Now, I haven’t hidden this fact, but I am writing these reviews in exchange for free matcha. Free matcha! If you buy a matcha from Red Leaf Tea and review it with either 250 or 400 words, they’ll give you a credit for a free 30 g or 60 g of matcha. Which is why these reviews are soooo much longer than the others. But I like it, I like pushing myself to get those 400 words. It forces me to sit down and really focus on the tea and think about it. As a result of these reviews, I can’t stop thinking about the Madagascar Vanilla and I drink it all the time. And I mean, really, if the tea weren’t good, I wouldn’t work so hard to get more of it. And it really does offer those of us on a budget a good way to increase our stash (like I need any help with that!). I can’t stop raving about these matchas to every tea lover I know, and I do know that several people have purchased these teas based on these reviews. So it’s win-win. But I would never hesitate to give a matcha a bad review if I didn’t like it, free matcha or no.
Which brings me to this tea, Lemon Matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/lemon-matcha-tea-organic.html). I wasn’t really sure of it. I ordered it for my wife in the hopes that it would be her gateway matcha drug, but she really doesn’t like matcha, so it will likely be a bust (though she’ll be a good sport and try it anyway). But I’m only a citrus fan to a point, that point usually being grapefruit. Mmm, grapefruit.
When I first started mixing it, it smelled like a mix between Lemonheads and lemon cleaner. But the sip is pure lemonhead. It tingles down my tongue! It’s tasty in its own way, and if you’re into Lemonheads and the like, I would definitely recommend this to you. My wife has a coworker who loves lemon, so this matcha might be hers after another cup or two. It has a lemony bite that someone who enjoys lemons and sour candy might love. It’s more of a mild vegetal flavor than a stronger matcha, which my wife appreciates in a matcha. The lemony bite can be cut with a touch of sugar, so while I can see that this matcha would be right up the alley of a lemonhead lover, it’s just not the tea for me. I am extremely grateful to have tried it, though!
For more information about the free matcha promotion, look here: http://www.redleaftea.com/free-matcha/
I wonder what this would be like if you blended it with a black . . .
You are welcome to try it, m’dear!
I sent them my review for my first matcha and haven’t heard back since Sunday. How long has it usually been between you sending all the links and them responding with the code?
Did you send it to info (at) redleaftea (dot) com, or did you use the communication box on the website? I find I get faster answers from the info e-mail, last time I got a reply within 20-30 minutes.
I first sent it through the website, but I had forgotten the social media link part. I replied immediately with that to the actual email address now. I will just send it again, I wasn’t even expecting to hear anything from someone on Sunday so maybe it just got lost in the start of the week.
Yeah, it can take a while for them to respond. Give it a bit of time and if they don’t reply, try resending.
What’s shipping to Canada like? This sounds interesting, since I’m just getting into matcha!
Well, if you order over 60g of matcha, the shipping is free, or if you order over 75 dollars worth of tea. I’ve only ever explored those two options!
Over 60g of matcha sounds a lot more doable than $75 of tea! Although I reeaaally shouldn’t be ordering more of anything right now :|
Yeah, I feel ya, it took me forever to decide to order those first matchas, but let me put it this way. With my first order, I bought 3 30g packages of matcha for 47.97. I wrote three 400+ word reviews for those three and got enough for 4 30g packages for free, shipping free because I was ordering 120 g of matcha. I reviewed those 4 and just received a gift certificate for $95, enough for 6 30 g packages for free. So at this point I’ve paid 47.97 for 13 different matchas, 390 g. This breaks down to 3.69 a package. So that first order is pricey, but if you do the reviews, it’s totally worth it.
However, I would never, ever encourage someone to buy tea when they can’t really afford it/find room for it. Maybe it’s something to work towards!
I’m sorry it took us a bit longer to answer some of the email, but we are catching up…The Free Matcha review program has been a great success and not it seems like we are giving gift certificates left and right :-). It’s getting more and more time consuming to check on the reviews.
As far for the Lemon Matcha: we like all reviews, the good ones and the bad ones, especially that the bad ones help us improve. After all, it’s not only our taste buds that must be satisfied.
Also, please note that you earn free Matcha for your honest review, not only the good ones. It’s OK not to like some of our products.
Additional note: We also offer our collection of Matcha teas at Amazon and currently working on program to get some reviews there. It seems that the products that don’t have any reviews are hard to sell, but as soon as you get 1-2, people gain more trust and are willing to buy it. We are looking for ideas on how to incorporate adding reviews to Amazon into existing program. Any suggestion would be welcomed since we could not come up with any good ones…
Did you know?
We now offer Madagascar Vanilla Matcha and French Vanilla Matcha. Did we go to far with the vanilla? :-)
There is absolutely no such thing as too much vanilla, I ordered the French Vanilla with my latest order, I am beyond excited to get it. French Vanilla is my one true love. Also, I love doing these reviews. My tea friends will tell you, I can’t stop raving about these teas, even the one I don’t really care for. But I’m kind of shocked by the response my reviews are getting here on Steepster, I guess I never really believed in the power of reviews until I starting putting thought into mine LOL.
Also, I’d be more than happy to post my reviews over on Amazon! Maybe offer it as an option in the social network step?
I like the idea of a choice between writing say, a short paragraph review on Amazon or the social media post.
Yes, I second the above two ideas as having a choice between Amazon or Social Media post :)
@*Bigelow/aislingoftea* – It’s definitely less of an issue of affordability and more an issue of cupboard space/I have so much tea already! That being said, I have virtually no matcha, just the remnants of my sample from DavidsTea, and a couple samples from LiberTEAS and Den’s Tea… (you just watch, I will have talked myself into this by next week, I’m sure of it).
lol You’re talking to a girl with over 250 teas, I feel your pain. But matcha is small and compact ;). I cannot recommend this company or these matchas enough…they’re well worth finding the space!
Weeelll looks like I’m going to go through your recommendations now to figure out my three… hahaha…
XD My favorite so far is the Madagascar Vanilla, but I get a feeling that will change when my French Vanilla comes in.
Great! Thank you for your recommendation. We would definitely love to get some Amazon reviews and trading it for Social Media is fine with us. Now I’m trying to think of a way to get those lovely reviews already posted to Amazon. We can not offer you Matcha since you already get it free. Maybe some additional credit for each Amazon review? Any thoughts?
I’d be more than happy to post my reviews over on Amazon for additional credit and I’m sure others would be as well!