Vivid Matcha Ceremonial Grade

This is beautiful. It tastes very fresh and green, and is the flavour I really most associate with matcha. I wasn't sure how to make it so I just poured on water just off the boil. The temperature is right, but then, apparently, I should whisk it. Tastes very jummy without whisking, but I might give it a go with whisking next time.

Except. As I'm drinking I feel the effects of caffeine poisoning. So I check. Doh! Matcha tea has over twice the amount of caffeine in normal tea, and is almost the same as coffee. So I have to stop drinking. What a shame, as this tastes lovely, and I thought it would be doing me some good. While there are some benefits from caffeine, it is, on the whole, a substance that we shouldn't be putting into our bodies. And I am particularly susceptible to the negative effects of caffeine. Raised heart rate, dizziness, nausea, etc.

I wonder if there is a caffeine free matcha?


Date: Aug 2019    Score: 8

Lidl Knightsbridge Jasmine

We found this to be a little crude and more earthy than floral.



Date: June 2019   Score: 4

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Lidl Tea & Coffee

Pukka Supreme Matcha Green (Green Collection)

This is the best of the Pukka Green Collection - this is pure green teas. A blend of Sencha, Pin Ho Wild Jade, and Indian green teas, plus a sprinkling (2%) of Jeju Island Emerald Matcha powder. It's bright and refreshing with a delightful seaweed flavour combined with an attractive and natural sweetness.  I really like this.


Date: Feb 2019  Score: 9

Pukka Clean Matcha Green (Green Collection)

This is an attractive blend. It's kind of like the traditional nettle and fennel or the modern version of mint and licorice. There's the dark sweetness of the fennel, combined with light citric almost minty notes. The whole is gently informed by an earthy green tea flavour. This is a subtle, tasty, and relaxing tea. We like it.


Date: Feb 2019  Score: 7

This is very tasty. A little too subtle at times, but well balanced, tasty and interesting. 

Date: Jan 2010   Score: 8

Pukka teas

Pukka Mint Matcha Green (Green Collection)

A calm mint tea. A little bland. Nothing much of interest here flavour wise.


Date: Jan 2019  Score: 4

Mint tea

Pukka Ginseng Matcha Green (Green Collection)

Oooh, this works for me. Though ginseng is good for you, and I like the idea of drinking it, I often find it just a bit too earthy for my taste, but here it is used to bring a gentle warmth into the flavour matching and enhancing the ginger and the sweetness of the licorice. Sometimes Pukka really do blend ingredients very well. This is lovely.


Date: Jan 2019  Score: 9

Pukka teas

Pukka Wonder Berry Green (Green Collection)

Wonder Berry Green is one of the selections inside the Pukka Green Collection box. It has a bewildering array of ingredients, including the ubiquitous rosehip.  I think there's probably too many as the result, for me, is a bit of a muddle. There's some sweetness from the licorice, some sort of mildly sharp raspberry fruitiness from the assorted fruits, and a consistent soft heat from the ginger, and a general earthiness from the green tea. On the whole the ingredients don't meld together, and not necessarily accompany or contrast each other. It feels a bit messy at times.

Ingredients

Date: Jan 2019   Score: 4

Tea Pigs Mao Feng Green Tea

Mao Feng, or Huangshan Maofeng to give it its full name, is a Chinese green tea with claimed health properties. It is one of the most famous China teas.  Generally the same leaves can be used several times over, but to do that the leaves need to be removed from the hot water after a few minutes rather than left in. Tea Pigs don't mention that, but it is common with this particular tea, as explained here.

We like this tea. It is very green tasting and refreshing. When hot it has a mild savoury flavour - a little salty perhaps, or smoky, and is a bit like seaweed, particularly lava bread - a Swansea delicacy I love. When cold it is sweeter and has delicate fruit flavour.

Nice.

Date: Dec 2018  Score: 8

Aldi Diplomat Jasmine Green Tea

Fresh, green, pleasant, light and drinkable. This is a pretty decent jasmine tea. Refreshing, with a delicate floral aroma and flavour. Nice one.

Date: June 2017   Score: 8

***

Aldi tea and coffee

Huifang Chinese Tea

Gift brought back by a work colleague from a trip to China. Very attractive box. Very little information in English or Chinese. Inside the box are 15 green packets of what appears to be and what tastes like  gunpowder tea. It lacks impact for me. It is watery, vaguely grassy, earthy; hints of mint and pepper. It's not a tea I'm going to reach for often as it reminds me of dirty dishwater.

Twinings Jasmine Green Tea

Jasmine tea is a scented tea, like Earl Grey or Lapsang souchong. It is made by infusing green tea with the scent of jasmine flowers during the night when jasmine releases its fragrance. Jasmine was introduced into China during the Han Dynasty (pre-200AD), and began to be used to flavour tea in the fifth century. Jasmine tea is now China's most famous and most popular scented tea.

This is a pleasant tea - fresh and lively, and very refreshing. We have a habit of drinking jasmine tea when having an Asian meal - maybe a Chinese take-away, or some form of stir-fry perhaps; we like to drink it the way it is served in Chinese restaurants: in small cups, poured often from a warm teapot. It's not often I actually drink it in large cups, just by itself. But when I do, I find it very compelling. I don't find this Twinnings blend to be as fragrant as those we buy in China Town in London, but it is very drinkable. I prefer to keep the bag in the water, though it is recommended to remove it after two or three minutes. Each to their own, but I do like a flavoured tea, and while I like the jasmine to scent my tea, I do also like and want the flavour of the tea itself. Without the support of the base tea, this can taste a bit like stewed grass cuttings.

Date: Jan 2014  Score: 5

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Twinings