1324 Tasting Notes
January Challenge Prompt: drink a latte
Needed something anti-inflammatory the other day so I pulled this out to make a latte. My mom surprised me with a jar of this one after first her jar of it and really enjoying it.
It’s a really lovely golden milk and it’s nice to be able to support a small business. I prepared this with a small amount of water and then added some frothy almond milk. It was probably 4oz of water to 6oz of almond milk? I can’t quite remember though.
The spices are strong but balanced and the marshmallow root likely adds some creaminess. I have another similar golden masala chai blend and that one isn’t nearly as balanced as this one is and I like how this one is caffeine-free. Caffeine in an anti-inflammatory blend would somehow feel a little less medicinal to me for some reason. There was quite a bit of the spices left in the bottom of my cup but that didn’t bother me. Perhaps that’s one downside to not preparing it on the stove? This would be a delicious daily cup of tea but I’ll save it for those health flare-up days. My mom actually got an ice cream maker for Christmas and I bet golden milk non-dairy ice-cream would be delicious…
Flavors: Creamy, Spices, Turmeric
Preparation
So my first time trying this did not go very well but I have hope for other preparation methods.
I prepared this latte style by just steeping the tea in water using a strainer and then adding frothy milk with a touch of honey.
Something about this tea tasted so strongly of soap I was thinking back on making it to make sure I didn’t actually add soap to my tea. Of course, I didn’t do that but that’s how strongly it resembled soap in taste. Chaga always tastes earthy to me and none of the other common ingredients seem like they would result in a soapy taste either.
I ended up putting my cup in the fridge and hoping that it might be better in the morning cold.
I found a Harney review that actually references the soap taste but says that other prep methods fixed this. So next time I will try steeping it in milk and not with water. (They also found the best result using Chobani vanilla oat milk which I will be trying.) Fingers crossed!
Flavors: Soap, Spices
Preparation
Ordered a cup of this one at a local coffee shop while meeting a friend. One of the staff was really nice and actually brought my cup to our table. He told me to wait 4 or so minutes to drink it but if I wait longer it shouldn’t get bitter. I was like yes! those are all things I want to hear. I wasn’t paying too much attention to my cup but it was a very smooth oolong, buttery even, with some citrus notes.
Flavors: Citrus, Smooth
Preparation
2021 Sipdown!: 123
This one I enjoyed but was never a favorite. My brain always wants more peach from this one. It’s a lovely floral green oolong with a hint of fruit. I can re-steep it multiple times which is nice and sometimes get a bit more peach than in the initial steep. It’s more of a once in awhile cup and the high tea place that reopened near me seems to carry this one.
Flavors: Floral, Flowers, Peach
Preparation
Opened this up on Christmas Eve to drink and I ended up dumping it down the sink after trying it. Cheerful this was not. It tasted like straight-up apple cider vinegar and while I love a vinegary kombucha this was not for me. I also could taste cloves but nothing else flavor-wise stuck out. I need to remember next year not to buy this one…
Flavors: Cloves, Sour, Vinegar
I really like this one too! I agree – a golden milk ice cream would probably be pretty delicious.
I love this stuff! My breakfast smoothie today was coconut milk, mango, a teaspoon of matcha, and a tablespoon of this Golden Milk mix. Delicious!
The addition of marshmallow root to this version of “golden milk” sounds promising :)
Love this kind of stuff (and it should be a vegan ice cream flavour)!
Mastress Alita- That sounds delicious. I’ve never made my own but had a similar smoothie from a local shop before.
I’m like the only person who hasn’t tried golden milk yet. Something about the chalkiness of turmeric intimidates but a blend like this accented with spices sounds approachable.
It might just take finding a blend that you like and playing with prep methods etc. An easy way as well to try without having to commit would be to check out your local coffee shops and order one. Saku Golden Orange is another one of my favorite ones and has coconut milk in it since it’s a latte mix. It’s turmeric and orange though so not the classic flavor profile your probably looking for.