Tradition

This tastes mostly like low quality black tea with the faintest hint of orange. As it cooled, the top got really oily, which was surprising for how unflavorful the tea was. I grabbed it randomly from a tea box, and I think I’d pass on the chance to try it again.

It is not everyday you encounter high mountain oolong at your local grocery store, so with that being said I took a tin of this tea home with me.

First I rinsed the rolled leaves twice to start the unfurling process, and then I brewed the leaves western style for about five minutes. The result was a golden colored brew with a pleasant vegetal aroma. This tea gave off a healthy balance of floral and grassy notes, but a big surprise came when I tasted pronounced mineral notes on the back end of sip, the likes of which I have not experienced with other Taiwanese oolongs. I am pleased with this addition to my tea pantry, and will likely be enjoying this tea many times over the coming weeks.

What a steal! Where I live (Ohio), it sometimes difficult to find nice Tea in an actual store but every now and then you get lucky. I picked this up at a local International Market not expecting much out of it as the price was very cheap (100 grams for $7.99). I’ve not had much luck with similar purchases in the past in this price range. Typically, the quality of the tea is poor or the packaging and shelf life has ruined what might have once been something nice. This was definitely a hit with me. It was vacuum sealed in a bag within a quality tin giving it a really fresh burst of aroma when I opened it up. It is a High Mountain rolled Oolong from Taiwan. The dry leaves have a very ripe fruity aroma as opposed to the strong floral essense I’ve experienced with some other similar Oolongs. The taste, to me, was that of cooked apples, honey and a slight bit of fermented skunkiness. The tea is a beautiful golden color. The taste is not as bold as some Taiwanese Oolongs I have tried but it is still very pleasing and I tend to prefer subtle flavors more anyway. It is easy to brew from a perspective of astringency control. I found 1 teaspoon around 190F for 4.5 minutes was my favorite. I’m really satisfied with this tea for the price I paid. Definitely a bargain.

I haven’t had this one in about 8 months according to my tasting notes. It is really inexpensive. I have been drinking mostly higher dollar stuff since last time. I was a little concerned I might not like this anymore. Not a problem. It is still really tasty as a latte. Nice light green tea taste with a nutmeg spice note. Doesn’t have the deep green color of expensive powder. For everyday, lightly sweetened, with frothed milk, use, it is still a good budget conscious choice.

Had this one on the porch with toast and honey. Now we are getting ready to go to a friend’s house to fish in their pond. A few weeks ago that would have been impossible for me.

Think I need to get some vanilla beans or something to give the rest of this some extra kick. There is nothing wrong with it but once you experience better, it is harder to settle, especially when better is already setting unopened in your collection.

This has been my everyday choice for a long time. It is cheap and I liked it as well as the couple others I had tried previously. Then, it was included in the recent blind taste test. I recognized it immediately, however it was just OK compared to much of what I was tasting. After trying Red Leaf Tea’s two offerings, this will not be a repurchase after it is gone. Of course since it comes in a 8 oz bag, it will be around a while longer.

When I first started drinking green tea powder mixed with milk in the mornings, I would douse it with flavored syrups – vanilla and caramel to be exact. I was buying Cafe al Fresco brand from Walmart. They quit carrying it (though it seemed to sell well – figures). So I bought some Torani brand at twice the cost. It is one of the big name brands but I don’t like it. Later bought some off brand at Dollar Tree. Made it through the bottles but just no.

I gave up and just started doing without syrup. Know what? After a few days I discovered I really like this without additives except the milk and a little sweetener. The taste is mild and not bitter (though I have never tried it without milk). With toast and honey, it makes a good way to ease into my day.

In other exciting news – my youngest son ran down the stairs last night and asked if we smelled smoke. He opened the basement door and immediately we saw smoke. The blower on the furnace may have locked up. Pulled the breakers and we are waiting on a repairman. We tried to find a space heater in town. If we were wanting a bikini, they were readily available. Heaters, not so much. Makes sense, yesterday was the first time it has been above freezing in a month. We had a couple heaters already at home so they kept us toasty last night. My den is pretty cool today. Considering when I was a kid we had an outhouse and had to carry water up the hill from a spring – not going to complain. I remember so many school day mornings, grabbing my clothes and running to the kitchen where the oil heater located and getting dressed with chattering teeth. Feeling thankful today for hot water, plumbing, a well insulated home, and memories of when it wasn’t so easy.

Over the last several days I have prepared hardly any tea except this one. I can’t function in the morning without my tea powder and milk. I’m out of flavored syrups to add to it. So just milk and some sweetener. No it is not Matcha but it is pretty good for as cheap as it is on Amazon.

We have our first real snow of the winter so I hope that means I have time for tea.

As usual started my day with this one. Somehow I got busy yesterday and never drank any tea but this one – ONE – glass. Glad I like it.

Learned something new to share. Went to the Pulmonologist Monday afternoon. He put me on a bronchodilator medicine. I started reading up on this particular medicine. Turns out it is a naturally occurring part of tea. The amount is too small to be considered a dosage but it is there. So occasionally when a tea gives me the sensation of breathing down to my toes – it may really be helping to do just that. Finally a health claim for tea I am willing to consider.

Not sure what I did different today. This is the best frap yet out of this brand. It is really inexpensive but today it is as flavorful as some of the brands I’ve tried that were 4 times pricier – which is still pretty reasonable.

It’s a good thing this was tasty. I have been on hold for 50 minutes with insurance. All I want to check is if my pulmonologist and medical equipment place are in network this year – because you never know. Their website doesn’t work well so I couldn’t get answers without calling. Arrrrrggggghhh! I’m kind of homebound for now. My portable oxygen machine seems to be on the fritz. I had already made the Dr. appointment before the machine went wonky, so this was an added bonus. Good times. This too shall pass.

Let me begin by saying, it is cold here. Negative numbers cold. So I have a box of Swiss Miss Candy Cane and some green tea powder. Hmmmm. Yeah, the idea is a good one, but the reality, not so much. The powder wanted to clump in warm milk. I usually use an ounce of room temperature water and it mixes fine. Maybe the carragean (sp?) in the Swiss Miss caused it to clump. Anyway the peppermint tasted old and the tea was BITTER. Live and learn. On to the next.

Went back to my normal powder, milk, vanilla, and caramel syrup. Not a drop of Diet Coke. Some things do not have to be repeated before the lesson is learned ;-{)>

Under the heading of not my brightest idea – this morning instead of starting with room temp water to dissolve the powder, I used room temp diet Coke. I like Coke and milk, but green tea powder does not. I drank it anyway :)

My dashboard isn’t updating – surprise!

Happy Ho Ho anyway.

I saw this mentioned in a discussion. Read the reviews – Gingko and The DJ Booth both seemed impressed. I drink green tea powder everyday and let’s face it, I’m cheap. I looked this up on Amazon and it was like $10.50 for over half a pound of tea. I got free shipping with some accompanying Christmas present orders. This is half the price of what I normally drink. The company is in Taiwan, so I believe the tea comes from there as well.

Long introduction to say with the addition of milk and flavoring added, I can tell very little difference between this and the costlier (but still pretty cheap) version. I’ll watch it for a few days before totally committing – although with over 8 oz of it, I am kind of committed anyway. What difference I did note was this may be a little less bitter, with a little less potent flavor. Or maybe, I just haven’t got my mix right yet. Either way, I am satisfied at the moment.

Every morning…..Okay :)

A lovely start to the morning with this tea.

I have found this at the asian grocery near me. The flavor is good. Not to much different than other matchas I have had. Don’t know much about it, but for the price it is great standalone or in a post run smoothie. I would recomend sifting it before making tea cause it tends to be clumpy.

This is a tea that my sister-in-law picked up at the Hong Kong Marketplace. She gave me a few bags to take home, and I proceeded to put them in my cabinet even though I didn’t think I would like it at all. I haven’t been a big fan of rose and I was afraid the green tea would be strange with the rose. I was actually very wrong.

This tea is really good. It is not overly floral, just slightly and the green tea is very light but tasty. I don’t think I would want an entire box of this but I am enjoying the few bags I have. They are especially comforting right before bed.

I am 100% happy with this product, considering both its quality and price.

First, I would like to point out this is not a matcha product. Even though the pack says “matcha”, it’s really just a green tea product. The package is labeled this way because many Asian people take matcha and green tea powder as the same concept, however in Japan, matcha is strictly distinguished from other green tea products.

This green tea powder product from Asian grocery. It’s fine enough to function as “matcha” in desserts. The pack is half a pound, all for several dollars. I don’t think I could ever possibly finish this big pack.

I use this powder and light cream to make green tea popsicles. The green tea taste is very refreshing. It stands out from the background cream flavor very well. This is my favorite summer cold dessert.

Another easy way to use this powder is “matcha” milk tea – similar to starbucks matcha frappucchino. 1/4 teaspoon of green tea powder in a glass of milk, stir with a chopstick or an electric milk froth maker. Easy and yummy!

Get’s very frothy. Yummy when made into a thin tea as opposed to thick. Powdery after taste on tongue.