Alphakitty Send Message

The tasting notes on this one have been SO good, I kind of had super high expectations going into it. I mean, Azzrian’s favorite matcha?! As the current matcha queen of steepster, I really trust her opinion so yes, I had high hopes for this one! I snagged one as soon as it went on sale. As a side note, I hate my post office! The tracking info on stuff coming to me is totally messed up, and it keeps saying stuff is in transit after it’s arrived or that it’s been sitting in my post office for a week and hasn’t been delivered, it’s so annoying! I think they held this one “hostage” for a while, since it took way longer than usual and I only got it after I went there and bugged them. But anyway, back to tea! I got:

Size: Small (30 grams)
Base: Classic Matcha
Flavor: Delicate

I’m not sure why I went with delicate over distinctive (my usual), I just had a feeling that it’d be best with a light flavor. The smell in the bag is amazing, caramel and popcorn and BUTTER! It reminds me of the microwave caramel popcorn they used to make… they still make some kinds now, but this one came with a huge chunk of caramel to put in the bag after you warmed up the popcorn so instead of some caramel glaze it was ACTUAL gooey, delicious caramel on your popcorn. That stuff was soooo good, but I guess it’s just cheaper to skimp out and glaze them. Sigh.

I whipped this up last night as a hot latte, and holy moly it is just… perfect. Amazing! You can taste ALL of the levels of flavor, even with the delicate option. There’s rich, fresh-made caramel flavor, reminiscent of (unsurprisingly) caramel, one of the classic and most-loved Red Leaf flavors. Then there’s the popcorn, without the crunch but with that almost fluffy, airy taste. Then, BUTTER. I can’t believe there’s actual slightly salty butter flavor in here! It makes this sooo rich and delicious and just perfect. No mistaking what flavor this is! It so reminds me of the old caramel popcorn, it’s like having it back finally!

Of course because I went with delicate, the matcha flavor isn’t overpowered but makes for a nice base of sorts, keeping the caramel flavor from getting too heavy. And as much as I totally love this one, I REALLY want to try it with a black base with the distinctive level of flavoring… just thinking about adding those chocolate cookie notes to this makes my brain explode! If you love dessert matchas like me, get this. Heck, if you love matcha, get this. If you love tea at all get this! Really, it is just perfect.

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-popcorn-matcha.html