Matcha Outlet

Blueberry is one of my favorite flavors, second only to vanilla. Unfortunately for me, blueberries don’t grow in Ecuador. We have “Mortiño” which is a type of blueberry, but it is tiny and sour. So, any time I am able to get something blueberry flavored, it is a no brainer. I MUST have it. This tea was no exception. Since Red Leaf Tea is amazing and ships to remote corners of the world (ex. Ecuador) I placed my order immediately!

Blueberries are native to North America. The flowering end of the berry (the one that isn’t connected to the stem) is a perfect 5 pointed star. Because of this, some Native American cultures referred to it as the “Star Berry”. They had many uses for it, including relieving persistent coughs! In modern day, it is known that blueberries are incredibly high in antioxidants. Also, it is one of the few naturally occurring blue pigments in plants. How can you not love blueberries? They taste delicious, are good for you and are interesting too!

Since blueberry is one of my favorite flavors I am very picky about it. There are delicious blueberry flavored things and not so tasty artificial blueberry flavors. I had my fingers crossed and hopes high for this Matcha. So far, Red Leaf Tea has been nothing but positive surprises. This Matcha was an incredibly delicious experience. I have downed 4 cups of it so far, and fear that I will have to order quite a bit more soon! Oh blueberry flavored Matcha… My wallet laments that you are so delicious!

As soon as I opened the big golden packet (I went ahead and got a large…) I smelled blueberry. It was like taking a fresh blueberry pie out of the oven. My mouth started watering and I couldn’t wait to have it in my cup. The green powder smelled so much like blueberries that my brain kept wondering how it could still be green rather than blue!

Once prepared it frothed perfectly, the foamy surface was delicious. I prepared it hot and nice and thick. Each sip was smooth and sweet, even though no sweetener was added. Its thickness made me imagine a sip of blueberry smoothie in my mouth, it even made me feel full after finishing the cup! It is a delightful experience. I also tried it iced which was delicious and refreshing. I think this would be delicious to sip by the pool with a good book, or even better, by the ocean! Yumm… I think I will have to do that one day!

This Matcha is now permanently invited to live in my tea cabinet. It is a staple that I can’t imagine living without now that I have tried it! If you would like to try it (and trust me you should!) you can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html . (Just keep in mind, that after one try, you will be hooked!) :)

Matcha, matcha, MATCHA!

That’s what I was chanting when my first order arrived from Red Leaf Tea this morning. I’m sure my husband thought I was crazy as I ran back into the house to tear open the package that contained both boysenberry and caramel matchas! Let the matcha fest begin! =D

LiberTEAS mentioned a few days ago that Boysenberry reminded her of her home in SoCal – Same with me! My family lived about 20 minutes from Knott’s Berry Farm during my high school days. If boysenberry isn’t already, I think it should be the official berry of Knott’s! So needless to say, the boysenberry flavored matcha Red Leaf Tea offers has a little nostalgia for me – that and the fact that it was on sale – win, win!

I purchased a 30 gram pouch of the Boysenberry Green Matcha, basic grade with robust flavoring.
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/boysenberry-matcha.html
I like my teas to be bold!

As I poured the matcha from it’s pouch into the small metal tin RL offers for a nominal price, I became giddy! This smells soooooo good! Whiffs of sweet berry start swirling in the air around me. I could nearly taste the boysenberry! I already have a feeling I’m going to regret getting a small tin of this…

For this particular review I’m sticking to a basic preparation – matcha and water. I usually like to enjoy my matcha latte-style, but I want to get a taste for what it’s like at it’s most basic preparation.

First, I sifted a teaspoon of matcha into my glass mug. Then adding 2 ounces of warmed water, I wisked it with the matcha with my electric frother. There was a nice layer of freshly formed foam atop of the liquid. Looking through the bottom of my mug, I could see there were no clumps of unmixed matcha to be seen. (Yay!) I added the rest of the water (6 oz.) and stirred.

Wow – this is really quite good! I like that the boysenberry doesn’t completely mask the matcha, but it does a good job of detracting from the grassiness green matcha has. (Remember, I did go all out and use “robust” flavoring!) This is really drinkable without sweetener, but I have a feeling adding it would just take this over the top into crazy good territory. So for now I’ll refrain.

I bet this is gonna be awesome iced! Can’t wait to play around with this and make fruity smoothies with this too – the ideas are endless!

Now I’m curious about trying the Boysenberry White Matcha – I think that’s going to be on my next order, which will be very soon! :)

French Vanilla Matcha

Get it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

Wooo hoooo my third matcha today. Its been a long busy crazy kind of day with the need to multitask, be sociable, run errand, work, make phone calls, help family out, entertain teen girls with girl talk time, and go go go. Thanks to the power of matcha it has been a breeze! Now I am waiting on the husband to get home from work hopefully within the next hour or so and spend maybe one hour of quality time with him before I can unwind silently on my own perhaps doing some reading. However, I am going for this cup to carry me through till that time.

So I am indulging in some french vanilla matcha from Red Leaf Tea linked above.

This is one of the smoothest matcha yet from Red Leaf. A lot like Bavarian Cream it is very velvety and creamy. I think I prefer this over the madagascar vanilla because this one seems to be a bit more vanillay more in your face a term I over use but everyone who follows me pretty much knows I like my flavors to be strong. Between the two, if you want something more mellow and laid back then Madagascar Vanilla is your cup of tea, but if you want something sinfully smooth, rich, thick, and creamy, then French Vanilla is the one for you.

My matcha was composed of the following:

Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g) 3.00 add on

I always get the tin as you probably know by now. Its an extra 3.00 but worth it unless you already have tins at home to use. While I love the pretty gold packaging that Red Leaf sends the matcha in but they don’t reseal, which is the only downside to ordering matcha from Red Leaf and thats not much of a downside! I do however like how the matcha does not stick to the interior of the bags and you can get most all of it out of the bag easily! They also have larger tins if you decide to get the larger quantity of matcha for I think 4.00 but don’t quote me on that.

I will probably do a bit more exploring of all the flavors Red Leaf Tea has to offer before ordering a larger quantity however I am pretty sure French Vanilla would make that list. I mean you can mix it with other flavors to get a more creamy texture and flavor out of them such as mixing Caramel matcha with French Vanilla but then I think I could do the same thing with Cheesecake, or Bavarian Cream so the list of possible mixes goes on and on!

It has actually been two days that I have been writing this review because I have been feeling a little under the weather but I did have a second cup today – or more like this evening – just to refresh my experience and I must say that it is such an easy matcha to drink, probably the best starter matcha I could think of. Its unassuming and true to what you would expect it to be. It is just like French Vanilla ice cream only more like a top quality ice cream rather than a store brand. Tomorrow I plan to do a Caramel and French Vanilla Mix – looking forward to that!
This is one that has a permanent home in my matcha stash!
Once again Here is the link:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

When I saw this Matcha on the homepage of Red Leaf Tea, I had to put it in my shopping cart. I love fig. It brings back happy memories from my childhood (much the same way that the mention of boysenberry matcha did) – at one point when I was very small, I lived on a farm, and there was a fig orchard there. I don’t remember a whole lot about who it was that I lived there with, but I do remember spending lazy summer afternoons strolling through the fig orchard, picking the ripe figs and eating them right away, when they were still warm from the sun.

When I opened the pouch of tea, I could smell the figs. It almost smelled like a package of fig newtons. It smelled of figs but something a little more. Something sweet, something almost cake-y about it.

The flavor is amazing and quite unlike any matcha I’ve tried yet. There is a spiciness to this that I don’t think I’ve ever noticed in a matcha before. It is like the sweet flavor of the fig has brought this interesting note to the surface. It is a vegetative spicy tone … which is why I attribute it to the matcha. The matcha is, of course, smooth and creamy, but what I’m really finding most intriguing is this wonderful vegetal spice. The overall flavor is warm, autumnal, and really very good. Love this!

Let me start off by saying that I don’t like anything Green, until now! This matcha has captured my attention in an everyday sort of way. I don’t own a tea bowl, tea sifter or a bamboo spoon, but I can still enjoy this tea everyday.
When you first get your package, it is flat. Try to remember it is a powder chock full of antioxidants. I read the brochure that came with my order and then I got down to the business of adding this tea to my cupboard.
The first thing I did was to pour my matcha into a tea tin. I did not know (until I read that informative brochure) that I needed to store the tea in the refrigerator or freezer, so I figured the best way to protect it was to get it secured in a tea tin. I took a whiff and then admired the vibrant green color. The smell is intoxicating with toffee goodness. I quickly measured out ½ tsp of matcha into my coffee mug, ½ packet of raw sugar and 2 ounces of hot water. I used my mini wire whisk to create a nice foam, then I topped it all off with 2% milk.
Today, I had this tea without the added sugar. I liked it, but adding a wee bit of sugar really brings out the toffee flavor in this blend.
I have sampled a lot of different teas. Some I liked, some I hated. This English Toffee matcha by Red Leaf Tea is expertly blended to provide the tea drinker a unique experience. Here is the link on this matcha so you can read more about it on the official website: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/english-toffee-matcha.html
English Toffee Matcha is rich in flavor. It is not bitter or grassy. Remember I stated I have tried a lot of different teas, black and green. And the green teas have not been on the reorder list, but the tides turned when I discovered matcha from the Red Leaf Tea Company. I have been a tea drinker for the last four years. During this time, I have been looking for and longing for a tea that is creamy, milky and full of flavor. I tried a Milk Oolong, thinking it would fit the bill. But no, it did not. Let me tell you that my socks have been blown off by this blend and with the stellar customer service (I got my tea order in two days and I received a USPS tracking number by email) Red Leaf Tea provides, it only encourages me to keep drinking their teas. I have finally found my all time favorite tea and who knew that the answer to my tea dilemma would be green.

Okay, I was wracking my brain to think of which matcha I had left to review. I actually had to go into my cupboard and sort my Recently Added to figure it out… it was CHEESECAKE! How could I forget?! I’ve been drinking this glorious Matcha almost every day, not even kidding. I know it’ll be the first I run out of and the first I run back to order more of! I might get a tin just for this one, because I know it will be in my cupboard forever. Dear Red Leaf Tea, never stop making matcha!!!! Love, your adoring fans!

I have had 2 amazing cheesecakes in my life. One was purchased on a trip to Vancouver from the market on Granville Island. It was tiny. It was expensive. It was amazing! The second was this week from a place called Broadway Cheesecake (something like that) here in Halifax. They have so freaking many kinds of cheesecake, it is crazy! 8 bucks a piece, but the pieces are HUGE. Why am I telling you this? Because this matcha trumps them. It puts the power of cheesecake into my little hands, adds green tea powder to make it amazing, and tastes like heaven on earth!

That may seem a little dramatic, but it’s the only way I know how to truly show how much I appreciate this matcha in my cupboard. The taste is tangy, thick and a bit sweet. If you add sugar it has the decadence of a perfect cream cheese icing. If you add milk (I tried 2%, almond and vanilla soy) it’s a slice from a fine bakery (or cheesecake from home, arguably the best kind!). If you drink it hot – it’s fresh from the oven! Iced? It’s a perfectly chilled and dense New York piece from the fridge. I could go on, but I guess what I’m trying to say is: Any way you slice it, this Cheesecake Matcha is the best of the best – it has the power to turn my crappy tired morning into an awesome day. Just sayin’.

One of the best features of this flavour (and many of the other dessert matchas) is that you get the delicious taste of a rich cheesecake without the tummy-ache and super full and heavy feeling. I won’t say without the “guilt” because I am highly against self shaming, especially in the food department. With that in mind – this tea doesn’t completely replace a cheesecake. I’ll still eat my fair share of cheesecake! What this tea DOES do is let you have cheesecake every day – even if your tummy is full or your wallet is empty! THAT my friends, is the magic of matcha :D

Thanks for reading this ramble. I’m kind of passionate, can you tell? ;)

Hey are you still reading this? Go get some! http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

I have to say, I’m sitting here tonight and feeling happy and grateful for my Steepster family. I love this place we can come and feel so at home!

I’m also grateful for Red Leaf Tea’s matcha program – it’s allowed me to try so many amazing teas that I otherwise could not afford at this time – and I and SUPER grateful for this cheesecake matcha!

Holy tasty! Creamy and tangy and sweet – without the feeling of a heavy stomach afterwards. so… I can have as many cups as I want. I like that.

I will definitely be trying this flavour with other matcha bases, because I am in matcha heaven right now!

I got this one with the black matcha. And I like this one less than the black matcha. Straight, I find the white matcha far too astringent (I had an involuntary, physical pucker). Like the black matcha, it’s better in a latte, but the brighter taste of the black matcha works better against the milk.

I was excited to try this, because such respectable reviewers have given it such good remarks. Alas, I just don’t like this very much. I find it on the bitter side, and very astringent, when taken straight. It does make a decent latte, though. As a latte, the texture is nice and rich, and the bitterness/astringency is balanced with the milk. As a straight matcha, this is a 6. As a latte, it’s an 8. Overall, 7. I’ll keep it around, and use it in the mornings before work when I need caffeine but don’t want to start a regular pot of tea. I doubt I’d choose it over other teas when I have the time to be leisurely.

Plum Matcha

Oh Matcha my Matcha. I salute you.
This for me has been the easiest to drink straight!
Its so smooth.
Is it “natural” flavored? Well although I know Red Leaf Tea does use all natural flavoring in its matcha I can’t really say if this tastes natural or not. I honestly have not had that many plum flavored things but its really very immensely good! Its not even that it tastes unnatural and it does not taste the least bit chemical but its just such a strong awesome flavor that it is so hard for me to imagine how they got all that into the little tiny flavor granuals!

I have noticed I have been cutting back more and more on the milk to matcha ratio in my lattes and this one is the greenest of them yet! I am loving the flavor here.
The aroma of this one was INTENSE when I opened the bag! For a robust, not distinctive, flavoring I would say robust is really as far as one needs to go – the aroma was similar to the boysenberry in the sense that it had that Flintstone’s vitamin smell to it but in the flavor I don’t get that.

I actually failed to sift the matcha powder base this time around and yet it is so smooth!
This may be one of my favorite fruit flavors to date!

It has a punch like flavor to it but yet there is this almost nutty after taste – probably the mixture of the wonderful base tea mixed with this particular fruit. Its really quite different!
I enjoy seeing how different flavors play off the matcha base! I think this is one of the more complex matcha I have tried. Its not exactly what you might think it would be with the nutty flavor coming out at the end but it is most definitively plum in the beginning. I like how the nutty sneaks up on me!

My Plum 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) Extra 3.00 for the small tin which I recommend as the bags the powder base comes in are not resealable. Although they are pretty and come in golden shiny bags unless you have some spare containers around you really will want to get a tin with your matcha purchase. Its just so much easier and less messy to have your fine powder in a container rather than trying to scoop it out of a bag!

I do like that Red Leaf Tea uses these shiny slippery gold bags however, as the matcha does not stick to them as much as they might other bags. Which means you get as much matcha powder out of them for your money!

You can get your own Plum Flavored Matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/plum-matcha.html

Oh my! OK, believe it or not, I think I’ve found a new favorite Matcha. This is SO GOOD. Definitely my favorite pear tea, if not my favorite flavored Matcha … and this one battles it out with the caramel, I think.

The pear flavor is so genuine. It tastes like PEAR. Sweet, juicy, succulent pear. I ordered the basic Matcha with the distinctive level of flavoring, and it came out stunningly good.

This is a must try, people. If you’re wondering which Matcha to try with to start out your free Matcha program from Red Leaf Tea, or if you’re just wondering which Matcha to order next from them – this should be it. Yum Yum Yum!

Mangosteen Matcha

So as you know I am on a matcha tea roll here sucking down as much as I possibly can. I feel like I may turn into the indestructible Matcha Monster anytime soon which I can imagine myself as some comic book heroine with green hair, possibly in dreadlocks, sort of like Medusa, with tea leafs growing out of my skin, and of course I would be glowing! I’ve yet to decide what my powers would be exactly, perhaps regeneration and re-growth of plants in some post apocalyptic world crisis!

In my pursuit to try every matcha possible from Red Leaf Tea I decided to get a few out of the ordinary flavors for a couple of reasons. One reason is because I’m curious. Another reason is because I want to “give back” in some way for the generous offer of “free matcha” with reviews, because the generosity has been quite astounding and has aided me in getting many wonderful matcha I otherwise never could have tired. I feel like by trying some flavors that may otherwise be overlooked for more known flavors that I am helping in a small way. With that said, I decided one of the more unusual flavors I wanted to try was the mangosteen. I choose mangosteen for a couple of reasons, one being that the health benefits are pretty good! Mangosteen aids in a number of health related issues and I know this for a fact because Dr. Oz said so (said with sarcasm)… but one thing that really stood out to me was this :Treating disfiguring skin illnesses such as eczema and psoriasis. I happen to suffer from psoriasis and let me tell you its extremely painful and agitating to say the least! If someone told me jumping off a tall building into a pool filled with alligators would help this condition I would do it! Also I had recently watched a cooking show where mangosteen was used (Iron Chef I think but I’m not sure), and it looked so yummy!

So here I am with my Mangosteen Matcha which you can buy here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mangosteen-matcha.html

This flavor is interesting and unusual. While it is sweet I also find it extremely earthy and really compliments the natural flavors of the matcha base itself. The flavor is difficult to describe but some of the key words I would have to use would be grassy, earthy, vegetal, sweet, with a gritty texture. Now lets talk about this gritty texture a moment. I used a regular cooking sifter to sift the matcha, and it was already quite well sifted as all Red Leaf matcha seems to be. Its a very fine grind to begin with but I still sift it and it was no different in its grain than any other matcha I have tried from Red Leaf so I have no doubt that this is a texture / taste of the mangosteen itself and not due to an error in preparation nor due to a lower matcha quality – as I feel Red Leaf Tea has very fine matcha base quality. Yet there is just this slightly grittiness to this matcha. Again giving me that very earthy like feeling when drinking it. I really can’t say that if asked “what does mangosteen taste like” that I could give someone a good descriptor. As a matter of fact before I ordered it, and even now sitting here sipping it, I have googled “what does the mangosteen fruit taste like?” and no one really has come up with a solid answer to that question! The elusive mangosteen fruit has been described most closely as tasting like every fruit you can imagine. Well again that does not tell me much now does it and here I leave you with your own imagination to do the work as even sitting here having this I can’t tell you what it tastes like but I can tell you that I personally love it. What I will say is I disagree with that statement because to me that says it would taste like a fruit punch and it doesn’t.

I prepared my matcha in the traditional way and tried it straight, then I made my normal matcha latte with milk, natural vanilla creamer but only a splash, ice, and the matcha itself. What I have here is a cup of wonder, mystery, and complexity.

Fall is upon us almost and I have been longing for it to come quickly. On September 1st our yearly Renaissance Festival opens and I can’t wait to go. This is important because I feel that of all the fruit flavors I have in my matcha arsenal at this time, the mangosteen is the most autumn like, the most like the earthy feeling that I get on going to the Renaissance Festival, the aromas, the sounds, the sights, the smells, the wonderful incense in the air, the fresh breads baking, the dirt and drying leaves on the ground, that earthy delightful feeling of escape one gets from the experience. Mangosteen matcha is like taking a departure from the norm when it comes to “fruity” flavors.

I would not really even describe this AS a fruit if I didn’t know it was one, but rather something more of a plant based or even wood based drink. Yet it is sweet but not in a cloying sappy way! There are some melon aspects to it perhaps, but I don’t feel any citrus or tart fruit flavors here, maybe a light berry hint now and again, but it makes me feel quite grounded, this would be an excellent meditation tea!

All I can say is there is nothing to fear here in this matcha, no reason not to try it, its not some crazy punch you in the face flavor that is so distinct that someone who does not like one flavor would absolutely dislike this one, its so subtle yet so refined that you can’t dislike it for any association to something else. It is unto itself glorious!

My matcha was comprised as the following:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g) I paid 3.00 extra for the containers but they are unfortunately on backorder so I hope they are in soon.

All I can say is I am glad I ordered it and look forward to drinking a glass a day hopefully I will see some improvement in my psoriasis condition as it has been horrible this past summer and it usually gets worse in cold weather. Arggggg.

So basically this is not for me like Bavarian Cream, or Amaretto where I crave it like candy or cakes, its just a very real natural flavor that makes me stop, take pause, and really savor it rather than sucking it down. It brings about a calm and center and makes me feel like I am doing something good for myself without suffering some nasty vile medications. I mean look. if the claims of what this fruit can do are true. then I am very happy, and even if they are not, its mind over matter with many health related issues. For psoriasis suffers stress is one thing that really begins to make the condition worse. Every time I get stressed I begin to have intense pain and itching, if I can whip myself up a cup of Mangosteen Matcha and get my focus and center back and I FEEL better, then I WILL be better.
I am going to keep this on hand!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mangosteen-matcha.html

Just to remind myself how awesome regular matcha is, I made a cup of this even though it is now 10:30. And I’m exhausted. And I have to work tomorrow. That’s matcha love my friends.

I just love this so much. Green matcha, the original, so tasty. This green apple flavor is pretty alright too. :) I got this matcha for a couple of different reasons. 1) Someone (I forget who) on Steepster had the awesome idea for caramel apple matcha and I totally wanted to try some. 2) My sister loves green apple flavored things. I hung onto to this packet for a while without opening it because I know that matcha can deteriorate quickly once exposed to air and I didn’t have a suitable tin to store this matcha in. I just waited and waited until one day I realized I could use these little plastic containers that Azzrian had actually given to me so that I could send her matcha. We later decided that some other containers were better so I was told to keep these since she never used them anyway. Yeah! Thanks Azzrian! It’s not really the best storage for matcha because the lid doesn’t fit all that snug, but matcha! Best reason for everything. So anyway, I’m trying this matcha now!

The color is a bit dark, like olive green and the powder isn’t a bit gritty like the red matcha. yaay! I can’t have much now. I’m going to chill it for tomorrow morning when matcha makes sense, but I just had to have some before bed.

The green apple flavoring here has something that reminds me of that mango matcha that I really didn’t care for. Something weird like play dough and flowers. But it is not as prominent as it was in the mango. The green apple flavor here is quite nice too. It’s somehow like the candy version of green apple, but the freshness and greenness of matcha makes it less sweet and cloying and more like real apple. If only it weren’t for that odd playdough flavor… It’s pretty good.

I think this would be better sweetened, but we will save that for tomorrow. Drinking matcha reminds me of the beginning of my tea journey. The first teas I drank had to have sugar and/or milk or honey. It just wasn’t good without additions. Then I found teas that were better without additions and now I only rarely add anything to my teas. Matcha though, I find I don’t enjoy them as much unless I add sugar or milk or both. Unflavored matcha is something I can enjoy without additions, but when it’s apple or caramel, I find myself reaching for the sugar. This is odd since I had a apple flavored green not to long ago and enjoyed it thoroughly without additions. I suppose the matcha flavor is stronger and more intense. Then again, if I use less matcha, it tastes watery. I’ll work on weaning myself off the desire to sweeten my matchas. I think I’m getting there already since I’m sipping at this matcha and going, “Mmmm, creamy sweet matcha…” :) Small sips!

Enough rambling! Time for bed!

If you want to have some green apple matcha, you know where it’s at!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/green-apple-matcha.html

Edit Had this chilled this morning. So refreshing! The flavor is still weird to me but I enjoyed it a lot more cold. Didn’t even want to add any sugar! Raising the rating!

I just made a blueberry matcha with:
Blueberry Matcha
Soy Milk
Non Dairy Vanilla Creamer
AND…..
Whole blueberries – which reminded me of boba like in a boba tea!
Just poured into my Libre Tea glass – which I use often at home now for matcha blended in a hurry. I often don’t have time to make my matcha traditionally as I would like, as I am logged into work so this is how I do my matcha blends – cold matcha.
The Libre glass works well for this!
Anyway … this was so very very good!
When I shook the glass I feel like some of the natural blueberry juices were released making this a creamy, dreamy, blueberry vanilla delight!
I am almost out of the blueberry matcha too. This is sad because I always have blueberries in the fridge.
Oh well back on the TO ORDER list!

Blueberry Matcha

Get it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html

Okay this is not my all time favorite from Red Leaf Tea but before you skip reading over this review thinking I didn’t like it – think again!

Red Leaf Tea has so many and I mean MANY wonderful selections that there are always going to be a few that you just can’t live without! For me, this is not one of those but let me say it is very yummy! I mean come on after the amaretto matcha I reviewed earlier today, then the bavarian cream which was my first Red Leaf matcha purchase, let us not forget that amazing boysenberry, well you get the idea if you have read my reviews – I have my favorites. Blueberry is close to Boysenberry in flavor in some ways though so this for me would be a nice backup to that.

Now this one here, Blueberry 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 per usual I purchased the tin for an extra 3.00 which I do recommend unless you have tins of your own at home.

Funny thing is as I say this is not a favorite here I am forgetting to type up this review and just keep sipping away on my iced latte!

I don’t have an exact recipe for my latte. I’m part Swede and my great great grandmother never measured in cooking or baking! She just taught me how to cook by eyeballing things and tossing it all together yet things always turned out yummily! So for this I take an average sized iced tea glass, toss in some ice, put in a splash of vanilla creamer, what I would guess to be about 1/3 up of milk, you can use soy, almond, whatever you want, and the matcha tea mixture which I do prepare before hand. What I get from that is a delicious blueberry and cream iced matcha latte. Perhaps some would say it is more a shake, or smoothie, heck I don’t know what it technically is but I love it! Now as I have said in every review for the most part I do always try my matcha before mixing into the latte. When I tasted it in its straight form I did not care for it too much – it was not very blueberrish to me and a litter stronger in the matcha base itself which was good – the matcha green tea powder used by Red Leaf Tea is really quite good, and I went with the Starter (Basic Grade) on this one. But I was looking for a bit more blueberry flavor although I did get robust I was not really tasting it as straight blueberry – it was somehow different to me than what I anticipated HOWEVER once added to the latte mixture OMGOODNESS it totally POPPED with fresh ripe juicy blueberry flavor! I have no idea what the deal is with that but I am quite pleased!

Another thing I notice with this blend – in the tea base and flavoring itself, is that the green matcha really nicely stands out even more so than in some of the other flavors I have bought. You know, the more I drink this the more I am loving it for that very reason. You lose none of the blueberry flavor mixing it with a shake, latte, smoothie, whatever… and the green matcha base comes out even MORE! Its like some magical blueberry matcha gnomes came in while I was not looking and sprinkled some mojo on it! Mmmmmm. Okay I may have to take back that this is not one of my favorites but with so many amazing matcha to select from how could one really choose?

Such an interesting flavor, as I continue to drink I seem to pick up different subtle nuisances in this tea mixture. I mean I am used to that in non matcha teas, but I have to say this is the first matcha, let alone a flavored matcha I have tasted something slightly different each and every time! Sometimes its just really fresh and refreshING, other sips I get more sweet, some sips I am getting far more of the matcha base with that vegetal buttery sensation, other times I get peppery note even! Its strange, and enjoyable. So maybe I rushed to my initial statement that this was not one of my favorites. Maybe in the future I won’t make such remarks and if and when I ever find a Red Leaf Tea matcha I don’t like I will let you know but so far we’re batting 100%!

Here is the link again to get your own Red Leaf Tea Blueberry Matcha
http://steepster.com/teas/red-leaf-tea/26897-blueberry-matcha

When I first saw this flavor for sale, I worried that it might taste too much like caramel and I’d end up with a duplicate matcha. But hey, the caramel one is awesome and we only live once, so I just went for it. I chose to get this as a red matcha so that I could enjoy this tea for dessert, just as it’s meant to be. :)

Having learned from my first red matcha experience yesterday, I added a generous amount of powder into my mug. No need to be fearful of a bitter and overly caffeine-y cup when you’re working with rooibos! I did it cold again because my apartment has terrible insulation and spent all day soaking up the heat of the sun just for me. And at night it gets so cold! argh. But anyway, love the smell of this. Sweet and candy-like with that smooth rooibos flavor.

I’m beginning to think that the rooibos is just naturally a stronger flavor so that the added flavoring is just overwhelmed because as I’m drinking this, I’m having a really hard time tasting the toffee. I could smell it in the dry tea, but once it’s all mixed with water, I can barely taste that toffee note. A bit of sugar makes this better, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d still think it was just plain red matcha with no flavoring at all. Now, I did go with the basic flavor level, but I think I should be getting some toffee still. :(

In the future, I think I’ll have a few “there’s matcha in there?” level red matchas around for the evenings, but I really enjoy the flavor of the regular green matcha more. I gotta try the white one too since Azzrian makes it sound so tasty. And the black matcha! I wonder what kind of black tea is used. What kind of white? Hmm.

Another thing I noticed with this red matcha base is that it does get a bit gritty and powdery. Yesterday, I was all focused on the deliciousness of the cheesecake flavoring, but today, since I could mostly just taste rooibos, I was able to pay more attention to the quality of the base. The slight grittiness is not too bad, but not that great either.

In the end, just like with regular rooibos, I’m settling for red matcha because I know I can’t have caffeine in the evening. I actually much prefer green matcha.

For those of you who want to try this tea, you can find it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/english-toffee-matcha.html

I really recommend getting the strongest flavoring possible. The rooibos flavor, while mellow and easy going, is strong and not easily overwhelmed like green matcha.

I know that my first review of this matcha wasn’t the best, but that somehow hasn’t stopped me from nearly finishing the small pouch I ordered. Tonight was the best cup I’ve had so far. It was sweet, creamy.. nice and frothy. I actually really enjoyed this.
This makes me think that maybe I didn’t give the matcha a fair shot. Still, I’m increasing the rating!

After I had read all of these raving reviews for Red Leaf’s matcha, I knew that I had to try one to see what the buzz was all about! Matcha, in general, has been on my shopping list for a while. I had wanted to try plain old matcha, black matcha and red matcha. After seeing these flavors and the different matcha options, I knew that now was the time to try a flavored red matcha!

If you’ve followed me for a while here on Steepster, you’ll probably know that while I do enjoy green, white and black teas, my main love of tea sits with oolong and the herbal rooibos. There have been a few rooibos teas that I’ve tried and that have tasted far too much like medicine (those teas leave me hesitant to try rooibos from new places). The kind of rooibos I like is creamy, almost with a hint of vanilla, rich and with a little bit of that drying wood flavor.

I ordered a small size of the French vanilla matcha with a red matcha base. The flavor strength I picked was “robust” – I like my tea to be with LOTS of flavor! When I opened the packet, I noticed that it didn’t smell much like rooibos. The scent actually reminded me a little bit of those pina colada LifeSavers. It wasn’t too powerful… but was actually a little bit muted.

When the hot water hit the matcha, that’s when the rooibos scent really came to life. Wood with just a little bit of sweetness! Sipping now… the rooibos isn’t as strong as I expected, but it’s smooth and sweet. It’s nice, but lacks a lot of dimension.

What I find to be most strange is that I do not taste any French vanilla. It seems like all of the flavor is in the actual texture and finish of the tea. I suppose I get some sort of creaminess during the actual sip itself… there is a little bit of a sweet flavor that fades quickly at the end… but it doesn’t scream vanilla to me. Hmm.. this makes me a little bit sad.

This matcha isn’t bad, but I was expecting so much more. Maybe I picked the wrong matcha base for this particular flavor or maybe the red matcha is just a little bit stronger…? I do want to try more matcha in the future, but maybe a different flavor and base.

If you are interested in trying this matcha, here is the link to purchase: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

This is a first for me! First red matcha! I’m not really the hugest fan of rooibos, to be honest, but when you’ve got a craving for tea at 10 PM, your options are limited. I like it well enough but nothing beats the tea from the tea plant. Matcha was especially a problem for me. The main reason I still have most of my delicious caramel matcha is because the caffeine is so intense that it gives me headaches at just a half teaspoon of powder in a mugful of tea. :( Then Red Leaf came to the rescue and started offering red matcha as a base option! Wooooo! The moment he made that announcement I was putting tea into my cart. hah! And of course who could resist cheesecake? No one, that’s who.

First, let’s talk about the tea as I experienced it. The first thing I noticed about this matcha was the smell. The moment I tore open that bag a tangy creamy sweet aroma assaulted my nose. Mmmm…. Then that rooibos smell came in the end. Want. Now. I poured the powder into my tin and noticed that I actually have a tin foil bag of cheesecake flavored Mars dust. It really looks exactly like those pictures I’ve been seeing from Curiosity.

http://www.universetoday.com/96708/curiosity-and-the-mojave-desert-of-mars-panorama-from-gale-crater/

Very cool. I’m drinking the universe! One could argue that I do this daily, but you know what I mean!

Since I had just finished working out, I really was not in the mood for a hot tea. I put a generous scoop of powder into my mug (I can cause it’s caffeine free! Wheee!) and added a bit of cold water, then stirred it up like mad with my spoon. No froth, but it all dissolved nicely. Then top it off with more cold water and drink! It looks a bit like hot chocolate with more red. Like red velvet but not artificial.

Here’s the best part. The taste. Smooth vanilla cheesecake. Delicious flavor. I wish it were stronger. I got distinctive, but I should probably go up a grade next time. The rooibos is pretty tame here. Just a hint of rooibos-ness. Not sure how to describe the flavor.

I wish I had some soy/almond milk cause I really want to try this as a latte. All we have is real milk (lactose intolerant) and chocolate Pure Almond Silk. A chocolate cheesecake latte might be pretty awesome though…. BRB!

I think I added a bit too much cause the chocolate is overpowering the flavor, but it is awesome! Cheesecake chocolate drink!

Thank you, Red Leaf, for making this delicious flavor!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

And with a red matcha option! I can add as much powder as I want without worrying about bitterness or caffeine because it’s red matcha! The possibilities are endless!

For next time, English Toffee matcha! Then combined! Then caramel and cheesecake! This will be awesome!

Today I am drinking my Matcha as a smoothie: yogurt, a tablespoon of Matcha, two bananas, a few frozen strawberries, some half & half (I should have used the hemp milk that I have in the cupboard, but, my half & half is getting near the expiration date), and a few ice cubes. Absolutely YUM. I can really taste the flavor from the hemp with these other ingredients… it really stands out.

Yummy and refreshing.

This flavored matcha is a bit different from what I would normally try, which is one of the reasons why I decided to order it. That, and I have a history with hemp. In college (and long afterward) I was a strong advocate for the legalization of hemp farming/production. No, not marijuana, hemp. They are different, they even come from different strains of the plant.

Anyway, I wanted to try it and I’m glad I am. This is really very good. The hemp gives the matcha a very pleasant nutty kind of flavor, and seems to accentuate the vegetative, earthy qualities of the matcha. It is smooth, creamy and very tasty. I won’t go all out and say that it’s my favorite flavored Matcha, it isn’t, but, I am enjoying it, and I’m not sorry at all that I decided to give it a try.

Strawberry or Amaretto for my second matcha for the day? Probably will be my last, unless my daughter bends my arm to try the amaretto later, in which case that means if I have strawberry now I can have amaretto later without AS much guilt. Not that matcha is a guilt ridden drink but since I add milk, and creamer, it kind of turns into one. My daughter REALLY wanted amaretto matcha and I got it in the white tea base for her since she is not so much into vegetal flavored teas. So alas I shall have this one, strawberry! Haha isn’t it awesome how we figure out ways to get to enjoy even MORE tea!!

This is where you can find the strawberry matcha that I am reviewing and make your purchase: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/strawberry-matcha.html

So here is what I was expecting. I am a snob when it comes to two flavors, chocolate, and strawberry! Strawberry and chocolate are flavors that can really taste icky when done poorly. Chocolate can taste cheap like cheap chocolate easter egg candies we would get as kids, at least in my family haha. My husband LOVES those cheap o chocolate eggs but not me, I prefer expensive chocolate, the good stuff. Now as for Strawberry, this can often taste like chemicals, totally fake tasting, and it will smell that way more often than not as well.

This strawberry on the initial sniff did not have that chemical aroma but on a deeper sniff did have a bit of a “bite” in the nasal cavities but you really had to take a deep whiff to get it. Luckily I didn’t end up snorting my matcha!

The matcha I ordered is formulated as follows:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Distinctive
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g)
I paid an extra 3.00 for the small metal container.
I also believe that my matcha base was upgraded to Royal matcha (Premium Grade) due to Red Leaf Tea being out of starter matcha but I could be wrong about this – regardless their starter matcha is excellent quality and better than some other companies higher grade matcha!

So onto the preparation of my strawberry matcha and matcha latte to follow:

I made my strawberry matcha using a cute pottery bowl I got a steal on from a site called fab. When I ordered it I had no idea that I would be using it for a matcha bowl. I got two of them thinking they were large enough for cereal but they ended up being the perfect sized chawan! I used the matcha whisk I got from steepster select before they stopped the program which I hope is back soon and the scoop that also came in that package. Just keep in mind you really do not need those items, you can use a fork, kitchen whisk, even a battery operated whisk! For me, froth is not too important personally. What is important though is to strain the powder I use a typical kitchen wire strainer, like the kind you may use to strain pulp from orange juice while filling your glass. The finer you get the powder the better! Note though that I think it is the flavoring perhaps that Red Leaf Tea uses but there will be these little crystals left over in the strainer, be sure to use your scoop or something to grind those through the strainer or at least just turn the strainer over and put them back into your powder. They seem to end up devolving into your mix. I have noticed this with ALL flavors from Red Leaf, not just strawberry. At the advice of another steepster – I wish I could remember who, I made a paste with the powder and enough water to cover the bottom of the bowl and about a 1/4 of an inch past that. Once I got my froth going I added the rest of the water. Then I fill a tall glass with ice, add milk, and a slight tiny splash of vanilla creamer, then the matcha tea mixture. I always taste the straight matcha first when trying a new flavor.

This matcha – straight – before adding to my iced mixture, was really good, slightly tart, a slight TINY bit of a chemical taste, but not bad, it seemed to just give it more of a tart kick. Also note that I opted for distinctive flavoring with this one which I honestly feel is enough – normally I go with Robust, which you could opt for Robust if you really want a HUGE strawberry taste but I think distinctive for this is fine. You can totally tell this is strawberry!

Once I added the matcha mixture to the tall glass with all my mixings in it the real party began! The vanilla creamer – just a splash mind you – made this taste like strawberries and cream dessert sitting atop a nice wedge of white cake, or dare I say, cheesecake even! Oh now I just realized I totally need to order some cheesecake matcha from Red Leaf tea, oh yes they do have that flavor too! You can also combo order matchas, mixing two kinds together or more if you contact them to ask them to do so! I personally would opt to just order a straight cheesecake flavor so I could mix and match my own combinations here at home. Strawberry and Cheesecake matcha mix – oh yes – please!
Sorry I got distracted there … so THIS matcha, in my mix of creamer, milk, and ice is delightful. Its fresh, zesty I may even say, slightly tart, yet the sweet of the creamer does add to the goodness, I love how the matcha base is just the right strength to let me know I am in fact drinking a quality matcha here, its earthy, vegetal, and fruity with the lovely strawberry flavor.

You know this matcha screams summer and while I have been longing for autumn to get here for the weather this mix makes me feel like going down the street to our local fruit farm and grabbing up a bunch of fresh strawberries! Yes I am lucky to have fruit farms close to my home. The grassy matcha base along with the fresh fruity aroma of strawberries just makes me sit back and appreciate summer a little while longer. This would be SO GOOD mixed with some orange juice in a smoothie rather than a milk based drink as well. This makes me want to just play around with this flavor and see what all I can come up with! I bet an actual cheesecake made with this matcha would be sinfully divine!

I love it when a tea is inspiring! When you start to day dream, feel appreciation for small things like strawberries at the fruit farm. When it makes you want to get inventive and try new mixtures. This is what this matcha flavor has done today for me. I won’t promise or swear that there is absolutely no chemical like flavor to this however as picky as I am I would say that most people would not notice it at all. I know that Red Leaf does use all natural flavorings so I am not worried at all about what is used to flavor this matcha, its probably just a thing I personally have with strawberry flavor but it is one of the best strawberry flavored teas I have had, and the only strawberry matcha I have ever come across!

Again here is the link to purchase:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/strawberry-matcha.html

Just enjoyed a pumpkin pie matcha latte – was out of creamer today so it was just matcha and milk but oh so yummy! This is not a sweet pumpkin pie matcha – very spicy and natural tasting. So perfect for the incoming fall weather! :)