865 Tasting Notes
Since steeping ginseng green w/ Premium Sencha perameters went so well, I decided to try it w/ this. 1/2TB leaves, 2oz water @ 160 degrees, steeped for 90 sec. I like these perameters for steeping because it makes a green tea shot or green tea espresso type drink. Lots of flavor, caffeine, L-theanine, and tannins in very little water.
I just need to smell this to know this serving is different. While there is still a bit of sweetness on the nose, it smells much more savory than my past attempts. The flavor is very much like the the nose- very compact. Strong, but not bitter. Mainly savory, but w/ a hint of sweetness.
Preparation
OK… this has me curious so since we have a real tree this yr. I’m gonna try it.
30 needles (didn’t chop them)/6oz boiling water.
Hmmm… virtually no liquor, and the liquor that it does have formed almost immediately after the needles were added to the water so I’m thinking it might have been from the stains on my filter. VERY light sent, a lil sweet maybe? There is a very light taste, but it’s a lil sweet so I’m thinking this may also be left over from my prior usage of my ingenuiTEA. Good theory though, if I can get it down I’m making pine matcha. How’s THAT for a holiday drink?;)
Preparation
100 points to you for experimentation (unless this is like Whose Line Is It Anyway? where the points don’t matter).
2nd infusion. Steeped 10 min. Chopped the leaves in 3rds. Absolutely no liquor. DEFINITELY smells like pine. Nailed the steeping. Could go more but I wouldn’t suggest less than 10 min. Totally making pine flavored matcha. Does anyone else have a problem w/ liquorless flavored hot water?
3rd infusion 25 min. Strong pine flavor but not overly done or bitter. A bit of sweetness even? This would be a good 1st infusion steep time.
This sounds interesting! I want to try it now!
I have always wanted to try this, so more points to you on this! Do you know what kind of pine tree the needles came from? Have a picture? I ask because that obsessive compulsive nature in me thinks there’s some pleasure to be had in cataloging varieties.
No, not sure what kind- whatever my Christmas tree is.
Hats off to your adventurous spirit! I would have never thought of making tea out of the Christmas tree. Great TN, totally unique idea.
A friend gave me some hazelnut syrup and that got me wondering how hazelnut matcha would taste. The only thing that concerned me was that it’d be too sweet. I put 1tsp (1/6 of a serving!) in 6oz of tea yesterday and it was very sweet. Oh well, let’s try it.
1 scoop matcha, 8oz water, 1tsp hazelnut syrup.
Hmmm… A little lighter than normal, maybe because of the syrup? Yep it’s sweet. Flavor is good though- can still taste the matcha. Like with any tea- if you like sweetened tea, you’ll like this.
But I still can’t get the blasted stuff to froth.
Preparation
Good gosh! My arby’s italian sub and curly fries must have been REALLY salty. I had their blackberry fruiTEA w/ it and a couple cups of tea and a bunch of water after and I’m still dying of thirst.
Didn’t have any iced tea made and I didn’t want to end up w/ a huge amount of wet leaves so I made ginger lemon water using the ginger I used in my matcha and English Breakfast this morning. I call it ginger water and not ginger tisane because ginger tisane has almost no liquor on it’s own lol.:)
1.5oz ginger steeped in 2oz boiling water for 20 min. Placed 2 thin slices of lemon in the bottom of my glass, decanted my tea, and added 14oz refrigerated water. Don’t have fresh lemon? Add 2TB lemon juice. Lemon verbena or lemon grass would definitely work as well.
Preparation
Found this in my suitcase. Brought this back from vacation, but can’t remember where I got it. Steeped it w/ the ginger I used for my morning matcha. Was shocked it said to only steep it 1-2 min. Eh. Ok. Just not a black tea person.
Preparation
It’s not that shocking that it has such a short steep time. Bagged blacks need to be steeped for far less than loose leaf, since they release tannins at a much faster rate, making the infusion potentially more astringent and bitter.
I was actually shocked when I started drinking loose leaf that blacks get steeped for 4-5 minutes, because that seemed like an awfully long time initially.
It might not be because you’re not a black tea person. It looks like no one is impressed by this tea.
Mom brought home lunch and I wanted to try this. Based on the name I assumed it was sweetened w/ artificial sweetener and I was right. Teeth rotting sweet, but you could still taste the tea. VERY sad the only real fruit in it is the large slice of lemon.
Preparation
I’m so proud of myself! I knew I wanted ginger matcha this morning, but I also know that I run late in the morning (one of the blessings of matcha- it’s quick, no steeping time) and wouldn’t have time to make my ginger water so I did it last nite. 1.5g/8oz boiling water steeped for 3 min and refrigerated.
I was kinda leary about this one because, by weight, there’s more ginger in here than matcha but it actually turned out wonderful. Smooth, grassy, w/ a bit of bite.
Preparation
Rishi has a sweetened ginger matcha, but does anyone know of an unsweetened version by Rishi or another company? Having the flavoring already added would save me time and eliminate the left over ginger root that I need to find a use for if I don’t want to waste it. That amount is awkward for me since I normally make 6oz cups of tea and I REFUSE to do math lol.
Waiting for the leaves of my strawberry shortcake to dry so I can pick them out of my teapot cover and resteep… ugh… I also needed something w/ a quick steep time because I didn’t want to be away from steepster too long:) so I went w/ one of my Den’s Tea’s samples.
Serving size: 1tsp/8oz water
There were a few ginseng green leaves left that contributed to the liquor but I’m still shocked at how dark brown and coffeeish it is after only 15sec. The aroma is much like genmai cha except darker. Yes, an aroma can be dark lol. The taste is much the same- roasty, toasty, deep, slightly coffee ish even, and gentlemently. Looks like a black tea though, not a green…
Preparation
2nd infusion. No idea how long to steep it for this time so I went for 20 sec. WOW! It’s a lil lighter and a lil more red. I’ve never smoked anything before, but I think I’m detecting something that might be tabaccoish. It was in the 1st infusion also, but I’m just now placing it. I like this infusion better, it’s a lil sweeter.
3rd infusion, 25 sec. Slightly lighter in both liquor and taste and slightly more sweet.
