Tag: Green Tea

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Matcha Soda

While some coffee shops have taken to offering the #PSL on their menus again, I am still holding onto the idea of summer. Even though it rained last night, I’m still hoping for a warm September because it’d be really nice to still get to enjoy the patio and iced drinks on the regular.

Matcha is one of those drinks that I’ve grown to love. I think part of the issue is that I’ve definitely have had matcha that doesn’t taste good, and then I had matcha that does. This is definitely one of those good ones. I wanted to make a tasty drink to have at home, something that could be iced, and I’ve been really enjoying sparkling water lately… So mixing my want to drink matcha and my need for iced, bubbly drinks meant that a Matcha Soda was born! And quickly had. This is so easy to make at home, you could easily eyeball the amounts instead of measuring it out and just make it to your taste – so simple! And if you layer it, the Matcha Soda looks impressive and will look great on your Instagram!

Matcha Soda – Serves 1

2 teaspoons matcha
150ml water (cold)
1-2 teaspoons simple syrup¹
250ml sparkling water
Ice cubes

¹ Simple syrup is super easy (simple!) to make. Put a 1:1 ratio of granulated sugar and water in a sauce pan and allow it to reach a simmer on your stove top. It’ll thicken into a sweet syrup after you take it off the heat and allow it to cool. I used about 2 teaspoons of simple syrup in my glass of Matcha Soda. Store your excess simple syrup in a jar in the fridge to enjoy – it’ll keep for a bit, but I usually use mine up within a week.

To start, add some ice to your glass.
Add some of the simple syrup (you can always add more later if it’s not sweet enough).
Add water and matcha into a jar, tighten the lid and shake!
Pour matcha on top of the ice.
Pour in the sparkling water.
Admire the layers!

If you make this Matcha Soda, I’d love to see your photos! Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@onemoresteep #onemoresteep) or comment below with a link to the photo!

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Dessert by Deb’s Lavender Coconut Macaron

Lavender Coconut Macaron by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Lavender Coconut Macaron is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Lavender Coconut Macaron came in a sealed, resealable pink pouch with a very familiar colourful label on the front. This is Tea Society Club exclusive, which is a great little perk of being a subscriber to the Dessert by Deb subscription box (which basically means I get a present to myself from myself every two months with some cool tea blends).

Lavender Coconut Macaron consists of all organic: green tea, lavender, coconut, toasted coconut, and palm sugar. The aroma is really strongly lavender with a hint of toasted coconut in the background. Lavender is such a strong and forward ingredient, and I really like it – it’s one of my favourite starring blend ingredients. This is definitely a floral-forward green tea blend so if you’re not a fan of floral or lavender in particular, it’s probably not the blend for you. For me, I love lavender, so I’m pretty happy with the delicate aromas, the feminine and delicate feel to the blend with the lavender heavy mix.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lavender Coconut Macaron in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to follow the water temperature recommendation and did an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Lavender Coconut Macaron steeps to a pale yellow colour. It’s very lavender forward in the aroma from the steeped tea. The flavour is first and foremost lavender – very floral notes, and it has a nice sweetness to it, with the toasted coconut as an undertone. I don’t really taste the green tea base, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the lavender and coconut being so strong.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lavender Coconut Macaron twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour wasn’t as floral as I enjoyed in the initial steep, so I preferred the initial steep the best.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Lavender Coconut Macaron. I really enjoyed just how strong the lavender is, how forward such a delicate feeling flower is in this green tea blend. While I couldn’t taste the green tea base very well, I found that the toasted coconut did really well against the lavender and it really just makes for a lovely cup of tea. It’d be a great addition to an afternoon tea line-up just for the delicate floral notes, and I think it’d be great iced with a splash of lemonade to really amp it up and make it into a great summer iced tea.

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DavidsTea’s Mango Matcha

Mango Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Mango Matcha is a matcha drink mix from DavidsTea. It came to me in the mail in a sealed, resealable pouch. Firstly, I’d like to address the change in the labelling from DavidsTea. I found that the teal of the DavidsTea branding to be a bit difficult to read from the green background – along with the white text on the green background (but not as difficult as the teal on green). I’m no longer surprised by the fact that Mango Matcha has sugar as the first ingredient, because I’ve gotten used to that now and am a little bit less annoyed by the presence.

Mango Matcha is a lovely spring green colour, with a hint of sparkle from the sugar. The aroma is strongly mango with a bit of grassy undertones. Mango Matcha consists of: cane sugar, matcha green tea, natural mango flavouring with annatto extract.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends repairing Mango Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water with a whisk. I followed the temperature recommendation and whisked it directly in my cup. The nice thing about the DavidsTea matcha drink mixes is that you don’t have to sift the powder first because it dissolves quite easily.

If you’ve never made matcha before, I’ve got an article for you that discusses The Basics of Preparing Matcha.

First Taste

Mango Matcha whisks into a nice deep forest green. Not a whole lot of frothy bubbles regardless of how much I tried, but it’s a vibrant green with a very strong mango aroma from the whisked up powder. I found it to be quite sweet, strong mango flavours, with subtle grassy notes in the background. It’s a pleasant drink hot.

I did end up adding some milk to it (organic soy milk) to make it to matcha latte – it helps cut the sugary sweetness down significantly, while adding a nice level of creaminess to it and the mango isn’t muted at all.

A Second Cup?

As a matcha is a suspension, there were no second steeps at all.

My Overall Impression

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I loved and liked DavidsTea’s Mango Matcha. I liked it hot and plain – but the sugary sweetness was just a bit too much for me, even though I have a really strong sweet tooth. The addition of soy milk really helped to lower the sugar content down a bit, just by adding a little something to help cut the sweetness level. I think Mango Matcha would be great if you like a super sweet drink, but definitely utilize this as a latte base if you’re wanting something that’s got some good mango flavour, a nice grassy background, but not too sweet. Matcha latte is definitely the way to go with this one.

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