Tag: Green Tea

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Gypsy Soul Tea Co’s China Jasmine

China Jasmine by Gypsy Soul Tea Co
Green Tea / Flavoured
$7.25 for 40g

First Impressions

Whenever I’m trying a new-to-me tea company, I generally like to try a few things: usually a blend that seems unique to them, a straight or minimally blended tea, and an Earl Grey – only because I love Earl Grey and it’s one of my tea staples. This one was one of my choices from Gypsy Soul Tea Co because it’s a minimally blended tea. China Jasmine is a green tea, flavoured and blended with jasmine blossoms.

I’ve mentioned the packaging that Gypsy Soul Tea Co uses in my last review of one of their teas (Pumpkin Spice), but I do still like it. The label on the front tells me everything that I really need to know, and the clear plastic back lets me see the blend itself. I can easily see both ingredients: green tea and jasmine blossoms. I can also see that it’s full blossoms and petals, and not little tiny pieces. When I opened the bag, the first thing that hit me was the aroma. This blend has a beautiful floral fragrance from the jasmine, and I can smell both the jasmine and the green tea.

Preparation

Gypsy Soul Tea Co recommends steeping China Jasmine in 80°C (176°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep of this green tea was for 2 minutes.

First Taste

China Jasmine steeps to a light yellow colour. The aroma is very floral, the jasmine shines in this tea. On first sip, I can taste the floral notes from the jasmine, there’s a pleasant sweetness along with some grassy notes from green tea base. I think two minutes was a good amount of time to steep this tea, there’s no astringency or bitterness when steeped for two minutes. It’s a very pleasant jasmine green tea, I like that the green tea base isn’t too vegetal as I think that would distract from the floral flavour.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped China Jasmine four times, adding an extra 30 seconds of steeping time for each subsequent steep. I could that the colour of the tea got darker for the first resteep and lighter after that. The flavour of the tea remained fairly close to the initial steep, although I think that the floral notes weren’t as strong in comparison to the green tea base after the first resteep. The flavour balance was still enjoyable by the fourth resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Gypsy Soul Tea Co’s China Jasmine. I thought that the flavours were on point for a jasmine green tea, and had a nice balance between the jasmine floral flavour with the green tea base. The recommended steeping time of 2 minutes was perfect for myself, and I found that it resteeped beautifully. It’s definitely a nice green tea blend and is worth resteeping a few times, which shows off the quality of the ingredients.

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Plus Rigina’s Green Tea Milk Spread

Green Tea Milk Spread by Plus Rigina
Green Tea / Flavoured
250g Jar

I received Plus Rigina’s Green Tea Milk Spread as a gift earlier this year because, as rumour has it, I really like tea and people tend to think I want to try tea things (spoiler: the rumour is true).

First Impressions

Green Tea Milk Spread comes in a glass jar, it’s an imported product from Taiwan. I’ve never seen it in a store in the Metropolitan Vancouver area, and a quick Google search turned up nothing for the brand or product so I’m not entirely sure where you can find it (sorry?). But it’s tea related, and I’m a fan of potential bagel spreads, so I did have to give it a try.

The ingredients in Green Tea Milk Spread are full cream milk powder, sunflower oil, sugar, water, green tea powder, and whey protein. After opening and popping the seal on the lid, I found that the spread has a thick consistency. It’s a bit softer than commercially produced peanut butter, perhaps it’s similar to Nutella (chocolate and hazelnut spread, if you’re not familiar). The aroma of the Green Tea Milk Spread is sweet, and has a very mild green tea aroma. This product is shelf-stable prior to opening, and must be refrigerated after opening.

First Taste

After toasting a bagel, I put the Green Tea Milk Spread on it. I’m not generally one for thick layers of smear on my bagels (aside from cream cheese, I do love cream cheese!) and this product doesn’t seem to lend itself well to being spread thickly on anything (again, it reminds me of Nutella). The mild aroma of green tea is pleasant. The taste of the Green Tea Milk Spread is primarily green tea and condensed milk, although it’s not as sweet as condensed milk. I think it could have a stronger dairy flavour to it, and maybe a bit more sweetness (but it reminds me so much condensed milk, so I feel like it should be sweeter). Despite sugar showing up on the ingredients list prior to green tea powder, each teaspoon (1og) contains 3g of sugar, which is interesting (I’m sure if it was condensed milk, it’d be like 9g of sugar per 10g of product…).

My Overall Impression

I liked Plus Rigina’s Green Tea Milk Spread. I think the flavour is pleasant and makes for a nice bagel spread, so it might also pair well with tea biscuits. For me, I feel like it could be sweeter, but I do have a bit of a sweet tooth. If you’re not as in love with sugar and sweets as I am, you might be really happy with the level of sweetness in the Green Tea Milk Spread. Either way, it’s a nice bagel spread and it does become more liquid-y when heated, so it might be a nice drizzle over some vanilla ice cream as well (because, yum).

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DavidsTea’s Chai Matcha

Chai Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$16.00 for 80g

First Impressions

Chai Matcha from DavidsTea comes in a prepackaged format both online and in stores. While some of their blended matcha products are accessible via smaller increments from the wall of tea in their retail stores, they made the decision to release Chai Matcha only in a prepackaged format of 80g bags. It comes sealed and the bag is resealable, which is always a nice touch. The preprinted bags have stickers on the front and the back to showcase which tea it is inside.

The aroma of the dry green powder is mostly that of the spices, and just sweetness. It does smell sweet, which is no wonder considering the first ingredient listed for this matcha blend… Chai Matcha consists of: cane sugar, green tea, and natural chai flavourings. I’m really disappointed that sugar is the first listed ingredient in this product, but there is only 6g of sugar per serving which isn’t nearly as bad as some other products I’ve tried previously. The chai spices that I can smell include cinnamon and cardamom, ad maybe a bit of ginger? Whatever is in the “flavouring”, it does smell like a chai spice mix.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking 4-5 perfect matcha spoonfuls in 120mL (4oz) of water (85°C/185°F) and then topping up with warm milk or water to make a drink that is 475mL (16oz). I don’t own a perfect matcha spoon, so I used 1 spoon from the Perfect Spoon into my matcha bowl and whisked, and then transferred to a larger cup.

First Taste

I whisked 1 perfect spoonful of the Chai Matcha, which is equal to 2½ teaspoons. I used my Thinktea Matcha Set for this step since it’s the only matcha bowl and whisk that I own. The whisking process didn’t take very long. In full disclosure, I did not sift the matcha into my bowl – this is a step that I will often do for more “fancier” matcha varieties, but I don’t usually do it for blends.

When having the Chai Matcha straight (topped up with water and not milk), I found that there was more spice flavour than matcha flavour. I’m not overly surprised since spices can be a bit overwhelming compared to the delicate nature of matcha. It is quite sweet, but I don’t really like it all too much straight because I’d rather be able to taste the matcha.

I did whisk another bowl of Chai Matcha, and then added it to heated soy milk (I use organic, unsweetened soy milk). I found that the flavour was greatly improved as a latte. The spices weren’t as strong, but the matcha flavour did seem better balanced as a latte.

A Second Cup?

No second steeps with Chai Matcha since all of the powder is suspended and mixed into the first preparation.

My Overall Impression

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I both didn’t like and loved DavidsTea’s Chai Matcha. As a straight tea (made with only water), I thought Chai Matcha was really nothing to write home about. However, when made as a latte, the flavours were really much better balanced and it honestly tasted a lot better. I like the idea of a straight Chai Matcha, but the taste wasn’t delicious (to me!). Since determining that I do love Chai Matcha as a tea latte, I finished my original bag and bought more (Chai Matcha is a limited edition product, unfortunately, and is already sold out in some stores and online).

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