Ginger Ale Matcha

I really only got this for nostalgia-factor! Canada Dry – all the way!

Yes…this smells and tastes like Ginger – the verdicts is still out on the “Ale” part tho…

BUT…it also has an aroma to it that resembles a “just vacuumed” type smell.

As it cools – the ginger taste grows even stronger. If I hold my breath, stand on one foot, and quack like a duck while crossing my eyes – perhaps I can get a little bit of that “ale” of the Ginger Ale type taste to it.

I won’t fault it for not being perfect – I can only image how hard the texture and flavor-pop “ale” would be to re-create…especially in a matcha!

Overall…this is darn good. Even with my goofy description. I’m pleased with this – it sure is an eye opener!

I know, I know. These reviews are nothing but memories, but I can’t help it! If I can drink a tasty drink that is good for me, gives me energy, and makes me think of happy things, well, why wouldn’t I? This one is all my grandmother and my father. Every Thanksgiving, my grandmother would let us drink cranberry juice mixed with ginger ale, and we felt so grown up. So grown up! It’s still my preferred way of drinking cranberry juice, and when the cranberry ginger ale is released around the holidays, all I do is think of her. Her son, my father, is a ginger ale memory for me too, it’s his favorite soft drink. Vernor’s, if you’ve got it, or Schweppes, but Canada Dry will do in a pinch and make him think of me anyway. When my wife is ill, it’s ginger ale, if you please, not lemon-lime anything. You know that old adage that girls always search for someone like their father? It’s so true in my case…my wife and my father are amazingly alike. So when I spotted it on the Red Leaf tea website, I had to grab it for my campaign to get her to like matcha. Who knows, I might convert my dad with it when he comes up to visit next (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/ginger-ale-matcha.html)!

This is wonderful. Ginger and I are not the best of buddies, but I’m coming around to it. This reminds me of a local ginger ale found only in Middle Kentucky called “Ale-8-1”. It’s full of ginger flavor, but in a very good way. If you get this one, don’t be put off by the overwhelming ginger smell, it’s not nearly as strong as it smells, which is a good thing to me. It would definitely be a matcha I reach for when I’m headed into work with an upset stomach, but need a pick me up. I don’t think it’s one I’ll keep in stock, but it’s not one I’ll be actively trying to swap away either. I’m excited to try it with the cranberry. If you’re familiar with ginger ale brands, it’s more of a Vernor’s than anything else. Lord have mercy, I spend way too much time with ginger ale, apparently. But if I can talk my Dad into trying matcha, this will definitely be the one I lead with. Who knows, my father in law greatly enjoyed the French Vanilla matcha from Red Leaf Tea, maybe my dad can be won over as well!

I was really excited to try this tea. I am a soda lover, and cola matcha is probably one of my all-time flavored matchas. This one had a few reviews, so I decided to take a chance on it. The package had a very interesting ginger-y smell. I put a 1/2 teaspoon of matcha into my water bottle, as usual, and stirred it up and drank it cold.

I’ve made this a couple times and I’m not as impressed as I was hoping I would be. Part of the problem is that I’m not really getting the ginger ale flavor. It’s more ginger flavored than ale flavored. It doesn’t quite have the “flat gingerale taste” that I was hoping for like cola matcha does. I read another review that said this tasted like Vernon’s but I’m not getting that at all. It’s not a bad tasting matcha, necessarily, but it’s not as true to the flavor as I was really gunning for.

It’s worth mentioning that I did get this flavored robust, as I usually do. I’m wondering if maybe I should have scaled back the flavoring a little and the ginger wouldn’t be so prominent? I don’t know. The flavor isn’t my favorite, as someone who likes ginger-ale, and LOVED the cola matcha, it’s a little disappointing. If you’re like me and loved the cola matcha, and are looking for a similar soda-flavored matcha, this is not it, unfortunately.

Well I am going to give this a try. I have been kind of MIA lately. About a week and a half ago I had to have eye surgery. I haven’t been able to really use a computer a whole lot since because of blurry vision and trouble concentrating. But it is getting better. So bear with me on this review.

I had been saving this one for last from my recent Red Leaf order. I am a total sucker for delayed gratification. This was the flavour I was most looking forward too. I love ginger. And the more gingery the better. I absolutely love drinks like Jamaican ginger beer.

I got this one as distinctive only for the reason that the order also contained some fruity flavours and I did not want to make the order complicated by getting some flavours distinct and some robust. But I would have liked to have gotten robust.

The smell of the dry matcha is very gingery. Not so much like a gingerale soda, but more like an alcoholic ginger beer. Delicious.

I mixed this one up cold, 1tsp per 8 oz water and a bit of white sugar. The taste was…ok. A bit different. I think I need to change my parameters a bit. There was a sweet ginger taste. But not really ginger spicey at all. It was almost as it the flavour was a bit floral and perfumey. Some bitterness that could be the matcha or could be the “ale” part. Not as strong as I would have liked but that may be due to the flavour distinctiveness I chose.

I think next time I make this, I am going to try a bit less matcha.

You can purchase it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/ginger-ale-matcha.html

And now my eyes are all blurry from looking at the screen :(

Edit: This one is slightly better with using a bit less matcha. More than 3/4 tsp but less than 1tsp.