Category: Review

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Tea Experience: Tsujiri

Tsujiri
Burnaby, BC
Matcha-Infused Drinks $4.25-9.00

I was spending some time with my sister last month as we’re in each other’s social bubbles, and decided we needed a treat (as one does). So we decided to try out Tsujiri after hearing about it from her husband. Tsujiri is self-described as a “matcha infused restaurant”. Fun fact, you can pre-order on their website, and even opt for local delivery with the various side-gig food delivery services out there (I take zero responsibility if your frappe is all melted by the time it gets to you).

The menu consists of parfaits, drinks, shaved ice, floats, frappes and more. Tsujiri also features drinks with matcha, houjicha, and yuzu (which is not a tea, but is an Asian citrus fruit). The prices aren’t the cheapest, but considering the ingredients in play, it’s not anything to turn your nose up against. It probably isn’t a sustainable treat option for the every day choice though.

My sister ordered a float while I ordered the Matcha Frappe ($7.00) which has the product description of “Rich and creamy blend of Matcha slush and yogurt with a swirl of whipped cream and Matcha crumbs topped with a luscious Matcha sauce”.

Unfortunately, the soft serve ice cream machine broke after we had placed our order, so we ended up getting a refund on the float. Fortunately (for me), the Matcha Frappe that I had ordered did not contain ice cream so I could still receive my order.

The matcha slush and yoghurt comes layered in the drink, topped with whipped cream and then with the matcha “crumbs” on top. I found that the yoghurt adds a nice layer of tangy flavour to the matcha, which is sweetened. The matcha sauce on top has a good amount of grassy flavour and umami, which is tempered considerably with the fresh whipped cream. I really found it to be tasty but the cup isn’t very large (and there weren’t a variety of cup sizes to choose from).

While I did enjoy my Matcha Frappe with the tangy yoghurt layered with the matcha slush, I think the experience was soured a bit by their machine malfunctioning. I would definitely give them a try again, but very wary of going back for a third time if the machine had an issue on the second try. I wasn’t too fond on the matcha crumbs on top though, as I feel like it didn’t add a nice texture to the frappe. That said, I think the drink was tasty, albeit I would have hoped for a much larger drink for the price (I would definitely consider the cup size offered to be more of the “small” size).

 

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DavidsTea’s Golden Lily

Golden Lily by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$16.48 for 50g

First Impressions

Golden Lily is an oolong tea that was part of an online order I made with DavidsTea. This tea comes in a familiar silver bag that comes sealed and is resealable with a dark blue across the front (and yes, in certain lights I imagine that teal blue lettering with a darker blue background to be difficult to read – I really don’t think it’s very friendly for anyone with vision issues). That said, it’s familiar to me, so I’m a bit used to it by now.

Golden Lily is an organic oolong tea from Thailand, and according to the label is certified organic by the USDA and Canada Organic. The leaves are a variety of shades of green and brown, with very tightly bunched leaves. The aroma is floral with just a subtle hint of sweetness.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Golden Lily in 90°C (195°F) water for 4-5 minutes. I opted to steep with the recommended water temperature and did a steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Golden Lily steeps to what I could best describe as a light golden yellow. The aroma of tea has a nice amount of floral notes, with something that reminds of butter. Drinking Golden Lily is quite pleasant as well – I found floral notes mingling along with creamy flavours, stone fruit that reminds of apricots, and just a hint of grassy freshness. The tea itself is smooth with no astringency or bitterness when steeped with the recommended steeping time and temperature of water.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Golden Lily a total of seven times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea became more darker in golden colour, and had a great buttery flavour that became more deep as I steeped. The flavour is really nice and stays fairly consistent with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Golden Lily. While Golden Lily is not the least expensive oolong I’ve tried, I find that the ability to resteep the leaves successfully and the amount of flavour that you get from these gorgeous leaves more than makes up for it because of the quality of the leaves themselves. I would highly recommend resteeping these leaves, as you get a lot more tea out of it and more bang for your buck. The flavour of these leaves are pleasant with a great amount of floral flavour that I really enjoy and would be happy to drink this at any time of day.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Dessert by Deb’s Thai Coconut Milk Tea

Thai Coconut Milk Tea by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Thai Coconut Milk Tea is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Thai Coconut Milk Tea came as part of my Dessert by Deb subscription box, and the name really intrigued me. As you may know if you’ve been following my blog and Instagram (@onemoresteep) for a while now, I’m a huge fan of Hong Kong Style Milk Tea. It’s something that I’ve grown up drinking. But Thai milk tea? Not something that I’m too familiar with. I think I tried it at a Vancouver Tea Festival, but not something that I’m super familiar with.

This black tea blend came to me in a sealed, resealable golden pouch. When I opened the package, the thing that really caught my attention first was the smell of the coconut and lemongrass. I do love the brightness of lemongrass, so it’s a pleasant aroma. Thai Coconut Milk Tea consists of organic: black tea, coconut, lemongrass, vanilla, and toasted coconut. It’s quite a pretty dry leaf:

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Thai Coconut Milk Tea in 212°F (100°C) water for 5 to 7 minutes, and to enjoy this black tea blend as an iced tea latte. I opted to follow the steeping recommendations and do a steep for 6 minutes. I added the tea to ice in a tall glass, and topped it off with organic unsweetened soy milk.

First Taste

Thai Coconut Milk Tea steeps to a light golden yellow. There’s a nice fragrance of coconut and lemongrass, I don’t really notice the black tea base when I tried it straight. It’s kind of nice, but not too exciting when drank plain. After topping off the tea with some soy milk, the colour turns to a milky light tan colour (perhaps too much milk to tea?). The flavour is nicely coconut and lemongrass, with hints of black tea which shines a bit more than it did when I tried it plain. It’s not as sweet as I was expecting, but there were any super sweet ingredients in the blend, and nor did I add sweetener.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Thai Coconut Milk Tea once, but found that the flavour with the coconut and the lemongrass wasn’t really present compared to the initial steep. I would recommend just the initial steep if you’re interested in having it as intended (as an iced latte).

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Thai Coconut Milk Tea. For a nice at-home iced tea latte option, I found Thai Coconut Milk Tea to be pleasantly flavourful. I think the black tea base could be stronger, but the coconut and lemongrass notes are pleasant. I would recommend to prepare it as intended (iced latte versus straight/plain), and perhaps adding some form of sweetener to really have a nice tropical milk tea vibe (rock sugar would be a great option!).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.