Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Tea Review: teapigs organic Matcha Green Tea
Prompted in part by the prospect of a year of free matcha, I'm trying the matcha sample sent to me by teapigs a while back.
As a hot brew:
Brewed at 85C, 1/2 tsp, whisked in while pouring the water, with a metal whisk I had on hand.
Smells like seaweed, but the aroma isn't strong. Tastes faintly bitter and astringent, but not overly so. Slight fishy taste also. Definitely tastes like a green tea. It gets stronger tasting towards the bottom of the cup, where most of the powder has settled. Ideally, you're supposed to consume all the powder, but I had quite a bit left in the cup after the last mouthful of tea, and that last mouthful wasn't all that nice - gritty and lumpy.
It doesn't taste all that awesome, to be honest. As far as personal taste goes, I prefer the teapigs yerba mate or jasmine pearls for a morning cup, I think. Especially with either having to whisk between mouthfuls or get a mouthful of dregs at the end.
As a shot:
Room temperature, 1/4 tsp, whisked in a cup first then put in a shot glass.
Difficult to keep from going lumpy - I see why the kit comes with an electric whisk. Much more bitter than the hot brew, and again rather a lot of residue in the glass (which I added more water to, swished, and drank down). On the other hand, it was a shot - so it wasn't bitter for long. A lot less fuss than whisking every other mouthful.
Effects of drinking so much matcha in the morning, after my morning cuppa: Well, I've definitely woken up (no mean feat for me). As far as the other touted benefits go (weight loss, happy skin, etc) - well, they're more long term, and I'm doing other things with my life right now that supply confounding variables. We'll have to see.
Verdict: It's effective (at least in the short term), and although it doesn't taste all that nice, it doesn't taste all that bad, either. I've ordered a pot of it and try the Matcha challenge (one dose every day for two weeks) and then report back. I'm going to try drinking it with coconut water, I think, to see if the sweetness offsets the bitterness any.
About teapigs:
They produce really awesome whole-leaf fine teas, of which I drink many. You should go sign up for their newsletter (there's a box in the footer of all pages) if you're interested in discounts and news about forthcoming products and competitions.
Speaking of discounts, use discount code at the checkout "BLOGGERS12" to get 15% off. It applies to full price products, not cheeky deals and gifts, as they have an inbuilt discount already.
teapigs ships internationally, so no-one gets left out.
As a hot brew:
Smells like seaweed, but the aroma isn't strong. Tastes faintly bitter and astringent, but not overly so. Slight fishy taste also. Definitely tastes like a green tea. It gets stronger tasting towards the bottom of the cup, where most of the powder has settled. Ideally, you're supposed to consume all the powder, but I had quite a bit left in the cup after the last mouthful of tea, and that last mouthful wasn't all that nice - gritty and lumpy.
It doesn't taste all that awesome, to be honest. As far as personal taste goes, I prefer the teapigs yerba mate or jasmine pearls for a morning cup, I think. Especially with either having to whisk between mouthfuls or get a mouthful of dregs at the end.
As a shot:
Difficult to keep from going lumpy - I see why the kit comes with an electric whisk. Much more bitter than the hot brew, and again rather a lot of residue in the glass (which I added more water to, swished, and drank down). On the other hand, it was a shot - so it wasn't bitter for long. A lot less fuss than whisking every other mouthful.
Effects of drinking so much matcha in the morning, after my morning cuppa: Well, I've definitely woken up (no mean feat for me). As far as the other touted benefits go (weight loss, happy skin, etc) - well, they're more long term, and I'm doing other things with my life right now that supply confounding variables. We'll have to see.
Verdict: It's effective (at least in the short term), and although it doesn't taste all that nice, it doesn't taste all that bad, either. I've ordered a pot of it and try the Matcha challenge (one dose every day for two weeks) and then report back. I'm going to try drinking it with coconut water, I think, to see if the sweetness offsets the bitterness any.
About teapigs:
They produce really awesome whole-leaf fine teas, of which I drink many. You should go sign up for their newsletter (there's a box in the footer of all pages) if you're interested in discounts and news about forthcoming products and competitions.
Speaking of discounts, use discount code at the checkout "BLOGGERS12" to get 15% off. It applies to full price products, not cheeky deals and gifts, as they have an inbuilt discount already.
teapigs ships internationally, so no-one gets left out.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Kew Steam Museum photography trip
Yesterday I went with the London Photography Meetup Group to Kew Gardens Steam Museum.
They have lots of old engines there, several of which they fired up and had running. I took about 200 photos. I've linked below my top 20 or so. Click here for the full album.
It was a fun day, and I really want to go back there to take better photographs. Especially if I can get my hands on a macro lens, a telephoto IS lens, and a tripod.
... on a side note, I spent a couple hours today being angsty at blogger's inability to present photographs nicely. It's really starting to annoy me. To be honest, it's almost enough to make me stop doing photography altogether. On the other hand, I don't know what's involved in a move to, for instance, wordpress.
They have lots of old engines there, several of which they fired up and had running. I took about 200 photos. I've linked below my top 20 or so. Click here for the full album.
It was a fun day, and I really want to go back there to take better photographs. Especially if I can get my hands on a macro lens, a telephoto IS lens, and a tripod.
... on a side note, I spent a couple hours today being angsty at blogger's inability to present photographs nicely. It's really starting to annoy me. To be honest, it's almost enough to make me stop doing photography altogether. On the other hand, I don't know what's involved in a move to, for instance, wordpress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)