Hi readers!
This morning I got some great news! My great friends at Oxalis have partnered up with Tea House Emporium in Bath, England and now you can get their selection of fine teas and coffee here in the UK. Remember that review my partner did for their tea Out of Africa? Well, they are the makers of that coffee infused tea. Yum! They are based in the Czech Republic, so now that they have their tea at this new store, I (as well as other UK'ers) have access!
Please stay tuned, in a bit I will be posting a tea review :)
Leah
Showing posts with label Oxalis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oxalis. Show all posts
Friday, March 13, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Matcha Green Tea Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Hi tea lovers!
I recently decided that I wanted to incorporate tea with cooking more. I was going to do black tea pancakes, but I was kind of intimidated by it. I wanted to start with some easier, something that if it turned out horribly wrong, I wouldn't feel defeated. But worry not, readers, it worked!
The important thing about this recipe is Matcha! You need your favorite kind, mine personally is this kind here by Oxalis:
The important thing about this recipe is Matcha! You need your favorite kind, mine personally is this kind here by Oxalis:
The other key ingredient is cookie mix. If you're anything like me, you're looking for convenience. Since this particular cookie mix is just add water, I thought it would be perfect. Go to any grocery store and head to the baking aisle. There you'll find Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mix, which is what I used. Before you do the steps below, preheat your oven to 350 F or 190 C.
Step 1: Add the cookie mix to a mixing bowl
Step 2: Add the required amount of water
Step 3: Add 3 pinches of Matcha
After mixing it all up, it should look something like this:
Roll the batter into little balls, placing them on a cookie sheet, spaced apart so the cookies can grow in size. After all the dough is on the cookie sheet, ready to bake, place it on the middle rack and wait 8-10 minutes. Let the cookies cool, and then try not to eat them all in one sitting. They are delicious!
Here's how mine turned out:
Thanks for reading!
Leah
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Oxalis Tea: A guest post review of Out of Africa
Hi readers! My partner, Ollie will be guest posting today. Take it away, Ollie!
It's great to be guest posting here today. I'm going to be reviewing a flavoured black tea from an up-and-coming tea company based out of the Czech Republic, Oxalis (http://www.oxalis.eu). Leah encountered them on Twitter a while back and they very generously offered to send her (and, by proxy - me!) a haul of delicious tea samples, and even some coffee.
We received the parcel this morning and it was jam-packed with a multitude of tea, some we'd explicitly asked for (I asked for the Out of Africa tea and an aged Puerh) and some that was a complete (and very well received) surprise. We'd both like to thank Oxalis for their *ahem* generosi-tea. I'm aware that's a poor joke, that's why I don't have my own blog. But I digress...
The tea I'm reviewing for you today is called 'Out of Africa' (above), an apt name given that there's one very unusual ingredient in this blend. The packaging was nicely designed; including a picture of the beautifully blended tea on the front and the standard list of ingredients and steeping information on the back. This is definitely one of the more interesting teas I've tasted as I tend to stick to breakfast teas, Darjeeling and vanilla black tea. This tea is a blend of Ceylon, cocoa husks, mallow flowers (which add a pleasant burst of purple to this visually stunning tea), and here's the interesting part... Coffee beans!
That's right, this blend is a combination of tea (and, in smaller quantities) coffee beans and cocoa husks. It's effectively the whole enchilada of hot drinks in one cup, without being cloying or overwhelming. How does the flavour of the tea stand up to these unusual ingredients? Very well actually. There are pleasant notes of dark chocolate and a light earthy aftertaste from the coffee without overpowering the delicate flavour of the Ceylon, this is still tea as we know it. The steeping time recommended was two minutes, I think this is about right as I could properly taste the complex flavours without any astringency from the tea. The aroma was very wholesome with notes of malt and barley as well as sweet chocolate. I decided to add a small amount of sugar to bring out the flavour, and it did. The tea is soft and pleasant, surprisingly light on the palette with some depth from the coffee beans. I can already tell this would be a perfect dessert tea.
'Out of Africa' is a high quality and quirky tea that is similar enough to unflavoured blends to taste familiar, whilst exploring new flavours that complement and enhance the tea. Personally I'm very happy with this tea and will be having another cup soon! To close, I'd like to thank Oxalis again for their fantastic service, diverse range of tea and minimalistic, no-nonsense packaging. I give this tea a 4/5 rating. The combination of flavours may not be for everyone but this tea is light and delicious and I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Here's the tea while it was steeping:
Leah here again, I hope you enjoyed Ollie's guest post! Here's a bonus photo of the two of us in Bristol, England this summer:
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It's great to be guest posting here today. I'm going to be reviewing a flavoured black tea from an up-and-coming tea company based out of the Czech Republic, Oxalis (http://www.oxalis.eu). Leah encountered them on Twitter a while back and they very generously offered to send her (and, by proxy - me!) a haul of delicious tea samples, and even some coffee.
We received the parcel this morning and it was jam-packed with a multitude of tea, some we'd explicitly asked for (I asked for the Out of Africa tea and an aged Puerh) and some that was a complete (and very well received) surprise. We'd both like to thank Oxalis for their *ahem* generosi-tea. I'm aware that's a poor joke, that's why I don't have my own blog. But I digress...
The tea I'm reviewing for you today is called 'Out of Africa' (above), an apt name given that there's one very unusual ingredient in this blend. The packaging was nicely designed; including a picture of the beautifully blended tea on the front and the standard list of ingredients and steeping information on the back. This is definitely one of the more interesting teas I've tasted as I tend to stick to breakfast teas, Darjeeling and vanilla black tea. This tea is a blend of Ceylon, cocoa husks, mallow flowers (which add a pleasant burst of purple to this visually stunning tea), and here's the interesting part... Coffee beans!
That's right, this blend is a combination of tea (and, in smaller quantities) coffee beans and cocoa husks. It's effectively the whole enchilada of hot drinks in one cup, without being cloying or overwhelming. How does the flavour of the tea stand up to these unusual ingredients? Very well actually. There are pleasant notes of dark chocolate and a light earthy aftertaste from the coffee without overpowering the delicate flavour of the Ceylon, this is still tea as we know it. The steeping time recommended was two minutes, I think this is about right as I could properly taste the complex flavours without any astringency from the tea. The aroma was very wholesome with notes of malt and barley as well as sweet chocolate. I decided to add a small amount of sugar to bring out the flavour, and it did. The tea is soft and pleasant, surprisingly light on the palette with some depth from the coffee beans. I can already tell this would be a perfect dessert tea.
'Out of Africa' is a high quality and quirky tea that is similar enough to unflavoured blends to taste familiar, whilst exploring new flavours that complement and enhance the tea. Personally I'm very happy with this tea and will be having another cup soon! To close, I'd like to thank Oxalis again for their fantastic service, diverse range of tea and minimalistic, no-nonsense packaging. I give this tea a 4/5 rating. The combination of flavours may not be for everyone but this tea is light and delicious and I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Here's the tea while it was steeping:
Leah here again, I hope you enjoyed Ollie's guest post! Here's a bonus photo of the two of us in Bristol, England this summer:
Leah
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