tea

Tea Talk

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I’ve been experimenting with different chamomile teas recently, and I’ve found that drinking it in the evenings helps me sleep better after a long day. I’m trying to keep caffeinated tea to busy mornings and going for nothing stronger than green tea when the evening hits. I’ve been trying TeaLyra’s stuff for awhile and I’ve yet to be disappointed. Last night I had their Peaches n Cream, while tonight I’m having their Lovely Night blend. It’s a nice palate cleanser after a morning of Earl Gray, and an afternoon of London Fog Lattes to power me through some housework. I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll make some Japanese themed lattes based on the upcoming Sakura Season in Japan. I’ve ordered Sakura Syrup and Powder for further kitchen science shenanigans.

I might snap a pic if I’m proud of the final appearance. :v

Café Der Overlord

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After a few years of contemplating I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and invested in a milk frother. Over the last few days I’ve managed to make sweet fluffy milk with coconut sugar and vanilla extract, hot cocoa with a helping of British Nesquik I purchased by accident from the Amazing Zon (which is fine because the Murican one suuuuuuuuuuucks by comparison), American strawberry Nesquik (looking to get in some of the British one too!) which made a warm strawberry fluff, and tonight I made warm fluffy eggnog with equal part milk and a bit of Cream Sherry for an added kick. I’m not sure about anyone else, but for me mixing eggnog with Cream Sherry or Marsala gives it a zabaglione taste (that’s an Italian wine custard). Nice to have a nice fluffy drinkable version for when I don’t feel like hovering over a stove making it from scratch, during the holidays anyway…

 

I have so many ideas on what kind of flavored foam I can conjure to go with each brew of tea, or what kind of hot cocoas and chocolates I can make! Methinks my weekend will have a few drinkable clouds, maybe even a London Fog finally! I could also probably use it to make a nice Japanese Matcha Cream to go over a Matcha Latte, and many other drinkable brain children.

Blueberries n Creme In A Cuppa

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I wanted to make a London Fog, but by the time I got around to making my cuppa it was late enough that caffeine would do me no solid favors. But there was still that craving for something warm and sweet after a long agonizing day and finding out another co-worker is out due to COVID. I always wondered if it was possible to make a latte with herbal teas, and sure enough I wasn’t disappointed! All you need to do is brew some blueberry tea (I used this one) brewed in a teapot, and steamed/frothed milk mixed with a little bit of vanilla and honey to make it creamy. It was a nice blueberry kiss on an otherwise blue day.

Now I’ll have to challenge myself and attempt to make lattes out of more of my tea collection just to see what I can come up with.

Weekend Morning Feast

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The weather has been stormy outside (even got to see some lightning early this morning!), and what better way than to start my 3 day weekend with some homemade waffles with maple syrup, a cheese omelette, some bacon and a bowl each of watermelon and strawberry greek yogurt topped with strawberry dark chocolate granola?! I haven’t had anything of the egg/bacon variety in awhile, and my breakfasts have mostly been meal bars and one yogurt parfait here or there. The tea of choice this morning was some cocoa puerh with a splash of milk. It tastes like hot chocolate and it gives you a swift kick in the ass to start your day out right. If you ever want to try it out for yourself this is the stuff I’m talking about. I have a couple of their other teas such as Maple Puerh Chai and Watermelon Mint Aqua.

No, this is not a paid product endorsement… I just really like tea.

Hōjicha!

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Finally got around to brewing one of my Christmas teas! I would have gotten to it sooner, but for me every tea has its day. I always wanted to try toasted green tea, they say that it has a hinted taste of toasted brown rice. Little did I know I actually did have some before, and drinking this brought back that memory. It was actually when I was flying to Honolulu with the very same friend that gave me this tea. I remember it being the first drink I purchased once we landed and got settled in on the Island. I wasn’t happy with it then, mainly because the brew tasted really really strong. The scent of the tea found its way to my nose, and next thing I knew I was keeping a close watch on the brew to make sure it didn’t over-steep. This is definitely not a tea you would want to begin preparing and then forget about, as it can become bitter fairly quickly making even a long over-brewed black tea seem more tame by comparison.

This is the good shit.

When prepared properly this is really good though. I made some to go along side stir fry the other night instead of Oolong. If anything this kinda tastes like a stronger Oolong with a hint of toasted rice, and even seems to have chocolatey, almost caramel like undertones. Interestingly enough due to the roasting process it has a lower caffeine rating compared to regular green tea which is commonly steamed instead. That’s ok, the flavor alone pretty much powered me for the entire day. I made two full brews of it the entire afternoon to give you an idea of how much I liked it. I’ve even discovered the existence of Hojicha powder, though I haven’t ordered any yet. I want to experiment with this Christmas gift first, maybe even try and make my own lattes with it. I feel like it would taste good mixed with some milk and certain sweeteners.

Taste The Melon Rainbow

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I’ve been partaking in different watermelon related teas (when I’m not partaking in tea in general) and came upon a nice calming combo.

Juicy watermelon and fresh mint come together for the ultimate in zingy tea bliss. Watermelon Mint Agua will have you daydreaming of a Mexican beach resort getaway. Say adiós to the stresses of the day!

Once steeped, Watermelon Mint Agua Fresca has a pleasant minty sweet melon aroma; and at first sip, the rich, sweet, juicy watermelon taste is quickly followed by cooling mint and sweet fruit juice taste. You can almost hear the waves of a beach resort getaway in the distance- with each sip of minty freshness bursting with juicy fresh watermelon.

Watermelon Mint Agua Fresca is delicious prepared hot, but it also makes a fantastic iced tea (or iced tea base for a tea cocktail!). Sombrero and maracas are optional.

Sombreros… it’s like they already know.

Sauce Bossin’ It

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I woke up today and wanted to make a different kind of sauce for my weekly fancy-ish breakfast. I made a basic white sauce in one pan, and in another pan I fried the bacon, then I fried the onions in the leftover fat, added tomatoes, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce,  Italian herbs and a couple dashes of hot sauce for an added kick. Then I folded it into the white sauce and added smoked gouda. I was quite happy with the results, but I think in the future I might use a Sherry or Marsala, maybe even a type of Whiskey or Vodka to flavor the sauce. I also mixed the sauce with some noodles for lunch. The tea is also a special brew as well; Sweet Watermelon tea mixed with a Russian Herbal tea, both from the same friend! I’ve pretty much been drinking that all day. For extra sweetness I added a little lemon sugar. I like the flavor pattern, would probably taste good iced too.

A Meal Well Seasoned

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I had some Shrimp lying around in the freezer, and green curried rice sounded nice. So I made that for dinner tonight along with some veggies.

This is a Thai inspired hot and sour salad. I didn’t have all the vegetables I needed in order to make it, but it still tasted fine to me.

For a light dessert type thing I had a green chai with coconut milk and a little honey.  This particular chai blend has almonds in it, complimenting the green tea and the coconut milk.

The best part is that I have plenty of leftovers for after work. I’ve been doing milkshakes in the afternoon the last couple of days and it’ll be nice to have some noodles to greet me after work.

Slaying Demons and Sipping Tea

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Why jerking off with the same hand is a bad idea.

Well, another weekend nearing its end and another computer has been saved. I’ll be returning it to them tomorrow and they can WoW to their heart’s content. I also got some audio work done today for my next SFM sessions (tomorrow probably). I took a break and decided to play a little bit of Darksiders (Warmastered Edition), and much like the last time I played I’m still stumped. I know I have to kill a monster hanging above in this room but I forget how I’m supposed to do it. Might have to look it up if I can’t get any further on my next attempt.

I also made time to try my new teas. I tried the Rhubarb Cherry Cobbler one, and that had a nice juicy cherry juice kinda vibe to it, but I think the winner had to be Red Velvet Cake. I even prefer it over the Republic Of Tea version, it has more of a flavor to it compared to the bagged version Republic Of Tea offers… I’m thinking for Red Velvet Cake the Pinky Up version will become my main squeeze. It tastes good on its own or with a little milk or a milk substitute mixed in. I’m using some coconut milk in mine and it tastes really great with the fruit mixture already in the tea. So if you ever get the chance to buy at least the Red Velvet Cake one, do so.

I was also talking to Bong about Wiki stuff, he built his own and it reminded me that I wanted to rebuild mine at some point, but with the intent of it being about the characters already in our animated universe and any “back story” they may have. Ronald McDonald is going to be a fun one to write about, along with Batman! and the others… That will be a project for another weekend, next weekend if I don’t have another computer randomly following me home I had a weekend shopping trip planned. Not sure if I’ll buy anything but there will at least be some research involved.

Tea Talk: A potential allergy problem

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It isn’t a big secret that I’m a large tea drinker, a drinker of all kinds of tea from black, green, herbals, yerba and anything else I can get my hands on to try. One of my favorite things to drink once in awhile is Flowering tea, which is literally just that.

I’ve been drinking it for years, not everyday but it makes for a nice every once in awhile treat. Watching the flower bloom from within the hot boiling water, and even being able to brew it an extra few times before discarding it completely. Flowering teas are impossible to over-steep too, you can keep adding hot water to it as the pot gets low.

But lately I’ve been suspecting one of my teas might not be as good for me as I thought. I sat down to some of Pinky Up’s flowering Apple Cinnamon tea, and for awhile have been wondering if this has been burning my throat or not. Usually when this occurs I’ve been suffering from hay fever or something else, which makes it easy to potentially mask other things that might cause similar effects. Last week I started with a perfectly fine throat, and within about half an hour I started to hurt. I’m wondering what would be causing this though? I know they use some artificial flavorings for their flowering teas, perhaps that might be a problem? One time I drank their Honey Dew melon one and while it tasted real good, it did cause me to throw up. I’ll have to test their other flowering teas that I’ve got in my collection, but if I get the same results I’ll probably have to pitch the ones I can confirm burn my throat… which sucks because they all are taste so good.

I can at least say their loose leaf variants are not only good but don’t burn my throat… then again those all seem to have natural ingredients for the most part. But their Flowering Tea, or at least a couple flavors of it seems to leave me feeling scorched and raspy afterwards.