Vanilla Matcha

I totally blame this on the tea person making it. No it wasn’t me because I do not put 4 scoops of matcha in an iced matcha. I mean jeezus that was just the worst thing I put in my mouth in a long time.

I shall go back to my matchas from Red Leaf Tea and be happy for the good stuff.
Maybe I will buy some to make at home and try this again…. maybe.

I found this matcha having low quality much like the mint matcha from DT when I first tried it. Just like the mint matcha however I really turned around and started liking this one after a few glasses.

The quality of the matca itself is harder sandier and not as finely ground as other matchas and is not as frothy an creamy as DT ceremonial matcha. However the vanilla flavoring is really nice in the morning.

Not a fan of this matcha. I tried it as a matcha shot but will have to try it in a smoothie and see if its any better.

1/3 in a Matcha Single Serves package that I bought. This is definitely not the best matcha I’ve tasted! I had bad experiences with the Mint Matcha and Mocha Matcha too. I wasn’t expecting much from this packet, and somehow I was still disappointed. In the end, I spooned an extra teaspoon of pure Japanese green tea matcha into my cup, and increased the amount of water I used. The pure matcha somewhat masked the strange and unpleasant taste of this Vanilla Matcha mix.

LOVE this. A few years back – gosh, over 10! – my girlfriend and I went to a mall and she bought me a matcha latte. For years since having that drink, I have been looking all over to find how to make one, and what it was even called (had no idea at the time). Finally, I find David’sTea. What a wonderful place, I only wish there was one where I lived. I ordered some online, looked up on youtube how to make the latte, and BAM! Instant flashback. So amazing, have one every morning.

I love matcha, but something about David’s Vanilla Matcha is just a bit off. It seems to be the coconut, which is really throwing off the flavor. Not terrible, but definitely not my favorite matcha.

Matcha hey…green tea and I aren’t that great of friends, but I figured that I would try it out again. I had tried a few of Red Leaf matchas years ago and enjoyed them, but I mainly just drank those in smoothies or as lattes. I suspect that this is how I will drink this tea as well.

It is a darker green than I was expecting. It was forever ago, but I remember matcha being a brighter green. But I don’t really know much about it so I could be mistaken. It smells ok, like green tea, vanilla, and coconut (not surprising—-those are the ingredients!).

Following the instructions on the bag, but I did not whisk it, I used my magic bullet. I didn’t mind it. It was fairly sweet and I did get hints of vanilla and coconut. Probably not something that I would drink on its on own. So, I turned it into a smoothie. It was a good smoothie, and it was energizing. I might get more for smoothie making but I still have to develop a love for green tea to drink this straight.

I would order more Red Leaf matcha but the Canadian dollar is…..a quarter…haha :(

Non tea review related:
I went to my local store over the weekend and asked for sample sizes (12g or so) of 4 teas (including this one) because I’m not sure that I would really like them. I paid for all my teas and found out today that I had between 24-30g of each tea rather than the 12g I asked for. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me, so I contacted them on Facebook. It’s not that big of a deal but it happened with 12 different teas adding up to around 130g of tea that I might not like. Seriously, listen to your customers! They replied promptly with an apology and an offer for a free cuppa. Now, that’s some good customer service. But if this happens again I will not be happy.
Sorry, rant over!

This, I think, is my final pick from the EU TTB. I knew I wanted to try it, and as I’ve not that much experience with matcha I set it aside for a later date. It turns out today is that later date. There are a couple of reasons for this.
Firstly, it’s no secret that I’ve not been feeling great recently. I’m tired a lot of the time, and I never feel like I have enough energy to do all the things I need to do in a day. My doctor will only recommend vitamins and early nights, both of which I have already. I’ve lost interest in a lot of things, probably because I’m so tired, and I know something’s likely wrong by I don’t know WHAT. I’ve also had what’s becoming a permenant headache for the last week or so, but I’ve been drinking less tea so I’m sort of thinking that might partly be the reason. I do get headaches if I don’t have caffeine. That’s reason one – if I increase my tea intake so it’s near where it used to be, my headaches should clear up a bit. If they don’t, then it’s back to the doctors for me.

Reason two, specific to this tea, is that people tell me matcha has energy-giving properties, and I could seriously use some energy right now. Teapigs have a matcha challenge which I’m going to take – at least one shot of matcha every day for two weeks. I figure it can’t hurt to try, so that’s what I’m going to do.

Today is day one, and I’m starting with a matcha latte. I used 1/2 tsp of matcha whisked into boiling water, topped up with heated, frothed milk. I’m using an aerolatte whisk for now rather than the traditional kit, but if it turns out that matcha is my thing then it’s something I might look into. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m actually really enjoying it. The vanilla flavouring is pretty strong, so it doesn’t taste too much like milky green tea. It’s sweet, creamy, and mostly reminiscent of vanilla milkshake. The powder combined well, with no clumping, which is always a bonus in my book. I’d definitely drink this one again!

So i tried this one today to see f i could replicate what we had at the tea festival yesterday. a cup of OJ + 1tsp of vanilla matcha and this is close to what we had on the weekend. There’s a little tweaking to do but it was a really tasty drink this morning :)

Ok. So I’m a matcha fan, and I can’t claim to know everything about it, but I certainly know when my matcha is out of date. At first, I had thought that, maybe, the flavouring in it changes the color a bit. So I was possibly a bit too optimistic while I added a scout into the bowl. I can honestly say I’ve never had my heart broken by tea so compleatly before.
It came out an army green. It wouldn’t froth at all unless I really beat at it ( I’m in no way weak or unhealthy, but my arm had some protests in this pursuit). Once it settled for 3 min the froth or any semblance of bubbles were gone. The tea noticably settled in the bottom of the second bowl while I opened a cupboard to get my favourite matcha cup ( and close said cupboard and turn back to the stove; 3 steps away). I couldn’t have left it in there for more then a few seconds. With all that mayhem out of the way ( and currently drinking the said brew), it smells nice, it’s evidently sweet, and not the delicate matcha kind of sweet. I’m tempted to consider the possibility of the manufacturer using excessive sweetener to mask low grade matcha… This disappointed me on 3 fronts: 1) did not meet the natural matcha color it’s supposed to. 2) did not brew the way matcha normally does. 3) questionable flavour.

Again, I’m no expert, and I have considered the subjectivity to my experience. I may try again though only to prove to myself that it was a one time problem ( though I severely doubt the abilities of general David’s tea employees to produce an accurate brew of matcha; I may need to examine that possibility). Perhaps I was just “that” unlucky.

Essentially; imo, it’s worth “trying” not buying. Get a cup at the store, and if you love it , then cheers to you. If not…well, I can relate.

Btw; reaching the end of my cup now; and it’s frankly gross, and thick, and all other manner of unappealing…