ETTE TEA

Did a light and short steep on this. When it is really hot the genmaicha is what comes through. As it cools I get the pandan flavor lingering in the finish and the tiniest bit of heat. There was a little piece of chili that made it into my steeping basket, but it doesn’t seem to have made it’s presence known in the cup. It has a nice light roasty flavor to it. Not sure which ingredient that is from. So far I’m feeling like it is an alright cup, but not something I’d repurchase.

I love pandan, so I ordered what I suspect was nearly every tea with pandan that Ette has. There is a layered sweet that I was introduced to when I was living in Australia that was sweet coconut sticky rice on the bottom and green pandan pudding/jelly on the top. It was so good! I found a pandan pudding powder at some random market in San Francisco and have made the sweet at home a few times now. I also have a pandan house plant in my living room! All that pandan love and I still have a hard time picking out the flavor when it is subtle.

When steeped the bergamot comes out super strong. EG all the way, although I’m not sure what makes and EG French. If I’m focusing really hard I can smell a softness behind the berg that is the pandan, but it’s very light. I feel like I get the same thing in flavor. Strong EG, light almost ghost like pandan. I usually like to add creamer to my EGs, but I haven’t found the perfect replacement creamer for my favorite and I’m not willing to ruin another good cup of tea with plastic flavored almond creamer. Luckily the berg isn’t at nuclear level strength. Looking forward to playing with the steeping temps and seeing if I can get more pandan out of this tea!

This is full of lychee flavor! Not so much that it overpowers the berg, but enough that they play well together while giving each other space to shine. It’s also really pretty too look at when steeped. I had to put it in my glass travel mug to watch the sparkles drift like dust through a beam of sunshine! The flavor was really nice and I kept trying to sip it before it cooled enough. Unfortunately, it was only good for once steeping. The second steep was lacking in flavor.

Steeping instructions would be super helpful here. I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if my palate isn’t tuned into these particular flavors. What I’m getting is a very grassy green taste. It is a little buttery and has a slight fruitiness to the end of the sip. So far it’s nice, but not unique enough to warrant having it shipped from Singapore.

Just opened up the package of this tea. It’s the first I’m trying from my order that just arrived. The scent is dark chocolate and red berries. Raspberry was my guess, but no, it’s cranberry! There is something else slightly savory. Once steeped I get similar flavors in each sip. Mostly tart berry on the sip, which chocolate in the finish and something that makes the sides of my tongue pucker in the same way wheat grass juice does. A little bit of hay lingers along with a dry sensation in my throat. I’m not quite sure what to think of this. I want to play around with the steeping parameters to see if I can get a slightly more fulfilling cup out of this.

I don’t remember the context, but last weekend a friend mentioned Hojicha Powder and then I just started really craving it, so I ended up making a large chawan of this powder on Monday for #MatchaMonday with some chocolate agave syrup whisked into it as well, and it was delicious and deeply hit the spot! Toasty and cozy, but also rich and sweet from that subtle chocolate addition. It all meshed very well.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFH7yp_A0KZ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqv0JBF67LA&ab_channel=Havelock

Latte!

I was having an interesting conversation with a coworker yesterday about how houjicha is such a prevalent and commercial flavour in beverage/food in Japan but largely unknown here in Canada and we were loosely speculating if maybe the next progression after the “matcha bubble” inevitably bursts/hits a peak in North America will be an exploration of houjicha…

I’m not sure if we were reached a conclusion to our conversation, really, but it did prompt me to bring in my houjicha matcha/powder to work today so that I could make us a houjicha latte since this coworker had never experienced one but really loves straight houjicha. Unfortunately the only milk I could find in the office that she could drink (she’s lactose intolerant) was rice milk, so we ended up making rice milk houjicha lattes…

Y’know, the rice milk complimented the dark, toasty and nutty notes of the houjicha really well then and we both ended up LOVING our lattes. The profile was very, very nutty with a roasty top note and more of a caramelized something to the undertone. Smooth, not even a little bit gritty – very rich and still pretty creamy despite the use of rice milk. I wish the milk had actually frothed up, but that’s just the downside to using non-traditional milks, I suppose…

Hard to believe how long I’ve had this in my cupboard without trying it. Putting an end to that tonight though; and when I cracked open the little container for it I was just hit with the most amazing smell of roasted peanuts – so I definitely feel like I’m making a good choice in trying it out tonight!

Houjicha Powder/‘Matcha’ has interested me for a long time; I absolutely LOVE Houjicha and its toasty flavour characteristics and I can see it making the most phenomenal hot or iced lattes. Plus, it’s a safer option for the evenings due to the decreased amount of caffeine and it’s a good alternative for me personally since I don’t love the grassy flavour that most straight matchas have. Kind of sounds like a win-win-win!?

Despite feeling like this really would be the best ever matcha latte, I’m drinking it in straight, cold water tonight because I just want to get a good sense of what the powder tastes like on its own before I go getting creative. It’s been really delightful; definitely has the toastiness of typical houjicha with those lovely, slightly autumnal leaning roasted nuts, caramel(ish), barley notes. It’s also very smooth tasting, and whisked up really easily/without any clumping at all. I am DEFINITELY going to stand by my theory that this would be a bomb as fuck latte; but it’s also just a nice straight matcha to sip on as well.

I have literally no complaints.

Sipdown (617)!

Finished this one off iced; two of the sachets steeped together for seven minutes. Even after such a long steep time I still just could NOT get this to taste flavourful or produce a striking blue colour (like it should have been able to, because of the butterfly flower). Instead it was vaguely the colour of anime pool water and tasted like the sort of lemon infused water you might get at a nicer sort of restaurant.

BORING.

Bright, sweet lemon notes.

A little bit of a plain flavour, but ultimately enjoyable overall. My throat was feeling scratchy, so I appreciated the soothing nature of this one.

Early evening cuppa, made in a teacup.

Last time I made this one it was in a mug and I was very disappointed by the fact that it did not in fact brew up blue, like it was advertised as doing due to the butterfly pea flower in the blend. If it turned anything it was a weird sort of green colour? This time to try and combat that, I brewed the teabag/sachet in a small teacup to hopefully get a stronger flavour and colour.

It did sort of work; this still did NOT brew blue which is the whole reason I purchased it in the first place but it was a much darker green colour – and one that was very unnatural for tea to brew up. So I guess that’s something right? I added in a little bit of creamed honey to sweeten it and about a half cap of lemon juice concentrate to see what colour my green tea would change to. DAVIDsTEA’s Magic Potion blend with butterfly pea flower changes from deep indigo to a purple colour, so I was expected this would maybe go from green to a more magenta-y pink? It actually turned into this SUPER light lilac/periwinkle colour though. Actually quite pretty!

Taste wise it was lemon overload – you definitely could not tell that I’d added honey, it was sheer tart lemon with more lemon grass undertones. Definitely some pucker/punch! Not my favourite flavour, and still a disappointing tea overall both in terms of that flavour and visually. Boo!

So, I picked this one up because I was intrigued by the fact is has butterfly pea flower in it which means that it should brew up blue! The flavour didn’t sound super appealing to me though, so I only got the smallest size option – which was five premeasured sachets as opposed to a tin of it.

I tried the first the other day and… it wasn’t blue.

I can see the butterfly pea flower IN the leaf but I guess it’s just not enough of the pretty flower to have that big of an impact colour wise – even with letting it steep indefinitely while I was drinking it. It kind of eventually settled on a really translucent sort of pastel green kind of colour. I mean, to be fair, it was a colour that wasn’t exactly a “natural”/normal tea colour but it’s not blue.

Flavour wise I was right about this one not being the tea for me though – all I could taste was lemongrass. Just straight up, pure lemongrass. Maybe that does it for some, but certainly not for me. I think I’ll probably just use the rest of the sachets for when I’m feeling sick and want something hot and lemony…

This blend is so magical and beautiful (tears streaming down face). It smells creamy and comforting, and yet also very light and sweet. The sweetness is indescribable, it’s hard to pin down but it seems neither wholly fruity nor floral, and its not cloying. I think it’s the lotus? There is a also a delicately nutty aftertaste on the tongue.

A cuppa from last weekend! This reminded me a little of Violet Cremes from BrutaliTeas. Very smooth, buttery milk oolong with a sweet floral addition. Not nearly as floral as Violet Cremes, and not specifically violet. But that kind of feeling.

Drank a lukewarm mug of this earlier in the week. Definitely light and airy with buttery whipped coconut cream notes and a little bit of a fresh floral sweetness. I was pretty zonked out from all of the cold and flu medicine I’ve been taking, but it was pretty blissful and tasty.

Sipped on this one a few nights back. I was doing so pretty absentmindedly and in paying half a mind I felt like I really only noticed the more buttery notes of the milk oolong base and nothing else really that was happening in the cup. It was still tasty, but I feel like if that’s all my brain was gonna pick up on I probably would have just been better served making one of my cheaper/less hard to acquire milk oolongs instead…

I can’t believe it’s been six years since I last had this tea! The recipe must have changed since then because I see here on Steepster that the blend once contained coconut, but the tin I just bought and what’s listen on ETTE’s website do not.

It’s fascinating to me that my tasting notes now align so much with my tasting notes in the past. I like to think that my palate has changed and evolved so much in the last six years and it can be weirdly jarring to read something from that long ago in the past and realize I think the same thing when, with other tasting notes, it’s like night and day. Flavour is funny like that.

The dry leaf aroma of this tea is insanely buttery. It’s very clearly a flavoured milk oolong that’s used as the base. This doesn’t bother me; but it’s just something I can tell immediately now that my past self probably wouldn’t have been able to identify. Steeped, those very rich buttery/creamy flavours are what come to the forefront. This is especially true when the tea is still quite hot. As it cools, more of a sweet floral emerges. It reminds me a little bit of violet, though I know that’s not actually what it is. There’s something about the combination of florals and milk oolong that works magically well. Like my past self has observed, I do not taste the bergamot. I do not mind. That is probably the element of the blend I was least excited about anyway.

It’s a nice tea.

This is a queued tasting note.

Sipdown (139)!

- Buttery/creamy
- Light hints of coconut
- Had a vegetal/grassy sourness
- And a slight lemony acidity
- Especially prominent in the finish

Hard to say whether or not this cup was better than the first one I had; I feel like the base was smoother in the first cup but at the same time I DIDN’T get to taste much coconut or bergamot. This cup the base wasn’t as pleasant, but I got more coconut and some citrus notes that were bergamot like. Not sure which was the better trade off.

Overall, this was interesting but not captivating. The difference between the two being an important and noteworthy point.

Thank you Liquid Proust for the sample!

- Silky/creamy/buttery mouthfeel
- Very characterstic/“trademark” milk oolong notes
- Butter/cream/yeasty bread dough?/condensed milk
- Very green/grassy base notes; present in aftertaste
- Floral undertone and finish
- But not a floral note w. lots of familiarity
- Whisps of coconut; but quite light
- Especially given the amount of coconut I saw in the leaf
- Didn’t taste the bergamot

I was excited to make this because I really enjoy the crazy things from ETTE… but, there was no difference between this tea and a hojicha some cinnamon to it. I was really curious to see how roast and osmanthus would go together :/
Unsure what might been wrong with what I received; though I’m skeptical of floral and roast going well together.
Oh well.,still waiting to finish my ETTE off before I get some Peach Perfect (still eyeing it)

Last night I had a lot of thoughts going on so I picked out one of the few herbal teas I had; a sample of this.

Now, this isn’t something I’d buy if it blew my mind because I’m not an herbal drinker. This was probably one of the smoothest mint teas I’ve had, meaning it didn’t bite too hard while allowing time to enjoy the sensation and taste. Unsure how peppermint can vary in quality to allow a more settle brew than another, but hey… it worked out and I was happy to have this last night to help sleep (even though it didn’t help)

Finally, I made an ETTE tea purchase!
Thank you Black Friday / Cyber Monday :)

Why did I chose this out of everything? It’s an oolong blend that has bergamot, coconut, and other stuff, how cool is that?
I ended up with three steeps added together which ended up being a rounded milk oolong with some citrus notes and a cream to it that was pleasant.
This is something I enjoy and will continue to drink because of how smooth it is. Based on the smell and look of the tea, I wouldn’t think much of it. The milk oolong is tiny and the smell from the lotus is strong. That smell doesn’t carry over into the tea, THANK YOU TEA. Interestingly enough, the milk oolong used in this is quality because when it unfurls there are rather nice sized leaf which I would have not guessed by just eye balling it before the brew.

I’m unsure how just one brew of this would taste opposed to multiple, but I knew I wanted to have multiple to get a balanced tea because I didn’t want a strong bergamot nor a lot of coconut going on. Pretty glad I finally have an ETTE tea container; Victor’s marketing works well because I have been window shopping his blends for some time.

Someone better do another ETTE group buy… waiting a whole year doesn’t sound enjoyable.

Happy 2016! This was the first tea I drank to celebrate the new year. I got this sample with my Black Friday order and I so wish I had packed it on my trip home to see the fam on Christmas. Taking a whiff of the dry leaf I get a hefty scent of festive tart red berries and a tiny hint of spice. Think a festive Christmas candle. I dusted off my 16oz teapot and scooped out 2 rounded teaspoons into the infuser. This is quite the colorful blend, with blue cornflowers, green pandan leaves, and red berry chunks and rosehips. Christmas confetti!

3-4 minutes later, I poured myself a nice steaming mug of festive Stollen. To be honest, I am not a fan of Stollen. The combination of marzipan, yeast bread, spices, and dried fruits is so not my jam. But I can understand the translation in this tea. There is a bright fruity-ness that blends with delicate cinnamon and cloves. I can sense a bit of a sweetness that imitates the traditional powdered sugar dusting. I did not get too much bergamot at all, which works out for me – the present flavor profiles were spot on without.

All in all, this blend was a very festive one, and I love pretty much anything that Victor at Ette does, but I love his other blends much more. It just doesn’t do it for me.
Thanks for the sample Victor!

I really enjoy ETTE Tea’s Instagram post and have been wanting a tin for so long so I made the purchase during the Black Friday sale. Included in my order was four samples; FOUR SAMPLES, that’s a lot for such a small company and small order.
Although I don’t get to try their Kris Grey… I have quite a few to try (some again).

I pulled this one out for this morning because a black mixture sounded like a good way to wake up with a bit of fruit at the back notes. While it is smooth, there is a long lasting flavoring taste almost as if there is a weak bergamot flavoring within the tea somewhere. If I was able to pick up the icing flavor that is suppose to be in here I may end up enjoying it more, however I am not finding any sweet notes as the black tea base seems to be the main taste as the liquid is drank. Oh well, I know this doesn’t reflect the works of ETTE very well. The lychee and mango are still rather vivid in my mind as I remember them being what I call ‘juicy’ within the tea. Not something I would end up buying, but I will try everything ETTE puts out :)
Peach Perfect is on my list as it is a tea that is made after Pitch Perfect the movie and uses a mixture of Assam and Japanese black tea. That’s a must try, one day.