Category: Review

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Whisk Premium Matcha’s Be My Rose

Be My Rose by Whisk Premium Matcha, in collaboration with The Good Chocolatier
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$10.00 for 1 bar (42g)

Whisk Premium Matcha has provided me with Be My Rose for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Like a lot of other people in the world, I’m a fan of chocolate. I first tried Whisk Premium Matcha’s Matcha Cremsicle chocolate (plant-based matcha white chocolate) when I bought a bar at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival. I was absolutely tickled when they very kindly sent me a bar of Be My Rose, which is a very similar chocolate bar – plant-based matcha white chocolate with dried rose petals embedded into the chocolate.

The bar of chocolate itself came in a plastic sleeve that’s resealable. The chocolate is molded into square segments, with a floral and leaf pattern molded onto the front, while dried rose petals are present on the backside of the chocolate. Be My Rose consists of: Ecuadorian raw cacao butter, coconut cream powder, coconut sugar, organic matcha, rose petals, maple syrup, and vanilla. Each bar contains a 1.5 servings of matcha per bar of chocolate. There’s a strong matcha aroma from the chocolate, with a very light, sweet floral fragrance that comes off from the rose petals.

First Taste

I broke off a few squares of the Be My Rose to try. There’s a very strong matcha flavour in this chocolate. I love white chocolate, and often find it sweet compared to milk or dark chocolate. Be My Rose is surprisingly not that sweet. It has a rich matcha flavour, with a floral flavour through each nibble from the rose petals. The chocolate has a nice creaminess to it – I don’t taste coconut in it, in case anyone doesn’t want to taste coconut in their chocolate. The matcha flavour has nice sweet notes to it.

My Overall Impression

I loved Whisk Premium Matcha’s Be My Rose. I really enjoyed eating the chocolate, found it to be delicious. It’s definitely unlike any other chocolate that I’ve had before – a lot of matcha chocolate is often sweet, and the label specifically mentions that it is free of refined sugar – finding the sweetness from coconut sugar and maple syrup. It’s a fun little treat, although I don’t find myself eating more than 1-2 squares at a time, due to the richness in the chocolate itself – so despite the cost for each bar, it goes a long way!

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Oteas’s Orange and Ginger

Orange and Ginger by Oteas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$6.95 for 30g (12 sachets)

Oteas has provided me with Orange and Ginger for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

If you caught my Instagram Stories, you will have seen my unboxing video of the awesome package that I received from Oteas! They very kindly sent me 6 different blends to try and review, and this is the first one – Orange and Ginger. Each tea blend comes in a slender card stock box with the steeping instructions, notes on the tea, and ingredients printed on the sides of the box. The sachets themselves are inside of a sealed plastic bag that’s inside of the box. The sachets are made with a biodegradable material, which is really nice to read for those who want a greener earth.

The tisane itself has some big pieces of dried fruit and whole pieces of pink peppercorn inside. The aroma is primarily orange and ginger with a hint of pepper. It reminds me of a nice ‘sick time’ tea to have, mostly because of the fragrance of the ginger. Orange and Ginger consists of: apple, carrot flakes, orange pieces, orange peel, white hibiscus, , candied ginger cubes, flavouring, pieces of ginger, pink pepper, and mullein blossom.

Preparation

Oteas recommends steeping Orange and Ginger in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 10 minutes.

First Taste

Orange and Ginger steeps to a beautiful golden yellow in colour. The aroma is primarily orange and ginger, which isn’t that big of a surprise given the aroma from the dry leaf. There’s a slight tangy flavour that I notice at the beginning of each sip, which gives way to the orange flavour. I found a nice sweetness to Orange and Ginger that’s just light and fruity, which I attribute to the dried apple pieces, as well as the nice warming qualities from the ginger. I did note a bit of spiciness from the ginger and peppercorns, but those flavours were primarily at the tail end of each sip. The combination of the flavours led to a nice, soothing drink – I happened to drink this one on a day that I had a mild sore throat and found that it helped!

Because of sweetness from the fruit ingredients, I didn’t find that Orange and Ginger needed any extra sweetener added.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Orange and Ginger found it to be lackluster compared to the initial steep – however, this wasn’t a surprise to me as most tisanes don’t do well on more than one steep as the majority of the flavour is used up in the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Oteas’s Orange and Ginger. I found the flavours to be very pleasant, and the name of the tisane was accurately chosen given that I could smell and taste the orange and ginger throughout the experience. It’s definitely a pleasant blend, and I definitely would recommend it if you had a sore throat – I found the ginger to be quite soothing for my throat, and a little extra vitamin C never hurt anyone when they were sick!

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NutMeg Mylk’s The London Fog

The London Fog by NutMeg Mylk
Black Tea (Product) / Flavoured
$13.00 for 1L

First Impressions

I’ve been intrigued by NutMeg Mylk since the very first time I tried one of their almond-based nut milks at a Vancity Business Babes event. NutMeg Mylk is a Vancouver-based company that produces nuts milk blends that are raw and organic, without the use of preservatives. I knew once I saw on their Instagram account that the feature blend was called The London Fog that I just had to give it a try.

The London Fog comes in glass bottle, there is a $1 deposit for the bottle when purchasing it. Returned bottles are sanitized to be used again, which I think is fantastic for the environment. The almond milk blend comes with a tag that identifies the blend and the best by date was on the bottom of the bottle. Because it is a raw almond milk without preservatives, it doesn’t have the longest shelf life in comparison to more mass-produced products that have added preservatives. The London Fog consists of: hazelnut, almond, Earl Grey, lavender, vanilla, maple, maqui powder, himalayan pink salt, and sunflower lecithin. This almond milk has a very pale lilac colour, thanks to the maqui berry.

Preparation

All I did with The London Fog was give the bottle a shake before pouring out a cup. Because there are no added preservatives, there are also no added ingredients that stop it from separating out. Shaking it up helped to redistribute the ingredients.

First Taste

The London Fog has a beautiful aroma to it, which is more pronounced when heated up. I can smell the almond, hazelnut, Earl Grey, and vanilla. It has a nice sweet smell to it, which I think may be partially attributed to the maple in it. In comparison to other types of almond milks that I’ve tried in the past, I find that The London Fog is a lot creamier and has a much thicker texture to it. There’s a lot more going on in this than a plain almond milk from the grocery store. I found that I could taste the Earl Grey, vanilla, and hints of floral sweetness from the lavender. The Earl Grey flavour is not as strong as it would be if you were to make a London Fog for yourself, but it is present and it’s quite pleasant.

I did steep a cup of Earl Grey and add some of The London Fog to it. It added a lot of creaminess to the tea, and I didn’t feel the need to add an extra sweetener since The London Fog added some sweetness to it, as well as the flavours of vanilla and lavender.

My Overall Impression

I loved NutMeg Mylk’s The London Fog. I really enjoyed this almond milk blend, I found that the flavours were on point and really reminded me of the flavour of an Earl Grey tea latte. I enjoyed The London Fog a lot on its own, but think that it really shined when added to a cup of Earl Grey – just added a nice element to a cup of tea. For the price, I don’t think that The London Fog will be something that I keep in the fridge for all my milk needs, but it’s definitely something that I really enjoyed the taste of and will keep for those well deserved treat yo’self moments.

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