pyarkaaloo Send Message

outrageous!!! this smells outrageous!

like Strawberry Quik, only better. the strawberry has a fruity freshness that blends perfectly with the fresh cream. here again, i must reference my beloved Strawberries ‘n Cream Oatmeal by Quaker. obviously, it’s not exact, but it’s reminiscent of this strawberry flavor, which is such a comforting thing. i’m really loving strawberries as of late.

it all started with Ahmad’s Strawberry Sensation (black tea) which is absolutely divine. then Nina’s Paris Demain, a light & buttery green tea with an abundant yet delicate strawberry flavoring. Now this matcha. i am sooo in trouble.

i ordered the large size, royal (premium grade) with distinctive flavoring. so glad i did.
i must make a cup, tout de suite!

ughh the dry leaf in the bag smells so good right now- rich, maple-y, buttery & sweet. truly luscious. it also doesn’t help that i’m starving right now & it suddenly dawned on me that what i’m craving (besides this tea) is a nice dark piece of 15-grain whole wheat toast with lots of butter! (not sure if i’ll be using Smart Balance or KerryGold—both are delicious yet on totally opposite ends of the health spectrum.)

ETA: the tea was totally delicious. i had one cup with toast & managed to get a second infusion out of it, which i had with a spinach & romaine salad. i also had some Girl Scout tagalongs (chocolate peanut butter patties). still hungry though, and while i have a bunch of vegetarian options at home from a local organic store, none of them seem viable at the moment. i think i’ll just finish off the tub of Smart Balance! (kidding.)

now i want thin mints and samoas!! samosas too ;)

this matcha’s really good. yes, there is some grassiness present but it is yummy & creamy thanks to the added sugarcane :D

the powder is a bright verdant green, bright like Red Leaf’s matcha, much brighter than Republic of Tea’s. the only thing is, it produces a much thinner liquor than normal for a matcha (and less froth!), so i used less water and needed only a touch of soy milk in order to enjoy it like i normally do.

with Republic of tea’s matcha, i use a lot more sugar & need plenty of milk to get it to a shade of ‘sage latte’ as the liquor is a thick dark green producing a lot of froth. it’s also a lot more chalky and bitter.

in contrast, this Sweet Matcha by Rishi is very pleasant and smooth, and i would recommend it to any matcha newcomer! i myself love it and find it to be very similar to the Starbucks green tea latte.

fabulous!!!

so i’ve had this twice already in the last few days & i remember first trying it way back in November (?) at a Barnes & Noble, where i was fortuitously seated near a shelf full of Harney & Sons sachet tins (actually, i’m not so sure it was ‘fortuitous’ since i sat myself…but there weren’t many other options.) it was then that i made my first purchase of their tea: Green tea with Thai flavors (the post-Bangkok era).

as for the frap, it was pretty sweet (not at all a bad thing in my book) so i am always sure to order it without syrup or whipped cream. it’s simply scrumptious and a total dessert and/or meal made with just a few scoops of the powder & prepared hot as a latte with 3/4 water & 1/4 soy milk. freaking delicious. need to try this iced!

this is unseasonably yummy. without brown sugar or honey, this is minty and fresh, but with a sweetener, suddenly i notice the cinnamon & the vanilla, and i really do get a candy cane out of this! the aroma is lush and comforting and i must say, the flavor is as well. this has become one of my most sought-after teas before bed & i have come to develop a fondness for mint!

i should probably note this is the same thing as Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Green Tea (my sole box of which is all but finished) but thankfully, i live nearby to a Fairway Market that carries many of Celestial Seasonings’ teas, including their holiday ones!

perhaps this would be more aptly titled ‘Butter Coconut’….but that’s okay!

sad sample sipdown. i was nursing this one slowly, but i didn’t have reason to panic, since with this free sample, i decided to purchase some Caramel Matcha, as it was on sale, so i got a nice large size…and it tasted so similar to this one, which was yummy!

initially, i had such a difficult time telling the two apart. this has that ‘buttered popcorn from the movies’ sort of flavor, which the caramel also had, only it was slightly more butterscotch-y? this one seemed to have a coconut note (in the aroma of the dry powder) which may or may not have been present in the Caramel. this one smelled a tad less ‘sweeter’ & i think i understand what Red Leaf was going for in their rendition of Cheesecake.

i’m not even a fan of real cheesecake….at least not plain. it has that oddly tart, thick cream cheese flavor, which baffles me in terms of a dessert. i think in the matcha version, that quality was sort of conveyed, but i would never think ‘cheesecake!’ right off the bat. still….with milk & brown sugar, it was a treat, as always, for me. i went through this & the Caramel like a tornado. who knew chlorophyll could taste so good?

Red Leaf could perhaps even get away with calling this one ‘Bahama Breeze’ if they decided to throw in a pineapple flavor. lol.

ETA: with Cheesecake and Caramel tasting so much like butterscotch, i wonder what their actual Butterscotch Matcha tastes like?? a conundrum inside a conundrum. and one i must simply buy my way out of in order to truly know ;)

just got my order of (2) 1.6 oz bags of Demain today! (the opportunity for stupid puns never ceases to present itself..)
what a treat to smell this beautiful green tea blend…

it is as i remember it from the samples, somewhat reminiscent of Strawberries n’ Cream oatmeal (by Quaker, i think?)
that oatmeal is my absolute favorite, and although it may be an ‘unnaturally occurring’ flavor in nature, it is by far one of the best. (IMO).
Nina’s Paris fruit & cream flavoring along with the fruit pieces impart a truly scrumptious flavor onto their tea. even the creaminess is conveyed in the aroma, which is impressive to me.

Now to steep this jewel, which i most heartily look forward to doing, after this morning’s cup of rather jolting (yet satisfactory) u・Matcha Natural by Republic of tea. umami all around in that one, if by umami you mean ‘spinach’.

Nina’s Paris really works some magic on this blend. it wasn’t a sample i requested, but i’m so glad they threw it in! in dry form, it smelled apple-y n creamy, kind of sweet…and since Nina’s Japon as well as Demain really deliver as steeped teas exactly what their aromas suggest, i had full confidence when deciding to give this one a try.

Taureau has a sweet creamy marshmallow kind of quality in addition to the fresh, dried apples in the blend. great for a rooibos tisane & one i’d recommend even to those who don’t like rooibos as a rule. there’s a slight nuttiness at the end of the sip, redolent of pecan or almond (slightly more pecan). maybe that quality comes from the inherent woodiness of the rooibos, but i really find it so subdued here. to my surprise, the flavors aren’t overwhelming yet they are substantial. i get a wonderful amalgam of sweetness & cream on a base that is decidedly more wheatish than woodsy, as might normally be expected from a rooibos. fear not! this is a good one.

overall, makes me think of apple, cream, nuts & honey. i added a tsp or 2 of brown sugar to this which really makes it delicious. a dessert tea for sure, or a great accompaniment to an afternoon snack. you can even drink this one before bed! it’s delicate yet still decadent, and caffeine-free.

as always, thank you Laurent for this free sample. i’d never have known about your wonderful teas were it not for your generosity!

this smells fantastic!!!! like a beautiful strawberry jam with a wonderful fragrance. the aroma of the dry leaf is succulent, as is the aroma of the tea liquor! i don’t know what to really say for this, except that if you had a very light green tea (in the sense of it being as delicate as some oolongs) and decided to add a tsp of strawberry jam for flavoring, you would have this!

the flavor…..magnifique!

it is so true to the aroma which is a wonderful surprise. the tea & the flavoring are exceptionally fresh, with the leaves expanding to a nice plump size. even after 4 minutes steeping there is no trace of bitterness. this is perfect. does not even need sugar or honey in order to enjoy a truly sweet experience. in fact, i would recommend this as a dessert tea even if you’re hoping for something light because the strawberry has a creaminess to it, and the tea has a slightly buttery mouthfeel, unless i’m imagining things..

if you thought Tazo’s Decaf Lotus Blossom is impressive for a flavored green, try this…you won’t be disappointed! also, if you love strawberries, rest assured that you will find them in this tea! it fully delivers from the aroma of the dry leaf right down to the last sip. i am truly impressed. will definitely place an order for Demain, aujourd’hui!

thank you so much, Laurent for your generous sample of this! i’ll surely be purchasing some, merci :)

this is quite full-bodied as far as any oolongs i’ve tried (and most have been extremely delicate in my experience) & it has a distinct character that from both the dry leaf & the steeped liquor would appear to be some kind of delicate black tea. perhaps a darjeeling (non-muscatel)? or a light english breakfast? but it leans toward that side of things. color & body-wise, this oolong reminds me a lot of a Hojicha (roasted green tea) but doesn’t have the roasty, brown rice/popcorn flavor going on, which i find myself missing.

perhaps worth noting is the fact that this tea was quite salty in the beginning before mellowing out in that aspect once the liquor cooled. it had a notable salinity though, which i definitely don’t mind. interesting!

for me, this isn’t quite a ‘Chinese restaurant tea’ or even a seemingly Japanese one. there’s a place i go to a lot called Hanami & they have one of the most unique roasted & nutty flavored teas that is complimentary with all meals. at first i thought it was some kind of green, but i’m now starting to think it could have been an oolong, or maybe an oolong-green mix. i also thought it could be Hojicha, but you never know… my never-ending quest to discover what tea they serve at Hanami continues…

anyway, this Formosa Oolong is quite dark, as is characteristic of most Formosa Oolongs. i’ve always wanted to try one & i must say i heartily appreciate it. not quite hojicha-status or even on the level of a genmaicha (not to expect that it should be) but i would happily drink this before or after a meal. definitely something nice & pleasant which is in the vicinity of a light black tea with no astringency, just a slight roasted dryness that doesn’t have the vegetality of a green tea that might veer toward bitterness. it certainly doesn’t need any additives and can be consumed as is. this is rather nice!

ETA: from the aroma of the steeped tea, i do recall a mere suggestion of honey (but one that was hiding) and later upon cooling, a slight graham cracker note.