Matcha Outlet

I didn’t sleep too well last night so I’m kind of glad I have some of this matcha to perk me up today.

Hmm, I added one scoop into around 6 oz. of soymilk and heated it up in the microwave. I can see the only issue with making these matcha soymilk drinks all day would be the calories! This smells very yummy and tastes pretty good. I am getting a lot of nutmeg here and the pumpkin pie spice. I think this might be kind of nasty if you just prepared it plain but it’s definitely good with something creamy. I think I prefer the macadamia nut matcha slightly, but this is a really good treat for this time of year.

Matcha – wake me up! :D

I decided I was going to finish this off in a fruit smoothie today because I’ve had it for a while. This has been a very enjoyable flavor but I’m not super into flavored matchas unless they’re in a latte. This was really good, I’m not sure if I would get anymore though. We’ll see!

Tea of the afternoon here. I am so happy it’s Friday!

I just woke up from a nap and decided I needed to have some tea before I go out to get my haircut. This is a delicious matcha but I really like it as a latte! TGIF Steepster!

Oh… my precious!

yum yum yum yum

Had to make some of this this morning, into a latte with soymilk and coconut sugar. Kind of decadent but mostly healthy too! :-D

See previous notes for more info.

Tea of the afternoon, this stuff is seriously good.

I was thinking about buying a milk frother but then I discovered that mixing this up in the Blendtec creates a really great froth so I think I’ll skip having to buy another appliance. I wish I could afford all the matcha flavors!

I finally broke down and ordered a couple of matchas from Red Leaf after reading all of the reviews on Steepster. I love macadamia nuts so I really wanted to try this!

You get a little wooden scoop with your order from Red Leaf. I measured out one scoop and mixed it with 8 oz. of soymilk, warmed in the microwave. My tea was kind of lumpy because I was attempting to stir it with a coffee stirrer and not a whisk or anything. I was amazed at how good the flavor was here. It’s very rich and nut-like, I got the macadamia for sure. I might have made a mistake by having this so late in the day, but it sure is good. I can see how this would make an incredible dessert or whipped cream.

OMG! It is good!

MMmm I finally tried this one again and it’s much better :] water to matcha ratio is fixed so I’m able to get nice little tart notes of cranberry instead of watered down smartie. Mmmmmmmmmmm :]

So when I decided to get this one I was worried about it being waaaaay too tart. It smells delicious. I’m pretty certain I added way too much water. I just kind of guessed with my new little matcha bowl. I’m not really getting any cranberry flavor. Just a watered down smartie taste. It’s still yummy, but I’ll have to try it again and pay attention to my water. Until next time… I still give it a good rating :)

Gave this one another go—half champagne matcha, half raspberry ginger ale. You know, for the bubbly feel! As momo mentioned, this is kind of bubblegum-y. It’s not a flavor I really like on its own, too sugary-sweet feeling for my taste. I like this a lot more when diluted though, it takes down the sweetness and makes it seem more fancy and, well, champagne-y! It’s also much lighter and airier. Plus the raspberry adds some nice fruity tones. I wonder how this would be mixed with that delicious green tea ginger ale?

I was debating between this and another matcha for my last order, and settled on this one due to mixing potential. Champagne Earl Grey, Mango Champagne. Like cocktails, only with tea! I also have a kind of dessert-heavy matcha collection, and need some lighter flavors for those days when I want a really refreshing cup of iced matcha goodness. So champagne it was! I got:

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

Now that I’ve actually tried it, I kind of wish I’d gone with a white base and delicate flavoring, sigh. The flavor is a little strong for my taste with the distinctive, and I definitely think a white base would have supported the “bubbly” flavor of the champagne better. Oh well!

In the bag this smells like… vitamins. You know the flavored chewy ones you had to take as a kid? They have a really distinctive, pseudo-fruity, chalky kind of smell. It was IDENTICAL to that, so not exactly a great start haha! I’ve found that Red Leaf’s matchas often smell a lot stronger in the bag so I wasn’t too worried. I mixed up the base and added it to a tall glass of cold water: I’ve found that when mixed with water, a teaspoon of matcha goes REALLY far, but with milk I only get a small mug before the flavors get dampened! I suppose that’s because there are no taste/texture elements in water to “compete” with the matcha, it’s just thinning it out.

Anyway, this thankfully doesn’t taste like vitamins! It is still a bit chalky, and kind of vaguely fruity. Peach maybe? It was tasty, but I don’t know if someone just handed me a glass of this and asked me to identify it, if I’d ever say “oh, champagne!” It does have kind of a bubbly, effervescent feel. Kind of there-and-not-there flavor. Sadly, the distinctive flavoring is really masking the matcha—I thought this would be a light flavor, but it’s really quite heavy!

While at the moment this is far from my favorite matcha, I think it needs to be mixed with something bubbly to really capture that champagne-y feel. I have some raspberry ginger ale that I think I’ll try mixing it up with tomorrow! You can get some here:

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

My third (okay, fourth) matcha of the day because I have decided never to sleep again.
WOOOO!
Okay, so this was great. At first, I thought it was overpowering in terms of the spices, but after I added milk and sugar it really tasted like pumpkin pie.
And now I can stay up all night considering that fact.

Hmmm. I’m not sure about this matcha! I made it hot, with a dash of milk and it was nice, and had the texture of eggnog, but not the thickness or flavour. Well, maybe some of the taste, but it was only halfway there. Adding some sugar, all I really got was the sweetness from the sugar! Plus a hint of creamy nog. Am I missing something here?!
Anyhow, it was pleasant, and I found nothing wrong with it at all. The base seemed a bit smoother, so I suspect this is Royal grade? shrugs
I’m glad I didn’t order any for myself is all.
Thanks to the traveling tea box!

This was great! I made it in a milk base. Actually when I opened the package, I was kind of turned off because this smelled so much like… cheese.
Thankfully when I mixed it up, it tasted more like cheesecake rather than just cheese. I added a little sugar which rounded it out.
I really liked it on the white tea base as well.

This is another matcha that Azzrian sent me and man, this one is good. This is about as close as flavoring can get to tasting like real cookies and cream. While it’s good on its own, my favorite way to enjoy this particular flavor has been adding it to my daily vanilla Spirutein shake. It makes the shake taste AMAZING and helps give me a great boost in the morning.

This is a sample I received from Azzrian, thanks Azz. I’ve been very curious about Red Leaf’s flavored matchas as a lot of people really seem to enjoy them. I decided to brew this one up today as it’s a beautiful day, nice and cool while still being sunny and bright. This matcha really seems to fit that mood.

I wouldn’t say the watermelon flavor is exactly natural tasting, it’s verging on candy-like but it still tastes bright and fresh somehow. Despite the matcha being “starter grade” in this particular matcha, it’s still smooth and only has a little bit of bitterness. Really, I don’t see the point in paying for a high-quality matcha as an option for a flavored matcha anyway.

But this one goes down smooth, it’s nice and refreshing, and most of all it’s just a nice change from the typical tea-fare. Thanks again Azzrian, I’m gonna have to order some of Red Leaf’s matchas for myself.

I see the light! I finally made this properly and wow. So Good!!!! I’m glad I kept trying to make it just right. I used a bit of agave and soy milk to put this together in a delish latte. Yes please. I’ll take another!

I thought it’d be a good time to review this matcha since it’s currently on sale! It’s actually the last one from my previous order to try, for some reason I didn’t really feel compelled to try it out until a few days ago. When I ordered it I was super excited, but once it arrived I was like “meh, peanut butter.” So it took a while to get enthused about it! I got:

Size: 30 grams (small)
Base: Classic Matcha
Flavor Level: Distinctive

So, I don’t like peanuts very much. They’re my least favorite nut! But I LOVE peanut butter, and peanut butter themed things (like reeses!). In the bag this smells like, well, peanuts… not a great start. And at first sip, it’s just kind of peanutt-y. Red Leaf actually has a straight Peanut matcha, and I was really really hoping this one would be different.

Thankfully, about halfway through the mug I got a really strong peanut butter taste! Toasty, nutty, buttery, smooth and creamy. Mmm, peanut butter! This is an exceptionally thick matcha, and I think it’s best as a latte which really brings out the creamy qualities. This definitely turned out better than expected, and if you like peanut butter it’ll be right up your alley. I think it would also be really good for baking—peanut butter matcha cupcakes perhaps? You can get some here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peanut-butter-matcha.html

Brutal Brazilian Jiu jitsu class tonight (every Friday is the hard class), probably going to be more brutal as I skipped the last 3 classes because of sore neck and headaches, probably from BJJ on Monday. I’m feeling a little lazy and stiff today, so decided to go make a big tumbler of Acai Matcha before class.

I’m checking my tea shelf and couldn’t find my tin of this matcha. I got so angry and was all “Where the hell is it? This is my favorite one!” and phew, found it buried under other matchas.

So I guess this is my favorite RLT matcha. Sorry Eggnog, Pistachio, Tiramisu.

I didn’t jump on the acai fruity craze, but I see quite a few of my other brazilian jiu jitsu peeps always drinking something with either acai or just coconut water. I’m the only one who runs around with matcha looking weird. Pffff, they need to learn from me. Either way, I decided to give this matcha a shot, show up those others at class.

Specs on this matcha:

Brazilian Acai matcha
From http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/acai-matcha.html
Matcha Quality: Classic Basic Grade
Flavor: Distinctive

Out of the gold foil package, this matcha smells amazingly fruity. Super fruit amazing! The smell reminds me of really tarty berry yogurt. Brazilian Acai matcha appears slightly darker in powder form.

I prepared this as a traditional hot cup, getting me pumped up before my brazilian jiu jitsu practice (I seriously need the energy for class today)! This matcha didn’t froth up very well nor maintain froth, but I didn’t really care. Interestingly, this matcha prepared has a different colour than normal, a dark forest green, probably from the acai berry powder. By the way, I used 1/4tsp plus 175f water.

The taste of Brazilian Acai matcha is quite fruity. A mix between a tropical flavor and blackberries or blueberries. There is also a natural sweetness to this matcha – adding any additional sweetener would be overkill I think. With the fruityness and natural sweetness, this hot cup is very refreshing! There is no tart or bitterness to this matcha! I honestly was expected this to taste tart or puckery.

In the end, this was surprisingly good! I’m thinking this would be great iced, in my waterbottle, nearby to me while I do jiu jitsu. Or is that totally cheating getting a doubly whammy of heathly energizing matcha and acai? Don’t pass up this matcha – I’m thinking this is up there on being one of my fav flavors from Red Leaf Teas!

My new weird morning drink:
matcha + white hot chocolate mix + 175f hot water + frother

YUM! Totally not as healthy as a straight matcha latte (the white chocolate mix has more calories than my milk and sugar) but is very creamy tasty. The white chocolate base is really good and combines well with any matcha flavor. Today was Creme Brulee for more of a white chocolate custard taste.