Tagged with green tea

Matcha Pocky Cake with Yuzu Curd Filling

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Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been gone for so long! I’ve been quite busy the last few months. I got married in September and just got back from my honeymoon to Maui, O’ahu, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Before all that happened, I took an impromptu trip up to Pittsburgh to visit my bridesmaid, Stephanie. I was a bit hesitant to make the drive all by myself, but after a grueling bus trip last October, I was convinced that driving would be better.

Stephanie’s birthday is also in August, so I took the opportunity to make an attempt at a super cute Pocky cake from Sprinkle Bakes. My version turned out pretty well, though when frosting the cake I accidentally mis-aligned the layers, which affected the way the pocky sticks stacked.

I like a strong green tea flavor, so I used about a cup of organic matcha powder between the cake and frosting. Paired with the dark chocolate and yuzu filling, this was the perfect light and refreshing cake to snack on after a long drive.

hapatite-1070390About the matcha I used: Sugimoto America is a complete supplier of Japanese green tea and a subsidiary of Sugimoto Seicha, a Japanese green tea company founded in 1946. Based out of Seattle, they were nice enough to send me some great samples of their product, including some powders to bake with.

Their tea is grown and harvested on the mountain slopes of Shizuoka, the tea capital of Japan. All of their tea is blended, roasted, and packed by Tea Maestro Sugimoto, who received the Agricultural Minister Award in 1986.

Tea at Sea: Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea

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One of the great things about the Steepster community is not only keeping tracking of the teas I have in my cupboard but also finding out about new teas and tea companies.

One of the new companies I’ve discovered is Tea At Sea, a Canadian loose leaf tea company with a nautical theme with offices in Vancouver & Montreal. They source their tea directly from the farmers so that they can guarantee the quality and freshness of their teas.

Tea At Sea was nice enough to send me a sample of their Mountain Organic Indonesian Green Tea which is “grown in the Halimun Mountains of Indonesia at 800m above Sea-Level [and] treated with natural spring water and fresh mountain air. The lightly oxidized tea leaves have a seaweed aroma, slight fruity taste of superior freshness.”

This tea is delightfully smooth and pleasant. The taste is very clean and smells sweet and vegetal. The sip opens with sweet grassiness and finishes with roasted rice. It has a nice, creamy mouth-feel and reminds me more of an oolong than a green. The aftertaste brings it back to a nice sophisticated green tea, similar to a green tea bread. It has no bitterness or astringency. I’m sad that I was only able to get two cups out of this sample package since this is a great tea.

While drinking I picked up on flavors of  baked bread, grass, minerals, plant stems, and roasted barley.

Image from tea-at-sea.com
Image from tea-at-sea.com

The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company: Wellness Blend & Green Caramel

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Leaves for Wellness Blend & Green Caramel

persimmon_logoCheck out my other post about Lychee Burst & Jasmine Passion from The Persimmon Tree® Tea Company to learn more about the company and their teas.

You can head on over to their Facebook or website to learn more about them, or browse their teas.

Leaves

Wellness Blend Tea

Designed to do exactly what the title says, this blend of organic herbs, fruits, and spices works well as pick-me-up. Invigorating and life affirming, Wellness Blend combines the best flavors, herbs, textures, and tastes into an excellent elixir. Add flavor and wellness to your senses, your body, and your mind.

This tea has a nice balance of sweetness, acid, fruitiness, and spice. The tartness of the fruit and the spiciness of the herbs balance each other out, and the licorice keeps it bright and clean tasting. The combination of flavors is warming yet calming at the same time. The use of green roobois worried me since I don’t like red roobois, but this added to the fresh taste and to balance out the other flavoring a to keep it from being too potently spiced. The roobois is also more hearty and less vegetal than a green tea and can hold up to a longer brewing.

It is great to have a warm cup of this before bed time to unwind, especially since it has no caffeine.

Leaves

Green Caramel Tea

Our Green Caramel features roasted and steamed green loose-leaf tea leaves, rooibos and sweet caramel pieces. This low-caffeine treat combines just the right amount of body with the richness of the creamy caramel flavor. Enjoy on its own, or with a sprinkle of sugar as a low-calorie dessert.

For all of the ingredients in the description of this tea, I was expecting a sweet, burnt, and roasty cup. I got a clean grassy green tea with a subtle sweetness at the back. The second steeping of the leaves was a little more sweet. I did read on Steepster that others put more than the typical amount of leaves when brewing and preferred those results. Perhaps I will try over-leafing and see what that brew tastes like. 

Disclaimer: I was given these teas by The Persimmon Tree to review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.