Transcending Tea

This is my favorite chocolate mint tea. The dark chocolate really brings out the richness. I can’t taste the hazelnut. Nice mint flavor. Delicious with stevia and almond milk. It can replace my hot chocolate.

Sipdown 127-2021
Cold brew. This was quite nice! It made an excellent iced tea, which isn’t surprising considering the ingredients. It’s tart and pineappley, with some hints of dried fruits (maybe peaches or plums?)

I recorded my personal tea ceremony with this tea this morning. I’ve been practicing my method of making this tea with a gaiwan but it has been a journey. Making sure that I had the right amount of milk and water steeping for the right amount of time was also a bit challenging but I was able to get the hang of it. My final attempt making this tea made me really happy because I was able to master it in another culture’s tradition

I think I’ve got it! The perfect combination of time, water,and milk. This would be no feat if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve been making this tea in a traditional Chinese gaiwan. The traditional way is meant for the stove with water, milk, and tea boiling together. As this is for a project, I’m trying a different route.

I made this loose tea again a couple days ago and I’m finally getting the flow of the right combination of milk and water down. It was always too watery or too milky but this time was just right. The tea was creamy and spicy without being too much of one element. Practice makes perfect

This tea was the first time I’ve done loose leaf black tea. The smell alone permeates the room with a delicious spicy aroma. I steeped it in boiling hot water and milk for 3 minutes. It. Was. Delicious. I originally intended to add sugar but I forgot, even without it the tea was so good. And the energy it gave me was perfect to keep me energized for my night job, as I made the tea at 8pm before I went to work. I still have some perfecting to do on the steeping but so far so good

I just bought this tea for the first time yesterday and I absolutely love it. I went in looking for some new teas to try and the girl suggested this one since I like the flavor of black teas and oolong teas. She was fabulous and helped me find this tea along with some other really good ones. I made it this morning and it gave me so much energy to get through my day. The taste is very smooth and slightly sweet. She said it would taste really good sweetened with honey but I like it just fine without having to sweeten it. Ten out of ten, would recommend.

It should be known first that I’ve had matcha flavored things many times before and haven’t really enjoyed the experience. I’ve come to realize that maybe it’s me and not the type of item I’ve eaten.

For my class I’ve decided to make a real cup of green tea, I asked the owner of the shop from where I purchased my matcha powder the best way to prepare my tea. Armed with my new tin of powder and insightful tips and tricks I went home prepared my tea. I tried three, the first time I don’t think the water was hot enough by the time it had gotten “frothy” my tea was barely warm and just tasted like grass juice. The second time I got the signature matcha flavor that we all “know and love” but still I couldn’t love it. Finally I rememered the one time I like the matcha flavor was in a bingsu dessert sweetened with sweetened condensed milk. I prepared it this way and it was better but still not my cup of tea. All in all I don’t believe this tea is poor in quality I just don’t like matcha flavor.