Friday, November 17, 2017

Haagen Dazs Green Tea Crispy Sandwich

During my last visit to Japan I vowed to try different types of milk tea everyday. My plan got derailed when I chanced upon the Haagen Dazs Green Tea Crispy Sandwich at Lawson's. I just had to try it.





Back at the hotel I quickly tried out the ice cream sandwich. It was delicious, like drinking green tea frap while eating biscuits. I made a mess though since I didn't go back to the hotel immediately. I tried again the next day and ate it while the ice cream was still firm. It was a better experience.



The treat reminded me about my favorite Singapore ice cream sandwich which you can get from Orchard Road. I like the biscuit better than ice cream on bread. It's quite filling too, so if you're trying it out make some space in your tummy! 
0 comments

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Milk Tea in Hong Kong

I was told by some friends that the best milk tea in the region can be found in Hong Kong. I had my misgivings since my favorite teh peng is in Singapore. Eventually found myself in Hong Kong a few months ago and immediately looked for milk tea made in Hong Kong.

The first encounter was in our office. I squealed when I saw that we actually had milk tea available in the fridge. I drank one during a meeting and I couldn't help but comment that it was really good. In Singapore/Malaysia most of the milk tea has strong tea flavor, in Taiwan it has more milk, in Hong Kong it was a well balanced blend of milk and tea. It made the drink more smooth, so I really liked it. The person I was meeting said that the one I tried was just a sample of what Hong Kong milk tea is. He suggested I try one that's freshly made.

After work I got my hubby to look for Ten Ren Tea with me. Another friend told me that it was the most popular (and best) milk tea in Hong Kong. He cautioned though that lines were usually long. We finally found the branch that was inside a bookstore. I was immediately taken by the ice cream!



In my mind the ice cream was glistening and singing to me hahaha. It's the best ice cream of its kind. It's been several months since I've been to Hong Kong and I still think about it.




I also tried the milk tea. It was fresh and flavorful, but I must admit that I spent more time enjoying the ice cream. And I completely forgot to take a photo of the drink! I wanted to go back to the shop the next day, but I got so busy at work and had to run to the airport after my event. I guess I'll need to go back to Hong Kong for another chance to drink Ten Ren Tea's milk tea.

I've been trying to get a friend from Hong Kong to buy me Vitasoy milk tea. Luckily the supermarket across our place stocked on them last September so I managed to buy some. Too bad though they ran out after the huge promo they did. Now I have to go searching for it in Singapore again...

And yes, Hong Kong milk tea is the best!


0 comments

Monday, July 17, 2017

Singapore: Nana's Green Tea

I wanted to try something new for lunch last Saturday. The set meal offerings that Nana's Green Tea had outside of its store looked really appetizing so we decided to eat there. I had been to Nana's Green Tea a few times for snacks, so it was my first time to have a full meal there.

I ordered the hamburger meal set. I was a bit apprehensive at first since I didn't know if I would like the sauce that they put on top of the burger. Japanese burger is so tasty since it usually has milk and bread crumbs in it, but I usually pair it with a Japanese brown sauce and not gravy. Nana's Green Tea served it with peanut tasting gravy and grated raddish. It was a burst of flavors when I took my first bite. It found it a bit disconcerting that the gravy tasted like peanut butter, but the flavor just matched the burger perfectly. I will definitely go back to Nana's Green Tea for the burger.

To matcha my meal I ordered cold matcha latte with vanilla ice cream. I had the ice cream added since I find green tea a bit bitter. Mixing vanilla ice cream and green tea latte makes the beverage just perfect for me. I used to order matcha green tea shake, but it takes me so long to finish the drink because the ice takes longer to melt. Latte + ice cream works best for me. I also like Nana's Green Tea matcha beverages because you know that the green tea they use is real and not processed. Some similar drinks lose the green tea flavor because they try to mask the bitterness too much.

Hubby prefers hot tea, so that's what he usually orders when we eat out (it's his teapot in the background of my yummy drink).

Nana's Green Tea is located at Plaza Singapura. I will surely be back soon! 
0 comments

Friday, July 14, 2017

Haagen Dazs Royal Milk Tea Ice Cream

Two weeks ago I saw a post made by Haagen Dazs Singapore that they were selling special milk tea ice cream! I immediately looked for their branches and my heart sank when I realized most of the branches were far from my home and workplace. Delivery was also not available in my area. I also did not get a reply from their FB page when I asked if there were other places I could get it from.

Yesterday after a botched doctor appointment I took the bus to Plaza Singapura so I could take the train home from there. I decided to drop by Cold Storage so I could get a few ingredients I needed for my dinner project. I usually avoid the fridge areas in Cold Storage because it can get quite cold. Last night I decided to brave the ice cream aisle to check if they were selling Haagen Dazs ice cream. I was ecstatic when I found out that they had Royal Milk Tea ice cream available.



Immediately rushed home after buying the ice cream and a few other things. My knee was numb from having my grocery bag on my lap during the train ride home. Cooked dinner and after the meal I happily pronounced, "Time for milk tea ice cream!"

My other favorite ice cream flavor is mocha (by Magnolia or Selecta). I've been craving for milk tea ice cream since I tried it last month in Hong Kong so the quest to find the Haagen Dazs ice cream is very important to me. I usually have royal milk tea when I'm in Tokyo. It took me some time to get used to the flavor. I must say that royal milk tea is better when it's ice cream. And best eaten from a cone!

Now planning to hoard a few more pints this weekend...
0 comments

Friday, July 7, 2017

Taiwan: Milk Tea at Hanlin

Last night I had the opportunity to walk around the vicinity of my hotel and found "Hanlin" at the food court. Hanlin boasts that they are the origin of bubble tea. They have been around since 1986.



The menu had a long list of choices but I didn't want to be too adventurous so I just got the tieguanyin milk tea (but without bubbles). I realize though that I should've ordered it with bubbles and with 80% sugar (next time!). No bubbles and just 50% sugar is just like putting milk and tea together without the oomph. I still like that it was flavorful though.


Brought the cup back to the hotel since I didn't want to hangout in a busy food court. I paired it with creamy tomato mushroom pasta from Underground (a no meat resto). I had a fabulous dinner with my boys joining me over Google Hangout. 


0 comments

Sunday, July 2, 2017

How to Make Homemade Basil Tea

According to naturalon.com, basil tea helps with diabetes, arthritis, kidney stones, relieves headaches is a natural pain killer, supports oral health, immune system, respiratory health, and healthy skin.
In addition, basil contains iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium.  So drinking a cup of basil tea not only induces relaxation, but is also a healthy alternative.

It's also easy to grow your own basil plant at home.  Doing so will provide you with ample basil to make regular cups of tea.  It will also serve as a reminder that when those leaves need to be harvested, then that's time you need to prepare basil tea.

Preparing Homemade basil tea has never been so easy.



Ingredients:
  • 4 - 5 basil leaves
  • 1 cup hot water (250mg)
  • honey
  1. Cut 4 - 5 basil leaves from the stalk and chop in to smaller sizes to unleash the flavor.
  2. Place chopped basil leaves in a tea steeper or infuser.  (Since we're just making one cup, we have our cute koala tea steeper placed inside a cup.
  3. Boil water and pour the hot water in the cup with the steeper.
  4. Add honey to sweeten.
  5. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes.
 

And that's it!  You have yourself a refreshing cup of fresh homemade basil tea.

Relax and have your tea, completely. :)


0 comments

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

8tea5 Milk Tea



Bubble tea-ing in Brussels!

Found this place while waiting for my laundry to finish. Got the Taiwanese Classic Milk Tea with Lychee Poppers. They ran out of tapioca, but still so good!

And that name though. (my name is Andrew) 😂

Definitely check this place out if you're in Brussels and craving for a milk tea fix. They have heaps of varieties on their menu as well as poppers and sinkers. You'll be hard pressed not to find what you like.
0 comments

Monday, June 12, 2017

Taiwan: Light Bulb Milk Tea (Eve & T)



My cousin visited Taiwan recently and posted a very interesting photo of milk tea she had while on tour. The milk tea was in very cute light bulb glass. I immediately asked her where she got it and she said it was available at the food court of Taipei 101. The location was perfect for me since our office is in the same building.



I lost no time to look for the stall. Friends helped me find it and ordered my drink. They got me the tieguanyin milk tea and they explained that this was made from Taiwanese tea. I was so excited to sample the milk tea I forgot to take a picture of the menu. To order you have to select first the milk tea flavor, then the glass, the eyes and then the "message. Aside from the light bulb glass  you can also opt to get the cute bear. Price for cold milk tea starts at NTD129.



It took us some time to find a seat at the very busy food court. The milk tea was indeed very Taiwanese -- more milky and the tea had an edge to it. I opted for 50% sugar so it wasn't very sweet. I didn't request for pearls, but you can definitely have it added.

Will probably get some more tomorrow, but will need to figure out how I'm going to bring my light bulb glass home!

Update: I went back today to have another glass of yummy milk tea. Also got to take a photo of the menu finally!




0 comments

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Breaking the Milk Tea Fast

I drink milk tea at least 5 times a week. It became a daily fix after lunch with my friend Cherry. We'd finish our meal and then head to the kopitiam to buy iced milk tea from Toast Box. The staff already knew what we were ordering and would just usually ask how many we were buying. They even tried to teach me to speak Chinese because they said I look like one and were wondering how come I don't know how to communicate in their language. So I learned the words teh peng and xiexie.

So Ash Wednesday rolled in last March 1. I was still thinking about what to give up for Lent. Eventually decided on giving up milk tea. I was really hesitant to do it because it was my daily prize for myself after a long day at work. It was one of the most challenging 40 days for me.

A decade ago I gave up drinking soda. It drove me crazy for 2 weeks but eventually I did not crave for it anymore. For milk tea I thought about breaking the sacrifice every single day. It was really hard (the other stuff I sacrificed does not compare!) and it was not made easier when I was in Tokyo because you can buy milk tea anywhere you go. So I really looked forward to Easter.



Easter Sunday came and I was eager to finally drink some milk tea. After hearing mass we proceeded to a restaurant to meet my cousin. Unfortunately the restaurant did not have milk tea in the menu. I played cool and said that it could wait until merienda time. We were in Tokyo so we did some station hopping after lunch and with tired feet we settled to have snacks at a cake shop in Akihabara.

Hubby took a vid of me breaking my milk tea fast. After that day I noticed there were a lot more varieties of milk tea available in the vending machines so I spent some time sampling different brands.

I don't think I'll sacrifice drinking milk tea ever again. :p


0 comments

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Giraffe Afternoon Tea Straight Tea

During our recent trip to Japan, we spotted this bottled tea in a Tokyo convenience store.  What got me intrigued about this particular tea is that it was described as "straight tea."  I had no idea what that meant so i figured why not find out what does straight tea taste like.

This 500 ml bottled tea from Kirin, is described as "newly blended fresh cut tea leaves, evolved to authentic iced tea with a more fragrant taste of aroma taste of tea leaves".   It continues describing it saying that "Dimbra authentic ice straight tea relaxes with a gentle aroma of tea leaves and a refreshing aftertaste."

So what did it taste like?  Although there are sugar ingredients (fructose corn sugar liquid, sugar), there isn't a hint of sweetness. Despite that, it didn't taste bitter either.  The aromatic aftertaste of this black tea based drink desires more that I enjoyed it with small sips instead of gulping it down like a quench thirsting beverage.

So where's the "straight" part in this?  I guess it's more of a straightforward tea offering.  No fancy or complex combinations of ingredients were needed to make this drink favorable.

Giraffe afternoon tea straight tea also comes in the following sizes:
  • 280 ml PET bottle
  • 500 ml plastic bottle
  • 1500 ml PET bottle
  • 250 ml paper (LL slim)
I'm looking forward to trying this again if I can find this in a Japanese supermarket.

0 comments

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Toast Box Teh Peng (Milk Tea)



Toast Box is one of the most popular cafes in Singapore and you can chance upon one in most malls/department stores. Aside from kopi (coffee) you can also select teh (tea) from the cafe. Teh O is just plain tea, while Teh C comes with milk. You can choose to have it hot or cold.



Teh O or more popularly called Teh Ping locally is usually mixed with condensed and evaporated milk, giving the tea a sweet milky flavor. Compared though to Taiwan milk tea, teh tarik has a stronger tea flavor. It goes best with peanut butter toast, kaya toast or the butter sugar toast.


0 comments

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Follow TeaCompletely on Twitter!

We're finally on Twitter!  Follow us at @teacompletely and tweet us.
Plen-tea of thanks for following!

0 comments