Barley Tea (From Ito En)

I started drinking Ito En bottled tea about a year ago when one of my best friends left for college. She loved Ito En tea and throughout high school her backpack always sported a bottle of it. I wasn't sure if I liked it very much, but after my friend left I decided to try it again, because I kept seeing it and being reminded of her. I came to the conclusion that my first impression of the Ito En was wrong and over the course of the past year I have enjoyed many Ito En green and jasmine bottled teas.

Recently I've been curious about barley tea because Lupicia has so much of it in so many different flavors. I was thinking of buying some but I didn't want to make that commitment before tasting it. So today I when I stumbled upon some Ito En barley tea I decided to try it. My first sip left me confused. There was a hint of something that reminded me of chestnuts but then it was dragged down by an overwhelming bitterness. However I wasn't ready to give up. Upon my return home I heated up the barley tea and sweetened it a bit, but I was still unimpressed. I asked my mother to taste it too and she said it tasted like watery coffee. I assume it's an acquired taste.

Jasmine Tea: A love affair? An addiction? Currently a collection.

In highschool jasmine tea helped me through many a tough essay. A really hard essay would take at least four cups of jasmine tea and until about 2am the night before the paper was due to finish. I am now at a point where my brain is no longer trained to function past 11:30pm so I go through the same process slightly earlier in the day. The jasmine tea pictured here is from Trader Joe's. It has jasmine pearls, which means the tea leaves the tea consists of were rolled into little balls. It is very strong so I usually use one tea bag to make a pot of tea rather than a cup. Then I can sit back and sip it throughout my procrastination induced writing adventure. At the moment I own several varieties of jasmine green  tea. The different teas have their own charming subtleties that differentiate them but they all share a delightful flavor that tells me that I have a paper to write.

The mug shown above was made to commemorate the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I acquired it because my friend's grandmother collected a few of them and decided to distribute them amongst the the youths sleeping over at her house. When I am older I hope I to distribute mugs to youths in a similar manner. Behind the mug one can glimpse my essay on the importance of liberal arts education taking form.

Constant Comment Green (From Bigelow)

According to my mother Constant Comment Green tea is very hard to find. The black tea version of Constant Comment is more widely available. Constant Comment holds an important place in our household because as a child it was the first tea my mother tried that wasn't Lipton. Constant Comment is flavored with orange rinds and a variety of spices that make it seem like mulled cider's tea-born cousin. Overall it is a lovely drink to sip if you-like me- don't believe that pumpkin is an appropriate flavor for everything edible in the month of November.

The mug shown above is one of my favorites. It features a hebrew blessing for coffee that some delightful potter made up. The direct translation is "Blessed is the one who gives coffee to the weary."

Tea-ja Vu

In my youth I would often prepare my tea in a microwave and when I engaged in this habit late at night I was witness to a slightly annoying phenomenon. I would place a cup of water with a teabag into the microwave, I would turn on the microwave and then when the microwave finished I would be doing something else so I would put off collecting my tea. Then I would completely forget about it for a short amount of time. I would only remember the tea after thinking to myself I wish I had tea right now, then after putting another tea bag in a cup of water and opening the microwave I would discover that I  already had tea. Naturally I didn't want to put the second tea bag back, it was already wet so I would just make another cup and alternate drinking both teas. My sister and I named this phenomenon "Tea-ja Vu."

Even now in my post-microwave tea drinking I encounter similar phenomena: I usually make my first cup of tea soon after waking up. I then carry said tea with me as I leave the warm cocoon of my kitchen and attempt make my way in the world. The problem occurs when I leave my tea on the counter to steep and forget to take it with me upon leaving. I am then very tired and I usually convince myself that my best option is buying tea. I am still pleasantly surprised when I come home and my first cup of tea is there waiting for me.

(I found the image above painted on an electrical box, it seemed appropriate.)

Chrysanthemum Tea (From TenRen and From Asha Tea House)

My preconception of chrysanthemum tea was that it was weird. I had somewhat thoughtlessly come to this conclusion after one of my friends looked at my herbal tea sampler from TenRen and asked me if I had tried the chrysanthemum tea. I answered, "Not yet." Said friend relied, "Oh, well chrysanthemum tea is weird."

Intrigued by this response I tried the chrysanthemum tea about a week later. It was a bit weird, at least compared to your run of the mill green or black tea. Yet I found the taste strangely pleasing, especially when a form of sweetener was applied generously.

Today marked the first time I tried chrysanthemum tea unsweetened. I was taken to Asha Tea house and I couldn't decided which tea to try. I decided on an herbal tea and since there had been chrysanthemums in the short story I had read earlier chrysanthemum tea seemed like an appropriate choice. Without sweetening the chrysanthemum tea definitely had more of a general weirdness. In other words, it was slightly bitter and had a very distinct chrysanthemum flavor, but for the most part I still found it pleasing. I would recommend chrysanthemum tea to people who want to go beyond the average herbal teas, despite its color chrysanthemum tea is nothing like your standard chamomile.

(Disclaimer: the image above does not depict the process of making chrysanthemum tea. I just happened to find a chrysanthemum and I though this depiction would be aesthetically pleasing.)

Kombucha (Green Ginger Tea From TAZO and Dragon Well From Far Leaves Tea)

I seem to have made it my mission to explore the many facets of tea life. In keeping with this mission, in the past week I have attempted to create Kombucha: a fermented tea drink. I wanted to made a green tea Kombucha, because most of the Kombucha I have tried was made from black tea. Since I generally prefer green tea I was wondering if I would prefer a green Kombucha. The conclusion is I do. I just sampled the Kombucha after a week of fermentation and it is absolutely delightful. It is light, bubbly, and the ginger gives it a pleasant zing. I greatly anticipate making more Kombucha with a variety of teas in the future.

Tea Is My Friend! (Rose Chai From Wissotzky Tea)

For the past two weeks I have be on a quest to find Rose Water. It is particularly illusive in my current living situation, but I desperately wanted it so I could make Iranian Cupcakes. I contemplated using vanilla extract instead but it just didn't seem like an acceptable alternative. I also considered making rose water, but I didn't know where to buy organic roses. (They would have had to be organic because I feel like the pesticides used on flowers that aren't meant for eating combined with cupcakes are not a good match.) Then I came to the realization that Rose Water is just water with some essence of rose and that is essentially what my Rose Chai tea is. Suffice it to say I used the Rose Chai and the cupcakes were delectable. The taste of the black tea that the chai is made with was apparent in the cupcakes, but in a pleasant manner.

Thai Tea (From Country Cheese Coffee Market)

There are mornings when I get out of bed solely because I know I can have Thai Tea. That may sound dramatic but I struggle with transitioning between being unconscious and conscious in general. In addition I really like my bed. (The gnome featured above is another factor that contributes to my waking up. He has such a stern expression I feel like he is judging me for being tired.)

Overall I am rather fond of Thai Tea. I like putting my tea ball into the water and seeing that pop of orange. I now know that this effect is the product of the dye that Thai Tea is usually made with, but it is still lovely. The downside is that this effect is occasionally disconserting, due to the fact that I usually judge if my tea has steeped enough by examining its color. (This is why I have so many white cups.) I acquired my Thai Tea after I came to the realization that I was spending a large amount of my income on Thai Ice Tea drinks. These differ from the Thai Tea I make now by the addition of large quantities of condensed milk, which is splendid, but a bit to rich for my morning tea.

Baking with Matcha

Throughout the summer I was fortunate enough to live in close proximity to my sister who is currently obsessed with baking. She devotes a lot of time to baking and as a result has gotten very good at it. This means that anyone living with her has constant access to a marvelous array of treats. After the summer ended I found myself missing the baked goods that I was so often greeted with, so I started my own foray into the world of baking and, being me, I could not start any adventure without my most trusty nonhuman companion: Tea.

That is how in my brief interval between homework assignments today I decided to try out a recipe for green tea muffins. I selected a simple muffin recipe that incorpated a tablespoon of Matcha. I used my Strawberry Matcha au Lait from Lupicia, due to the fact the my unflavored Matcha from Republic of Tea is currently in a different state.

The finale result was encouraging. The muffins were very tasting, although if I did it again I would add an addition tablespoon of Matcha. I also added different toppings to each muffin because my homework was making me think about American individualism. My roommate, when asked about the muffins, remarked, "They were so good, holy shit."

(Here is a link to the recipe I used: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Green-Tea-Muffins)

A Pleasant Surprise (From Lupicia)

In the recent past I payed two visits to Lupicia. The first visit resulted in my purchase of a Strawberry Matcha au Lait. I was delighted to find that this came with a free sample of Tsugaru, a green tea with apple. It was marvelous. I usually don't enjoy fruity teas, but the apple was subtle enough that it mostly enhanced the flavor of the green tea, thus resulting in what I call "tasting like what a hug feels like." (Other substances that possess this quality include: Pho and the green tea sucking candies that once inhabited my kitchen.) After drinking the Tsugaru I decided that the next time I was in the vicinity of Lupicia I should probably obtain more of it. However upon my arrival I discovered that there was no more Tsugaru to be obtained, but seeing as I was already there I bought a Caramel and Rum Rooibos, which came with another free sample. Twas a Muscat black tea and it was also delightful. Perhaps not quite as pleasant as the Tsugaru, but I tend to favor green teas, so I am a tad biased.

Peppermint Tea (From TenRen)

I have just finished making my sister peppermint tea which she iced, because even though it is presently raining she cannot abide warm temperatures. I thought I would share some quotes from my sister about peppermint tea:

"I don't care where you come from. I don't care what kind of leaves you have. As long as you make me feel as happy as any other tea would, I will love you anyway."

"It makes me feel happy and minty fresh on the inside."

"Peppermint is just a beautiful addition to this world."

In conclusion my sister is rather fond of peppermint tea.

This peppermint tea is from a sampler of herbal teas. The other teas included were: Chamomile, Ginger, Chrysanthemum, "Relaxing Tea" and "Spirits Tea." The additional tea featured above is some of the Relaxing Tea that I made for myself. I was not completely sure what is in it and the tea bag was not very helpful so I consulted TenRen's website. Apparently it is a blend of chamomile flowers, catnip, valerian root, hawthorne berries, peppermint and strawberry leaves. Knowing this I now agree that "Relaxing Tea" is a very appropriate name.

A Day In The Life: 24 Hours Of Tea

Several years ago I heard about a study that examined some of the health benefits associated with drinking Green Tea. I remember thinking to myself: That's great, I love Green Tea! I just can't imagine drinking it everyday, like the people in the study did. Suffice it to say, times have changed.

8:15pm:

 Strawberry Sencha (From Townshends Tea Company with a tea ball from Davids Tea)

10:00pm: 

Toasted Walnut (A Green Tea From Davids Tea)

12:00pm (I got to sleep in. Twas a wonderful and unusual experience): 

Strawberry Matcha (From Lupicia) 

Note: I am now the proud owner of a milk frother.

2:00pm: 

Russia Caravan (A Black Tea From Peet's Coffee and Tea)

7:20pm: 

Ginger Tea (From TenRen)

In my world herbal tea counts as tea, even though strictly speaking it is not tea since it is not made from a tea leaf. However this particular ginger tea is undeniably a tea, as it includes both ginger root and tea leaves. 

Coffee Pu'erh (From Davids Tea)

Here lies the Coffee Pu'erh that I received as a free sample with my order of a splendid tea mug from Davids Tea. It tasted a tad bitter, but I supposed that is to be expected from a tea with coffee beans in it. I saved this sample until the end of the year so I could drink it before my last final. The caffeine in it was just enough to give the desired effect without additional jitters that coffee occasionally gives me. Drinking this tea was an interesting experience since I have not consumed very much Pu'erh in the past.

Eleven (From Adagio)

Behold the Doctor Who themed tea that I received for my birthday. It is a black tea from Adagio. I was very pleased with it's flavor, especially considering the fact that it was purchased for me solely because it was Doctor Who themed. It mostly tastes like dessert. It has dried apples in it which I usually pick out and eat after I'm finished making the tea. Then they are rehydrated and tea infused. Overall it is a delightful experience. (Note: this picture is backwards because I took it on my lap top I will attempt to acquire a camera.)