Teavana

I mixed some (1/2 tsp?) into about a cup of Zico brand mango flavored coconut water. This may be the world’s best natural energy drink!

matcha + half-frozen almond milk = matcha slushie. Mmmmm…

Both last night and this morning, I made iced matcha lattes with about 8 oz cold almond milk, 1 tsp matcha, and either 1pkg raw sugar, or a few drops of agave nectar. Whisking the matcha in a bit of milk before mixing in the rest makes it nice and smooth. This is my current favorite way to drink matcha! It definitely gives me an energy boost and makes me more alert :-)

1 tsp matcha + 8 oz strawberry yogurt (fat free, organic & probiotic) + 1/2 cup almond milk + 1 banana = deliciousness!

I serve my smoothis over whole ice cubes instead of blending them in – seems to keep it colder longer without it watering down as quickly.

Added about 1/4 tsp matcha powder to a packet of dark hot chocolate. Made with 8oz water and 1 oz milk, plus strawberry flavored marshmallows. Weird combo, I know, but it’s working for me today. I’m sure someone somewhere has made a matcha/strawberry/dark chocolate dessert before.

I finally made matcha the proper way, sifting my powder, whisking the tea in my chawan. Proper tools and preparation really do make a difference. I think I understand now!

I can’t even really describe the flavor of my cup because I was too wrapped up in the experience. I think I may have accidentally poured an extra oz. of water in even though I tested my chawan first to find a 6oz mark (luckily the glaze color changes in just the right place) so I’ll have to be more careful next time.

Matcha is a little bitter and a little sweet, and drinking it seems to make me feel reflective and maybe even conjures up bittersweet memories. I don’t know. I don’t really want to intellectualize it, I just want to enjoy it. I still have some time (I won’t say work) to put into understanding my tools and refining my method, but this first true chawan of matcha was something of a revelation.

I’m also in love with my chawan, even more now that I’ve used it and discovered a few of its unique traits (its personality?). I can’t find my camera, so I’ll direct you to the artist’s site. This is probably the most beautiful item I possess. I want to write poems to it….
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=25165473

Note to self – 7:30/8pm is WAY to late to drink this. Got a burst of mental energy about an hour later, then couldn’t sleep til 11… I knew better (Cofftea has warned me), I just lost track of time and didn’t think about how late it was!

This was a thin matcha latte (About 3/4 tsp in 6-7 oz water with 1 tsp sugar and 1-2 oz milk (I eyeballed everything so not quite sure). It was a bit too thin and not well mixed since I used a spoon not a whisk, in a tall mug not a bowl. Lesson learned – take the time to do it right! It’s not worth wasting expensive tea by making a bad cup. I drank it but it wasn’t as enjoyable as previously, simply due to my laziness. I should have just made a regular cup of (decaf!) tea!

Mixed about 1 tsp with an 11oz Zico coconut water. Added about 1/4 cup orange juice and served over ice. Healthy, hydrating, and rather tasty.

Would be a great base for a smoothie with banana and/or pineapple & plain yogurt. (I just didn’t feel like digging out the blender.)

I brewed it for the first time using 1/2 tsp matcha and about 5 oz water. (My canister says to use 1/2 tsp and 4-6 oz water for thin, 1 tsp and 4-6 oz for thick. For some reason the directions on here differ – it calls for 2-3 more ounces of water!)

I whisked it as best I could with a regular metal kitchen whisk in a wide mug that is more like a soup bowl. The water was under boiling ( I didn’t check the exact temp.) This was my first taste of amtcha – not ideal conditions I know. The taste was vegetal but not bitter, the color reminded me of spinach water though! I promptly added a cube of sugar and a splash of milk, which was nice. I just wanted comfort yesterday, not the “exotic”-ness of traditional matcha.

I will try matcha again the proper way once I get a chasen. Also I want to research the right tea to water ratio. There was sediment left in the bottom but I"m not sure if that’s due to too much tea or to not enough whisking.

I had this once and realized that it would probably be much more satisfying drunk cold on a hot summer day.

However, my 13-month-old baby LOVES it! Rooibos is wonderful for babies and kids, and I brew a batch of this up and keep it in the fridge for his sippy cup. He doesn’t get any juice at all, so this must be wonderfully sweet and delicious to him!

He gives it a 90, at least.

(Scratching that itch that the cocoamint tea couldn’t reach…)

Good God, this tea makes me happy.

Mmm. Just as I took the first sip from the second glass, the sun broke over the Sangre de Christo mountains and shot its low gold blaze across the desert.

Bliss.

A tall tumbler of this tea, made from a newly-filled tin… just the smell of it makes me happy.

The desert sky is lightening on this new year, pale pink to the east, still darker to the west as the full blue moon sets gently over the Jemez mountains. The baby is pulling out toys, one after another, seeming to choose and favor anything with jingling bells, which is a sweet, sweet sound on this cold morning. The wood stove is roaring with a new morning fire, so the heat is concentrated around it while the rest of the room holds its nighttime chill.

Perfection can be so simple.

Happy new year to all.

p.s. It’s New Year’s Day! I hope to not see anyone drinking anything they’ve rated less than a perfect 100 this morning, OK?

This one just makes me swoon from its perfection.

I’ve been savoring every cup from the 2oz I bought a few weeks ago and the last week has been torture as I rationed out the last small amount. I’m not joking when I write that if I could strap the tin to my head like a feedbag just to breathe it in, I would. This morning I caved and ordered 8oz to be here by the weekend, so in celebration of that purchase I just brewed some up from the last remaining.

Man, this is sublime. I brewed 16oz using 3tsp of tea and 1tsp of rock sugar, steeping for about two minutes at around 175 degrees. That went into mugs with rice milk—2/3 tea, 1/3 rice milk. Perfection.

Thanks to a toddler in the house, I drink almost exclusively out of travel tumblers. This is one grand exception: it smells so wonderful and is such a pleasure that I want the full experience of my most treasured stoneware mug to warm my hands and thrill all my senses.

This is my desert island tea, no question.

(So many reviews mention blending this one, and maybe I’ve just not yet developed a sophisticated enough tea-palate to get it, but there’s nothing I’d change in this one.)

Very light and fruity flavor. On my second cup/steep and it still tastes good. I enjoy this tea as a afternoon pick-me-up to get me through the rest of the work day.

Absolutely adore the aroma of this tea—-flowery, vanilla, creamy notes. Liquor smells like sugar cookies. Very smooth, light, absolutely no bitterness. Wonderful cup at any time!