Chocobubbo's Tea and Rantings

Cookies

2010-08-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Checkerboard cookies

I wish i could make them as pretty as these :( i used the wrong coloured dough for the outermost shell

http://www.bakingobsession.com/2008/10/21/checkerboard-cookies/

Chocolate Matcha Poker Chip Cookies

:( i suck at rolling and whatnot

http://www.bakingobsession.com/2010/01/10/chocolate-matcha-poker-chip-cookies/

Summerlicious 2010

2010-08-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

Went to quite a few restaurants for summerlicious this year. It was a little damaging to my wallet, but well worth it!

Jump

Bigeye Tuna Tartare & Spicy Sopressata
cracked olives, garlic grissini, arugula, lemon and Sicilian organic extra virgin olive oil

Oops, I'm contributing to the extinction of another species, but it was delicious

Jump

Grilled Top Sirloin Fettina
charred onion, heirloom tomato and rocket salad with crumbled Gorgonzola

Nice, pounded down, well-done steak

Jump

Chocolate Toffee Crunch Cheesecake
dulce de leche cream

Tasted a lot more like mousse than cheesecake.

Senses! Flowers

Senses

charred Kobe flank steak and chilled soba noodle salad, pickled vegetables

This was delish! But we had our doubts that this was actually Kobe beef

Senses

pan-roasted citrus free range chicken breast, citrus segments, summer sprout mix salad, citrus-honey-mustard dressing

The chicken was super tender, but a bit flavourless

Senses

pan-seared bacon wrapped monkfish medallions, Vodka shiitake mushroom tomato sauce

good but not spectacular

Senses

roasted new zealand lamb chops, charred vegetable tian tower, lemon thyme balsamic vinaigrette

Yum! the lamb was perfectly cooked and flavoured

Senses

warm cherry crème brulee and flambéed cherries

less creme, more brulee coz its served on a plate

Senses

peach tart with vanilla ice cream

peach tart was disappointing, tasted like mooncakes. icecream too =_=

Senses

White Chocolate cheesecake

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ♥

(forgot to bring camera to Bymark, so dont have pics of that)

Far Niente

Panko Crusted Shrimp and Haddock Croquette
Corn, Tomato and Green Onion Salsa, Chili Caper Mayo

Delicious!!!! ♥ absolutely perfect. crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside filled with haddock and potato

Far Niente

Grilled Top Sirloin Steak
Fontina Cheese and Truffled Sour Cream Baked Potato, Red Wine Jus

Overcooked on the first try. WAY way wayyyy too well-done. Had it redone to medium and was perfect.

Far Niente

Chocolate Espresso Ganache Tart
Chantilly Cream

Very chocolatey, must have used cayenne in the tart. again, good but nothing special

Biff's Bistro

Chicken liver parfait with Brent’s mustard

Not my starter, but it was pretty good

Biff's Bistro

Cured Albacore tuna with lentilles du Puy & preserved lemon

This was amazing. the parsley pesto sauce was absolutely divine, and perfect for dipping bread and everything else in.

Biff's Bistro

Gazpacho with shrimp hache & crème fraîche

Yum

Biff's Bistro

Roasted pork loin with fingerling potato & apple gastrique

Not mine, but it looks yummy

Biff's Bistro

Flatiron steak frites

Way too raw the first time. I sent it back but still a bit too raw, owell...

Biff's Bistro

Warm flourless chocolate torte with strawberries & Grand Marnier

Fluffy and crunchy chocolate bits ♥

Bakes Shrimps with Turkey Breast Scallopini and Mashed Potatoes

2010-08-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Turkey Spaghetti

2010-08-15T20:06:00.001-07:00

Turkey Chili

2010-08-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

Made turkey chili a while ago. Here's some pictures. :)

In progress.

And voila! I tend to put too much cayenne pepper so it gets too spicy but the spicier the better! ^^

Live Lobster

2010-05-09T16:29:00.000-07:00

Live lobsters were on sale this weekend at my nearest grocery store. So, being the cheapskate that I am, I went to buy one. (still a good 10 bucks though)

The poor little thing was put into this box for me to take home.

The poor little one... when it was still alive... I almost got too attached to kill it... might have just kept it as a pet in my pot or something...

But I did suck it up and became a murderer.... put it in head first... and wham its dead.... >< salt the water, about 1 tbsp per quart of water, bring to a boil, and then cook about 10-12 minutes.

There, he's pretty big. Looking at him makes me sad...

The lobby with garlic butter and Passion of Portugal 2008.

Look at the lovely lobster tail. Tastes delishous when sprayed with lemon and dipped in garlic butter!

Baked Chicken Drumsticks

2010-05-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

Baked Chicken Drumsticks with long grain rice and grape tomatoes

Drumsticks are marinated in a blend of herbs and marinating soy sauce overnight, then baked at 350F for 50 minutes, flipped half way through.

I admit, the grape tomatoes are just there to make things look prettier, but they all taste pretty good together!

Susur Lee's LEE Restaurant in Toronto

2010-05-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

When I first saw that Susur Lee's restaurant had a $28 prix fixe, I was so excited I almost jumped in my seat. I've heard of how utterly amazing Susur is from many many other people, and have idolized him ever since I saw the episode of him being on Iron Chef!

So of course, I had to try this $28 prix fixe. Never had Susur's food before and only knowing that he makes Asian fusion cuisine, I didn't really know what to expect. The two of us decided to try different things from the menu, since they offered two choices for the appetizer, main, and dessert.

The Table settings with a plate to place appetizers to share.

Starter1
Szechwan Hot & Sour Soup
Chicken & shredded vegetable

We thought that this was fairly generic, but pretty good. It has yiutiao slices on top with sesame oil. I find that this soup is more Cantonese styled rather than Sichuan styled, as it's more sour than hot.

Starter2
Singaporean Style Slaw
(contains nuts)

Susur's signature dish for manu years. This was AMAZING!!!!!!! I could eat it FOREVER! The mesh of textures and flavours with the salted ume dressing was sensational. No wonder he serves it at all his restaurants. Even people who are mostly carnivores will enjoy this dish. Apparently has 18 ingredients:(found a recipe online)
1 pickled red onion
1 1/2 cups Salted Apricot Dressing
2 green onions, both white and green parts, julienned
Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 taro root, peeled and julienned
2 ounces rice vermicelli – broken into 3 inch pieces
1 large English cucumber, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 small jicama, peeled and julienned
2 large roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
4 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
6 teaspoons crushed roasted peanuts
4 teaspoons edible flower petals
4 teaspoons fennel seedlings
4 teaspoons purple basil seedlings
4 teaspoons daikon sprouts
4 teaspoons fried shallots

Main 1
Korean Style Skirt Steak
Garlic mushroom, spicy ponzu, mashed potato

AMAZING STEAK ♥ The Skirt steak was chewy but still fairly tender and the korean sauce really brought out the complex flavours of the meat.

Main 2
Caramelized Black Cod
Citrus butter sauce, potato croquette

The cod was very nicely done. Better than the cod I was served at Guu-izakaya, a new Japanese restaurant in Toronto with quite a bit of word of mouth. (I went there a few days ago and the line to get in took over an hour.) The citrus butter sauce complimented the cod perfectly, and was somewhat sweet, not as sweet as Guu's. the Patatoe Croquettes were nothing special. It might be better if it was more strongly flavoured with a more fluffy outer shell. And I wish the cod was bigger... :(

Dessert1
Tong Yuen Sweet Rice Dumpling
Chocolate ganache, shredded coconut, hazelnut, peanut, & sesame seeds (6 pce)

Supposed to be 6 pieces but only got 3... and wasnt anything special... :( Growing up Chinese, I've had a lot of tangyuan in my life, so This didn't really impress me very much. I'm sure it would be great to someone who's trying it for the first time though!

Dessert 2
Molten Chocolate Cake
Chocolate hazelnut crumble, caramelized jackfruit, vanilla bean ice cream

I wish that I had gotten this instead. It was a lot better and more worth it than the tangyuan. The chocolate cake was very nicely done, and the jackfruit inside tasted sweet, crunchy and slightly ginger-y.

Good coffee, with cream and brown sugar crystals.

Overall, I would say it was a very positive experience, food-wise. But we waited more than 40 minutes after we finished our starters to get the mains, and that is just unacceptable for a restaurant of this caliber. The servers were very sweet and helpful, and seemed knowledgeable. My guess is that Susur must not be in Toronto this day (I hear that he will drop in on the customers sometimes if he were) and the kitchen just got messy.... :(

Tuna Onigiri

2010-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Really easy to make and is a very nice quick snack. Just cook rice, sprinkle with Japanese rice vinegar to taste (and a bit of salt if you like), mix. And then mix with any of your desired seasonings or fillings. In this case, I used flaked tuna from a can, but you can use all sorts of fillings, like furikake or pickled vegetables. I've used xue cai before, and it turned out really well.

To wrap it quickly and efficiently, put a piece of plastic wrap over a bowl, and scoop the desired about into the bowl, then you can shape it and wrap the onigiri up for whenever you want to eat.

Forgive the photo quality as the steam in the plastic wrap makes it really hard to take good photos.

One cup of cooked rice can make around two small onigiris, about the size of my fist.

Onigiri unwrapped!

Chocolate Blackberry Cake

2010-04-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Had some leftover blackberries and wanted to make something out of it. I was debating between a blackberry poundcake or a coffee cake until I realized that I wanted neither. So there's the birth of a chocolate blackberry cake. Found the following recipe and got started.

The picture doesn't look too bad, does it? The fact of the matter is, I have trouble working with springform cake pans, for some strange reason. and the cakes I make out of them always look messed up... =_= So the picture above is actually of a good looking slice. Tastes great though! ^^ The ground almonds made the crusts very crunchy and almost caramelized while the inside chocolatey parts are still soft and moist.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
• butter, for greasing
• 150 g chocolate (70%cocoa)
• 100 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 125 g sugar
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau liqueur (I used very concentrated instant coffee instead)
• 100 g ground almonds (skin on)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour
• 100 g blackberries
• icing sugar, for dusting

Directions
1. Line and butter a springform of 20cm.
2. Melt butter and chocolate on low heat. Let cool a little bit while stirring. Add eggs, sugar and gran marnier (or cointreau). Mix cornstarch (or flour) with ground almonds and add. Pour mixture into springform. Stick blackberries into mixture. Bake in the middle of a 200°C oven for 20-25 minutes. THE CAKE SHOULD STILL BE MOIST. Remove cake and let cool.
3. Cool for several hours or best overnight.
4. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve as it is or with whipped cream, sour cream or ice cream.

Tomato Soup with Cream

2010-03-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

Adapted from a recipe book called "Comfort Food".

Tomato soup with cream

For some reason the colour of this soup looks really off from the one in the recipe book... I'm assuming its coz different types of tomatoes are used?

Perfect Chocolate Macarons

2010-03-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Macarons SUCCESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSS!!!

I finally made some (almost) perfect looking macarons!!! after like a million tries. look at the pretty foot in those cookies!

Look how nice and smooth they seem! <3 Should try making other flavours too, haha ^^

Food that I Made in the Last Year

2010-01-30T19:11:00.000-08:00

Haven't posted here for a while, so I'm going to spam the blog with the whole lot of food that I made in the last year or so. Of course, I'm neither a food stylist or a photographer by profession, so please excuse the unprofessional presentation and picture taking skills. :)

Challah

Plum Clafoutis, recipe courtesy of Bea at La Tartine Gourmande.

Strawberry Tartelette

Apple Cinnamon Tartlette

Mango Cardamom Tartelette

Creme Renversee, recipe courtesy of Bea again.

Chocolate Macarons, recipe courtesy of David Lebovitz. First try. Terribly ugly and overfolded but the taste is ok. Hopefully one day I can post a picture of a successful try.

Coconut Panna Cotta with Blackberry Stew, recipe courtesy of La Tartine Gourmarnde.

Curry Chicken with rice.

Anniversary Dinner
Bread - Brioche

Anniversary Dinner
Amuse - Avocado and Grapefruit Millefeuille, recipe courtesy of Bea

Anniversary Dinner
Appetizer1 - Seared Scallops and Green Apples, recipe courtesy of Bea

Anniversary Dinner
Appetizer2 - Coconut Milk Mussel Soup, recipe courtesy of Bea again

Anniversary Dinner
Main1-Sauteed Duck Foie Gras

Anniversary Dinner
Main2 - Provençal Rack of Lamb

Anniversary Dinner
Dessert- Poached Pear Tart with Tapioca Pudding and Peach Jam

Sausage Casserole

Double chocolate biscotti with coffee made from french press

Rosemary Focaccia with a poolish

Shrimp, chicken, and sausage Jumbalaya! Long-grained rice probably would have turned out better than Japanese rice, but still good ^^

Curry Beef Samosas, made with phyllo pastry

Creme of Onion soup

Eggs Benedict. English muffin topped with crispy bacon and poached egg with Hollandaise sauce.

Creme of Broccoli Soup with Blue Cheese Fritters, courtesy of Chef John at Foodwishes.com. He claimed it was the best soup he ever made, and I don't disagree! It really is a marvelous soup! I felt a little wasteful as I used my black Roquefort Papillion for it ($6USD per 100grams!!!!), since I had no other blue cheese on hand :(..... But the taste is amazing!

Tonkatsu (deep fried breaded pork tenderloin) with rice and Worcestershire sauce, recipe courtesy of the Shizuoka Gourmet!

Teavana Giveaway by Make Life Delicious blog

2009-06-19T23:01:00.000-07:00

I stumbled on this Teavana giveawya on the following blog. Feel free!

Make life delicious.

BBQ Ribs

2009-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

My mom makes these very well with baked potatoes. So now I've made some the way she does it.

Ribs

Potatoes

Ingredients:

Pork side ribs

BBQ Sauce

Potatoes

Procedures:

Brush both sides of ribs with BBQ sauce, put potatoes underneath, cover potatoes with water.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 80 minutes, flip ribs every 20 minutes and brush with BBQ sauce again.

Drained and baked Potatoes alone for another 40 minutes.

YUM!

Ratatouille

2009-06-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

First try at making ratatouille. It was amazing.

Ingredients:

Equal amount of tomatoes, orange bell peppers, zuchini, and eggplant

Mixed herbs

Salt

Chicken stock

Topped with cornmeal-marinated goat cheese

Procedures:

Cut veggies into chunks.

Layer them in the pot: eggplant, zuchini, bell peppers, tomatoes.

Add some chicken stock.

Cook on low heat for 90 minutes.

Serve.

Teavana's Peach Tranquility

2009-06-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

A fruit tisane. Sadly enough, I'm a sucker for fruiTea things like this that pretend to be tea but isn't. It's just so yummy! :)

Vendor Description:

A delightfully harmonious blend of candied peach pieces, pineapple, lemon myrtle, Roman chamomile, sunflower petals and rosehips create a most peaceful blend. Use 1.5 teaspoons of tea per 8oz of water. Heat water to 208 degrees and steep for 5-6 minutes. 2oz of tea equals 25-30 teaspoons. Apples, candied pineapple, candied peach pieces, sunflower petals, lemon myrtle leaves, roman chamomile, and rosehips.

Fruit bits.

One of my friends gave me this teacup and saucer set as a belated holiday present! It's from Teaopia. So cute!~

Parameters: 1 tsp of dried up fruits and stuff, 6 oz boiling water, steeped forever!

Really yummy, probably a little bit artificially sweetened, but owell, still yum! :) Smells like peaches, taste like peaches! I can't say much about Teaopia's business tactics, as I've notices it's quite lacking in proper administration, but this tea is pretty yum! (A bit overpriced though, as it is only 2oz of dried fruits....)

Teavana's Assam Gold Rain

2009-06-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

Vendor description:

Comes from one of the finest estates of the Assam region of India. Famous for its fruity yet malty flavor with a tannic red-wine aftertaste. (FTGFOP-1)(Special)

FTGFOP-1. So imressive.... My first exposure to a higher class assam. Far Too Good For Ordinary People, indeed.

The leaves are full, and in good condition it seems.

The music note tea stainer is cute, no? I got it from DealExtreme.com. :) Either the top or bottom half is a perfect teaspoon!

Teacups were supposed to be part of a set from Teavana, but many items of the set broke, so they gave me a refund, and I managed to salvage these :)

First and second infusions.

Spent leaves.

1tsp tea, 5oz boiling water, 35 seconds, 50 seconds.

The instructions are:

Use 1 teaspoon tea per 8oz of water. Heat water to 195-205 degrees and steep for 2-3 minutes. 2oz of tea equals 25-30 teaspoons.

Maybe I'll try that again next time.....

I really enjoyed this tea. The Maltiness is delish! Quite complex a flavour with mostly heavy fruit and some floral notes. Not sure about the red wine aftertaste though, as I know almost nothing about red wine.... :|

First and second infusions are very consistent, but I can tell that the temperature is too high and leaf/water ratio is too high as well. Great tea! But perhaps even better next time.

Love it!

Ippodo's Matcha: Wakamatsu-no-Mukashi

2009-06-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I received this matcha, and now's as good a time to post a review as any.

Vendor description:

Ground from shade-cultivated tea leaves, matcha is rich in theanine - an amino acid responsible for matcha's full-bodied mellow sweetness. In Japan, there is a special name for this taste: umami. Generally, the higher the grade, the richer the umami taste.

Characterized by its rich aroma, full-bodied mellow sweetness, and vivid green color, matcha is a favorite among tea lovers in Japan. Invigorating and full of nutrients, matcha is the perfect drink to rejuvenate your mind and body. It tastes best when served with sweets.

For the matcha connoisseur with a discerning taste, Wakamatsu-no-mukashi is an excellent choice. Rich in umami, it has a distinct fragrance and aftertaste that linger pleasantly in the throat. Wakamatsu-no-mukashi is also an excellent choice as a koicha.

This matcha was named by Jimyosai-sosho XIV, the grand master of the Omote-Senke family of tea masters.

This grade of matcha is the same as that used for Seiun, which was named by the Ura-Senke family of tea masters.

Size of Package: H46mm x D53mm
Net Weight: 20 grams
Per Serving: 2 grams (usucha) 4 grams (koicha)
Shelf Life: 120 days

Sifted matcha.

Et, voila!

The parameters are: 4 chashaku, 20ml water at 70 degrees Celcius.

I have to say, the koicha of Wakamatsu-no-Mukashi is the best koicha I have ever had, even better than my beloved Matcha Pinnacle from Teaopia (which now all finished, by the way :( ...). The umami taste is so bold and fresh it really kicks in and grabs your attention from everything. No astringency or bitterness whatsoever, even if you try to nitpick at it. All in all, SO WONDERFUL, it makes me afraid to try the other ones which are supposedly even better than this. E.g. the Ummon-no-Mukashi and Seiun from Ippodo, and of course, the Matcha Manten from O-cha.

One unfortunate thing about the Wakamatsu, compared to my Matcha Pinnacle, is that it would be a sacriledge to make it as an usucha. Since it has no astringency or other characteristic tastes, when made into an usucha, it tastes extremely bland and dissappointing, whereas Matcha Pinnacle is great as either usucha or koicha with a balanced taste.

At 1500 yen for 20gs, I have to say, this is the best koicha at the best value I have ever tried. Absolutely marvelous. <3

First exposure to Pu-er

2009-06-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while because of busyness from school and everything else. But now I'm back!

I did a little tea swap with one of my friends, I gave her some matcha, and she gave me some pu-er. Not sure about the terroir and vintage, but I was told that this is a very high quality shu bingcha.

Very very densely stuck together :|

Rinsed 10s, dumped out. Then first infusion on the left, second on the right.

Third infusion on left, fourth on right.

The teacups are lovely, no? :) They are doublewalled cups I got from Teavana. They called it Petite Fleur Suspendus, and are now completely sold out I think. :|

Feeling lazy, so just gonna write this way, still understandable.

3.5g, 5oz boiling water, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 63 seconds, 76 seconds. Can probably make more infusions as the taste has not waned at all.......

Spent leaves.

I'm actually pretty amazed. This is my very first exposure to pu-er, and the first time I made it, I was actually a little grossed out by the fungus-y scent and the metalicky strange taste. But after that, I'm actually starting to truly appreciate it for its complexity. Each infusion is more complex and multifaceted than the one before it. It makes me really want to get into learning more about the marvelous world of pu-er..... But I'm poor now, need to finish all my shincha before I dwelve into all that....

Reviews to come

2009-05-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

Things I need to review next:

> Hashiri Shincha from Den's (and shincha tokoname kyusu)

> Gyokuro Suimei from Den's

> Pom-a-Berry Rooibos from Sweet Dreams

> Boysenberry Black Tea from Sweet Dreams (Assam-based, I think)

> Fuji the Ultimate, a Fukamushi Shincha from Zencha

> The rest of the matcha from Ippodo

(and more.... as they get here)

People tell me I'm crazy :(..... I'm just a LEETLE fanatic, is all.

Sweet Dream's Belgian Choclate Rooibos

2009-05-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist. They looked so cute (to be honest, its the cute little glass jars and the packaging that got to me), so here it is. Belgian chocolate rooibos, pom-a-berry rooibos, and boysenberry black tea (Assam based, I believe).

This post will just be about the chocolate rooibos. But before that I wanna say, I've never been the biggest fan of rooibos, some thing about the flavour and the smell turns me off. And the fact that there's the lack of caffeine punch.

Typical rooibos leaves. Apparently it contains rooibos, calendula petals, cacao bean pieces and natural chocolate flavour.

It has a very distinct rooibos scent with a pungent chocolatey smell, a bit sweet as well, in the rooibos sort of way.

First Infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsps

Water: 1 cup

Water Temperature: boiling.

Brew Time: 3.5 minutes

Review. It has a fairly rich chocolate aroma, that's for sure. But can't say much about the taste. Just bland rooibos, I guess, nothing special. It does have a full, rich mouth feel, but I can't tell if that's from the cocao beans or the flavouring. Nyeh.

SecondInfusion:

Water Temperature: boiling.

Brew Time: 5 minutes

Review. EVERYTHING IS GONE! =_= Bland Yucky Gross. EW. Pretty color though, but that's all the good I can say about it.

Overall, I still don't like rooibos, and this tea hasn't turned me around yet. I will try it with milk next time, and just one infusion. After all, I can still store cute little teas in that cute little tea jar, so my money's not that wasted after all! :)

2009 Shincha: Zencha's Sencha the Ultimate, from Yame

2009-05-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Received this last week, and finally perfected it.

Vendor Description

Estimated date of shipment: April 30, 2009
Please note that shipping date might be slightly changed according to the weather conditions.
This is the tea specially produced for exhibition and in limited supply.
Only first two leaves and buds are carefully picked by hands.
Rich in natural sweet aroma and fresh scent with excellent astringent taste.

The tea itself has a very sweet aroma, less vegetal than the previous shincha, the Yukata Midori, likely because this is an asamushi rather than fukamushi.

The leaves are also less broken up from the steaming process. Some leaves are quite long and rolled up.

First Infusion:

Tea: 4g

Water: 1 cup

Water Temperature: 70 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 75 seconds

Review: Beautiful clear green colour. Very creamy and clean tasting, smells sweet, not astringent at all. Sweet aftertaste. Very little residue compared to the fukamushi.

Second Infusion:

Water Temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 40 seconds

Review: OH THE PRETTY MURKY GREEN! Extremely grassy and vegetal, more body and the after taste is quite sweet, and a slight slight astringent feeling hanging in my throat.

Third Infusion:

Water Temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 40 seconds

Review: Similar colour to the first infusion, not much punch left, but still yummy, sweet after taste.

Overall: Excellent tea, but comparatively too expensive. It was $22USD for 50g including shipping. O-cha's Yutaka Midori is much more worth it at $27.20USD for 100g including shipping. I think the fukamushi taste suits my palate more as well (more punch).

Ippodo matcha!

2009-05-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

I placed the order on Ippodo's website last Thursday, it was shipped on Friday, and arrived on Tuesday. Essentially 2 business days from Japan. Even though the shipping cost is a bit expensive, but this makes me amazed at the efficiency of these people.

The neatly packaged matcha cans/boxes from Ippodo, all wrapped in paper printed with the beginning part of Cha-Jing by ancient Chinese tea expert Lu Yu from the Tang Dynasty. I ordered almost all of their matcha except for the Ummon-no Mukashi and the Seiun (the two most expensive ones).

Kaishi that I ordered from Ippodo as well. SO NICE. Printed with flowers and stuff too! :)

A few of the guides and catalog from Ippodo. Great business skills! And great packaging and fast delivery. They really do have the 4Ps of marketing down.

So I couldn't wait. I needed to test them all. Ended up trying only the 4 lowest grades, 2 chashaku each. I wanted to try more, but my head started going swooooozy over the amount of caffeine, so I stopped.

First I started off with the cheapest one. The Hatsu-Mukashi. SO GROSS, as either koicha or usucha. Maybe I'm just used to my nice pinnacle grade from Teaopia and the contrast is making it feel worse than it actually is, but i really felt very disgusted by it. The flavour is so bitter and sharp and astringent, especially as a koicha, I wanted to throw up. Sadly I read that it was good somewhere, so I ordered 3 boxes of 40g. Guess I will only use it as a food grade in the future. Thank goodness they were only 500yen each.

Next is the Fuku-Mukashi. At 1000yen for 40g box, I think this is actually not too bad of a deal. I wouldn't mind using it as an usucha when I'm really desperate for matcha. Most likely though, it will end up as ice cream topping just like the Hatsu-Mukashi.

Now we have the Kimmo-no-Mukashi, 600yen for 20g, which Ippodo recommends as beginner's matcha. I can see why they recommend it: it frothes well, nice colour, a degree of sweetness, but still enough astringency and enough bitterness to make a statement. Still can't compare to my Teaopia Matcha Pinnacle though. (But that was $35CAD for 30g, so, although not saying price equals quality, but these are totally not on the same level. DUH)

Lastly, the Ikuyo-no-Mukashi, 1200yen for 40g, was not too bad either. I would say it is even more bold and astringent than the Kimmo, with much less sweetness. My terrible attempt at making a koicha out of it made me wanna cry. Expensive matcha cheesecake filler is what I guess this tin will turn out to be.

Although I have yet to try the other matcha, Ippodo's business methods are seriously impressive to me, as a business student. The way they conduct themselves, the professionalism and dedication, the attention to detail, and everything about the way they've handled each transaction scream out how wonderful the minds of these business people are. Very admirable.

2009 Shincha from Zencha

2009-05-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Received two items from Zencha: Fuji the Ultimate and Sencha the Ultimate. They also sent a little packet of sample tea with it, not sure what it is, but it's pretty good.

Fuji the Ultimate:

Vendor Description: Our best "Fukamushi" green tea, taste so rich and flavorful.

Produced with experienced and fine craftsmanship using only hand picked first flush tealeaves. Excellent balance of natural sweet aroma and astringent taste. First flush: A flush is a picking of the leaves. The first flush is the first picking of the season.

Sencha the Ultimate:

Vendor Description: This is the tea specially produced for exhibition and in limited supply.
Only first two leaves and buds are carefully picked by hands.
Rich in natural sweet aroma and fresh scent with excellent astringent taste.

Tried them both, both quite good, will post reviews later when I perfect the brewing techniques specific to each tea.

The tea canisters I got from Yuuki-Cha. Very cute, eh?

Sencha the Ultimate, Yukata Midori, and Fuji the Ultimate. Respectively.

Japanese chopsticks

2009-05-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

This is pretty random, but I got a few pairs of Japanese chopsticks that are pretty neat looking, so will now share!

Neat, Eh?

The art is really cool :|

2009 SHINCHA! The Famous Yutaka Midori!~

2009-05-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Wow, I was so excited when I got to university residence and discovered this package from o-cha. Couldn't wait to take a picture before I opened it.

Inside, there is the cutest little package.

The packaging is so nice and pretty, with a sticker that says Shincha on top.

The Big Moment! The bag has been opened!~ The incredible creamy, vegetal, and chestnut-like scent just jumps into your face, and yells "I AM SHINCHA! DRINK ME NOW!" The leaves are broken up but does not seem as broken as a fukamushi-sencha like the Yutaka Midori should be.

The real colour is actually a bit greener than this, but not as green as many pictures I've seen of previous years' Yutaka Midori Shincha. I was actually slightly disappointed, to be honest, but the taste made up for it. Maybe I didnt brew it properly?

First Infusion:

Tea: 0.75 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew time: 1 minute

Review: SO FRESH! SO CREAMY and YUMMY! A bit on the lighter side for a shincha, but maybe I just need to vary up the techniques a bit?

Second Infusion:

Tea: 0.75 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew time: 1 minute 20 seconds

Review: Even lighter than first infusion, a bit disappointing. But I'm sure it's just me that havn't gotten the gist of it yet. No worries, I will experiment lots :)

Need to play around with it some more and perfect the brew. As it is, it seems a little difficult to perfect, but the wonderful smell tells me that it's not the shincha's fault, it's my fault. :(

2009 First Flush Qing Dao Lao Shan Green Tea

2009-05-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine brought me back a 2009 first flush Qing Dao Lao Shan on his visit to China recently. To be absolutely honest, I didn't expect too much from this tea, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The bag is very nice too, with different caligraphy writings of "cha" on it.

The leaves are curled, but are still whole. Has a smell similar to sencha, fresh and vegetal, but with a hint of nuts, more to the pistacios variety.

First infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water temperature: boiling. I don't know why, but that was the instructions on the box. Strange though for a chinese green.

Steep time: 30 seconds

Review: Quite suprisingly good. The nutty, creamy, vegetal taste is very obvious. And smells heavenly. Not astringent or yucky like other Chinese greens first infusion.

Second infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water temperature: boiling.

Steep time: 40 seconds

Review: Still not bad, but strange for a Chinese green, not as good as the first infusion. Not nearly as fragrant and slightly astringent, may be because I left it in for too long.

Third infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water temperature: boiling.

Steep time: 45 seconds

Review: Flavour is lighter, but pretty consistent with the second infusion.

Kinda hard to imagine that I just made Chinese green with boiling water. But since those were the instructions, I had to try it this way. Next time, I shall make it normally =_=

Huang Shan Mao Feng Revisited

2009-05-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

I ran out of things to drink as more tea orders are waiting for me at university residence. Moving back tomorrow or Sunday, yay! :)

So in my desperation, I tried the Huang Shan Mao Feng again (after 4 chashaku of matcha), except this time, sencha-style.

I quitupled the amount of tea leaves 5 tsps for 1 cup of water, lowered the temperature some more to around 70 degrees Celcius, and steeped for 30-35 seconds each infusion.

First infusion:

Still bad. Gross, yucky, bad, astringent, and the whole 9 yards. Might just have felt like that because I just had yummy koicha, and in contrast it's even more terrible.

Second infusion:

MUCH better than the last time I made it and posted pictures. The flavour is much more fragrant and leafy, very slightly more astringent, but may be because the water temp is still a bit too high.

Third infusion:

Light, but still packed more punch than the third infusion of last time. No astringency, but not sweet like sencha. The leaves expanded pretty well by this point. Really, pretty good. Actually, I'd say it's better than even the second infusion last time.

Overall, much more fragrant and flavourful, but not comparable to good sencha or higher grade mao fengs. Not even close.

Sweet Dreams Tea's Mango Teaser

2009-04-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

A bit stale mango green tea from Sweet Dreams. First, second and third infusions. Actually this picture is mostly to show off the pretty teacups sets. XD (it's a set of 6, but I broke one TT.TT )

The next picture will show the colours of each infusion better.

First Infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1/2 cup

Water Temperature: 75 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 30 seconds

Review: Can taste the staleness quite obviously, overrides the mango smell. Very Slightly astringent.

Second Infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1/2 cup

Water Temperature: 70 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 30 seconds

Review: Staleness smell is gone, but the mango aroma in this can be easily distinguished as artificial. If one were to not mind that too much, it's not a bad cup of tea. No astringency or bad aftertaste.

Third Infusion:

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1/2 cup

Water Temperature: 85 degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 25 seconds

Review: Comparable to the second brew with less of the fake mango smell. The green tea base on its own is just so-so.

To sum it up: too stale, too fake, and nothing special

Matcha Pinnacle's Koicha Pictures

2009-04-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Here's some Koicha pictures for the Teaopia's matcha pinnacle.

Tea: 2 chashaku

Water: 20ml

Water Temperature: 70 degrees Celcius

This picture is taking right after whisking with the chasen. The consistency is very thick and yogurt like with no bubbles.

Very viscous indeed.

And the colour is so beautiful. :)

Hehe... I licked the bowl to get more of it out. Ended up just adding a bit more water and making usucha out of the rest, which, interestingly, is the order that formal tea ceremonies are done. Koicha first, then usucha.

It was so delicious <3>

2008 HuangShan (Yellow Mountain) MaoFeng

2009-04-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

This post is about a 2008 Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain, which is actually my home town) Mao Feng that I have stocked at home. My mom got it on her trip back to China last year. What can I say, my parents aren't very knowledgeable about tea, hence, this:

Can of the 2008 Huang Shan Mao Feng.

There's quite a lot of ugly stems and the leaves are slightly broken up, which makes me sad. :(

Don't take this as that Huang Shan Mao Feng is no good. It really is mostly because much of the best teas in China are exported to have more foreign currency cash flow to China, and it's really hard to find the highest grades of teas from within China. (Pretty sad though, considering my mom's brother is in the tea business)

The tea leaves gives a gentle pine-like aroma, which is common for Mao Fengs from the Huang Shan region.

The first, second, and third infusions of the 2008 Huang Shan Mao Feng, with the brewed leaves on the right.

First infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 85 Degrees Celcius (approx. since I have not yet gotten a thermometer)

Brew Time: 2.5 minutes

Review: A relatively good brew. 85 degrees is slightly too high for the first brew, so even though Mao Fengs are generally very light, this brew was a bit astringent. Not very pleasant aftertaste. However, it did bring out the pine-like fresh flavour.

Second infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 80 Degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 3.25 minutes

Review: Much better than the first. Cannot taste much astringency. Very aromatic with a cream-like scent. Also leaves a decent aftertaste with no bitterness. This is the best brew out of all three. Even so, the quality of the tea overall does not suit my palate. Maybe the subtlety of these teas are just very difficult for me to appreciate.

Third infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 80 Degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 3.5 minutes

Review: Too watered down. Much of the flavour and taste is gone, leaving little to ponder on. Again, I blame the quality. :(

Overall, this Mao Feng is not for me. My parents can drink it indescriminatorily with their terrible brewing method (boiling water, leaving it in forever) in the future.

Genmaicha from Sweet Dreams Tea

2009-04-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

I've had this genmaicha for 6 months now and it's quite stale. Despite my best efforts to brew it well, it still seems fairly cloudy and astringent.

Don't worry that's not liquor, just genmaicha. :)

Tea: 1 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Water Temperature: 90 Degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 45 seconds

It was a quite decent Genmaicha for its price ($6CAD for 50g) and I generally do enjoy Sweet Dreams' teas casually. I would recommend their fruit teas more than their greens though, if you happen to live in the Waterloo region, it's a guilt-free pleasure :)

Matcha Pinnacle from Teaopia

2009-04-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much just a picture post, really :)

Just took a whole bunch of pictures. Hands were a little shaky, but it will have to do.

Chasen, preheating chawan, chashaku, and chasen holder (kusenaoshi) from Teaopia

Unsifted matcha in tin. Clumping caused by static electricity and an indication of good, finely grounded matcha.

Sifted matcha in preheated and dried bowl.

After whisking, froth is very thick in this usucha... I have yet to master the skill of making the froth finer with no big bubbles.

After a few sips, the froth shifts to the side in a pretty crescent shape, letting you see the beautiful green colour. This is why they call the froth of the liquid jade .... so beautiful and so yummy~

Matcha: 2 Chashaku

Water: 2 oz (60ml)

Water Temperature: 65 degrees Celcius

Awaiting more matcha/shincha/gyokuro/others soon~

I'm a New Matcha Addict!

2009-04-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

After my first purchase of matcha kit with pinnacle grade matcha from Teaopia two weeks ago, I am already officially hooked.
Teaopia

I've been a pretty avid tea fanatic before the matcha purchase and have been craving to buy the kit for the longest time. Not to mention the gracefulness and beauty in tea ceremonies and the lovely lovely super-lovelyteaware, matchas have such high potential as a super health booster. Since you are actually consuming the grounded tea leaves, you are getting hundreds of times of the good stuffs that you know brewed green teas have.

Many people online suggested that one should start off with lower grade matcha and gradually move up the ladder in order to fully appreciate the good ones. I debated and decided to use a different method, and now I'm glad I did. I started off with the highest grade of matcha Teaopia offered, the Matcha Pinnacle, because I don't want something disgusting tasting that will turn me off it from the beginning. OUCH MY WALLET! It also gives me the option to play around with the matcha to be able to make it into either usucha (thin tea) or koicha (thick tea). Lower grades can only be consumed as thin tea because it would be too bitter otherwise.

Now, I am absolutely and completely hooked. I'm already halfway through my 30g tin because I just absolutely must have a nice relaxing bowl of it as I get home from a long day at work. It helps me relax and actually able to focus on my studies and even helps me sleep a bit, strange as it might sound. I guess in a way I'm lucky because caffeine doesn't affect me very much, and I can barely feel the caffeines from any coffee or tea that I've drunk, so no problems there.

I must say, THE TASTE is the most heavenly and beautiful tea taste that I have ever had. It completely revolutionizes the experience of tea. As soon as you open the can, you can smell the wonderful grassy sweet smell, distinct from any other tea that I have tasted so far. (It may possibly smell like gyokuro, but I have yet to try that... actually already ordered, it's on its way XD ) Using 2 chashakus (bamboo tea spoon) for usucha or 4 chashakus for koicha, sifting is a must (I just press it through a mesh filter), add 2-3 oz of water at 70-80 degrees celcius to an already pre-heated bowl, and whisk with the chasen (bamboo whisk which is an art in itself).

The taste of it as an usucha is unbelievably refreshing and it feels like it's cheering you up, even. It foams very easily, an indication of a great matcha. The colour is of a beautiful bright green, like grassy hills in springtime. The best words to describe this usucha is pure and bright.

The koicha is incredibly incredibly smooth and the texture is yogurt-like. The colour is a deep dark green, with no foam. The intense sweetness in it is so unexpected from a tea that is so concentrated. It is a completely different experience than the usucha and should be called deep and sophisticated.

Both usucha and koicha contain almost no astringency whatsoever and no bitterness either. The grassy taste is obvious, but not too overwhelming that you feel its "bleerghh" if you know what I mean.

After this tin, I plan to try middle-lower grades to matcha as well, and eventually find one that I can use as a daily usucha. Because of the health benefits (and yumminess), I will get a pack of high food grade matcha to use in smoothies, topping icecreams and whatnot. But of course, I will also try many higher grade matchas (it will take some time... as my wallet will thin out very quickly). Eventually even trying the much acclaimed Uji Matcha Manten from O-Cha. It's apparently the best matcha ever existed and sells only through Japan's oldest teashop, Tsuen.

Matcha Manten

Aside from matcha.... it's also SHINCHA SEASON!!!! (it's the season for the first flush of green tea made into traditional japanese sencha...oh my poor poor wallet) For my first shincha season, I've already placed several pre-orders for the more famous senchas, a good gyokuro as well as my very own kyusu (japanese styled teapot)! So excited! Can't wait till they arrive one by one.... Will post up pictures :)

I blame this sudden splurge on my discovery of Teachat . everyone is so PRO! I've been estimating in the past for water temperatures and brew times and tea to water ratios, but now they make me wanna get a thermometer and tea timer and measuring cups and even a weight scale specific to 0.1gs.... Call me crazy, but it really is true that after one gets used to drinking tea, even the smallest details matter. We'll see how it goes... (by which i mean, i will probably curb to my desires eventually) All in all, I encourage all of you to experience matcha at least once. It truly is an amazing (or shall I say, unMATCHAble ?) experience and lots of health benefits .