557 Tasting Notes
My fiancee, friends, and I all went out to see the Rocky Horror Show yesterday. It was my first time seeing it live and it was amazing! The crew was fantastic and the opening band was very creepy cool. My favorite moment was when we all threw the toilet paper. That was something I always wanted to do, but would have gotten in trouble to actually do it.
Before the show I got a large latte to round out my meal so I wouldn’t be snacking when we got out of the show around 2 AM. It was so yummy. It filled me up for the rest of the night which makes me think that matcha would be the perfect tea for a person trying to diet. Between the regular and flavored matchas, it would satisfy every craving you might have. You would just have to be careful that you didn’t overdo it with the matcha lattes and have most of them without milk.
So, I tried doing a short rinse (10-15 seconds) on the leaves tonight before making the first steep. That made the first steep much more flavorful. If I don’t have all three steeps of this tonight, I might have the last in the morning. It is better than the one cup of hot chocolate I have been having before bed though. I discovered that hot chocolate keeps me up if I have it too late.
Remember when my tea notes used to have every other one being this yerba mate or another flavored yerba mate? I do and I am not used to drinking it anymore.
I made this with a four minute steep, a good splash of honey, and some microwaved steamed vanilla almond milk. I left out the honey additionally, but I found it a little bitter. Once it is cooled down enough to actually drink, it is good. I wish I could have left out the honey, but I was feeling like a sweetened latte. I couldn’t get a good foam with my almond milk this time, but I don’t have a tool to actually froth or foam my milk with.
It still stands that I would like a goard and bombilla set to try this with. I think it would taste better. And I could use the bombilla with my mug steeped oolongs as well so I don’t feel strange trying not to drink a tea leaf.
Time for my green tea after dinner tea plan! Since my white Silver Needle Jasmine tasted better with more leaf, I decided to put in about a teaspoon more leaf than I normally do.
Whoah! It smells green and buttery right from the get-go this time. I don’t even need to get close to my mug to get the yummy buttery smell. I steeped this for two minutes. I am finally getting the butter note that I have missed from my first dragonwell. Then the green tea flavor comes charging in and enveloping my mouth with its wonderful taste. The liquor is still very pale even with the extra leaf. This tea isn’t as astringent as my green jasmine pearls which makes for a lovely bedtime tea.
I think I have been under-leafing my french press recently. I will have to pay attention with my other teas to make sure I am getting the leaf-to-water ratio right and get a new teaspoon for measuring.
Preparation
How long did you steep this for? I’m totally thinking about getting it but found that the premium version I need to steep for a minute or less.
I steep it for two minutes and then up the steep time for a minute with each steep. My press holds about two teacups (1 mug) worth and I can get about three steeps out of each bunch if I want.
Is the premium version you have not working out for you? I have to play around with some teas and sometimes my tastebuds change and I have to figure out how I like my teas again.
This is just what I needed as a hot cocoa intervention. I decided to spoil myself and put in more leaf than I normally would. This adds up to about three or four teaspoons. Oh my! It is so good this way! I was only going to do one steep, but I am going to have another steep later before getting my green tea out for after dinner.
Going off the tea topic for a second, wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a Steepster-like site for hot chocolate, drinking chocolate, and brewable cocoa beans? Ok, Steepster for chocolate lovers and choco-holics. I think it would be amazing.
I only had one steep of this, but I used more leaf than usual. I don’t think I’m letting myself letting my water get hot enough because with a little more leaf the steep was creamier.
Still need to try this one. I’ve tried the premium one and wasn’t wowwed by it. Maybe this will be a little better?
This one is different than the one I picked up originally. I find this one to be a lot more subtle, which is why I’m using more leaf. But it is something that I would be willing to drink almost anytime of day and with most anything.
I got a green tea latte from Starbucks today. This is the straightest I have probably ever had matcha and I should probably be eating something with it because I’m getting a little caffeine headache. It tastes really good though and I’m taking it easy. I’m just not used to it.
