell. I’m also getting citrus. I think I’m getting bergamot, but it’s kinda hard since I have no clue what it tastes like. Not a fan of the raw leaf on top. All in all, VERY good!
the citrus is the bergamot!
from wikipedia: “The bergamot … is a fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow color similar to a lemon, and has a pleasant fragrance. The juice tastes less sour than lemon, but more bitter than grapefruit.”
Haha ok duh. I really should have wikied it. I was thinking there was also a floral or herbal ingredient in Earl Grey. I’ve always known Earl Grey to be black based and as I like very few black teas, I’ve never paid attention.
there does seem to be something flowery that is added to a lot of Earl Grey blends, or maybe just used to scent them? Teavana’s Earl Grey Creme has either blue malva (mallow), or cornflowers.. Whatever it is, I don’t particularly care for it! Maybe that’s why I prefer Lady Grey, which is actually less perfumey and adds more lemon and orange (Twinings uses dried peels).
I wasn’t trying to be a smartypants with the wiki link, btw. It’s just a weird citrus fruit (that I’ve never tasted or seen before either) and they described it better than I could! :-)
Haha, no I know- you were just being helpful! And I appreciate it! I just feel really stupid for not doing research. I was way too excited to think of that lol.
TTB Tea #17:
Made this for dessert. I normally don’t drink herbal/fruit teas… especially bagged, but since I wasn’t gonna be stuck w/ a whole bag it was worth a shot. I’ve never had anything acai flavored before.
There are a lot of ingredients in this… which personally ticks me off. If it’s mixed berry, then call it that. And their soy in it… Huh?
Anyway the raw “leaf” smells like a fruity, licoricey cough medicine…
1 bag (2.29g)/6oz almost boiling water.
The liquor is VERY dark red. Almost black. The flavor is a mix of hot fruit juice, licorice, and medicine… blech.
Preparation
TTB Tea #16:
I’m not a black tea person- especially bagged… but I know black tea is part of the tea culture in the UK and since this is named for one of the royal family, why not? I’m a sucker for novelty teas.
The liquor is a dull brown color… CRAP! forgot to weigh this. Sigh… Oh well… Slightly sweet smooth flavor. Quite pleasing for even the not black lover like myself. Paired nicely w/ lunch- chicken parmesean. Not sure I’d drink it not paired w/ some sort of food though.
Preparation
Using leaves from last nite (1 heaping TB steeped for 6 min), added 6oz water and steeped for 7 min.
Dark, coffeish liquor. Slight spice. Not much chocolate… almost like a mocha flavored coffee.
Preparation
Decided to make my own orange matcha today. 1/2tsp matcha and 75ml orange juice.
Now I normally don’t like cold matcha, but this is very good! Smooth, orangy, w/ a slight matcha flavor. I just wish the matcha would be a bit stronger.
Note to self: Matcha Screwdrivers. I even think the green olive garnish I like in them would go well w/ the matcha.
Preparation
Well, it looks like it’s Maple Day! Decided to make a sugary maplely chai. 1/2 of this mixed w/ 1/2 Adagio’s Masala Chai + 1tsp sugar free maple syrup and 1TB creme brulee creamer. Quite sweet- couldn’t enjoy this every day. But today, it’s SOOO yummy!
Preparation
1/2 TB MC chai and 1/2TB MC pu erh. I’m gonna blend the rest of my pu erh this way cuz the pu erh needs the chai spices and the chai needs bigger almond slices.
Tea steeped in 1c. water then added 1c. Fat Free Smart Balance milk and 2TB chocolate chip creme brulee creamer.
Mmmm… VERY chocolatey. VERY spicy. Lots of savory sugary flavor. VERY perfect.
Preparation
I’m drinking this Koicha style not just for flavor today. It’s not unusual for me to wake up in a lot of back pain (it’s actually more unusual that I don’t), but instead of an intense ache that spreads over my entire back and down my arms today it came in the form of a single line of intense needle like jabbing pains along the back of my waist so I need lots of caffeine and L-theanine to deal w/ the pain.
Preparation
Cofftea, I am feeling your pain about the jabbing pain in your lower back. I decided to purchase a Monster floor steam cleaner and had to move furniture to get under it an steam and now I am hurting! :( (the steamer did good though)
owie :( i hope tomorrow is a better wake up
