You inspired me, Max. I made a variation of your puer tea, using the En Passant minis in my stash. So much fun, deliciously puer ice cream, and a great way to pass the hot summer.
And here I thought you were only a tea madman. This is an UNREAL tea ice cream deep dive and the good people of both tea and ice cream worlds will sing your praises for a generation. Thanks Max.
I’m glad you mentioned using Kanro - a cold-brew grade Gyokuro - for your ice cream recipe. It’s important for a few reasons. First, because it’s a shame to see really high grade, painstakingly made teas be used for anything but drinking in a straightforward fashion. But for gyukuro and matcha specifically, the higher grades tend to be even more delicate and subtle meaning using them for ice cream is a lose lose, since the flavors won’t impart enough to overpower the cream/sugar.
In other words, the bazooka blast will feel more like a fly batting its eyelids in matcha terms.
This is one reason why even though folks advertise that they use “ceremonial grade” matcha in their ice creams they almost certainly do not - in fact most places use unshaded green tea powder (not even matcha) to get that green tea flavor.
I guess if there’s anyone out there who was going to dump really high quality matcha into a batch of ice cream they might be underwhelmed and though I’ll stop short of calling it a waste, it certainly would have more enjoyable ingestion forms. I’ve not tested it out myself but I imagine gyokuro is the same.
For ice cream or milk tea or sweeteners, it’s been my experience that lower grade teas - or mid grade - work better than the higher grades for the wallet and the palette.
Completely agree! Particularly with green teas, there's an astringent briskness in the lower grades that I think works better with fat and sugar than anything "ceremonial." It's not just about budget, but finding the right ingredient for the job. I *may* keep a bag of Kanro around just for ice cream...
Same applies to chai, I think. While I prefer the taste of orthodox black tea for chai, nothing gets as strong and potent as chopped up CTC pellets. Although now that I think about it, perhaps I should try both together.
You inspired me, Max. I made a variation of your puer tea, using the En Passant minis in my stash. So much fun, deliciously puer ice cream, and a great way to pass the hot summer.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it. I keep hankering for another batch and might make some with Smokeshou.
And here I thought you were only a tea madman. This is an UNREAL tea ice cream deep dive and the good people of both tea and ice cream worlds will sing your praises for a generation. Thanks Max.
I’m glad you mentioned using Kanro - a cold-brew grade Gyokuro - for your ice cream recipe. It’s important for a few reasons. First, because it’s a shame to see really high grade, painstakingly made teas be used for anything but drinking in a straightforward fashion. But for gyukuro and matcha specifically, the higher grades tend to be even more delicate and subtle meaning using them for ice cream is a lose lose, since the flavors won’t impart enough to overpower the cream/sugar.
In other words, the bazooka blast will feel more like a fly batting its eyelids in matcha terms.
This is one reason why even though folks advertise that they use “ceremonial grade” matcha in their ice creams they almost certainly do not - in fact most places use unshaded green tea powder (not even matcha) to get that green tea flavor.
I guess if there’s anyone out there who was going to dump really high quality matcha into a batch of ice cream they might be underwhelmed and though I’ll stop short of calling it a waste, it certainly would have more enjoyable ingestion forms. I’ve not tested it out myself but I imagine gyokuro is the same.
For ice cream or milk tea or sweeteners, it’s been my experience that lower grade teas - or mid grade - work better than the higher grades for the wallet and the palette.
Completely agree! Particularly with green teas, there's an astringent briskness in the lower grades that I think works better with fat and sugar than anything "ceremonial." It's not just about budget, but finding the right ingredient for the job. I *may* keep a bag of Kanro around just for ice cream...
Same applies to chai, I think. While I prefer the taste of orthodox black tea for chai, nothing gets as strong and potent as chopped up CTC pellets. Although now that I think about it, perhaps I should try both together.