Kukicha review

I made some Kukicha which is a japanese green tea. Common nick name is twig tea. I got my Kukicha from The Tea Grotto. I put in 2 grams of tea for every 6 oz of water and used filtered water. I ended up steeping it in my cast iron tea pot at 70 degrees F. I tasted the tea every 30 sec. into steeping. What I found was that 1 min. 30 sec. was the perfect blend of grassy freshness without any bitterness. I continued to steep tell 2 min. 30 sec. to tast the developments in the tea. I found that any longer then 2 min. and it started to become bitter.
Dry Kukicha

Kukicha after steeping 

Color of tea. Mind you this is the color afte steeping it for 2 min. 30 sec. Which wasn't the ideal steep. 

Over all I would say It was medium soft body tea. It was grassy, fresh, kelpy, and robust. I love a good japanese green and this kukicha was very enjoyable. 

Lazy Sunday

This morning I woke up and made some Banana Pancakes. They were delicious! I made them form this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-pancakes-i/detail.aspx I ended up using arrow root instead of baking powder due to not having any baking powder.

I also harvested some cucumbers, spicy bells, and jalapeno peppers.

After taking great pride in my home grown veggies I sat down for some tea by candle light. 

I'm enjoying some nice black fig and lavender tea. Nothing to fancy but a favorite of mine. Today has been a good sunday.

Beautiful Matcha Bowl

This Matcha bowl is amazingly beautiful. Its striking black color in contrast with the orange is breath taking. It's currently out of stock but its from yuuki-cha.com.

Pumpkins return

More pumpkins! Yay. Really I love this tea pot. It's so cute and looks so perfect on the block of wood. I'm still on my pumpkin kick and I'm messing around with some pumpkin recipes. Here are some more tea related pumpkins.

Tea Cups

There are several different styles of tea cups. The two very basic differences are the ones with a handle and the ones without. For tea I prefer the ones without a handle. Usually these cups are smaller and not having a handle allows you to grasp the cup in your palm and feel the warmth. Feeling a warm cup in your hand is very soothing and I would suggest warming the cup before you even put tea in it by pouring hot water on the cup. In general I like to warm up my tea wear before I use it by pouring hot water over it.  Anyways bellow are some examples of tea cups without handles.

The Bee tea cup is from http://www.etsy.com/shop/FaithAdamsCeramics?ref=seller_info

The second type of tea cup is the one with a handle which I prefer to use for Turkish coffee. You can really find some beautiful tea cups such as some below. 

The tea cups with handles are much more fancy and have a lot of detail. I feel that this shows a reflection in the tea culture of the areas that the different tea cups tend to be found. The handled tea cups are most common in the west, middle east, and India where as the ones without handles are often found in China, and Japan. I get a great sense of Wabi Sabi from the non handled tea cups where as the handed ones are more decadent and prestigious. Tea in Japan and China seems to be more ritualized or more closely tied to religion/ philosophy of the region. These areas having been deeply steeped in concepts of nature and chi being an unseen force. The idea of nature is continued in the style of the cups. In India the tea culture was largely influenced by the british which I feel had a large impact on the style of cup. 

In general I love both styles for different reasons and use.  

Pumpkins

During this beautiful time of spring I find myself thinking about pumpkins and fall. Spring is great with all the flowers blooming and the fat bumble bees buzzing around. But I cant get my mind off pumpkins and halloween/ fall stuff. Fall is the perfect time for warm beverages and snuggling. My two favorite things. Anyways to tide me over I present to you a collection of warming fall inspired images.

Ahhhh so cute and relaxing. I just love the whole feeling of fall and wish I could live in it forever. The two skeleton paintings are from http://www.etsy.com/shop/gossamerfaery?ref=seller_info
I think I'm homesick for fall.

Green Tea Liqueur

 I tried a new liqueur I found called Zen. It's a matcha green tea liqueur that's 20% alc/vol.

I poured a bit in a cup to take a tast of the liqueur on it's own. The scent is simmular to vodka but a little more sweet.
The flavor was much more sweet then I expected. I could tast a hint of matcha but honestly the sweetness really over powered the green tea flavor. It was to sweet for my tast though I'm not one for sweetened drinks. If you enjoy really sweet liqueur then I would suggest the zen.
On the back of the bottle there is a recipe that calles for green or black tea. I steeped some sencha tea and mixed about 4 parts green tea to 1 part zen liqueur.

The bottle said to add iced green tea but I enjoyed it warm. I liked Zen a lot more once it was diluted down and with an actual green tea flavor. It would probably be pretty good with matcha which would help bring out the matcha in the actual alcohol.

Over all I enjoyed it mixed with green tea but found it to sweet on it's own. It's a bit pricy running at around $30 per bottle. I don't think I will probably buy it again unless it goes down to the teen price range.

Rooibos

Another one of my favorite winter time beverages is Rooibos also known as red tea or red bush tea. This herbal tea is grown in Africa and is chalk full of minerals such as iron and magnesium. It also contains some phenolic compounds such as flavanols, flavones, and flavanonoes.(Wiki)

It is wonderful for stomach aches and digestive problems. It also eases anxiety and stress. I feel in love with Rooibos due to its calming affect and great flavor.

Mix 1 part Rooibos with 1 part Ginger and you have the perfect period tea.
The ginger relieves muscle achs and cramps while the Rooibos relaxes you and helps you with any digestion issues.
The flavor is earthy and kind of sweet. You can add sugar or agave to sweeten and bring out the sweet undertones. It's a wholesome tea and has a heavier body then most. A great winter tea for snuggling inside.

I would suggest using a fine metal strainer such as this one from http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-makers-infusers/p/cool-touch-tea-strainer

London Fog

On snowy days such as today I like to enjoy a warm beverage. Lavender seems so summery and refreshing to me but when its paired with earl gray it becomes a delectable winter treat.


Recipe: 16 oz.
1 Tbsp - Earl Gray
1 Tbsp - French Lavender
A dash of milk (preferably steamed)
Sweeten to tast using White sugar or Agave nectar.
For some good looks add a little pinch of lavender on top of foam.

   Enjoy this beverage as you sulk inside watching the cold weather out the window. Snow or rain the London fog has your back.

Tea ware

Lately I have been aching for a matcha bowl and set. I'm so broke right now that I can only look and pretend like im whisking matcha and enjoying a sip of the green grassy goodness.

I don't care for the bowl in this photo but awwww look at that whisk! I love the darker wood and the handle. Also the whisk holder is really beautiful. The bowl bellow is earthy and has a nice glaze.

This bowl mixed with the whisk above and I wouldn't be able to leave the house for days. Now I need to  find some good matcha. I got some stuff the other day but it's no good. I got it from my local Asian market which can defiantly be hit or miss. Well at least it was fairly cheap.