What happens when a campfire and black tea have sex

There's a little cafe near Johns Hopkins University called Chocolatea that I discovered a year or so ago. As you can probably surmise from the name, they specialize in gourmet chocolates and tea, the latter of which being the only thing I'm really interested in. In addition to their cafe selection of tea, they have a decent retail section that includes bulk bags of loose-leaf tea, tea-ware and there is always some kind of Ito En tea available in the cooler.

Despite their focus on chocolate and tea, it seems like everyone that goes there just treats it like any other cafe and just orders normal fare, which is a shame. I mean, a lot of people do order specialty drinks that you wouldn't normally be able to find a Starbucks, but they're always like a latte version or something. I've also never even seen someone so much as LOOK at the chocolate display case either. I'm surprised they haven't cut their losses and gotten rid of it already.

Anyway, I like to go here on the weekend sometime to get breakfast and a cup of something I haven't tried before. Today I thought I should "go bold" with a cup of black tea, which it seems like I haven't drank for 1-2 years. I decided to go with the China Lapsang Souchong.

I was pretty sure that I had Lapsang somewhere before and thought it was a pretty basic variety. When the aroma wafted past my nose though, I realized that I don't remember ever drinking a cup of liquid smoke. The first thing that came to mind was chipotle peppers and then I tried to articulate it more specifically and came up with this message I jotted down on my phone:

"Smells like a smokey campfire with remnants of rendered animal fat; no tea aroma"


And that's pretty much what it tasted like, too, minus the part about animal fat. The after taste vaguely made me think that I had just eaten a Slim Jim or like I had been smoking a cigar made out of hickory chips. That being said, it wasn't bad, just very strong and not tea-like.


The only thing I don't like about Chocolatea is that they always use boiling water (straight from that little spout on an industrial coffee maker) to make EVERY kind of tea. Since it's supposed to be a "tea lounge", I really wish they would prepare it the correct way.* 

* This is when you're probably going to think to yourself, "You're such a tea snob". Guess what? Different teas require different brewing techniques, otherwise you can end up with something that tastes nothing like it's supposed to. In the case of black tea, near boiling water is actually fine, but then it becomes an issue of having to wait 5-10 minutes before you can actually start drinking it. I think the best rule of thumb is to serve tea at drinking temperature to begin with, sub 200º F if you want to get technical.


But in general it's a great place, and the food is always pretty good. I thought the Lapsang was a decent companion for the egg/sausage/cheese sandwich I got today.

Next time I go I think I'm going to try and ask them where they get their tea from though, just for my own curiosity.

Frozen Organic Surprise

Lunch time at work for me usually means something involving a loaf of bread, the salad bar or take-out, and it is rare I deviate from this pattern. In Wegman's the other day, I decided to cruise the organic/natural section a little more intently then usual and found these Organic Bistro line of frozen meals. There were only like 3-4 kinds, including this "Thai Style Yellow Curry with Chicken" and they all looked promising. Normally I get all my frozen meals from Trader Joe's, and even then I don't spend more than like $4 a piece. Also, I only eat them at home. But here I was, on my lunch shopping trip from work, and I thought "fuck it... I'm going to GO CRAZY AND BUY THIS FROZEN MEAL FOR LUNCH, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT ON SALE" (it's difficult and pathetic to explain why this is a big deal for me in any way at all).

Not the actual picture I should have taken to exemplify the following point...

So when I get back to the office to pop this thing in the microwave, the first thing I notice is that the chicken appears to be raw. Uncooked, frozen chicken in a frozen dinner? That seemed ridiculous, so I asked my co-worker what he thought and he was equally perplexed. Then I noticed the little note at the bottom of the cooking instructions:

* Internal temperature needs to reach 165° F as measured by a food thermometer in several spots

What the hell? That's way too much effort for a frozen meal and it only further supports my thoughts of the chicken not being cooked yet.

Then I calmed down and thought about it for a second... obviously this thing made it to the shelf somehow, so I'm sure they know what they're doing. I also noticed how the rest of the stuff in the bowl looked pretty fresh and "real", for lack of a better word, so maybe they're on to something here

 

After playing global thermonuclear war with it, the chicken still bothered me. It looked like, and had the consistency of tuna, maybe a side effect from being cooked in a microwave? No idea. All I do know is that it was actually the best chicken I've ever tasted out of a frozen meal. It was super tender, juicy and overall had a good taste. In addition to that, all of the vegetables tasted equally as fresh. This came as a real surprise, especially since it wasn't even in a special cooking container. It makes all the people at Hot Pockets and Stouffer's look like assholes for taking years to develop those reflective sleeves and cooking trays only to have this company get the job done with nothing more than a paper bowl in a loose cellophane bag.

After mixing all the ingredients together

Last but not least, the actual curry sauce was pretty good, too. The best part is that there was just enough of it to go around and the rest of the items weren't swimming in it. All of the ingredients were allowed to "speak for themselves" and all was right in the world.

So yeah, I'd say this was probably one of the best frozen meals I've ever had, and I've been around the block a few times when it comes to frozen meals. If you've got $5 that you're committed on spending in the frozen foods section, I don't think you'd be disappointed with one of these.

Fast Food Cheesesteak

Lately I've been hold-up at my parents house, recovering from this surgery and watching an immense amount of television. I keep seeing these commercials for Arby's new Philly cheesesteak, it's a stupid commercial... in fact I think their whole "It's good mood food" campaign is retarded.

I've been a fan of Arby's since I was a kid, specifically the regular roast beef topped with their now non-existent spicy brown mustard. But ever since the mustard went MIA, I just stopped going there altogether. Like I said though, lately I've been watching a lot of Food Network/commercials and finding myself craving all kinds of crap.

Abdominal Holocaust

Two weeks ago I underwent surgery to remove my spleen and half of my liver. Needless to say, this has dramatically affected my entire GI track, in addition to the rest of my guts. Since this blog is dedicated to everything that goes into my body (not only food), I figured it would make for an interesting post.

Please be aware of the graphic content that follows however, as it will be chock full of details that some people might find unpleasant.

From the makers of Pocky, here's Curry!

Kare Raisu (Japanese curry rice) is bit of an anomaly to most people, at least it was to me when I first heard of it. However it's one of the most popular Yoshoku (Japanese interpretation of Western cuisine) dishes in Japan and has about a million different variations. Wait... I probably already talked about this in my previous post about microwave-ready Curry Rice.

Something doesn't smell fishy here...

Fish tacos are awesome. Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize this until like two years ago and am mad at myself for not eating them sooner. Also, I probably have no real bearing on what makes a fish taco great, considering the first and main place I ate/eat them at is Baja Fresh. Oh yeah, and I don't know anything about what type of fish you're supposed to use in them; up until about 10 seconds ago I thought Mahi-Mahi was just a type of tuna.

Anyway, I just went to said Baja Fresh and apparently they've changed over from Mahi to Wahoo for their fish tacos/burritos.

Good thing I typed that sentence out above the picture: redundancy win!

I have no clue what Wahoo is either, but I assumed it must be "better"... or maybe just cheaper? Of course the way they prepare it probably negates any specific flavor differences, not that I would notice any in the first place.

Ye old "two fish combo"

I tried the grilled one first. It really tastes like... nothing, actually. It's kinda like having a hot piece of dense vegetable matter or something stuck in a tortilla with more somewhat flavorful vegetable matter surrounding it (in this case cabbage, avocado and tomato). The only real taste from the fish was the char marks on the outer flesh.

Now the crispy version, well that's a whole other can of worms. I can't tell if it's just the batter or if the actual frying process does make the fish flavor come out, but it's way more tasty. Also, they put this mayonnaise-y sauce in there that's slightly spicy and delicious. Whenever I eat Mexican food, I'm all about putting hot sauce on it, but it's completely unnecessary with this taco.

Hopefully I remember that the crispy ones are better next time I go, but I'll probably either forget or just feel bad about eating TWO fried fish tacos and still get a grilled one.

Like Tea Dust in the Wind

This is my tea station at work... more specifically it's the right side of this table in my office where I put all my tea stuff. When I can maintain the rhythm and routine, I will drink tea every morning via a convenient method of using my tea infuser/tumbler and this Zojirushi water heater. It still kinda impresses me how I can do it so easily within an office, which seems to add to the zen-like experience of tea drinking over all... maybe.

Anyway, the mesh screen on my tea infuser is starting to develop larger holes in it from regular use. In addition to that, it's not a superfine screen to begin with. It would normally be a problem for most people, except I happen to almost exclusively drink sencha. Specifically, most of the sencha I use is fairly brittle and either ends up getting broken into smaller pieces, or just turned out that way via it's processing to begin with. There's also usually a good amount of what I like to call "shake" (also referred to as fannings or dust).

Anyone got a bowl?

I usually buy good quality tea in the first place, so it's not like this shake is bullshit grade stuff you would find in a Lipton-esque tea bag (although it closely resembles what you would find if you emptied one), but if I don't separate it, then it gets through the screen of my infuser. Drinking tea fragments in your brewed tea isn't a bad thing either and it's something that happens 90% of the time anyway, especially if brewing via a traditional method (kyusu, etc).

So several months ago I started to try and remove as much as the shake as I can before hand, which is actually pretty easy. I just put the tea into the lid of the infuser and use it like a flour sifter, moving it back and forth until no more small particles make their way through. A lot of the time its a bit depressing too, seeing just how much shake there is in some of the more expensive teas I buy and knowing that it's "going to waste". Seriously, I'll buy a 3oz can of shincha for like $50 and probably end up sifting out 30-40% of it out onto the table. Sometimes I don't know if it's my fault for acquiring a new found sense of OCD or if the tea producers are just not being as careful during the processing of the leaves as they should be.

Spending the 4th Eating Garbage

I didn't end up doing anything on Independence Day this year, at least nothing special. Since I was going to waste the day anyhow, I thought I should at least eat some fast food: a truly American past time. On top of that, why not go to Sonic again, since it is "America's Drive-In".

I love spicy stuff and was going to get this new Blazin' BBQ burger, which sounded pretty amazing considering it has fried jalapeno, regular jalapeno, habenero sauce and pepperjack cheese... but I was suffering from a hangover and the thought of all that spice made my stomach start filing papers to get clearance from my esophagus for "reverse digestion". So I went with "The Ring Leader" instead, which is basically a bacon cheeseburger with grilled onions, and an onion ring. Honestly, I would've preferred a normal burger, but since I started this blog I'm making myself try new things.

Where's Michael Douglas when you need him? (see below)

Despite it looking like shit (most fast food does), it was so-so. Wait, I take that back, the onion ring situation made it kinda gross. I'm not a connoisseur of onion rings or anything, but I didn't like this at all. The breading on it was doughy, like a piece of bread that wasn't cooked enough. So that taste just spread across my tongue when I bit into it and then the onion slipped out of the fried coating, like onion rings always do... it was a fucking mess. I can't even remember tasting or seeing the grilled onions either, maybe they're what really made it taste strange? Who knows.

Overall, this burger is almost complete bullshit though. I mean, can you really expect anything good to come of this idea? Fried stuff needs to be on it's own, not sandwiched in between greasy ass cheese and meat on a bun. I should've gotten the BBQ one instead, lesson learned.

Trader Joe's Quinoa Duo

Saw this at TJ's the other day and thought it would be a good side dish for some fish or something. However... it was the weekend, I was hungry, lazy and impatient, and ended up cooking and eating the entire bag by itself.

If you've never had quinoa before, it's like a grain-rice-corn hybrid thing and is fluffy and slightly crunchy. It's one of those things that you probably never had unless you have a vegetarian/vegan friend, or are one yourself.

As you probably see, this has bits of zucchini and sweet potato mixed in, as well as a bunch of seasonings. I swore I tasted a hint of cinnamon, but there wasn't any. Funny thing is that I think the same exact thing every time I make TJ's penne pasta... which makes absolutely no sense. Anyway, this Quinoa is super easy to make, just dump it in a covered bowl and microwave. If I recall correctly, quinoa is one of those things that takes awhile to cook normally, so this is much better. Also, I don't ever see myself cooking it from scratch in the first place.

I would recommend it though, just don't eat the entire bag by yourself like I did.

Doctor Strangebrew or: How I Learned To Stop Complaining and Love Tea [part 2]

 Again, all I have to say is thank god for Wegman's... if it weren't for their insane mission to stock as many amazing food products as they do, I wouldn't have become the avid tea drinker that I am. They're planning on opening new stores in Maryland and a bunch of people were complaining about how "un-green" they are and that they're trying to muscle out competition, but all those people need to shut up. To my knowledge, they were one of the first chain stores to not only carry Ito En products, but to sell them cheaper than anywhere else ($1.50 per 16.9oz bottle... suck on that Whole Foods!)

Curry Rice On The Go

Today I decided to make some Japanese curry rice (kare raisu) at my office for lunch. For those of you not familiar with the dish, here's what it normally looks like:

As you can (kinda) see, it's not really anything like Indian curry, except it does use curry powder/garam masala. It's more like a thick stew with curry spices, apparently it's based on "English curry"... I could Google it to better inform myself, but I don't feel like it.

Normally kare raisu is made with potatoes, carrots, onions, some kind of meat, various spices and quite often something sweet like apple and/or honey. It's very popular in Japan and is eaten in restaurants and made at home; families and restaurants usually have their own secret recipes. Per the name, it's served with short-grain sticky rice, or sometimes over a big piece of fried pork (tonkatsu). And... sometimes over spaghetti... the Japanese have some interesting takes on Western food, but I'll talk about that some other time.

Doctor Strangebrew or: How I Learned To Stop Complaining and Love Tea [part 1]

This morning it just dawned upon me that I could take my Ito En fandom to new heights by spending about two hours looking at their website via the Internet Archive (www.archive.org). They only have archives from 2005-2009, but I went ahead and looked through most of them and jotted down some notes pertaining to how their product lineup has changed over the years.

Technically the first time I became aware of Ito En was in 2006 when I went to Japan for the first time. It was during cherry blossom season and I remember walking around Ueno Park doing some hanami. Up until then I was taking the gaijin approach to eating and was mostly going for stuff I was familiar with, but kept on seeing people drinking this stuff out of green bottles. I was getting thirsty from walking around in the sun all day and when I went to get some lunch I ran into one of the million vending machines selling the stuff. I figured if everyone else in the country was drinking it, I should probably give it a try. I don't even think I knew what it was before then either; I probably assumed it was tea but had no idea what kind. It wasn't until much later that I realized it would be my first bottle of Ito En's flagship beverage: Oi Ocha.

Example of "real" Oi Ocha bottle from Japan

That first taste I took... was completely awful. I'm sure a lot of other Americans have the same reaction too, mainly due to our country's preference to sugary/flavored beverages. Oi Ocha is pure Japanese green tea, no flavor or sugar added, but to me it just tasted like they brewed fresh grass clippings and bottled it. I really had a hard time finishing the entire bottle too, in fact I think I did end up throwing away the last 1/4 of it; it had gotten especially gross after it started to get get warm in the sun, too. It would a long time before I would ever cross paths with Ito En again, or even figure out what it was that I had drank that day in Japan.

Sonic Drive-In

Last autumn, the first Sonic was opened in the greater Baltimore area and I was over-joyed. I admit it's probably mainly because I didn't grow up with them around, but I have a strong affection for all of the "non-East Coast" fast food chains, ie. In-N-Out Burger, Whataburger, Jack in the Box, etc.

Right now they're promoting four new hot dogs: New York, Chicago, Chili Cheese Coney and All-American. The Chicago seemed like it could be awesome, so I drove up this weekend in the rain to check it out.

 

Upcoming Videos

The first big video series I have planned is going to be a Japanese RTD (ready to drink) shoot out. I will be reviewing and comparing various brands including Ito En, Suntory, Asahi and Kirin. There will be several videos in this series and I hope you find them interesting, so please stay tuned as I continue to plan everything out!