Monthly Archives

June 2016

Matcha Tea Reviews

Review of Azuma Chocolate, Ginger or Yuzu Flavoured Matcha Latte Mixes from Yunomi

26th June 2016

The last few months I’ve been loving flavoured matcha and really excited how it’s blown up in the UK this year, so I’ve been on a mission to find all the flavoured matcha I can and put together a big comparison. I’ll cover these again in my comparison post but I wanted to give them their own post as well as Yunomi were generous enough to send me them.

After posting a photo of my matcha collection on Instagram I was messaged by Yunomi, offering me the chance to try some flavoured matcha latte mixes 😀 obviously I jumped at the chance and I’m really excited to share my experience with you.

Yunomi sent me chocolate, ginger and Yuzu (Japanese Citrus). These mixes are a combination of matcha, sweetener and powdered milk with a couple other ingredients. They basically allow you to make a quick matcha latte like the ones slowly popping up at all the good tea shops at the moment but easily in your own home.

 

The Review

The parcel from Yunomi arrived which was super exciting, tea all the way from Japan is pretty special 🙂 All three mixes arrived in such beautiful vibrant packaging, the packaging is heat sealed for freshness. You get a good amount in one packet, for around the $10 mark, which is pretty reasonable compared to the price of a matcha latte when out and about in London! 😮

I found all three latte’s had the right amount of sweetener, I did worry if they might be too sweet like they sometimes are in tea shops but they’re not at all. It’s really never been easier to make a matcha latte at home, you simply heat the water, then you add a few teaspoons of the mix and stir. It’s really impressive how milky the latte actually ends up being, without any extra milk being added.

The powder blends well and doesn’t have any lumpy issues or sink to the bottom like a lot of hot chocolate powders do. A little also goes a long way so you’ll get a lot of lattes from each packet.

On to the flavours!

Double wall with flower

Yuzu (Japanese Citrus)

I hadn’t heard of Yuzu before so I did a little reading and found that Yuzu is a citrus plant originating in east asia. I kind of assumed it would be more of an orange flavour but it’s most similar to a grapefruit taste. It is a little less bitter than grapefruit and not crazily strong in the matcha latte mix but it does have a tart flavour.

I found this was refreshing and I really enjoyed the opportunity to try a flavour I’ve never tried before but I did find the grapefruit-like bitterness slightly too strong but that’s probably just me.

This was a really good breakfast drink, which I guess is kinda like people having grapefruit for breakfast. It’s a refreshing flavour that’s good for an early morning wake up and again the matcha taste is still the dominant flavour, which is definitely a good thing.

 

Chocolate and packaging

Chocolate

I was really excited about the chocolate, two of my top 5 favourite foods combined! 😀 The first thing I noticed when I opened the packet is a smell very similar to powdered hot chocolate but with a matcha hit. When you add the water the smell goes from great to outstanding, literally smells of melting chocolate!

I wondered how well the chocolate and matcha flavours would go together but I have to say I needn’t of worried. The chocolate and matcha are there in equal amounts without one being too strong. The sweetener in the latte helps the flavours to blend, without it the sweet chocolate taste and vegetal matcha flavour might not of been such a good match. This was by far my favourite of the three, I just adore chocolate!

Ginger

This is one I was a little apprehensive about trying but it turned out to be really good. It’s not a sweet gingerbread-like flavour, it’s more of a spicy ginger which goes well with the matcha. I did it slightly too gingery for me but if ginger’s your thing I’m sure you’d love it. Again it’s very economical and made a really good thick milky drink with a lot of froth.

I found this latte smelt really great and the fresh gingery aroma really clears your airwaves when you take a sip. I’m sure if you also found the ginger a little too strong you could sweeten it, especially if you prefer a less natural, sweeter matcha.

 

So that’s my review of these fantastic matcha latte mixes from Yunomi, I really hope you enjoyed reading it and that you choose to try the chocolate, ginger or Yuzu matcha latte mixes for yourself 🙂

A big thanks to Yunomi for sending me these products to review, it’s such an honour to be sent products all the way from Japan so I really appreciate it 😀

As always, please share if you know anyone that will enjoy this review, join my mailing list below and find me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Thanks for reading!

Bye for now xXx

Matcha Tea Reviews

Ethicoco Matcha Flavoured Vegan Chocolate

20th June 2016

A few weeks ago me and my boyfriend took a trip to Bristol for Vegfest, we figured the London and Brighton ones are awesome so we decided to check out Bristol’s too and it didn’t disappoint! I did hope there’d be some tea companies there but sadly there wasn’t, luckily I was able to at least get my matcha fix in the form of matcha flavoured chocolate from ethicoco. The first thing I wanted to do after trying it was write a review, so here it is! 😊

One minor annoyance was the chocolate actually got left in my boyfriends glovebox which is refrigerated but it turns out that’s only when the car’s moving so the chocolate got melted. Thankfully it did set again and didn’t seem to look any different so hopefully it was still tasted in its full glory!

The Texture
The first thing I noticed is the chocolate is really creamy, often I find vegan chocolate is a bit watery and as I’m not actually vegan I tend to like my chocolate more with milk in it. Every time my boyfriend mentions me going vegan I always say chocolate and ice cream would be the things I couldn’t live without so my challenge has always been to find vegan chocolate that I enjoy as much as non vegan chocolate.  Ethicoco’s matcha chocolate really does have that enjoyable melting chocolate quality to it, which I haven’t found in much other vegan chocolate, apart from Vego.

The Taste

The other issue I always have with vegan chocolate is it often tastes like cooking chocolate tastes. This is another one of Ethicoco’s strong points, it does have a nice chocolate flavour and the strength of matcha in their matcha chocolate is perfect. You know the matcha’s there, with the slight dryness it adds but without it being bitter or vegetal. It’s also got enough matcha in it to be blatantly green which is pretty exciting and the matcha kick is really addictive!

Conclusion

I’m pretty pleased with Ethicoco’s matcha chocolate all round, it’s great tasting with a consistency that’s very very close to milk based chocolate. I’m interested to try their other flavours at some point and see how the milk chocolate compares to regular milk chocolate so I’ll add to this review when I get the chance to try them! 😊

Rooibos Tea Reviews

Adagio Teas Green Rooibos Bonita Review

18th June 2016

A few weeks ago I was sent some flavoured matcha by Adagio Teas for review and they were generous enough to include some tea for me to review too. I decided I’d break up the reviews in to separate posts, you can find the flavoured matcha review here.

Next up to be reviewed is Green Rooibos Bonita which is a pretty fantastic name! I was really excited to try this blend as green Rooibos is new to me and I LOVE trying new tea! 😃

As soon as I opened the packet I was hit with an array of citrus smells but also a really tropical aroma. Once the leaves have been steeped they produce a vibrant Amber tea which looks very attractive in my glass teaware 😉

I wasn’t sure how the flavour of green Rooibos would compare to red Rooibos but it’s really awesome. It’s less sickly than red Rooibos which I find can be bit overly sweet when it’s paired with some sweeter ingredients. It’s definitely been one of my most drunk teas since it arrived!

There’s quite an obvious peachy taste to this tea as well which is just the right strength and expertly paired with the green Rooibos.

Overall I’d say this is a fantastic tea that’s definitely worth trying if you’re looking for something new to add to your tea collection. It’s very reasonably priced and can be bought in sample size if you wanna try this tea without the commitment of a large pack.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my review and thanks to Adagio for sending me this awesome new tea to try. I have a few more Adagio tea reviews coming up so be sure to check back!

Which tea should I try next? Leave any suggestions you have in the comments below or let me know on Twitter or Instagram.

Bye for now! xXx

Matcha Tea Reviews Teaphernalia

Review of NEW Adagio Teas Chocolate Matcha & Raspberry Matcha

13th June 2016

A little while ago I decided to start working on a post comparing flavoured matcha from different brands. Adagio Teas were awesome enough to send me a couple of theirs to try so I figured I’d write a review dedicated to the Adagio Teas flavoured matcha and add them to the comparison as well (which I’ll be publishing soon!).

Adagio sent me a 57g tin of their new raspberry flavoured matcha as well as a 57g tin of their new chocolate flavoured matcha.

lid on

The first thing I noticed was how incredible they smell, they really do smell beyond words. I also love the tins, they’re really decorative and a really beautiful touch if the pictures on the inside of the lids, raspberries on one and a chocolatey brown design on the other. A small issue I had with the tins is the matcha had managed to escape a bit and the outside of the tins were a bit covered, this could quite easily just be a one off though.

What’s really good about these flavoured matchas is they’re really good value for money, for just £14 in the UK and $29 in the USA you get a 57g tin of matcha, this is especially cheap and the matcha is still really high quality. Both flavours are a beautiful vivid green colour that’s always nice to see and they froth up really excellently too.

 

Still loving my perfect serving matcha spoon!

Still loving my perfect serving matcha spoon!

Raspberry Flavoured Matcha

I decided to try the raspberry flavoured matcha first as it was more similar to other flavours I’d tried, which were all fruity, so I felt I’d be able to compare them better. As soon as the matcha hit the water the smell erupted in to the kitchen, what surprised me is the smell is so fresh and doesn’t smell artificial in any way.

The flavour is equally as amazing as the scent, the raspberry flavour is very definitely there but without overpowering the matcha flavour. I love unflavoured matcha so I always want my flavoured matcha to still be primarily matcha flavoured and not sweetened in any way so this is perfect on both fronts. The fresh raspberry flavour compliments the drier flavours of the matcha perfectly and the smell as you inhale with each sip is heavenly!

 

Chocolate Matcha

Chocolate Flavoured Matcha

Chocolate is probably my favourite food in the world, I literally adore it! So chocolate was the flavour I was most excited about trying, all the other flavoured matchas I have are all fruit flavours so this one really stood out for me. Upon opening the tin or even as you pick it up before you open it, you can smell this sweet chocolate smell, it kinda smells just like Nesquik milkshake powder!

The chocolate flavour is quite subtle and not overpowering, which I feel is a positive thing. After trying it and thinking about it, I thought that a strong chocolate flavour wouldn’t actually be that great with the vegetal flavours of matcha so it’s subtlety is probably it’s strong point. It’s very obviously matcha but that slightly naughty chocolate flavour is noticeable alongside it, which is a pretty heavenly combo!

So if you’d be wanting this to be crazily chocolatey this probably isn’t for you but I kinda feel that crazily chocolatey isn’t really what you want from your matcha, give me matcha with a chocolatey undertone instead any day! 🙂 It’s really great to be able to enjoy something so healthy and get a chocolate hit at the same time!

 

View from above

Final words

The new flavoured matcha range from Adagio is really exciting and well worth checking out if you like matcha and want something a bit different. These matchas are flavoured to just the right amount, while still retaining the flavour matcha lovers adore.

You can check out the new flavoured matcha’s from Adagio Teas here, other flavours in the range are Cinnamon Apple, Mocha and Peach. I’ll probably end up buying the Cinnamon Apple and Peach as well as I love matcha from Adagio Teas and the chocolate and raspberry didn’t disappoint at all!

Adagio also included some of their tea for me to review as well which I’ll be doing in a separate post so keep a look out for that if you love tea as well! 🙂

Thanks to Adagio for sending me these new flavoured matchas to review, I’m so grateful!

A while back I reviewed Adagio’s IngenuiTEA gravity tea infuser which will seriously change the way you drink tea! You can find the review here.

Thanks for reading! Bye for now 🙂 xXx

 

Fruit Tea Iced Tea Recipes Rooibos

Sparkling Blueberry & Strawberry Cream Soda Iced Tea

9th June 2016

As it’s finally a bit sunny in the UK I figured now would be a good time to have a play in the kitchen and come up with some new iced tea recipes.

Last summer I made a Strawberry Lemonade Iced Tea recipe that was really popular, everyone liked the fizzy element of the lemonade. I decided I’d do another fizzy iced tea recipe but switch the lemonade out for cream soda, which had me reminiscing of childhood quite a lot actually!

I LOVE blueberries so I decided to use Blueberry Rooibos from Whittard of Chelsea, a long time favourite of mine. Using rooibos as the tea base is great as it has sweeter more fruity tones and is also caffeine-free.

 

To make this Sparkling Blueberry & Strawberry Cream Soda Iced Tea you’ll need:

Blueberry Rooibos


  1. Blueberry Rooibos tea from Whittard of Chelsea (or a similar tea but theirs is incredible).

2. Cream Soda

3. Strawberry syrup (I used the ice cream kind but I’m sure it would be even better with strawberry beverage syrup)

4. Ice cubes

 

How to make it:

I love to make iced tea in my kilner jars, this is the perfect infuser as it fit's right in to them so you only need a little water.

I love to make iced tea in my kilner jars, this AdHoc infuser is perfect for them as it fits right in to them and sits on the bottom so you only need a little hot water 🙂

1. It’s really easy to make and only takes a few minutes. First up you need to steep about 1 teaspoon of Blueberry Rooibos tea for every mug you make, in a small amount of boiling water. Only use a little boiling water so you can make the rest of the drink as cool as possible.

2. Fill the rest of the bottle up with chilled cream soda

3. Add a squirt of strawberry syrup and mix

4. Top with ice and you’re good to go!

This is the perfect drink for spending days in the sun, it pairs amazingly with fresh fruit and kids will love it too. You can swap the tea for a different blueberry or berry flavoured tea but I really recommend Blueberry Rooibos from Whittard of Chelsea for that vibrant blueberry flavour.

Be sure to share this with your friends and family 🙂

Thanks for reading, bye for now! xXx



Green Tea Iced Tea Rooibos Tea Reviews

New Bluebird Tea Co. Summer Blends Reviewed!

1st June 2016

Not much beats waking up to a surprise delivery from Bluebird! They’ve launched their new summer blends this week and were nice enough to drop some in the post for me 😃

So the first thing I wanted to do, apart from drink them, was get a review written up for you guys!

 

strawberry split close up

Strawberry Split

First up is strawberry split, a wonderfully fruity, pretty pink blend. It’s green tea that’s absolutely packed with freeze dried strawberries with a fruity but slightly floral scent, it’s literally summer in a packet!

The tea is so pretty to look at before it’s even steeped, it’s full of floral summer colours that will wow your guests. Once the tea’s steeped it produces an equally pretty pink liquid that also smells fantastic, another plus for entertaining with this tea.

It’s incredible iced with a little bit of honey or agave to sweeten it. I find a lot of teas aren’t that great iced, they always seem not sweet enough and I feel like I want to put way too much sugar in. This is the place this tea really excels beyond it’s competition, it so damn good iced! 😃

 

Jelly and ice cream
Jelly & Ice Cream

This is a rooibos based blend which is great for night time drinking and just avoiding caffeine in general, if that’s your thing 😉 The smell is really sweet and took me right back to jelly when I was a kid, I actually always hated adding the ice cream so I’d just eat the jelly but with this tea I welcome both flavours 😊

One of the things I love about Bluebird Tea Co. is their ability to capture a non-tea flavour in their tea. You’d think jelly and ice cream tea would be a fad and you’d get it and find it tastes nothing like it pretends to, but this is different. It really does taste of jelly and ice cream, the sweet flavours combine with the rooibos base perfectly.

This is another blend that’s great iced and will probably be my drinking buddy on the rare days it’s too hot in the UK to drink tea.

Review Complete!

So that’s my review of these two new teas from Bluebird Tea Co. There are another two summer blends from Bluebird; Red Velvet and Sangria. Both look fantastic but Red Velvet is definitely on my list of teas I need in my life!

You can find these summer blends on the Bluebird Tea Co. website here, or roll in to one of their stores in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells or their new Bristol store!

I’d like to say a big thanks to Bluebird Tea Co. for sending me these teas, it was an awesome surprise to wake up to and very much appreciated😊

Bye for now xXx