I have been in travel mode this summer, both for tea festivals and escaping the home office as I lack an air conditioner. The Tea Spot sent me some of their teas packaged as Simple Steeps, which are pre-portioned to go teas for $5 a box. I sneaked a few tea tastings while I traveled, but let’s sit down and give them a full tasting.
Simple Steeps Matcha
I believe I’ve had Tea Spot’s matcha before in their Matcha Fitness set, which came in a cute tiny tin. This time we have matcha in a thin packet which Tea Spot got right as it has very little air. Too many times companies pack matcha in these foil tubes which have a bunch of air in them. Then they scratch their heads when I show up with a photo of brown matcha asking is this what it is supposed to be. Due to matcha being a ground tea, storage and airtightness matters above all teas as it spoils fast if not treated and packaged with care.
Each packet has 2 grams of matcha, which is handy as I tend to use 2-3 grams (depending on how tired I am). I drank a couple packets of Simple Steeps Matcha and I found 160F/71C worked best.
The matcha colour is lighter green, but this is also an organic matcha so colour tends to be not as vibrant.
The Tea Spot’s matcha foamed well as I whisked, but lost foam quickly. If I was faster I would have gotten a good foam photo.
Simple Steeps Matcha flavor is buttery grassy. It isn’t bitter but does have a slight dryness to it. The flavor leans sweet over savory but also is clean, grassy, and easy to drink. The Tea Spot’s Matcha is an approachable matcha and the preportioned packet makes it easy on the go.
If you are new to matcha, this one is not scary tasting or bitter, but you do need to respect it by using 160F/71C water like other matchas. When I was on the go, I simply emptied a packeted into a bottle of cold water and shook it. The flavor was similar, though leans a bit sweeter.
Simple Steeps Matcha is $5 for a box of 5, for a total of 10 grams of matcha. Per gram, the Simple Steeps Matcha is expensive but you are paying for the individual wrapping for travel. They do sell the same matcha for 1oz/28g for $11.95 which is a fine price if you do not need the convenience of prepackaged tea.
Simple Steeps Rise and Chai
The Tea Spot’s Rise and Chai is a blend of Puer, black tea, cinnamon, turmeric, and fennel.
I steeped the entire 4 gram packet in a 12oz/350ml mug in boiling water for 3.5 minutes. I had this tea on the go twice already and I recall being happy with it. Having a sit-down session is quite a treat. Rise and Chai is quite smooth, creamy, earthy dirt, and woodsy sweet. The spices are clearly tasted as a lightly spiced chai with a touch of heat from the cinnamon. Strangely, I taste powdered honey notes, but the sweetness is likely coming from the fennel. I like that the puer in this blend is not at all fishy or strange, so Tea Spot used some decent tea for their blends.
As a smooth dark, yet mysteriously sweet tea, Rise and Chai is awesome. However, it isn’t a crazy cocktail of spice that chais tend to be if you were hoping for a potent chai. If you want a caffeine hit dark tea that doesn’t need additional sweeteners or milk, Rise and Chai fits the bill. The Simple Steeps option you get 5 packets, but you can also purchase the loose leaf in bigger volume. Out of the 3 teas today, I would purchase this one to become a good morning tea.
Simple Steeps Flat Belly
As a premise, no way a tea would give me a flat belly. I would need a magical surgery cure for Endometriosis and the bloat side effect, lay off all the cookies, then more surgery to cut the excess skin off. However, I do like hibiscus teas, they are my guilty pleasure of tea drinking. Flat Belly is a caffeine-free blend of hibiscus, peppermint, and licorice root.
I used 1 packet (3 grams), boiling water, 12oz/350ml cup, steeped for 6 minutes. Flat Belly steeps up a lovely ruby.
Surprisingly, this tea isn’t tart. Flat Belly is floral hibiscus, minty and sweet. It is quite simple of a tea as the mint adds a refreshing note, then the licorice root adds the sweetness to cover the tart hibiscus. It is high on the licorice root so if you don’t like that type of sweetness it might not be for you. It is a great tea for those who again want to lay off adding sugar to their hibiscus tea. This is one of the few hibiscus teas that I didn’t add sugar to, so more calories for cookies! Flat Belly also comes in tea bags and loose leaf, though the Simple Steeps version does not have fennel in the blend.
(tea provided for review | affiliate links)
