Matcha Outlet

Rooibos tea is wonderful as a matcha, or powdered form of the tea. The whole tea leaf is ground into a powder that dissolves in liquid, just like the green tea matcha we are familiar with!
I love Japanese green tea matcha but due to the caffeine content, I cannot drink it at night. Matcha is so easily digested that all the goodness of the leaf is converted into instant energy!
Rooibos has even more antioxidants than green tea yet it does not have the energy blast that can keep a person wide awake at bedtime. It actually possesses a calming effect and can even help cure an upset stomach.
My new tea to drink at nighttime is rooibos matcha, or red matcha. It is VERY difficult to find and it is about the same price as ceremonial grade green tea matcha from Japan. It is worth every powdered granule, just like any good matcha.
The funny thing is about the red matcha is that it has a different smell to the dry tea than what it tastes like. I was ready to sweeten with sugar and flavored agave syrup…but none of that was necessary, the tea is naturally sweet.
It is prepared like you would prepare green tea matcha, just under boiling and whisked to a froth (if you like froth) or a hand-held mixer is convenient.
One way to indulge in rooibos red matcha is to create a delicious dessert latte with milk. Add the matcha powder to hot milk, or even better use an espresso machine milk steamer or foamer to heat the powder and milk. Before the milk steaming or foaming, add the powder to the milk with sugar or agave syrup, honey or stevia. A flavored syrup can even be used for a unique twist. Then foam with the steamer until the mixture is frothy and hot.
I like to transfer it into a different mug and pour out the liquid, holding the foam back until you can pour it just sit on top, decorating your creation. And there you have it! A delicious red matcha latte. SO DELICIOUS! I put a little vanilla agave syrup into my latte and it tasted like a marshmallow drink! The color was a gorgeous burnt orange and it did NOT last long. I had to make another mug of that and vowed to stop drinking the red tea matcha lattes so my supply of the red matcha would last!
I love to drink it as a breakfast tea, it is wonderful to drink any time of day.
I have tried the red matchas from the only 3 companies I can find who sell it in powder form, and my favorite is this http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/red-matcha.html and they deliver pretty fast.
The only think is, once you try it you may find that if you purchased a small bag…you are making plans to get more the second time.
A diet rich in the nutrients and antioxidants supplied in green tea and rooibos can work wonders for your skin and overall health, not to mention your well-being.
Red matcha made from rooibos is a soothing matcha that can be drunk at night, it is delicious and nature is providing you with healthy nutrients that your body needs.
I am glad I have this red matcha to add some interest to my evening tea, I was getting bored of chamomile and the usual Sleepytime type teas.
If you like Japanese green tea matcha, you will love the red matcha as well! If you have never tried the green tea matcha, no worries! The red matcha is it’s own unique experience.
If you do not like the green tea matcha, you may like the red matcha from rooibos, it does not have a bitter or astringent taste, it is naturally sweet and you can even add your own natural sweetener to it for a real treat.
Please try the red tea, it is a perfect gift for the tea connoisseur or the person who enjoys natural and delicious beverages.

Now I know this matcha isn’t terribly exciting (it’s no cheesecake, right?) and it’s not one of my favourite flavours (I wouldn’t seek out a blueberry anything really)… um.. yeah it’s kind of my favourite matcha right now!

It’s always SO creamy and sweet and juicy and PERFECT! So hello little blueberry matcha, thanks for being you! :D

Wow! I just checked everyone’s recent reviews and the amount of Red Leaf Tea is off the charts! Woo, we’re an international Matcha team :D Love it.

On to the review! :
Yummeh. Blueberries are not my favorite fruit, but when I opened my package I knew I was going to love this just as much as the mango. The scent was strong blueberry! It reminded me of fruit leather, deep purple, chewy, yummy homemade fruit leather by the hippie auntie I used to have. Ah sense memory, I love it so.
So I whisked up this delight with the plan to make a couple little lattes – one with soymilk, one with almond and one with regular. I don’t know, I just wanted to taste the nuances and find my favorite pairing I guess! Also to see which milk went best with fruit flavoured matcha.
Honestly though, I really enjoyed this one sans milk – just with some sugar. (I also experimented with sweetener, and found I prefer sugar over agave for my matcha).
The froth! I got a crazy amount of froth with no clumps in this batch. I definitely credit the quality of the matcha for that, because my whisk skills are shoddy at best. That’s when I knew I was in for a treat today. This blueberry matcha in particular was very smooth. The berry taste fluctuated from sip to sip – one sip it was a tart not quite ripe berry, the second it was an overly plump, huge juicy ripe berry. The aftertaste was definitely the latter. The flavouring felt more strong in this batch than I expected, but I loved that very much. What a deal :D Again, I love that this company uses natural flavouring – it really shows in the quality of this matcha that it tastes like the berries, not like a candy.
With almond milk, the matcha latte tastes almost like a baked good – a blueberry matcha scone or shortbread. The soymilk tasted, well, like soymilk (I think it was my least favorite of the 3). With hot frothed 2% milk it was very sweet. I find hot milk to be naturally sweet, so that probably accounts for it!
Last, but certainly not least, I had it as an iced latte. (If you’re wondering, with all this crazy matcha energy – I’m learning the ukulele!) I HIGHLY recommend enjoying these fruit flavour matchas from Red Leaf Tea as iced lattes. Oh my goodness! The fruit flavour just comes alive and honestly tasted like a blended real fruit smoothie. Of course, once I get a blended I will be making blended iced drinks 100% – but until then, the ice cubes will suffice.

You can find this deliciousness here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html
(Oops, I almost posted the link to “Bilberry” matcha, which is cool because I got to read about and learn what a Bilberry is! I can’t help but wonder what it tastes like…)

If you like 52teas Rainbow Sherbert, I think you would like this one! It reminds me of it in scent and flavour. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but I can’t wait to mix this with other flavours to see what happens!

In spite of the fact that I have drank this delicious matcha at least four times, I have yet to write a proper review for it, so now’s the time!

When I first received this matcha, for some strange reason when I smelled it, all I could think of was strawberry. I don’t know what exactly triggered that, but today when I opened the packet it definitely smelled like vanilla to me, although not quite the vanilla I had expected when ordering the matcha (I had expected more of a strong vanilla extract aroma/flavour, and this isn’t quite like that, although it is clearly vanilla-y). Brewed up, that same vanilla aroma is there, and it translates wonderfully to the flavour, combining beautifully with the vegetal matcha flavour. Although I like this matcha flavoured as is, Red Leaf Tea also offers different strengths of flavouring, and I’m curious to try this one a little bit stronger to see if it can make it any better (is that possible?!)

My favourite way to drink this (and any) matcha is as a cold (not iced) almond milk latte, made by dissolving (or technically, resuspending) the matcha in a bit of hot regular milk, mixing in the matcha, and then topping up the glass with almond milk from the fridge. Hence, a cold but not an iced drink, which is usually what I’m craving, as I have sensitive teeth :D Due to the vanilla flavour, unlike with other straight matchas I’ve tried, I don’t find that it’s necessary to add a ton of additional sweetener since I’m using a slightly sweet version of almond milk (TrueAlmond Original), and that adds enough sweetness. For a treat though, a few squirts of agave nectar make this absolutely decadent.

Another plus of this matcha is that the flavouring helps to mask some of the natural bitterness present in matcha, which is probably another reason I can drink it with less sweetener. That’s not to say there isn’t bitterness here (I tasted a bit of the dry matcha for curiousity… not a good idea!) but it isn’t as prominent as I’ve tasted in the past.

Given the health benefits of matcha, I’m super excited to try more of Red Leaf Tea’s flavoured matchas as I start to drink more cold lattes to beat the summer heat! Anyone curious to try this matcha can purchase it here http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html (and I would highly recommend doing so!)

Drank some more of this tonight as an incentive to go into the lab. Sigh.

Still got the strawberry aroma initially. shrugs I guess that’s just how Madagascar Vanilla comes off to me.

For some reason I wasn’t as into this one today. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t use enough matcha, or because I was just being fussy. I felt like I couldn’t taste the flavouring at all. However, it may also be that I can’t remember what an unflavoured matcha latte tastes like! Thursday is my usual matcha latte day, so maybe I’ll go for the Matcha Matsu from DavidsTea so my tastebuds remember.

Well I guess the crappiness of today has a second bright spot – the arrival of my matcha from Red Leaf Tea!

I’ll write a longer note later, but so far I’m sold. Having it as an agave-sweetened regular almond milk latte. The only concern? I swear it tastes like strawberry, not vanilla. But that could just be something funny that I’m tasting. It’s still delicious, and now I’m dying to try the actual strawberry one! And mango. And French vanilla. And…

ETA: Ok, so this was so much better than I was expecting! The flavouring tasted natural, not fake, and the matcha was obviously not low quality. The flavouring also didn’t overpower the lovely matcha flavour (I’m sure that might be a different story if I went for stronger flavouring options – which by the way is SUCH a good idea!) Another plus is that I didn’t find the matcha as bitter as straight matchas I’ve tried, so when mixed with regular almond milk, which is somewhat sweet, I definitely felt like extra sweetener was unnecessary. However, I needed an energy kick, so threw in a bit of agave syrup as well. The reduced bitterness also makes me feel like this might be a good matcha to try straight – which I haven’t been brave enough to try yet!

One of the best parts? I left about half my latte sitting in my car while I went to practice handbells with my group, and when i got back to my car it smelled SO WONDERFUL inside! And the smell is still lingering. It’s delightful. And definitely smells like vanilla, not strawberry, so who knows what’s up with my tastebuds.

My mother is a huge believer in home remedies, in herbs and plants to help soothe away your aches and pains. Burn your hand? Break off a bit of the aloe plant. Stomach ache? A soothing tea made of sarsaparilla root (which is apparently kinda dangerous…oops). My minor in college was Folklore, and I love this kind of stuff, different plants that supposedly help with different aches…I’ve seen it firsthand in my wife. She gets crazy bad migraines, and a good cup of mint tea can help her keep things under control. But I love the Red Leaf Teas website, especially their matchas, that list everything the plant involved in the flavoring can do. Take this tea, Pomegranate (http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pomegranate-matcha.html), for instance:
Did you know that studies showed that pomegranate juice destroys breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone? It may also prevent breast cancer cells from forming.
Pomegranates also offer the following benefits to list a few :
Lung Cancer Prevention
Slows Prostate Cancer
Keeps PSA Levels Stable
Protects the Neonatal Brain
Prevention of Osteoarthritis
Protects the Arteries
Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
Lowers Cholesterol
Lowers Blood Pressure
Dental Protection
taken from the Red Leaf Teas website.

Now, part of me just brushes most of that off, but the part of me that is my mother’s hippie daughter drinks this matcha just in case. My aunt recently started chemo to deal with her breast cancer, and one of the things that helped speed up the end of my grandmother’s life was breast cancer, so I don’t mess around with it. If there’s even a slight possibility something might help prevent breast cancer in my body, I’m there. I’ve already had that scare once, so it’s not something I take lightly. And pomegranates are just a good idea all around. If I can get that great, juicy pomegranate flavor without having to deal with the hassle of getting in to an actual pomegranate, even better.

The smell is wonderful. Nice and strong and juicy, I can already taste the delicious smoothies that will come from this. But I’m moving away from the smoothies more and more, as I used to think the only way I would enjoy matcha would be in a smoothie and I have since learned that that is decidedly not true. I’m on my third cup today!

I don’t know how to describe the taste other than juicy, which I feel like I’ve been using too much lately. But it’s true! All of the fruit blends I’ve had from Red Leaf Tea have been juicy! This one especially…and I can just see a Matcha Pomtini in my future. Or mix this with a little orange juice? Yum. This tea is definitely one I want to spend a bit of quality time with.

Oh, matcha, I have missed you as well. It’s been ages since I last had matcha and so this morning I had to break into it. It was overwhelmingly MATCHA, so much so that I’m having trouble finding the flavor, but that due to my own palate being out of use. I mixed this with some french vanilla matcha and vanilla agave and it is lovely.

Oh there’s that matcha buzz. I am off to clean all the things!!

Now, I’m a Southern girl through and through, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret…I was born a Yankee. Yup, born in South Bend, Indiana and raised in Michigan until I was ten, when we moved to Tennessee. As a Michigander, I can say with complete confidence that Michigan blueberries are the best blueberries in the entire world. Blueberry season comes around and the state explodes into a world of deliciousness. You can stop at just about any roadside stand and get a ten pound box of blueberries, or you can head out to one of those you-pick places, if you’re feeling particularly energetic (or you’ve got young kids…I’m looking at you, Mom!). Blueberries played a huge role in my childhood. We would snatch up all the blueberries we could during the season and freeze them. Blueberry pancakes, muffins, and cobblers were served all year round, but my favorite blueberry dish was blueberry ice cream. It’s a real complicated recipe, y’all ready? You take frozen blueberries and pour cold milk over them. Yup. We’re a simple folk.

But my love of blueberries has come with me through my travels and life path. So when I spotted a blueberry matcha, my immediate reaction was one of “Um, heck yes, please!” The scent when I open the package is to die for. Oh my goodness, blueberry. In your face, juicy, sweet blueberry. My mouth is watering already.

The taste? Oh my. No, no, let me rephrase that. Imagine that I’m George Takei. Oh myyyyyy. Yep, it’s that good. George Takei “Oh myyy” inducing good. You know when you go into one of those bath and body stores, and you pick something blueberry up, smell it, and immediately tell your wife you wish you had something that tastes as good as it smells and then you lick it and it just plain doesn’t taste as good as you want it to? No? Just me? Well, this matcha tastes the way those soaps smell. Intensely blueberry and incredibly delicious. Juicy is just the word that comes to mind with every sip…it’s incredible. I have a few blueberry fans among my friends who will go ape over this.

This review brought to you by the letter M and the number 2, which is the number of cups of matcha I’ve had this morning in an effort to taste them all and get my reviews written…and it’s only nine o’clock. Pray for my wife, folks, she’s in for a crazy morning.

So I finally did it. I mixed the caramel with the apple and blew my own mind. It was delicious. Beyond delicious. Now I have to decide between caramel apple and vanilla mint every morning, and that’s a hard decision to make! Trust me, everyone, this is a blend you have to try. You will certainly not regret it. And if you do, you can send the leftover matcha to me ;)

So I am mightly impressed with matcha. For a few weeks now, I’ve been having a cup almost daily, and I have to say I’m seeing benefits. I don’t know if it can all be blamed on the matcha, but the matcha is the only real change I’ve made recently. When a tea company makes claims about the healthiness of their teas and how this tea will make you skinny or that tea will calm your anger, I tend to just laugh it off. Just another marketing ploy, I mean, really, it’s just tea. It’s delicious and better for you than soda (if you don’t weigh it down with tons of sugar and cream like I used to do), but it’s still just tea, not some magic potion that’s going to solve all of your problems.

Well. Since matcha came into my life, I’m more alert (obviously) and my system seems…cleaner. I don’t feel bogged down by the terrible foods I sometimes indulge in, and somehow my system seems less responsive to my dairy allergy. Don’t get me wrong, it still makes me sick, but it’s not the gut-wrenching “I’m gonna die” feeling I’m used to, it’s more of a “Oh man, I forgot and ate dairy again”. On the whole, I just feel healthier. Which is awesome. Everyone can afford to feel a little bit healthier, am I right?

Anyway, this tea (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/green-apple-matcha.html) smells amazing. Like juicy Granny Smith apples, sweet and tart all at the same time. I want to dip this tea in caramel. The flavor is perfect. It’s exactly what I expected this tea to taste like. It’s very juicy, my mouth is watering after every sip, and it’s tart without being stomach-turning sour. I am having a really hard time not adding some of my Red Leaf Tea Caramel matcha to this. They’re just begging to be blended. In college, I was big fan of the Caramel Apple shot, which is basically one part sour apple Pucker to one part butterscotch Schnapps. This seems like a good alternative for me to take to work and not get fired! Though now I’m wondering about matcha cocktails…

I love these matchas that are encouraging me to mix and match, play with different blends, bake…I love it! I wish I had the time to just lock myself in my kitchen with my matchas and experiment to my little heart’s content.

Now, those who follow me and my reviews know I can’t stop raving about the Madagascar Vanilla from Red Leaf Teas. I’m almost out of it already, it’s the one I reach for the most and when people ask which one they should try first, my immediate answer is “Vanilla. Oh my goodness, the vanilla.”

But Madagascar’s reign may soon be over.

French Vanilla is my one true love. French Vanilla anything. Vanilla was my favorite ice cream flavor before I gave up ice cream. French Vanilla is the ice cream flavor I will risk my dairy allergy for. It’s just so creamy and rich and guh, so good. So when Red Leaf Tea let me know they had a new matcha out, a French Vanilla (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html), I was sold. It immediately went into my cart and I feverishly finished my other reviews so I could order it as soon as possible.

I opened the package this morning and almost drooled. It smells like icing. Like I had just opened up a new tub of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting. Oh god, I want to drown in it. It’s almost too sweet for this early in the morning, but I don’t care! I have to have some of this now! I’ll make bacon later to make up for it.

It…it’s perfect. It’s everything I ever dreamed of in a vanilla matcha. Everything. Creamy, smooth, beyond amazing. I want to shout from the rooftops that I’ve found The One, the tea I’ve been searching for forever, the tea that is the reason I own 6 different vanilla rooibos and 8 variations on a vanilla black. This tea is my holy grail. It’s matcha, which I have come to love and value over almost any other tea, and it’s that French Vanilla goodness that rocks my world. I know it seems like I’ve gone a bit crazy, but this is just…guh. It’s fulfilling my ice cream cravings, my icing cravings, my everything cravings.

That said, I will likely keep the Madagascar around for mixing, as it seems to blend beautifully with other flavors, but when I want to sit down and just enjoy a good cup of matcha, the French Vanilla is what I will be reaching for. Oh yes, my pretty. We will have a long, happy life together. Red Leaf Tea, I honestly cannot thank you enough for introducing this blend.

Raspberries are my favorite fruit, hands-down. My grandmother used to have the most gorgeous raspberry plants in her backyard, and they would bear fruit for ages. Seriously, my mother’s birthday is in October and every year my grandmother would make her an angel food cake with fresh raspberry icing. I get my love of raspberries from my mom. But raspberry teas…they fall short for me, they tend to taste artificial and like raspberry candy. Don’t get me wrong, raspberry candy has its place, but I crave real raspberry flavor, I want a tea that tastes like I just ate the juiciest raspberry I’ve ever gotten my hands on. But I haven’t found that yet, which is why I was so excited to try this tea. Red Leaf Tea only uses natural flavoring in their matchas, so I’m really hoping that results in a natural raspberry taste. It also makes me really happy to see a company willing to refuse to use artificial flavoring.

Oh my goodness, this smells amazing. Red juicy raspberries, guh. So much love. I am so making this into an iced tea with summer with real raspberries in it. It doesn’t taste exactly like raspberries, but it’s darn close! Oh man it’s good. I need to try this iced. I will have a long, happy relationship with this this coming summer. It tastes purple. I don’t know why, it just does, in a really awesome way. I recently ordered a new travel mug in a “raspberry swirl” color, and this tea tastes the way I imagine that color would taste if it had a flavor….okay, now I’m just getting weird.

I am in love with matcha and I am in love with this particular one (found here:http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/raspberry-matcha.html). If you’re a fan of berries at all or raspberries in particular, then you need to try this matcha. I’m very eager to try this mixed together with one of my vanillas and make a raspberries and cream little beauty. Or cook with it! I get none of the matcha bitterness I’m used to, which is very nice. I did add sugar, I always add sugar to every tea I drink, otherwise the only tasting notes I would have would be “Tastes like tea. Needs sugar.” Ah well, as far as addictions go, it’s not the worst. I like to fool myself into thinking the goodness of the matcha outweighs the badness of the sugar, but I know I’m crazy. I might order some of Red Leaf Tea’s Sugar Destroyer matcha, just to see if blending that eliminates my need to oversugar my matchas.

Had a taste, and it’s still just as good!
Looking at the other reviews, I think I got really lucky with my mango flavouring – it’s not chemical tasting at all, but it’s almost gone and maybe I’ll keep it that way.

There’s so many other flavours to try!

Oh. My. Goodness.

I know this is common knowledge, but I am a mango enthusiast, just as much as a tea enthusiast. I have a very keen tongue when it comes to mango. Or something. Anyways! I love it! And I love this matcha! It totally delivers.

So I started with ½ tsp and 2 oz of water (175 degrees), whisked it up like crazy – Woah go back, let’s talk about the dry smell. When I first opened the package, I couldn’t stop sniffing. It was so rich, like a mango candy but not artificial. I found the package again and now I can’t stop sniffing it again. It smells like a mango so ripe that you know it’ll be dripping down your chin. Yes!
Okay on to the brew:
The colour is a deep, almost forest green. I took a sip and it was a bit strong for my tastes so I added another ounce-ish of water. As strong as the sweet smell of mango is, the matcha is not at all lost. In fact, it takes the forefront of the taste. I’m not a matcha connoisseur – but this is definitely the tastiest matcha I’ve had as of yet. It’s vegetal in that matcha way: full flavoured, lively and fresh. Fresh! This flavour combination is so well balanced. The mango is subdued (fyi: I stuck with the delicate flavour choice. You can really customize your order with Red Leaf Teas – the grade of matcha, flavour strength, etc), but definitely still there.

For my second cup, I added some sweetener, as mangos are quite sweet when ripe. Yep. This is perfection. The mango flavour tastes real, like a fresh mango popsicle as opposed to a mango lollipop. It’s so full bodied, I can almost feel the texture of the mango. That is cool. I added frothed milk to the last half of the cup. Mmm creamy matcha latte, my favorite way to have matcha. In the future, I would definitely use a full teaspoon and not add more water when adding milk to make a latte. I lost a bit of the flavour of both the matcha and the mango, but I know for next time to make it stronger! Either way this 30g will last me a while… until summer hits and I’m making smoothies 24/7.

I’ve already tried this matcha in 3 ways – on its own, sweetened and as a latte. I can’t wait to try it iced, as an iced latte and in smoothies!! It honestly holds its own though, and I can’t wait to try more!

If you love mangos and/or matcha as much as I do, I definitely recommend you pick this one up at: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html

Check out how much you can customize your order anyways, I found it really cool and very unique to a tea company.

Yum!

I’m working on a real review, but I have to just come and say:

mmmmm
ango!

So delicious!

Millions of peaches…peaches for me! Millions of peaches….peaches for free! Yay! Flashback to the nineties, y’all. This time I’ve tried the Peach Matcha from Red leaf Tea (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peach-matcha.html), and yum…it takes a bit of fiddling, but once you get it right, it is delicious. A welcome addition to any collection! And keep in mind that I’m still new to matcha and trying to figure it all out.

As any good Southern girl would, I have a deep love in my heart for peaches. Deep, deep love. That fruity sweetness…is there anything better? There are few things in this life better than a fresh, juicy peach. A close second is ice cold peach tea. Peach cobbler, peach pie…summer is a good time to be in the South!

I opened my package of this matcha and, my wife will back me up on this, my first words were “Whoa, momma!” It smells so good. Like juicy peach candy….nom. It smells painfully delicious.

The taste certainly follows up on that scent! It tastes like a big, juicy peach lollipop. It’s not a fresh peach, but it’s a peach candy. It reminds me of the peach soda I used to get in high school at the local Food Lion to take to our weekly slumber party with my best friend. So I’m grateful for those memories. Makes me want to pop a big bag of popcorn and dip it in nacho cheese. Oh yes, we were super healthy.

Anyway, this matcha has the same bitter kick as the lemon matcha, but a touch of sugar chased that away. I think that’s just a matcha thing. It’s definitely one I want to try again and see how it goes. Maybe cut it with a touch of the vanilla…peaches and cream! Yes please! This would be good in my smoothies this summer, maybe a peach raspberry smoothie dream…nom.

I made a second cup with different parameters (12 ounces of water instead of 8 to one half teaspoon of matcha, as well as a bit more sugar) and it is heavenly. Juicy enough to satisfy this Southern gal! Finishing off my sample of this will be no great hardship, I assure you. It tastes like a fuzzy navel without the alcoholic bite! Or those peach gummy candies…yum!

I let some of this chill and GAH. Cold, this is beyond amazing. This is what I needed, cold and fruity and peachy! It’s not too sweet, it’s not too bitter, it’s just a beautifully refreshing cold drink for summer…I have a feeling this will be a staple in my cupboard this summer.

One other thing Red Leaf Tea has going for them is incredibly reasonable shipping, which is very important to me, since I live in Canada and international shipping can be a nightmare. And orders over $75 are free, which is easy to do! My wife lives for their Earl Greys, their Earl Grey Oolong is a staple in our household. When the raspberry Earl Grey was no longer available, she nearly went into mourning. So between the two of us, it’s almost dangerously easy for us to build a $75 cart. The first time we ordered, we spent $80 and got 16 different teas, about an ounce of each. Enough to try it several times and make a decision as to whether you want to restock it or not.

Anyway, on to the tea! I’m a sucker for cinnamon, so of course I had to try the Cinnamon Matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cinnamon-matcha.html) It smells so good. Sooooo good. Not like fake cinnamon hearts (which I adore too), but like real cinnamon. I want to slather this matcha on toast…but that would be weird. This is another matcha that inspires me to bake. Matcha snickerdoodles? Don’t mind if I do! I need to start actually trying some of these recipe ideas. Like cinnamon matcha cinnamon toast! Or a cinnamon matcha apple pie! Nom nom nom.

At first sip, it was delicious. At second sip, it was delicious. At third sip…well, you get the idea. There is something I don’t care for about it, a bit of a tangy aftertaste, but that’s not enough to keep me from drinking it! I’m excited to see how it will taste when blended with the vanilla. Ooooh, I should see if they have an apple matcha, that would be yummy mixed with this. Or pear! Oh dear, my list of desired matchas is growing longer and longer…

But really, I just want to dump a whole mess of sugar into this and make some cinnamon raisin toast. And bake my little heart out! I think this is a matcha I will end up mixing more than making straight, but that’s okay. I am seeing a wide world of possibilities coming from this little beauty. Cinnamon and I were good friends before, but I think is safe to say that this tea has pushed us over the edge into best friend territory. Plays well with others, makes me feel better, and encourages me to eat tasty, tasty sweets! I can see this becoming a staple in my cupboard, sitting right next to my beloved vanilla.

I’m sure you’re all waiting on pins and needles for me to try the Shamrock Shake wannabe I’ve been talking about for ages XD. Well, I did it this morning with the following recipe:

1/4 t Mint Matcha
1/2 t Madagascar Vanilla Matcha
2 oz hot (but not boiling) water
4 oz vanilla soy milk
2 t of sugar because I like overkill

So I dumped the matcha and sugar into a Perfect Mug from Davids and whisked in the water with my handheld milk frother. I added the milk to the mix and…

OH

MY

BOB.

There are not words. Seriously, all I can say is that if you are a vanilla mint fan, buy these two matchas and get to mixing. Now. I’ll wait.

You ready? Awesome. It’s creamy, it’s sweet, it’s minty without being harsh, it’s creamy without being too sweet, it is heaven in a mug. Heaven.

Bumping my rating to the ceiling for this glorious mix.

Ah mint. My wife and I both adore mint, but I’m a spearmint girl, where she’s a peppermint lover. And these are two very different mints.

But I have love in my heart for mint teas. My childhood summers were fueled by Lipton tea bags with fresh mint set out on the porch to brew in the sun. Picking mint and just chewing on it as we played in the sun. Heck, my college days were fueled by mint juleps and raspberry mojitos. Mint and I are good, good friends. And a Shamrock Shake is a must-have for me every March! At least, it was until I found out about my dairy allergy.

Which is what brought me to this tea, Mint Matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mint-matcha.html), was a desire to make my own version of the Shamrock Shake (which is essentially a vanilla-mint milkshake from McDonalds) with vanilla and mint matchas and soy milk or ice cream. But for the sake of this review, I’m drinking this matcha the way I drink all my tea, no milk and some sugar.

Earlier today I made a cup of this for a friend of my wife’s, who I am eagerly trying to seduce to the ways of matcha with my Red Leaf Tea collection, and I fell in love the second I opened the package. It smells like a smooth creamy mint. When I commented on how good it smells, my wife agreed with me…and she doesn’t even like matcha! I can’t wait to have a cup of this myself!

My wife’s friend (who needs to be on Steepster, darn it!) says this tea tastes like Christmas (which may have something to do with the Rudolph travel mug I sent it to her in!). This made me think of my favorite tea of all time, Santa’s Secret, which is a vanilla-mint black tea, so I have high hopes for this one.

Holy mint, batman! This is definitely a peppermint tea, with just a hint of the smoothness that reminds me of spearmint tea. Wow. I am definitely craving a raspberry-mint matcha mojito now. Yum, yum, yum. It’s mega minty in a non medicinal way and now I am dying to try it with the vanilla, but if I have any more matcha today, I’m going to explode XD. I love it! The burst of strong mint really helps wake you up too, and can definitely see myself adding this to my collection. And mint mixes so well with berries and fruit that I can see endless smoothie options here. If you’re a mint fan, I definitely recommend this one.

Deeelicious!!
A tiny bit fishy, but nothing off-putting. I’d have it again, for sure. I would have liked a tiny bit more goji berry flavour, but then again I’m a bit head cold ridden at the moment.
Anyhow, thanks to Aisling for sharing this beaute with me xx