For this blog I decided to make green tea or sencha soda as Japan is known for green tea. Blog post What’s in a Name? Part 1: Matcha, Tencha, and Sencha. It discusses the differences in all of these different teas and what I will be using as the main teas in this blog.
With this recipe I decided to use Premium matcha. Which is a good matcha to use as it is still high on quality but not a ceremonial matcha which can be a bit expensive at times because of its high quality. I also thought that Yuzu would be nice alongside the matcha because of its fruity citrus taste. I am a big fan of matcha lemonade and thought doing a spin on that would be fun.
Matcha Yuzu soda recipe:
Ingredients:
- Matcha powder
- Yuzu Honey
- Candied Yuzu
- Ginger Bug (You can find the ginger bug recipe in a previous blog post)
Items:
- Flip top bottle
- Measuring Cups
- Scale
- Matcha whisk
- Tea pot
- Bowls
Recipe:
- Measure 5 grams of matcha into a bowl, Pour in a little bit of cold/warm water and make a paste with the matcha, Then add about 300 grams of hot water and whisk until well combined and frothy. Do this twice and set aside to cool
- Measure 70 grams of yuzu honey and set aside
- Add honey and tea into bottle followed by the matcha
- Cut up about 3 candied yuzu slices into small pieces and add them to the bottle
- Pour 2 tablespoons of ginger bug into the bottle leaving about 1 inch of headspace at the top.
- Close the bottle and mix gently and let sit at room temperature for 24 hrs.
- Put into the fridge after until cold
- Note: Putting it in the fridge will calm the fizzyness a bit so that when you open it it will not rush out.
- Open over sink and Enjoy 🍋🍵😋
Info: You can also use lemon instead of yuzu and try making a lemon infused honey. Another intern decided to make infused honeys. I would take a look at their blog if you would like to make your own infused honeys for your own tea soda.
Link:
Thoughts:
This tea was a lot more surprising when I tried it; It had a nice matcha earthy flavor and it tasted very well when added with the tart citrus of the yuzu. I think the yuzu helped to bring out the matcha flavor. It was a little daunting because of the color but was very nice. The fizzyness was nice and subtle and I think this is due to the matcha itself because of how it was made but I think the subtle fizzyness adds to the overall flavor. I think it would be nice with a nice piece of cake or sweet because of the slight tart/earthy taste.
In this soda I used Sencha of the wind which is a sencha that is harvested in the spring. It is typically shaded for 2 weeks before it is harvested and is made from the cultivar Zairai.
Sencha Acerola soda recipe:
Ingredients:
- Sencha of the wind
- Acerola Honey
- Ginger Bug
Items:
- Flip top bottle
- Measuring Cups
- Scale
- Tea pot
- Bowls
Recipe:
- Measure 12 grams of Sencha of the wind and put into a teapot, add 20 ml of water at about 70 degrees C and brew for 1 ½ minutes. Do this two times and set aside to cool.
- Measure 70 grams of Acerola honey and set aside
- Once cooled add honey and tea to the bottle.
- Pour 2 tablespoons of ginger bug into the bottle leaving about 1 inch of headspace at the top
- Close the bottle and mix gently and let sit at room temperature for 24 hrs.
- Put into the fridge after 24 hrs until cold.
- Note: putting it in the fridge will calm the fizzyness a bit so that when you open it it will not rush out.
- Open over sink and Enjoy 🍒🍵😋
Thoughts:
This soda was so shocking when I tried it. When I first tried to open it it was very carbonated and almost spewed out but I think the ginger bug did very well in this particular soda. I think that because I did not add a powder to this tea it turned out very fizzy. It was also very refreshing and I love the pairing of the honey and Sencha that I chose. I would enjoy this soda by itself outside in the sun.
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