Green Tea Forum

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

While I'm still in the process of training my palate for various flavors of natural green teas I have begun to wonder what, if any, different flavors would compliment green tea.

I was thinking about cinnamon or maybe lemon. I have heard that adding sugar to tea can weaken some of the benefits from drinking it.

Has anyone tried anything like this?

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

" If you prepare tea, or drink it, never pick it off season, make it so that it can give off it`s essence, and do not alter it`s taste with other herbs, medical herbs or aromas." LY YU VIIIc

spacesamurai · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 204

I haven't and wouldn't try it myself, but I think people should drink their tea however they like, and I'm sure you kind find some "good" combinations.

I think tradition has way of turning into dogma. Forget Li Wu and good luck to you.

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

Alright I understand and respect that. Being particular about the type of cigars and scotch I like I can see the purest point of view.

However, every now and again I do like to go off the path to experiment with flavored cigars or blended scotches. Sometimes it can make you appreciate the purity of the original even more.

No other takers?

syntheticpanda · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 198

Some people here have admitted to enjoying sakura (cherry blossom) flavored sencha. Just keep quiet about it. Very Happy

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

A great tea cannot be made better, if you add something to it that is not tea anymore, the substances are very lirrle in tea so if you add a spoon of sugar to it or cinnamon, lemongrass etc., that will be many times more and overwhealming, but if you experiment use lower quality tea.

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

Well I was thinking about an actual cinnamon stick to kind of stir around the tea or maybe even a lemon wedge.

okimasa · Posted: Jul 10, 2008 4:50 am Post subject:

Tea is tea, and I drink it for what it is.

In your original post, you said that you were wondering what flavours would "compliment" green tea. With that in mind, maybe you should see what foods or pastries would go well with what tea. (ie Genmatcha and sushi go really well together).

I don't know, for me, there's so many different types of green tea that I have yet to try, adding flavour to what I have tried seems to be like a waste of time.

IMO, green tea shouldn't have something added to it, but that's my opinion, not yours. But all I can suggest is if you do add something, like Oni said, use a low quality tea

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

Hmm, I didn't even think of adding a food to compliment the tea. I'll have to look into that. I know that chocolate and some stouts go well together and some scotches and cigars for that matter.

I believe that this bears further exploration.

sleepyredmoo · Posted: Jul 10, 2008 9:37 am Post subject:

i heard at a tea ceremony in japan they eat a little chocolate thing or something before drinking their matcha, i personally would never add anything to my tea, but may eat something while drinking it like okimasa suggested

wehayley · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 195

There are many foods that enhance the drinking of tea. As for adding other substances to the tea, it's something I prefer not to do, but to each their own. Some of those items include orange or lemon (peel in the dry blend, or juice after brewing), peony, cherry, jasmine, cinnamon, and of course sugar, honey, etc. If you look at tea sites offering blends, they usually detail exactly what those blends consist of (usually a variety of herbs and flowers); that wil give you lots of ideas, if that's the route you want to take.

I too would recommend not doing this with a high quality tea. In fact, very often these sort of things are added to oolongs and black teas. I think most green teas are pretty delicate, so the flavor is easily compromised.

By the way, I believe the word you guys are looking for is "complement", which implies that something is somehow incomplete. Quality green teas are far from incomplete...

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

wehayley · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 195

I personally think most sweets (chocolate, pastry, etc.) go well with tea, especially lighter sweets, most seafood, sushi included, tempura, and so on. It's also been shown that tea aids digestion and counteracts food poisoning...

It ancient, and not so ancient times, salt was also added to tea. Only occasionally do I have tea without food, but there are a few things that just seem to be immediate turn-offs: chips and salsa, or anything tomato based, dairy (I don't get the whole tea and milk thing), eggs, nuts, etc.

I say experiement and see what you enjoy...

okimasa · Posted: Jul 11, 2008 1:08 am Post subject:

FYI, Jalapeno chips and green tea don't mix... Wink

wrath186 · White Belt Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 21

Ok, so maybe I won't relax this evening with a big mac and some Gyokuro.

Slightly salty foods can sometimes open up the pores of the tongue to enhance flavors. I'll have to start off with low end foods before going gormet.