3 Leaf Tea

2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 13
From Skysamurai.

A day behind again! I’ve made a mistake with this one, so I don’t even know if I can finish the cup. I noticed on the back of the package that one of the recommendations is to add 6 ounces of milk after mixing the powder with 2 ounces of water. The only milk I have at the moment is an unopened carton of coconut milk in the pantry. (It’s definitely time for a grocery run.) Anyway, I mixed it up, took a sip, and SOAP. I think my coconut milk has gone off. How incredibly disappointing. I will say that before I took that dreadful sip, the aroma was like a roasted matcha, very interesting. I could also smell the lemon – it was bright like lemon juice instead of zest. So unique! Luckily, I have enough for one more cup so I’ll be able to try this one again. Sad it didn’t work out today though.

Sipdown! (1 | 490)

First sipdown of December! Those rascally advents have been keeping me busy… But I would like to get to 500 by the end of the year, so I need to sneak in some more!

This was the lone survivor from the 3 Leaf hojicha sampler I bought a while back. Whizzed it up tonight with some cold oat milk and a glug of maple syrup, and it’s scrumptious. Roasty, nutty, hint of grassiness on the back of the palate. Little bit of smokiness as well. So rich and creamy with the oat milk. The texture is good but not perfect, there is a slight grittiness to it, but not enough to be very distracting for me. I used one teaspoon of powder for 16 ounces of cold oat milk, and it’s lovely.

I don’t think I’ll be ordering this, just because I don’t tend to drink powdered teas often lately. Poor matcha, languishing in a drawer… Plus I have a pouch of the banana version of this, which is plenty for now. :)

Stepping out of my purist comfort zone to try this flavored, powdered version of the latte I generally adore. If it’s flavored and powdered I generally only trust 3 Leaf to make sure it’s not full of crap. Preparation is whisking in hot water and then adding warmed-up vanilla oat milk. But first! Let’s talk about the dry aroma. It reminds me of the Banana Foster dessert. Roasted banana. Caramelized banana. Delicious BANANA. So much banana. The flavor felt a little off at first but as I’ve gotten further into the session I’ve really taken a liking to it. The roasty / toasty notes of the hojicha mix incredibly well!

Sipdown! (8 | 406)

I had a small single-serving packet of this from the 3 Leaf hojicha powder sampler that I bought a few months ago. After thinking about it a bit, I decided to prepare it cold brewed as the lemon sounded like it would be quite refreshing. So I shook the contents of the packet (about two teaspoons) with 16 ounces of water and a few ice cubes.

I love iced hojicha, so I find this quite tasty! It’s almost like an iced hojicha lemonade. The lemon flavor is sweet and somewhat candylike, but also has a nice bit of zing to it. I’m not really getting much of a honey flavor, more of a lemon drop note. The hojicha is smooth and sweet and has a lovely depth, and I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the darker notes with the bright lemon. I ended up adding a drizzle of honey just because I wanted that flavor as well, and I feel like it rounded the other notes out nicely.

I’m not sure I would order this, just because I really adore the banana version and I’m not sure I need multiple flavored hojicha powders in my cupboard. It’s just not something I use often. But I could imagine this flavor being lovely as a kind of hot toddy as well, and uber comforting for the fall.

Sipdown! (4 | 325)

Finding this one to be quite meh unfortunately.

I’m having it iced in oat milk and it just doesn’t compare to the banana version. I’m not sure I really get chocolate at all, and there’s a weird chalkiness to it. I don’t know if that’s coming from the flavoring or what.

Anyway, it’s not terrible or anything but definitely not one I would reorder…

I made this with cold milk and sugar, and I’m starting to think that I might just not be a hojicha fan. This particular one tasted burned and fishy. I diluted it a little more than it called for and added some whipped cream to the top. Then, I did enjoy it, but it needed a little too much help. I didn’t taste any banana. The flavor was too strong and strange for me, unfortunately. I liked it more when I tried it with oat milk and whipped cream. Then it tasted toasty, but I still didn’t taste banana. I made a cup for my partner, who said it tasted like banana coffee and absolutely loved it. So I may be in the minority here, but I’m glad there’s someone in the house who can enjoy it!

Made a super fun, but a little weird, latte using this hojicha powder! Paired it with some Buddha’s Hand citron marmalade alongside the cream base. Hojicha and citrus is such a beautiful pairing and this combination has this elegant balance of bitter citrus pith and a mineral rich roast offset by the sweetness of the honey and a nice pop of bright acidity! Such a fun but elevated combination!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca4ymTTOdRk/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJgDfKAxe84&ab_channel=TheGrogans

Had to immediately go back and try this again because I found it so novel and interesting the first time I tried it – and I have to say that the fascination with this uniquely juxtaposed flavour combination doesn’t seem to be wavering! I had it iced this time, and I thought the dark roasted and nutty flavours of the hojicha might be weird iced but it was kind of like having a hojicha lemonade!? Still strange, but also so good!

Okay, out of all the matcha and hojicha from 3 Leaf Tea this is hands down the most unique of all of them and I fully expected it to not work.

I don’t have the warmest of feelings towards the Lemonade Matcha so I expected the lemon flavour here to be similar to that one – and I didn’t see how that could possibly be complimentary to the dark roast and caramelized nutty flavours of the hojicha. Thankfully, the lemon flavour itself is much better than what is used in the matcha. It’s actually very bright and lively, and almost has a playful tartness to it.

It’s certainly really strange to have such a sharp high note contrasted against all of the deep low notes and cozy flavours of the Hojicha – the juxtaposition is crazy. My first impression was only confusion, and after more sips and more mental processing I decided that as weird and harsh as the contrast is… I like it a lot!

They’re like foils of one another with the initial wave of sweet and punchy lemon highlighting the toasted grain and sweetly caramelized nut notes of the hojicha and those more mineral and bake-y dark roast notes pushing the sunny qualities of the lemon even higher and more to the forefront. On top of the unique taste, this is just really more of an experience and I like teas that excite me and make me feel like I’m trying something brand new a lot.

This one didn’t land for me…

The hojicha powder base is tasty here because it’s the same one used throughout, but the chocolate is barely a whisper – and for how mild and easy to miss it is you really might as well just be drinking the plain hojicha powder. At least it’s more of a cacao chocolate though versus waxy dollar store chocolate. Some semblance of a win there…

I didn’t have great expectations purely because I found the normal chocolate matcha painfully underwhelming, so at least I wasn’t surprised here.

Iced Latte!

I woke up on Monday with an intense craving for this tea specifically, and I’m glad I was able to perfectly scratch that itch. The iced latte was just so smooth, and it tasted almost perfectly of banana bread minus the butter. But the hojicha just filled in those nutty notes and the general cozier baked good elements to create a phenomenal drink.

I had very high expectations for this hojicha powder, but it totally lived up to them.

The banana flavour is lighter/milder than the regular banana matcha, but that makes sense because the flavour of the hojicha itself is strong and more dominating. Combined, there’s this very lovely and cozy profile that reminds me of banana bread but with the roast factor of the hojicha. The natural nuttiness of the hojicha really leans well into that too – and it just makes the illusion stronger.

So delicious, and I’m dreaming of a latte so badly right now!

Iced with some almond milk.

I decided yesterday that it would be interesting to do a side by side comparison of five of the different unsweetened/unflavoured hojicha powders that I own – all were made the exact same way. It was frankly A LOT of hojicha to drink throughout the day and, to be honest, that wasn’t even all the hojicha powder I owned.

This may have been the biggest upset of all five powders because I really, really tend to like 3 Leaf Tea a lot and I was also under the impression I liked their straight hojicha powder. However, I thought that this was the most flat/dull tasting of the bunch and also the least roasted tasting with much more of a noticeable smoky, grassy and oceanic edge to it. For some the grassier elements may be a boon, but as I’ve noted before I do tend to like a darker roast.

I hate to say it since I have SO MUCH love for their flavoured hojicha powders, but probably my least favourite of the day…

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-F56YPuEoo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaD55NqPJA0

Very, very excited to explore the Hojicha powders from 3 Leaf Tea because relative to the rest of their offerings it’s something very new to their site. Plus, I really can’t think of any other companies selling flavoured hojicha powder so the innovation there just gets me hella excited!!

On one level, I was incredibly impressed by this straight hojicha powder and on another I found myself disappointed. The disappointing part was, thankfully, the element that I don’t care about quite as much – the texture. I could feel, as I was drinking this, the slight grit of the powder on my palate from the much more course grind and I was a little sad to see that 3 Leaf Tea hadn’t really gone for a fine, fine grind like the rest of their matcha.

On the flip side, the taste was exceptional! Medium to deep roast with a natural sweetness – the taste gave me Cracker Jack vibes in the most excellent way. Buttery caramel corn and toffee and golden toasted peanuts! Really delicious and I can only imagine how cozy and tasty this would be done up in a latte. It also made me both excited and curious to see how this base would work with the few flavoured hojichas that they carry…

Definitely not great but, in all honestly, my expectations for this flavour in particular were very, very low – I firmly believe that there is not a “chocolate matcha” on the market that actually taste good that doesn’t rely heavily on the addition of cocoa powder to convey that flavour…

This is very waxy and, despite using natural flavoring, artificial tasting to me. The best I can compare it to is a very surface level or superficial version of really cheap Easter chocolate but without any of the sweetness. It’s not really bad bad but there’s something about it that is just very off.

Chocolate is just such an incredibly challenging taste to convey using only flavouring and this just classicly falls prey to not getting it right, imo.

Matcha latte!

This past Friday I whisked this up as an iced matcha latte with almond milk, and it was pretty nice. This matcha in particular is less of a sweet cinnamon and more that punchy, kind of woody tasting type of cinnamon. Like, a real cassia flavour. So it maybe wasn’t the most organically delicious iced latte, but there was something cozy and more autumnal or wintery about it. I definitely would have preferred it with a different milk type though – either something more neutral or more complimentary. Coconut milk have been nice, or rice milk for a little bit of a horchata kind of vibe.

Iced Latte!

Whisked this up with some vanilla oat milk and a little sweetener and it made for such a great iced latte. The combination of all the different ingredients really made for a rich matcha that tasted a lot like a liquefied cinnamon bun.

We had a blizzard here in Montreal on Monday so I kept nice and cozy working from home with this super frothed up cup of matcha. Love how deep the woody cassia notes are with that more bark-y taste and the unsweet almost ‘heat’ of it. It was perfect for that suppppeeerrr cozy vibe I was going for. Warms you from the inside out!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CY1ruFlu3x2/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFumHG4Wt1g&ab_channel=LizzyMcAlpine

Started this past Matcha Monday with a frothy cup of Cinnamon Matcha!! I love that the cinnamon flavour of this matcha is so woody and rough/unrefined – that kind of “raw” and more drying cinnamon/cassia is surprisingly rare in a lot of teas. I get so sick of that sweet “red hot” cinnamon heart candy inspired cinnamon, so this change of direction is greatly appreciated – plus it compliments the thick grassier umami of the matcha super well. It’s a bit like drinking cinnamon in a forest!!

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQtMneTAzKW/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeb25qE1yqE&ab_channel=RareAmericans

This is another flavour that really surprised me with how different it was from my expectations, but with that said I loved it! It was a very, very pleasant surprise!

I definitely expected more in the vein of “red hot” cinnamon, like the valentine’s heart candied or hot tamale candies. If not that, then I would have expected a more delicate/gentle cinnamon like a baked/warming/cozy vibe. Instead, this is more of a woody/cassia cinnamon with a lot of those dry heat spice notes that kind of taste like bark. Really, really natural and almost “unrefined” in, like… the most refined way!?

I think this would be so interesting as a latte, but it was just VERY interesting and unique having it hot and straight. Very distinctly cinnamon but, again, just such a different type/style than you usually see in tea – let alone matcha. So cool!

I’m a Canadian so maybe my maple standards are higher than others, but this was another that I felt really didn’t match the name/hit the mark.

It’s not like I expected it to be sweet since all of these matchas are unsweetened – but it’s definitely possible to convey the taste of maple without it being sugary/syrupy. Instead this was drying and very woody without any of the darker/deeper “brown” round flavours of maple. It drew out more of the vegetal/grassy notes of the matcha as well, and overall I just found this to not be representative of the flavour it intended to taste like in any regard…

This one was a huge let down for me…

I think it’s partially my fault – my expectations for a blueberry matcha were already pretty high and having this one after the raspberry matcha really only made them higher. However, there’s not much in this matcha that reminds me of blueberries at all. It’s really delicately flavoured and sort of drying/astringent – more so than most of 3 Leaf Tea’s selection which, I’m assuming, are all using the same matcha base. It’s not fresh or juicy or jammy, but rather “cooked” and in a way that is just off for a blueberry tea…

Sorry, pass on this one for me.

This one was alright, but it just ultimately didn’t speak very strongly to me…

I found, of the fruit flavoured matchas, this to be the lightest in terms of flavour – and then on top of that it was similarly floral to the pear matcha but with a drying factor that exaggerated those floral peach notes to me to a point of borderline unpleasantness. I don’t think a floral interpretation on peach is a bad thing, but it’s definitely not the direction that I personally want in a peach matcha – give my juiciness or creaminess instead please!

I mean, what’s a birthday filled with cake themed teas if you don’t include something that’s actually Birthday Cake flavoured!? This one was a no brainer. Plus, it was Matcha Monday so it was even more serendipitous. It was so frothy and smooth with a great vanilla cake type of flavour. I’m usually a bit on the fence about this one, but I really liked this bowl of it. I wonder how much was just bleed through from being in a good mood, haha!

Tea Photo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwcc8It_SMk (1st Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQBd6e8OYuE