865 Tasting Notes
2.25g/6oz. Since I’m flavoring everything (namely matcha) lately I decided to flavor this. 1 teaspoon of spiced rum creamer added. The creamer does not cover the strawberry, although it does cover up the white tea taste quite a bit. It tastes like a steamer now. Allbeit a LOVELY steamer. There’s a wonderful, slightly syrupy, strawberry texture and the creamer brings out the shortcake component of this tea. The only thing I don’t like about this tea is that the leaves look like they’ve been put thru a spice mill which not only lead me to believe that the quality isn’t very good, but the leaves get caught in the cover of my teapot when I pour it.
Preparation
Ok Sara… BREATHE! I need something to calm me down after all this excitement so I’m going back to the very thing that all this excitement kept me from, my morning bowla. I loved the creamy texture of my matcha latte yesterday but wasn’t thrilled w/ the strong milk taste so I decided to use a bit of coffee creamer. For a half bowl: 1 scoop matcha, 8oz boiling water, 1TB spiced rum creamer. Now they suggest 1 TB for every 6oz of coffee (or in this case matcha), so if you want to add an extra teaspoon to increase the creamy texture and the flavor go a head.
I love the pretty mint color that adding creamers and milk gives it, I think it’s even better than it tastes. Not to mention that it’s easier to whisk. It’s creamy like yesterday, but w/o the undesirable milk taste. That’s replaced w/ a hint of spice and rum that balances w/ the matcha instead of competing w/ it. If the flavor appeals to you but you don’t want the milky texture, add a bit of rum extract. Or the real thing if you desire. I’ll still be stalking the holiday contest thread- probably so much I won’t be drinking a lot of tea, but at least now I’m calm enough I won’t be having a heart attack.=D
Preparation
Needed energy (yes even after my matcha LOL) but didn’t want to take up a lot of space in my bladder so I made a green tea shot by steeping it the way premium sencha is prepared. 1/2TB tea leaves, 2oz water heated to 160 degrees, steeped for 1.5 min.
Preparation
Backlogging from this morning.
Made a matcha latte by swapping the water for milk. It whisked up easily and formed a pretty mint green color. It was smooth on my tongue w/ a creamy matcha taste. The milk taste was quite strong (not that the matcha was by any means weak), but maybe that was just me- I only like milk in lattes and after trying matcha lattes I think I’ll stick w/ espresso ones. I think I’m going to try a mixture of water and milk next time. Any ratio suggestions?
Preparation
Based on absolutely nothing at all, I’ll say go 1/3 milk and 2/3 water.
hey, all of my tea flavoring experiments have been based on no prior experience so I’ll trust you!:)
Let me know how it goes.
Will do! I have flavor plans for the next 2 days, but be sure to check out my tasting note for Thurs. Although I hope you’ll check out all my matcha kaze notes:)
Love that you have your tea drinking preplanned. =) It reminds me of people planning their reading for the month on LibraryThing. I’ll be sure to look for it in your upcoming notes.
It’s more out of necessity, I have so many good ideas and good teas that I’d spend more time deciding what to have than drinking it. I’ll be a lot less methodical w/ my matcha flavors once I try all my ideas. I’ll base which ones I revisit when based on cravings. The only other time I plan my drinking is what tea I’m gonna take w/ me to church to steep in my coffee purely because I’m not a morning person and need to bag it up the night before and in the summer when I make iced tea.
@chrine, I have a REALLY good idea for flavored matcha I have to try so my matcha latte will be pushed back to Fri.
lol No rush, Cofftea.
So I wanted to try a matcha latte today. But… Milk went bad. Oh well, it was mom’s 1% anyway and I drink skim. So plan B. I have instant cappuccino mix! Irish creme flavored. Due to the fact that it does have instant coffee in it, I’m DEFINTELY only gonna make a half bowla. If you want a whole bowl, double my recipe.
Boiled 8oz of water. While that boiled I added 1 scoop of matcha to the bottom of my bowl and 3TB cappuccino mix (They say 3TB for 6oz, but I was afraid I’d never taste the matcha, but if you want feel free to add an extra TB) and wisked together. What a pretty mint green color! When the water came to a boil I whisked it. It seemed to whisk better this time. Of course I couldn’t tell you if I was able to get it to froth or not because of the mix. Instant cappuccino mix doesn’t form a foam on top like normal cappucinos so it looks much more like a blended latte. Looks like a coffee shop’s version only in a bowl. Good idea- email Starbucks and tell them to serve them in bowls, or at least those large cups they use for caramel macchiatos- and while I’m at it I’ll tell them to use real matcha lol. Anyway… OH MY GOSH! WOW! I think even when I don’t add matcha I’m gonna drink my lattes and cappuccinos from this bowl! It’s just too much fun! It tastes much like it does w/ water. The matcha isn’t very strong, but increases slowly w/ every sip. Thank GOD the instant coffee doesn’t clash w/ it. I was worried about that. I also noticed that not only did it whisk easier, it didn’t separate as fast. Matcha is a relaxing and indulging daily experience for me so the only thing I don’t like about drinking it is I have to drink it rather quickly. This allowed me to savor it more. This would be a fun idea for holiday parties (maybe use a vanilla or chocolate flavored mix and steep peppermint leaves in the water before adding the mix and matcha) or for St. Patrick’s day due to the color.
Preparation
Combined 3g of this w/ my 2nd infusion of orange mint. Hadda bump up the amount of white cucumber and water from my normal 2.25g/6oz ratio because of the amount of orange mint I used. Steeped for only 3min instead of a normal 2nd infusion time of 4 min because I’ve read that’s a good 1st infusion time for whites and Adagio kills theirs. Mint is still VERY strong, but the cucumber is pushing thru the more I sip it. Would be GREAT cold!
Preparation
Another attempt at flavored matcha. I saw someone log spearmint yesterday and that gave me an idea to use orange mint this morning.
1.5g of dried orange mint steeped in 8oz just shy of boiling water for 3 min. Brought it up to a boil and poured it in my matcha bowl that already had 1 scoop (1g) matcha in the bottom. Whisked.
Mmmm… love the smell! The orange mint tisane turns it a weird dark yellowish green, but I don’t mind. And the taste! Oh my gosh. The mint is strong, but you can still taste the matcha. The orange gives it a slight sweetness. It’s weird, but this is another smoother matcha than using just plain water… infact, I have no desire to cleanse my palate today. Remember when I said I didn’t care for mint flavored teas anymore except for cocomint green? Well this is definitely one exception! Now I just need to figure out how to incorporate the chocolate component. Chocolate milk maybe? If you can handle the caffeine, this would be great when you’re under the weather!- Especially if your life’s responsibilities don’t leave you time to be sick.
Preparation
Try 2 for flavored matcha. Hmmm… what to flavor it w/? I sure don’t need anymore caffeine so a 1st infusion of true tea is out. I have a few herbals! I have spearmint, orange mint, lemon verbena, and ROT’s Get Relaxed! Matcha is a comforting experience for me so I think I’ll use that.
Boiled 8oz of water instead of my normal 6 for Get Relaxed! and steeped it longer as well, 9 min and 20 sec. It resulted in a dark browny orange liquor and smelled of light rose. Reboiled it, added a scoop (yes only ONE this time lol) of matcha to my bowl, poured the tisane over the matcha, and whisked.
SUCCESS! This is a WONDERFUL use of herbals which I don’t drink solo. The result was a light rose flavored comforty goodness. I know the texture of the matcha comes from the matcha itself, but it seemed to be smoother today. Maybe because of the rooibos? If anyone has other ideas of how to flavor matcha, PLEASE post them in the flavored matcha forum thread.:)
2nd infusion, 4 min. I want something to bring out the cakeyness a lil more… hm… The only thing I have that’d work w/o giving it a creamy texture is the almost full bottle of SBUX hazelnut syrup a friend gave me today. But it’ll sweeten it… oh well. Hmmm… well it’s definitely sweet (and I only added one tsp when a serving is 2 tbs!), and there’s definitely a nutty/savory/cakey aspect, but the strawberry is also more obvious, but maybe that’s just the sweetness.
3rd infusion while I’m waiting for my pine tea to steep. 5 min.