Kombucha

Kombucha is a very interesting part of tea culture, with origins that aren't totally clear.  The most commonly believed origin says that it started in ancient Northern China.  Kombucha is fermented sweet tea.  During the fermentation yeast eat the sugar to make achohol, then, bacteria eat the alcohol produced by the yeast. In doing so they produce acetic acid(the thing that makes vinegar, vinegar) among other things and lower the alcohol content to negligible amounts.  I won't get too much into the production of kombucha because that is for a later post. 

I'm not one to preach the health benefits of tea(or in this case kombucha)  or to tell people to go out and buy expensive "health" craze items.  So I won't start now.  The real reason you're learning about kombucha is because soon I'll be brewing my own and maybe you will as well!  I am really excited about this because it's probably the only drink you can homebrew and actually save money.  The 16oz GT's Kombucha bottles cost $3.50 each.  The gear you need to make your own costs ~$30.  It could be more or less depending on whether or not you make your own SCOBY.  But homebrewing it a gallon at a time will pay for itself in 2-3 brews regardless of that.  

Before I got started I wanted to figure out what I would like mine to taste like so I bought a few to taste and see.  These are all GT's Kombucha: Original on the left(just tea, sugar and microbes, no fruit or flavor), Gingerade in the midde(just kombucha and ginger), and on the right is Citrus(just kombucha and lemon juice).  I bought these at jewel, they had more flavors, these ones simply appealed to me the most.  I enjoyed the original one the most as it was definitely the sweetest and smoothest. The ginger and lemon ones I thought were a little too harsh and lost the tea flavor all together.  I think I would enjoy them more if there weren't as much ginger or lemon.  Maybe as nuanced flavors instead of these big flavors that conceal the original taste.  I'll definitely experiment with different teas and flavors in my own brewing.  

Cheers!
Mickey

Tea as a whole

I've always enjoyed tea.  I used to drink tea from teabags.  Things simply labelled "green tea" or "Ceylon Tea".  Not because I had no appreciation, but because I had no idea how deep and complex a thing tea is.  Tea is not only a drink.  Tea is a pastime, a tradition, a culture, a way of life, a connection to one other, and a drink. Tea can put us in touch with deep transcendental values that are worth much more than, caffeine value, health benefits, and weight loss.  

Last fall I stumbled upon Teavana.  I was fascinated by whole leaves and these new teas I had no idea existed.  At that point I didn't even know what oolong was.  I wasn't however, fascinated with the prices.  They were prohibitive and I didn't end up purchasing anything.  

I went home, started reading and interest turned into obsession.  I would devour every scrap of information I could get and ordered loads of samples of unblended tea from adagio.  I couldn't get enough! I started searching for a local tea shop to fuel my new found addiction.  I found Tea Harbor and discovered how good Chinese tea can get!  Then I discovered The Green Teaist where I learned about Japanese tea.  

Now I get most of my tea from specialty websites because I'm always searching for something new and unusual or just really good tea.  That's not to say that non-specialty shops don't have good tea, or that good tea is limited to the exclusive or rare.  In fact I wouldn't consider tea an exclusive thing whatsoever! Many people obsess over this saying that "True tea only comes from the camellia sinensis,".  I say as long as it's steeped in water, and you enjoy it, it's tea!  I'll add that I like to say that coffee is arguably a type of tea, however heretical it may be.

The tea was good by the way!  It was Tie Guan Yin from Tea Harbor!  I think it's not oxidized enough, closer to baozong style than Tie Guan Yin.  Great none the less!

How To Make a Matcha Latte Just Like a Cafe Latte

Recently I posted this matcha latte recipe to r/tea and I'd like to post it here but with some new pics, cheaper gear, and some bright green latte art!

To make a matcha latte you'll need a few things.  First and most importantly you need a matcha whisk or chasen, this is the essential tool for matcha. There is an inexpensive one at Den's Tea, you should order their sampler too while you're there.  If you must, Teavana also has one for 13$, but den's come highly recommended.  Other things you'll need are, cheap-but-not-nasty matcha, a flat bowl with steep sides, and anything that can froth hot milk. The one in this pic (middle right) is from ikea for $2.50.  You need a steamer if you want to make latte art so that is what was used this time.

You need to make matcha for this.  I will do an in depth post on matcha later, but for now this video by Thirsty For is an excellent guide for making matcha.  

Measure out 2g or one full teaspoon.  I'm usually generous with this because a matcha latte is a treat, so I don't hold back.

Time to whisk! 

Now for the milk.  I use whole milk because, like I said, matcha latte is a treat.  But if you want to use skim it froths up even better than whole.  Unsweetened soy milk compliments this well; I would steer clear of almond milk for this one (even though it's so yummy!).  If you want sugar now is the time to add it.  

Now that the milk is hot and foamy you can pour it over your matcha, in a separate glass or in the whisking vessel.  

Enjoy your delicious matcha latte!  

Another yummy drink is a Duke of Earl!  To make this switch the matcha with a super strong shot of Earl Grey.  To make the shot preheat a shot glass with boiling water, dump the water out, add enough Earl grey for a small pot of tea, add more boiling water, stir and steep for 5 min and you have a shot of Earl grey!

Too much coffee

I've never gotten jittery or a buzz or from any kind of tea, though I firmly believe that I function better after some tea.  Not because of the caffeine or Theanine, but because tea makes me happier.  No matter if I'm awfully upset or elated, tea makes everything better.  I love coffee, but I can definitely feel the effects of caffeine after a delicious pour over, or french press.. or two.  Not so much with espresso but that's a topic for another time.  Whenever I have too much coffee and it's late I get this weird feeling where I can feel my body is tired, but my mind is alert and very focused.  I normally love the feeling I get after a few well-made cups, but when I need to sleep it can make doing so very difficult. When that happens I turn to some of the heavily roasted, low grade oolong I have that has very sleepy cha qi or I go for some sleepytime by celestial seasonings.  I normally don't like bagged tea, but I haven't been able to find a good enough loose leaf blend like sleepytime.  Anyway a cup or two of either one of those really helps sooth my mind and calm me down.  Sleepytime can be found in almost any grocery store and is only a few bucks.  

Sleep tight!
Mickey

So many things!

I have so many things to write about since I am already so deep in the world of tea and coffee.  Many of the things I want to post about are small things that I've already experienced: a certain tea, company, recipe,  or item.  I'll try to give you a quick one paragraph post with a picture whenever I feel inspired to write about these small things.  There are somethings however, that I have a lot of thoughts on.  When it comes to these things I'll update you once a week with an in depth post about whatever it may be.  I'll do a post things like my thoughts on tea as a whole, my job at Hansa Coffee, or an in depth recipe.  Lets make that day Sunday.  So you'll be getting an in depth post every sunday and little posts whenever.

Until then, cheers!

Mickey