Guest Post: Chocolate Rocket Review from T'Noob

Hello dear Reader.

We have another guest post from the T'Noob! It is reviewing one of my favourite teas - Chocolate Rocket.

Without further ado...

Rocket Man
T’Noob here again!

I’ve got to start off with a couple of confessions.

Confession #1: I am a nerd. No, I mean I am a serious nerd. I’m not just nerdy or have nerdy tendencies or like nerdy things. I’m a fully blown, old school, Trek loving, computer programming, pocket protector wearing, fixing eye glasses with tape wearing, role playing, stay home on Friday night recompiling my kernel... *deep breathe* NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD. So in general anything having to do with space is A-Okay with me.

Confession #2: I am a serious chocoholic. I die for a nice finely milled, high cocoa piece of dark chocolate. A nice 85% swiss is really nice.

So, putting one and one together should make “Chocolate Rocket” a winner. This is another pack from the “David’s Start Kit” given to me for Christmas from Mrs. Steph.

On the packet it says: “Need a boost? This energizing hit will have you up and flying. Yerba maté, cocao nibs, almonds, roasted chicory root, raspberries, flavouring. Contains nuts.”

So, on paper this really should be a winner. Aside from containing nuts. I figure I’m generally nutty enough.. but I digress.

So I brewed it up. Smell wise it certainly walked the walk. As soon as the hot water hit the tea pouch the kitchen filled with a rich chocolatey smell and something that vaguely reminded me of brewing coffee. The first sip I tried without sweetening, which historically has never worked well for me and tea. This time... not bad. Still had that bittery taste in the background but the chocolate and nuts flavours definitely shone through. Nice, but still....

I poured a bit of honey into it... Very nice. Kinda like drinking a watery melted toblerone bar while smelling a pot of coffee steaming away. As the cup cooled a bit the hints of raspberry came through more clearly and the almond flavour become clearer.

As for the energy boost... oh my yes. As of writing this about ten minutes have passed since the last gulp and it feels like I’ve drank about a litre of cola. I suspect that this will let me down a little more gently than the cola alternative but the peak is definitely familiar. I think I’d go run around the house a couple of times, if it didn’t mean going outside and face the baleful glare of the dreaded Day Star.

Verdict: Very Nice. I’m still a bit hesitant about that bitter undertow that I still associate with teas but it might just be an acquired taste that I just haven’t yet, but over all yummy. I would say that if you wanted to start a hesitant tea drinker with anything, “Chocolate Rocket” would be a good place to start. Definitely going to have this one feature prominently in my rotation, but I wouldn’t suggest it if you wanted to try to sleep in the next four or five hours. Rocket launches are a morning thing.

Where to next? Well, chocolate and mint go well together so I figure “North African Mint” next. That, and the stars Space Man! *chuckle chuckle snort*

Today's Tea: Sweet Strawberry

Sweet Strawberry from DAVIDsTEA

Description: There are hundreds of reasons to love strawberries, but our favourite comes from Bavaria. Every spring, they tie small baskets of strawberries to the horns of their cattle to attract berry-loving elves. Legend has it, with the elves on your side you’re sure to have an abundant year. So when you enjoy a pot of this sweet, berry-laced tea, try leaving a cup on your doorstep. You never know what your neighbourhood elves will leave in return. (MK Kosher)

Ingredients: White tea, strawberries, rosehips, white Silver Needles, hibiscus, stevia, natural flavouring

How to Brew: 1.5 tsp 92°C/198°F 4-6 min

(From DAVIDsTEA: Sweet Strawberry)


Steph's Thoughts: 

(This post was originally written in December, but I drafted it and waited for a day where I didn't have a post but still wanted to share.)

Lovely strawberry tea. I love the perfect blend of white tea and strawberries.

I also think that it tastes like Pembina Plums, a variety of plum that grows in the Pembina Valley in Southern Manitoba. Hubby says it smells like his childhood home, which makes him very nostalgic, and now he craves fruit from his parents' fruit trees at home. Which is, sadly, an impossible wish to fulfill, since it is the beginning of December, and everything is covered in a few feet of snow. I don't know of any fruit trees that grow fruit in December in Southern Manitoba. If you do, HOOK ME UP! (also, I've been informed that the trees that have borne the fruit on which he was raised have since died of old age. Alas, the trees are no more. *sadface*)

Originally, this was hubby's cup of tea, but I stole it and loved it so much I reviewed it so I could spread my love of this tea to others. I hope they love it as much as I do!!

Verdict: TEA WIN!

Today's Tea: Three Wishes Tea

Three Wishes Tea from DAVIDsTEA

Description: In old Arabian tales, there was always a genie around ready to grant you three wishes. In comparison, the modern world seems a bit dull. So how do you escape reality? Try this rare tea. Its exotic fragrances of jasmine and rose water will transport you to the time of Ali Baba. Enjoy it chilled, or look into the hot steam and dream of genies

Ingredients: Chinese green tea, black tea from China, sunflower petals, jasmine blossoms, rose petals, artificial flavouring

How to Prepare: 1.5 tsp 98°C/208°F 4-6 min

(From DAVIDsTEA: Three Wishes Tea)


Steph's Thoughts:
This was another recommend from Laura at the Grant Park store.

Initially, I was convinced I wouldn't like it. Jasmine AND rose petals?? oh heeeeey no. These are my two least favourite things.

However, Laura convinced me that it could at least warrant a smell. So I smelled it, and was immediately struck with a fruity scent. I couldn't place it and neither could Laura, so she asked one of her colleagues to help us identify the fruit. Her colleague (whose name escapes me) declared, "Peaches. It smells like peaches."

And then, there it was. Peaches. Not overly peachy - maybe like peach blossoms???? I've never smelled peach blossoms, but in my head they smell lovely.

The tea doesn't taste quite like it smells. It is slightly bitter, and most definitely contains both black and green tea. Those notes are quite obvious. There are definitely floral flavours in here too, but they aren't as bad as I feared. And if you drink it cold, it tastes a bit like honeydew melon. Or maybe cantaloupe.

One of the things one reviewer on Steepster suggests is brewing it slightly cooler (85-90°C) to lessen the bitter flavour, and bring out more of the fruity-floral flavour.

I think I am conflicted on this one. On the one hand, it doesn't have a bad flavour. I like the slightly peachy-melon-y taste. On the other hand ..... neeeeeeeeehhhhhhh. (I know, incredibly descriptive, isn't it?) I don't know - it's just not my favourite. But I still want to give it a chance! Maybe sweeter??

Verdict: Conflicted!

Guest Post: Tea Review by The T'Noob

Today's post comes courtesy of a friend who is just getting into tea drinking. He received the DAVIDsTEA Starter Kit for Christmas, and decided to start on drinking tea. I'm excited to see what he thinks!

I'll let him explain the rest to you....

An Unexpected Journey

Hi Tea Friends!

I am The T’Noob.

Like the name suggests, I’m just starting my adventure into the wide and wild world of loose leaf tea drinking.  I was inspired in no small part by my good friend and our gracious bloggess Steph and a few other newly minted “Tea Snobs” I work with.

I’ll be honest with you.  This is likely to be an uphill battle.  For me tea has always been that drink that Mom would make me drink when my nose got stuffy or my throat a little scratchy and even then under protest and only with so much sugar or honey in it it may as well be pop.  I find coffee a repulsive assault on the senses.  Even hot chocolate needs to be sold to me even on a cold winter day.  Hot beverages, in the past, have never really been my thing safe to say.  What’s more I am a super taster.  Even the smallest of doses of capsaicin drive me to tears and causes subtler notes to be lost amongst more dominant ones in less spicy fare.  When I was deciding on my nom de plume I initially considered “The Reluctant Tea Man”, but thought it was too wordy and a little defeatist.

Why bother then, you ask?  Well a good bit of it was, like I said, inspired by Mrs. Steph and the joys of tea drinking she has shared (along with a lovely Christmas present).  Looking to expand my horizons play no small part in my taking this leap into the strange and the unknown.  Little steps after all.  My contributions to this blog can be seen as a journal in the conversion (or failure to do so) to the Tao of Tea.  I anticipate that my contributions are going to be long on opinion and relation of experience and short on the science and art of tea, but may be insightful nonetheless I hope.

Anywhoodle.  Like I said I had received a “David’s Starter Kit” from Mrs. Steph for Christmas this year and so that’s where I’ll start.  I decided to be somewhat tentative with my first step and started with “David’s Organic Breakfast”, which struck me as the most conventional and conservative of the five provided in the kit.

So I boiled up some filtered water, filled the provided steeping pouches with the prescribed tablespoon and a quarter (maybe a pinch more) and gave it a good six minute steep as per the instructions on the package, which had called for four to six minutes.  The result was a cup of nice red coloured tea and it certainly smelled the part.

As for taste?

Yeaaaaah...  It was just tea to me with all the same old complaints I’m afraid.  Bitter and astringent, almost to the point of feeling like I needed to take a sip of water to rehydrate my mouth tissues after every tip of the cup.  I’m sure there are notes and flavours in there but I just couldn’t appreciate them.  So in went a couple solid dollops of liquid honey with a few seconds of stirring to make sure every corner was sweetened up to suit.  But then I was more or less just drinking honey water with the tea being a distinct afterthought.  I finished the cup and it was nice, but it really wasn’t tea anymore.  It was just hot, thin honey.

Not the most auspicious start, I’m afraid.  I’m willing to concede that I may have screwed up making it, but I made a point of trying to follow the directions as per the packaging.  I didn’t have a thermometer to know exactly the temperature of the water but I did give it a few seconds after coming off the roiling boil before pouring so it should have been within shouting distance of the  proscribed 98 degrees and I went so far as to use the stopwatch on my smartphone to make sure I didn’t over steep it.  I don’t see a lot of room to mess up in there but I do have a certain talent for fouling up simple things.

Lessons Learned:
1)    Use a smaller cup.  The cup I used was pretty large and I fear that I may have diluted the result too far, leaving the more pleasant undertones too weak to compete against the stronger bitterness and fermented astringency.
2)    No guts, no glory.  I think that in my caution I may have mistakenly fled to familiarity rather than picking a test subject that might better fit my finicky tastes.

Will I try the “Organic Breakfast” again?  Sure.  I’m not willing to quit on it yet, but must admit that I will remain sceptical and certainly not try it again right away.

So where to from here?  I’m thinking of “Chocolate Rocket” next.  I hope that taking a leap into unconventional will take me away from the less than desirable aspects of that conventionality.  Wish me luck. :)

Cheers!

The T’Noob


I hope he likes Chocolate Rocket, because it's one of my favourites!

Today's Tea (It's not actually tea, but it is AMAZING!)

So the title is a little misleading.

I went grocery shopping the other day and found THIS in the cheese section. And REALLY, how could I NOT pick it up??

If you are not a fan of chai, or if you don't like adventure, then it's not for you.

BUT HOLY CRAP IS THIS THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!!

The description of the cheese is thus:
"Our Chai Tea Cheese is a distinctive and incredible mixture of spicy cinnamon and our award winning Monterey Jack.  Ideal as both an appetizer or dessert offering as well as a great addition to any salad."

(from Bothwell Cheese: Chai Tea Cheese)

My first bite was wonderful. So I had to take more. There's a distinct flavour of cinnamon and a hint of star anise, and it's creamy like cheese....

Whoa- brainwave. This tea tastes like cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing, except without all the crazy calories and the dough which may or may not be cooked all the way (...long story...)! And you could, like, put it in a salad with a sweet dressing, or bake it into phyllo pastry with apples in..... OH MAN. It is EPIC.

And the best part is? It is locally Manitoban. The milk comes from cows in the Southern Manitoba area, and the cheese is made RIGHT HERE AT HOME by people (with cheese degrees, apparently) who live in Manitoba.... I love it. I really, really do love it. So I mean, I don't know if anywhere else in the world gets Bothwell cheese, but if you do, GO OUT AND GET SOME LIKE RIGHT NOW. They have other flavours too if you don't like tea, but this is a tea blog, so I am posting about the tea cheese.

Verdict: CHEESE WIN!!!!!!!!

Cooking with Tea!!!

So, while grocery shopping the other day, I came across some pork chops that were on sale. I remembered about the Tea-Rubbed Pork that I wanted to make, and bought some more ingredients to round out my cupboard and be prepared for Cooking With Tea *jazz hands*. 

When I showed Hubby the recipe, he looked at me with this face that said, "if you make this, you're crazy and I'm having KD for dinner." After some debate (I may have whined, "But I wanna cook with TEAAAAA"), he suggested marinating it, because apparently marinating meat makes it taste better. So, he went through the DAVIDsTEA recipe box and found a recipe for Tea-Brined Pork Tenderloin. And we combined them for THE EPIC DINNER OF EPICNESS. 

Though for reals, it was pretty awesome. 

It takes quite a while to prepare, so make sure you have everything 24 hours in advance.

So here are our MASHED UP RECIPES. (Many thanks to DAVIDsTEA and TeaChef for the recipes - I didn't create 'em, I just mashed 'em). Tea food! It's AWESOME!

(Man, I wish I knew how to insert a cut screen here because this is almost TL; DR)

Tea Brined Pork Tenderloin (chops) with Lapsang Souchong Rub

Make this the night before (Or if it's not a work day, at least 4 hours before)

Marinade:
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minute prep time. 2+ hour marinade time
Serving Size: 4-6 (depending on your needs)

Ingredients

• 2-4 pounds of pork tenderloin (⅓ pound per person) (or 4-6 pork chops)
• 5 Perfect Spoons of Orange Pekoe 
• 2 cups hot water (98°C/208°F)
• 5 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp salt (though I'd reduce this to 2 Tbsp)
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp garlic puree
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp crushed ginger (I used powdered ginger)

Directions

Pour water over tea and steep 7-10 minutes. Strain and chill. (about an hour in the fridge)

Place all ingredients in a 1 gallon zip-lock bag, squeeze out the air and marinate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Turn the bag over once or twice while meat is marinating to ensure everything is contacting the marinade.

(now, if you're making just this, you need to fire up your grill, put the pork on direct heat for 3 minutes per side, then finish cooking with indirect heat until the internal temperature reaches 65°C/150°F, which is about 6-12 minutes, remove from the grill and tent with foil allowing the meat to rest for 5 minutes, slice and serve. HOWEVER, if you're more adventurous and want to make it EXTRA OM NOM NOM, then proceed:)

Lapsang Souchong Rub:
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 min prep time. 25 min cook time
Serving Size: 4-6, depending on the size of your chops/loin

Ingredients

• 2 T. dried Lapsang Souchong tea leaves
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1 t. Whole peppercorns
• 1 T. Thyme
• 1/2 t. Cumin
• 4 Boneless pork chops

Directions

Place all spices and dried tea leaves in spice grinder (I used my Magic Bullet) till finely ground. 

Rub on chops and place in a glass roasting dish in the fridge for 1 hour. 

Preheat oven for 350. 

Take out chops and bake for 25 min or until done depending on the size of the chops. 

Let rest before serving.

This is a rather brilliant mashup. Even the hubby said so - he had seconds!

I added several tablespoons of the marinade to the bottom of my roasting dish, enough to add a little bit of moisture to the baking, and sprinkled a little bit more of the rub in the bottom of the pan and over the chops.

And if I do say so myself, OM NOM.

I was afraid that the Lapsang Souchong would overpower it, especially with TWO TABLESPOONS of loose leaves (that's a lot!). However, combined with the pork and the marinade, it was exactly right. It doesn't end up tasting like tea-tea at all. I'm sure the tea adds a flavour that wouldn't be there without it, but it's not like drinking a cup of tea.

The marinade added a little bit of moisture, and infused the pork chops with a good flavour. The Lapsang Souchong added a little bit of smoky barbecue taste, which is great when it's BLIZZARDING OUTSIDE. No, really. Blizzard. I am SO NOT BARBECUING IN A BLIZZARD, people. Even I am not that hardcore about my tea.

I think my biggest critique of the recipe is that it could do with less salt. I'd suggest cutting down the salt in the marinade by about a Tablespoon, and maybe just adding a dash of salt to the rub, rather than the quarter teaspoon it calls for.

Other than that, it's actually fairly easy, it's just really time-consuming. However, it's perfect for a Saturday - make the tea in the morning (while you're making your morning cup, of course), make the marinade at noon, have it marinate until 4ish, make the rub, pop it in the fridge for an hour or two, then pop it in the oven for 25 minutes, and you have dinner! Or, make the tea after supper, let it chill while you watch your evening programs, make the marinade before bed, pop the pork in the marinade and let them brine overnight, make the rub when you get home from work, rub the pork, watch the news while it sits, or do other things that make you happy. After 40 minutes, put on your rice, make your salad, set your table. 30 minutes before dinnertime, pop in your pork. Then make sure everything is going according to plan, and relax for 25 minutes. Take your pork out, let it sit for a titch, and then call everyone to your spectacular dinner table.

I wonder what would happen if you would use the Lapsang Souchong star as the tea instead of the Orange Pekoe and then just used a basic spice rub (ie, the rub without the tea), or skipped the rub altogether. I also wonder what would happen if you threw the spice rub in with the marinade, and skipped the second step. I can see that I have my work cut out for me. Maybe one day I'll be ambitious and make all six versions of this pork (just marinade as posted, just rub as posted, Lapsang marinade with rub, Lapsang marinade without rub, Pekoe + rub marinade, and marinade + rub as posted) and do a taste test to compare. .... Oh man, that would be the epickest dinner ever. .... Now I want to go cook!

I ended up with a lot more marinade and rub than I could use and felt very wasteful throwing it out. I think more pork chops would suffice for this recipe, but it is definitely a keeper. It requires a lot of forethought with chilling the tea, marinating the pork, then rubbing it and letting it sit, but believe me, it is so worth it.


Verdict: TEA SO WIN!

Today's Tea: Secret Weapon

Secret Weapon from DAVIDsTEA

Description: Looking for a tea that'll give you the edge you need to succeed? Try this delicious blend. It's got white tea, the favourite drink of Chinese emperors, plus goji berries, a legendary superfood. Add in licorice, almonds and cocoa nibs, and you've got yourself a winning combination. It's an amazingly tasty weapon of choice. (MK Kosher)

Ingredients: White Bai Mu Dan tea from Fujian Province, almond slices, orange peel, goji berries, cocoa nibs, licorice root, blue cornflowers

Allergens: Tree nuts

Caffeine: 1 (Low)

How to Brew: 1.5 tsp 94°C/201°F 4-5 min

(From DAVIDsTEA: Secret Weapon)

Steph's Thoughts:

Hello, almonds!

This tea brews a wonderful golden colour, which makes me very happy!

It has a sweet enough flavour that it doesn't need any sugar, which is wonderful for almost-midnight tea drinking. And it's low caffeine.

It is very almond-y, and it tastes considerably better warm. However, the overwhelming almond taste might just be because it was the last tablespoon in the bag. (Also, it was a bag from a friend so I didn't actually have any of the rest of it.)

I do really like the taste of the tea, though. And it looks pretty. I'd totally make Art out of this.

VERDICT: Tea win! I'm having this again!