Matcha Outlet

Post workout matcha! I made it a iced latte with bavarian cream matcha, splenda, soy protein and ice.

It was a really nice cool day, so I did a jog to the post office. Got home, lifted weights. Annoyed as I had to deload due to spraining my knee the other week and too much time off lifting, but I still did a decent job with 100lb squats. Of course, right now I’m sporting a taped up sprained finger from Friday. Sigh. Now to work up again to 150lb, BLEH!

The matcha tasted almost like ice cream here! Probably from the ice, and thick consistency of the protein powder.

I’m running low on this matcha and a couple others. Looks like another RLT matcha order in a month or so. Boo, so much to save up for!

I snagged this matcha during a sale! This is the fourth matcha I’ve tried from Red Leaf Teas http://www.redleaftea.com/
As a quick rundown, Red Leaf teas matchas are very flexible and you can select the strength of the flavoring, matcha quality or type of matcha. I’m a fan of “Robust” flavoring as you get a big hit of flavor with a good matcha base. What I ordered:

Bavarian Cream Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bavarian-cream-matcha.html
Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust, because I wanna drink some strong vanilla custard!
Small tin
I really recommend to get a tin with your order, unless you already have good sealing tins. The matcha comes in a non resealable gold foil bag.

If you don’t have much in matcha preparation gear, the most important thing is to sift the matcha. I use a fine mesh tea strainer. I do this for every matcha I prepare. Other gear you need is a ½ teaspoon and a small whisk. The bamboo whisks work amazing but a small wire one will do in a pinch.
Matcha is very flexible in preparation – I often make iced lattes with a blender bottle intended to mix protein powder drinks, which is fast, easy and achieves lots of froth!

The smell of bavarian cream matcha is strong creamy with a hint of lemon. The lemon was a surprise to me as I was expecting more of a vanilla custard cream puff taste. The colour of the matcha is a rich green.

For a traditional cup of hot matcha, I used just under 1 teaspoon, whisked in a little 180f hot water to bring to a nice froth and a little extra hot water to taste. For this matcha, I found the froth was just not happening for me today. I’m thinking with stronger flavored matchas the froth isn’t as easy to achieve since I can get a great froth with my delicate caramel matcha, but my robust cheesecake matcha preforms similar to this one robust bavarian cream one.
The taste of the traditional matcha is creamy, smooth with an excellent green tea base. A lemon taste lingers in my mouth after my sip. Sweetened with a little white sugar, the citrus turns brighter, like a lemon drop candy. To me, it was more lemony than custard.

For my favorite iced matcha recipe, I added just under a teaspoon of sifted matcha, about 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar, 4 ice cubes and about 300ml of soy milk to my blender bottle and gave it a good shake. I got 1.5 inches of tasty foam. The taste, AMAZING! Very creamy custard taste! The lemon taste is now subdued, but there in the background to add interest and dimension, like adding lemon zest to a pie. I can’t taste much matcha surprisingly, but I don’t care as drinking about 90 calories of custard is total win!

Overall, of all the flavored matchas I’ve tried so far, this one is now hands down my favorite latte! For traditional prepared matchas, it’s pretty good, but find it not as close to its intended flavor as the lemon comes out more than I like. I can see Bavarian Cream matcha going well with cheesecake or caramel matcha.

I love this flavor. Seriously, this tastes like cotton candy. Sweet and yummy. Plus the delicious taste of Matcha.

This one is definitely one of my faves.

Yum! This is my matcha for the day. Since I started the day with Guayusa, I think I’m going to limit it to one bowl of Matcha today, otherwise, I might be a little TOO caffeinated.

This is such an amazing flavor. I at first thought maybe I’d combine a couple of other flavors, maybe go with caramel cheesecake again or boysenberry bavarian cream… but, my eye kept coming back to the cotton candy. So I finally gave in. So yummy. I can’t get over how much it tastes like cotton candy and Matcha.

The more I drink this one, the more it stands out as a distinct favorite.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I opened another package of Matcha and I haven’t finished off any of the ones that I already had open… But… there’s a good reason behind it! I see that the Tiramisu is on sale for the next couple of days, and I need to revitalize my GC from Red Leaf Tea so that I can buy … more Matcha. UGH! I’m hopeless! I think that someone should just strap a Matcha IV on me or something. But, then you’ll need some pretty strong restraints to hold me down, because I’d REALLY be bouncing off the walls.

When I opened this pouch, it didn’t smell as enticing as the other Matcha flavors, but I wasn’t too concerned about that, since really… the smell of cotton candy is what? Flavored Sugar? Whereas the other Matcha flavors, for the most part, have all been fruit flavors (and of course, caramel. MMMmmmmmmm!) so it isn’t surprising that those would possess a much more powerful fragrance than this.

But the taste… now that is something all together different. This tastes amazing! It tastes like cotton candy! (I know, that should be no big surprise there, right?) Seriously, though, it tastes like something you’d get at the carnival … only with the goodness of Matcha in there too. It’s healthy cotton candy! Who’da thunk it?!?

I’m off to write a full-length review of this!

Nothing like having some matcha for breakfast! mmm :]

So about a week ago I was having a really, really bad night. I came home, made myself a huge pot of tea and started browsing the internet. Well I accidentally hit a button and it went to red leaf’s website. I was slightly annoyed by this until I saw it… COOKIES AND CREAM MATCHA!!! My eyes widened and then I blacked out. I do remember being super happy seeing it. And apparently I ordered it because it was in my mailbox a week later. You can also order it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

Anyways, it smells SO good. I saved this to be the last matcha I tried today and I’m happy. Cookies and cream is one of my favorite flavors so when I saw they had a matcha flavored one.. it completely turned my bad night around :] I ordered the “distinctive” flavoring on this one and I’m happy I did. It’s so creamy and sweet. The matcha is now the one hiding behind the cookies and cream. It almost reminds me of a melted cookies and cream hershey bar(my favorite candy in the ENTIRE WORLD!) Well I think that this matcha has found it’s way into my permanent matcha collection. This is a wonderful one if you’re looking for that extra touch of creaminess! Ready… Set… Go buy it!!

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

So as I was searching for the next amazing matcha to buy I stumbled across this one. I had a lot of the dessert ones so I thought I’d give a fruit flavor a try :] Grape!! Which you can buy here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/grape-matcha.html

When I opened the package I was expecting more of a natural grape smell. But then the sweet, grape candy smell hit me. Mm it smells like grape bubblegum! Even as I was whisking it I got bursts of it. Ok.. here it goes, the first sip.. Oh man, it even tastes like grape candy. Like I have said in my other matcha reviews, if you get the “delicate” option the flavor sneaks in at the end or slightly behind the matcha. I feel like the matcha and the grape blend well together though. They compliment each other. The sweetness of the grape goes nicely with the slight sweetness/vegetal tastes of the matcha. I think I finally found my “go to” matcha when I’m craving candy. Except next time I might go for the “distinctive” flavoring. You can never get too much grape!
This is a great matcha if you are looking for something that tastes sugary, sweet with a little fruit flavor. Again here is the link you can buy it at:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/grape-matcha.html

Bavarian Cream was a flavor that many of us Steepsters fought to have on sale, but initially lost out to Cheesecake. Thankfully, Bavarian Cream was put on sale the next week, so I knew I had to snatch it up. I admit that my knowledge of Bavarian Cream is limited. I originally thought it was just a variation of vanilla. But apparently, it’s more like a custard and quite popular in pastries. I personally try to avoid pastries since they are delicious but can also be calorie-laden and full of sugar. So it’s nice when you can have a matcha instead that has the flavor without all the calories. Also, Bavarian cream seems like a hassle to make, so all the more reason to enjoy it in matcha form.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bavarian-cream-matcha.html

I ordered the 30g Bavarian Cream Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: There’s Matcha In There? Yes. After a few orders of “Robust” I wanted to try my hand at an even stronger flavor. I like matcha, but sometimes the matcha can overpower the actual flavor. For those who were wondering what the matcha looks like, I can assure you that the name is a little misleading and there is definitely matcha in there. ;) .. But when I opened the package, I could definitely smell the stronger scent of the matcha. A nice creamy scent with some fruity notes as well. Very interesting.

I started to make this matcha, but then realized I needed to go somewhere, so I had a brilliant idea to stick my bowl in the fridge (like I do with all my teas when I can’t finish them in time). Up until this point I had all my matchas hot, but I thought it might be neat to see how they are iced. When I came back home and tried the matcha after a few hours of cooling – it was absolutely delicious. Normally I have to toss some milk in there to make it a little more drinkable, but this didn’t need anything at all. The taste was very creamy and I could just detect the tiny bit of citrus. It’s worth noting that if you do decide to chill your matcha this way, a lot of the powder sinks to the bottom, so you may have to froth it up again to get it to absorb. Just for fun, I did add a little bit of milk at the end just to see how it tastes, but I think I might have put a little too much in since I had a harder time tasting the flavor. I’ll have to definitely try it again in a hot matcha.

All in all, a nice matcha desert treat to avoid the calories.

New Red Leaf Matcha order! Bavarian cream, and I splurged on the royal matcha this time. I mostly wanted to see if I can taste the difference but also (if I can tell the difference), do I prefer the better matcha + less flavoring, or basic matcha + more flavoring? After this, I’m leaning towards the former, which surprised me!

Anyway, I really like this. The royal matcha is a lovely vibrant green, as powder or in water, a bit brighter than the basic grade. Even with less flavoring (delicate, rather than the distinctive I tried last time), this is sweet and flavorful. I am frankly impressed with myself – not exactly a connoisseur of green teas – for being able to taste a difference. Of course, for science(!) I should get the same flavor in different grades and have someone else prepare it as a blind test… maybe next time :P. For now, I am convinced that the royal matcha is truly distinctive.

I first tried this iced (the easiest way to prepare things at work) with about 1/2 tsp to 16 oz water. First impressions: cream, lime???. There is definitely something citrusy here, in addition to the sweet cream flavor. Also, not the least bit of bitterness. The flavor is very light and refreshing, where I was expecting it to be heavy. I mean, Bavarian cream, right? But this is creamy and rich and light at the same time, kind of like cream soda. If someone had given me this to try without telling me the flavor, I think I would have guessed key lime pie because of the citrusy sweet notes along with the cream (… now I’m hoping they get a key lime pie flavor so I can compare!). I also want to try the royal matcha plain to see if that’s where the citrus is coming from, it’s really baffling me.

I also prepared this warm, but at work I don’t have my chawan and chasen and I’m having a bit more trouble with clumps this time. I’ve gotten away without a sifter so far, but I suppose it makes sense that the finer grade of matcha would clump more easily. Anyway, the warm matcha was quite good, even with the powdery sensation that comes of insufficient whisking. A little milk (unsurprisingly) really brought out the creaminess and made this a decadent dessert drink.

Between the royal matcha and the delicate flavor, I don’t think I’d use this in smoothies or cooking – the flavor is too fine and mild. It’s meant to be drunk plain, or nearly.

You can buy this for yourself at http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bavarian-cream-matcha.html

Red Leaf introduced several new matcha flavors (as if they don’t have enough already), and when I saw that this was on the list, and on sale, I had to jump on it. I’m such a sucker for Oreos (even though they are so bad for me). This Matcha seemed like the perfect treat of healthy (cause its tea!) and sorta-indulging in Oreo-goodness.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

I ordered the 30g Cookies and Cream Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: Robust. I admit that after I ordered, I saw some other Steepsters order there Cookies & Cream with the black matcha base, and honestly that sounds pretty good. I almost wish I would have thought of that. I’m interested to see what they think of it when the reviews come out. Anyway, back to the matcha.

As always, this matcha smells so delicious. The flavor is so overpowering just from a smell. You don’t really smell any matcha at all. I definitely smell the cream over the cookies, although both work together. The smell reminds me a little bit of the caramel matcha, very sweet but almost a bit creamy too.

First, I sifted the matcha. Remember how a few matchas ago I was having sifting issues? I found the perfect sifter (that’s not a sifter). I actually use one of my old tea balls that I got when I first started into loose leaf. You know, the one with the long handle that opens and closes that everyone and their grandmother has? This works great for sifting matcha. I pour in a scoop, close the ball, and then shake it around over the cup. It works great, and I’m thankful I get to put the ol’ tea ball back to use since it’s been out of commission for a while.

Before I put the water in, I took a look at the matcha. Maybe it’s just my imagination, or a trick of the lighting, but I think I saw some white particles in there along with the green – which would make sense, it is cookies and cream. I didn’t see any dark particles, though, so who knows. Anyway, I brewed my matcha as normal, added some milk, and took a sip.

As usual, this matcha is very very good. Another great desert matcha for those with a sweet tooth but who don’t want to over indulge. I don’t know if I would say it tastes exactly like Oreos, but there is definitely a creamy deserty type note to it. I will say that I preferred the caramel just a little bit more, but I think they can both stand on their own.

My daughter loves this matcha so much that even though we had a steak dinner and birthday cake, she wanted me to make a latte for her and for her boyfriend. I told her that this matcha was even in her birthday cake! Here it is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/8101584295/

She loved the cake and the lattes. I did make a substitution in the cake recipe. It called for Cool Whip in the cream cheese frosting but I thought marshmallow cream would be better in its place. It turns out it was a good call. The pecans really do a lot for this cake, too, which makes me wonder about how this matcha would taste mixed with a nut flavored matcha or even a marshmallow one, if there is one!

The first thing I served at tea party was a warm latte made with this matcha. Warm skim milk+1/2 teaspoon matcha+one teaspoon sugar. Froth with immersion blender. Topped with a little swirl of whipped cream, since tea party is a special occasion.

I liked it very much, just as before. My guest wasn’t wild about it because she doesn’t add sugar to ANYTHING and so far she has only liked coffee lattes. She said she liked it but didn’t love it.

I put almost a teaspoon of this matcha into my daughter’s birthday cake. I am eager to see if we can tell it made a difference. I will post a link to the cake and a note about how the flavoring went when we cut the cake!

Oh my, these notes might be short because I am all tea’ed out. My oldest daughter came to visit today and she was eager to try this matcha. She liked her latte made with it so much she asked for a second one after she finished the first. Then we made it whisked in hot water and tried it with and without sugar. We liked it best without.

I was glad she loved it so much, because I was afraid she was going to love the caramel and then she and her dad would have to duke it out over who gets to keep it. LOL! Thank goodness, they each have a SEPARATE favorite!

I am mostly ordering and trying matcha for my daughter, who works at night and is trying to drink a lot of green tea plus she needs energy and to be alert but not jittery, and for my husband, who is terrible about not eating a good breakfast and needs energy for a long day. For this reason, the flavors I am choosing first are really flavors I think they will like rather than what I would choose for myself, although believe me, my turn is coming!

My daughter loves fall because she loves EVERYTHING pumpkin! She makes pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin fudge. She buys pumpkin doughnuts and pumpkin spice coffees. She even toasts pumpkin seeds. So a natural choice of matcha for her is the Pumpkin Pie Matcha! I don’t think I even noticed on the website until I saw Alphakitty’s review, and as soon as I saw that I knew my daughter had to have it!

You can find it here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

I ordered the small size and got the basic grade of matcha because I also got the robust level of flavor, so I thought that grade of matcha would be fine.

This time I got the tin. Matcha is a very fine powder, and they recommend keeping it in the refrigerator or freezer.

Naturally, I have to try it first! Again, I want the flavored matcha for lattes or smoothies so the big decision was how to make a pumpkin pie drink without adding coffee, because that is the only kind I really know.

I decided to make the matcha and add it to heated milk for my first attempt. I figured if i didn’t like it as a hot drink, i could always pour it over ice.

The dry matcha did not have as much aroma as I had anticipated thought had a pleasant smell. I had expected to open the pouch and be greeted by CINNAMON whopping me upside the head, but there was just a pleasant smell of light spices and pumpkin.

This time I didn’t use the Bamix immersion blender, but just whisked the matcha in a small cereal bowl with a kitchen whisk. I had tried making it that way with the first matcha I ordered, which was the mocha one, and it worked great! I don’t have a sifter – I just looked at the powder and since I didn’t see any lumps I figured it was okay. I poured on the hot water, probably only one ounce, and whisked with my plain metal kitchen whisk and used the “M” shaped motion they describe. As soon as, and i mean AS SOON AS, the hot water hit the matcha, the robust flavor showed itself in a rich aroma swelling into the air. Yes sir! This is a nice mix of pumpkin pie spices, but the pumpkin is there, too! I got a lovely froth completely covering the surface of the liquid. Even though my plain kitchen whisk works, I eventually want to get a bamboo whisk and a whisk stand, just because I enjoy the doodads and paraphernalia!

I added the ounce of matcha liquid to a ten ounce cup of hot milk and stirred in one teaspoon of raw cane sugar because I want a pie experience! It is hard to believe that this tiny amount of matcha is going to flavor that whole cup of milk.

And oh my goodness, my daughter is going to be very happy! This tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. It is so rich, yet this is skim milk. I feel like I am drinking a whole milk, calorie dense beverage.

As a hot milk drink, it was also very satisfying and I am hoping it is going to keep me going as we do a big clean up today. I wondered if I would need to add some real canned pumpkin to it to give it enough flavor, but it isn’t necessary! I can’t wait for my daughter to try this! I already told her about it and she is pretty excited! She had never heard of matcha before now, and is diligently googling all the health benefits.

I sucked this down so fast its hard to even do a review on it because it is SOOOOOOO GOOD! You can get some here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

The smell of this one was absolutely spot on for Cookies and Cream.

There is a chocolate note that is so perfect and the creamy notes of cloyingly sweet cookie filling! And OH YES cloyingly sweet is GOOD in this case!

Obviously this is a dessert matcha! But if you are like me and don’t mind having your dessert for breakfast then its A okay!

Granted we still have this beautiful matcha base for our health kick and no guilt right!?

I am one happy camper slugging down my cookies and cream for breakfast!

My matcha from Red Leaf Tea is as follows:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage: Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g)
As I always mention because you never know when a new steepster may be reading – remember to grab up one of the screw top tins when you place your order! Excellent tins – air tight and keep you from making a matcha mess when you scoop!
This is the first matcha that I got the larger 60 gram size of! I normally buy the small in 30 gram but when I saw this available on sale nonetheless I grabbed up a large! I have NO regrets!

I would have got the large tin but I wanted my growing matcha collection to be uniform so I put the overflow in another container I had and put it away for safe keeping. I am sure once I suck down all of this in light speed I will be glad I hid a little from myself!
When I was at the store the other day I grabbed some Sweet Cream creamer to use in my latte blends instead of the vanilla. Today I mixed up a latte with the sweet cream which complimented this matcha perfectly! I only use a dash though to give my latte a thicker consistency as I don’t want the creamer to overshadow or cover the true matcha flavor. It was divine! I don’t know how I will keep myself from making a second cup! I am sitting here sucking on the ice cubes that still have some matcha clinging to it and I just want to dive in and be one with the remaining goodness!
I love the grassy vegetal creamy flavor of matcha and I realize purists would cringe at all the flavors being added but life is too short not to enjoy everything Red Leaf has to offer! I have yet to try a straight matcha from Red Leaf and that is in the plans for the near future but for now I am going to keep indulging in all the flavors I have yet to try and the new ones that are being slowly (painfully) released! I want them all NOW!
Remember you can get some of this right here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

When I receive a new matcha from Red Leaf Tea, it’s become customary to tear into the package (ASAP!), removing the matcha from its gold foil packaging and emptying it into a tin. I’m always surprised at how delicious each one has smelled during this ritual. And the Brandy Matcha is no exception!

The smell of this particular offering is really fruity and sweet, very much like what Juicy Fruit gum smells like. I almost didn’t believe I got the right item, because in my mind, the alcohol tends to overwhelm the fruitiness of the brandy. (Maybe I’ve never had any great brandy?) I almost always get that spine tingle when I consume alcohol – probably because I’m such a lightweight now that I rarely ever indulge. I had to look at the packaging to make sure what I got was what I ordered: Brandy Matcha, Size: Small, Flavor: Robust ( found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/brandy-matcha.html ) – yep, that’s it!

Onward and upward – I start with a Brandy Matcha latte. (The thought of having it straight scares me a little with it’s intense smell right now.) One teaspoon brandy matcha with three-fourths teaspoon sugar and two ounces of warmed water. Wisked to frothy perfection and added 6 ounces of icy-cold half-and-half.

The taste is very true to the smell, intensely sweetened fruit. Quite honestly, it’s too much!

So I tried again, this time with just a teaspoon of Brandy Matcha and 2 ounces of warmed water. Wisked and added another 6 ounces of cool water. No sweetener, no dairy – it’s is so much better! It’s matcha with brandy flavoring! Really, there’s no need to add sugar/sugar equivalent to this – its quite sweet already.

Initially I as I was drinking the Brandy Matcha latte I was thinking that this is probably the first matcha from Red Leaf where I would actually consider nocking the flavoring down to “distinctive” level Don’t get me wrong, it’s good at robust, but maybe a little overwhelming if you’re looking for something less fruity. But now that I’ve tried it straight with no sweetener (which is not my default way of drinking matcha), I’m finding a simpler preparation is better.

I have a soft spot for blackberry and apple brandies – I think they’re the first type of brandy I ever tried. Memories of good times! I look forward to trying this mixed with either of the apple matchas or a dark berry matcha Red Leaf offers.

I will admit that I have only had 2 cups of this (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html) since it arrived! I thought I should give it another try before I write a review of it, but my feelings haven’t changed a whole lot. I am wondering if I should have picked “distinctive” for my flavour profile, because while I get a slight aroma and flavor of vanilla it isn’t as strong as I expected, especially when I compared it to the mango matcha that I tried first.

I certainly would not classify this as a “blah” tea, but when I want something flavoured it isn’t what I’ll reach for. I made some before work today, and as it cooled (I find it gets better as it cools) I just kept thinking that it tasted like extra smooth regular matcha. Like a toned-down on the grassiness matcha, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think this would be perfect for someone who has been newly introduced to matcha, or for someone who maybe had a bad first experience. If I had tried this as my first matcha, I think I would have thought “Ooh….matcha is awesome!”. What I really thought was: “This is interesting….but I think I need to try more before I decide.”

The Madagascar Vanilla is definitely something that I can see being great in baking or smoothies, and I have read about a few people mixing it with other flavours such as mint (that may be something I need to try in the future!). I can also see it being a go-to tea to make when I’m not sure exactly what I want. I do wonder though how different the French Vanilla matcha is from the Madagascar Vanilla. I may have to place another order soon to compare…

The best thing about this matcha is that it seems to be pretty versatile…I feel like I could probably use it to extend the life of some other kinds if I really wanted to. The taste is mellow and smooth, and there is no artificial taste to the vanilla flavoring. I recently noticed that on the Red Leaf Tea website they have an option for a “2 in 1 custom matcha”, and I think this would be a really awesome option to use as one of the flavors. I’m not sure I will pick up more of this when it is gone, but that is more due to the fact that there are so many different kinds that I want to try. I could see me coming back to this sometime in the future.

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve managed to have only good experiences with matcha, despite being pretty skeptical at the beginning. When I heard that Red Leaf Tea had flavoured matchas, I was so excited! I knew right away that I was going to order mango matcha- http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html – my favourite fruit (possibly my favourite food). The hard part was deciding what else I would order! I waited impatiently for my order to arrive (which it did, quite a long time ago…I have not been good at keeping up with my postings!) and as soon as they arrived I ripped open the mango pouch!

My one disappointment was that the pouch that the matcha came in was sealed at the very top, unlike the pouches that I’ve had from Davids Tea, which have about a half inch of extra pouch at the top of the seal. This sounds like a strange thing to be disappointed with, but I definitely struggled to smell the contents without getting the powder all over the place! Needless to say, I very quickly transferred the contents to a tin.

The smell of this tea is wonderful. It smells like fresh mango juice. I would describe it as a very clean and refreshing smell, which is how I feel about most matchas. I will also say that I had no issues with clumps. I have been very careful to check the temperature of my water before adding it to the tea, and so far have not had any bitter disasters. The mango matcha has a grassy sweetness that definitely keeps the mango taste. The actual flavour isn’t as strong as the smell, but I think that it would be overpowering if it was. I love this both hot and iced, which a slight edge going to the iced version. I haven’t tried it yet in a smoothie, but I am thinking it would be fantastic. I did try adding a bit to some yogurt, and it was almost perfect – this was the only time I had clumps, but I also wasn’t very patient trying to mix it all together. I’m sure it would be good with other types of foods too – I keep seeing recipes for cookies and cheesecakes and such, but for me that defeats the purpose a bit of trying to drink healthy teas. I wonder though what mango matcha ice cream would be like….I am thinking very refreshing! That might have to happen.

I’ve been using my frother to whisk my matchas for the last few months (they actually work pretty great), but I felt like I was cheating. I looked at DavidsTea and on amazon for whisks, but the price was enough for an awful lot of tea…so the frother stayed. The mango matcha is only the third kind I’ve tried, so I really don’t have much skill whisking anyway, but I am happy to say that I was able to get what looks like exactly the same whisk as at DT this weekend for only $4! I was amazed but very happy. You know what that means…more matcha is in my future!

Alright! I have had quite the little journey with English Toffee matcha – it started out on a bumpy road, but from that I finally perfect an iced matcha technique on the go! And coaxed out the flavour! So it has a happy ending, I hope I didn’t ruin it for you… read on ;)

My first few cups of English Toffee Matcha left a little to be desired in the flavouring department. I guess I should have gone with Robust or Distinctive instead of Delicate, but it hadn’t failed me before! I should say – it wasn’t that the cup itself was disappointing. In fact, the quality of matcha in this batch almost seemed smoother and indulgent than I’ve had in the past! It almost had a creamy quality to it, without any additives. I was just looking a little too hard for a “Skor” or even a salted caramel sort of flavour.

I tried it as a latte – and it was still delicious, but I was still searching for the English Toffee. I’m happy to say that I discovered the flavour the best in an iced tea with no milk OR sugar! That was super surprising to me! I usually add sugar to make the matcha sweet like the flavours usually are in their original forms, but this one came out the BEST unsweetened. Who would have thunk?

I keep seeing online a “recipe” for iced matcha, or rather, instructions where all you have to do is add the powder to a bottle of water and shake like crazy! Well, I have tried that multiple times and it’s gross every time haha. I uncap a bottle, sip a bit, shake some matcha in and shake away (for a loooong time) – but all I end up with is murky green water with clumps. Clumps that hit your teeth and dissolve into a bitter mess in your mouth.
THEN I read on a website (of course I can’t remember which one) where they added just a half a teaspoon of matcha, and a tiny bit of cold water – the same way you would make hot matcha – to make a matcha paste first and then add more water! So I added my half tablespoon of English Toffee Matcha, about a teaspoon of water – and my shaking was vigorous! It created a smooth paste almost instantly with no lumps (I didn’t even need to sift), I filled up my water bottle with the rest of the cold, filtered water. The liquid was emerald green, not lumpy or murky, and tasty! I didn’t add sugar or anything else, just sipped away and lo and behold – English toffee flavour and natural sweetness from the matcha, with a bit of vegetal tones and no astringency.

I’m pretty happy that I figured out the right way to make iced matcha in a bottle – I’m also happy with my English Toffee matcha. We’re on good terms now ;)

Found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/english-toffee-matcha.html

I’m still working on perfecting this matcha… I can’t seem to coax the flavours out that I’m expecting… must clear palate, take deep breath, and go in with no expectations! More on that later, I’ll be Bach

MMmmmmmMINT Matcha is JUST what I needed to help round off my matcha supply!

I love mint but need to be in the mood for it. Luckly for me that mood comes fairly often!

Mint is eye opening, awakening, and also helps soothe a troubled tummy.

We had some really good Japanese food last night at a great restaurant but all of us were having some tummy “issues” last evening after dinner. This mornings mint matcha which you can buy here http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mint-matcha.html is really helping to settle the tummy woes.

When I opened my bag from Red Leaf Tea the aroma was striking! I instantly thought “ohhhh yessss this is IT”. It had some slight resemblance to Spearmint gum, and while I do also detect peppermint flavor here I would have to say the mint used is mostly spearmint. Now with that said – whatever mint this is – which is arguable – this is a perfect blend of mints period.

For those who know their mints some really prefer one type of mint over another. Spearmint to me is sweeter than peppermint and there is less of a bite to it. Some may beg to differ since most people are used to peppermint candies but in its true form I find peppermint to have more bite, sharper than spearmint and spearmint more sweet naturally. Regardless of what type of mint you prefer I have to say this Mint Matcha from Red Leaf does in fact taste very natural! A perfect union of mints!

This is an excellent mixer as well. Of course you will want to use a little less mint matcha in your blend along with another matcha but I choose to blend mint with mocha this morning. The mocha I used a full scoop and the mint just a half of a scoop. I can taste the mocha very well and the mint does not totally over power it.

This mint does not in any way taste like mouth wash or toothpaste. It is quite enjoyable. I am so glad that I purchased this one and will absolutely keep this as a stash regular.

Also I notice that the mocha base is providing a nice creamy backdrop to the mint matcha! Ohhhh I MUST try a french vanilla / mint blend as soon as possible – I am thinking “Grasshopper” flavored matcha here! Oh yeah!

My matcha was composed of the following:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage: Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g)
As always remember to grab up one of the screw top tins when you place your order! Excellent tins – air tight and keep you from making a matcha mess when you scoop!
I don’t like scooping even regular tea from bags – tins are the best and I love the ones Red Leaf sells!

So all in all I could not be happier that I went for it and grabbed this Mint Matcha from Red Leaf!

Go get some for yourself now!

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mint-matcha.html