Gingerbread Matcha

I made some cookies today with this one!
I didn’t think they were that good, but the people I brought them for loved them! I’ll put a “recipe” up on the blog soon – at least they were fun to play with!

I am having some of this Matcha at the moment … in English Toffee form! AlphaKitty added some English Toffee as an extra gift in her 12 Days of Christmas swap package. I’m finishing off the last of the tea that she sent, and decided I needed to talk about this amazing English Toffee. OH MY GOODNESS it is so good.

It is crunchy, sweet and buttery. And I love the taste that the Gingerbread Matcha contributes to this. It is ginger-y, of course, slightly spicy, and it gives a nice contrast to the sweetness of the toffee.

Really, my only complaint about this is that it is now all gone. It was so yummy! Thank you so much AlphaKitty … I think you and I should set up a permanent swap schedule. I will send you a box of tea samplers every month if you send me some yummy toffee every month. :)

Buy it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/gingerbread-matcha.html

If you like gingerbread but not all the sugary sweetness of it – this is the matcha for you. This has all the spices you would find in ginger bread – or ginger snap cookies without the sugar attack.

For me its not sweet enough so I have to add a little something but it is good enough I could get away without adding it.
There is a slight bakey flavor in this tea but its mostly ginger, and an all spice blend sort of spice note in it.

I got the robust flavoring – I am thinking perhaps distinctive may have been enough here but there is nothing wrong with the robust level – just that you could maybe save a couple of bucks. I just always lean toward robust my first go around with a new matcha for the most part.

As always I got the basic matcha base and it is perfectly good, I am still new enough at matcha that I do not notice much of a difference as I have not had enough experience with various matcha qualities yet. However I have had BAD matcha so I do know enough to know that even at the base level this is very good!

Anyway this is excellent for the holidays although I am partial to ginger bread all year long.

I seem to be feeling Christmas-y in some of my matcha choices. First Eggnog, now this! Now that I think about it, combining the two would probably be delicious. Gingerbread Eggnog Lattes? The perfect holiday treat! Well, it’s not exactly the holiday season yet (though it seems to be sneaking up on me), but thankfully no one will judge me for dipping into this seasonal treat a bit before the weather turns chilly (hopefully!). I got:

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

Another I almost got with the black base, but I’m trying to see what flavors I like now and eventually I’ll pick and choose which ones will be in my “permanent” matcha collection. You know, the ones you have to have on hand at all times! Right now for me that’s probably Pumpkin Pie, Cotton Candy, and Cookies & Cream with the black base. There are others that I alllmost have to have all the time (caramel, macadamia nut, cheesecake) and I might take the plunge and get all of them in the larger size. But for now, I am still in the deciding phase! Does Gingerbread have what it takes?!

The spice level on this is STRONG. It’s so ginger-y! I think delicate would have worked well for this one, though I do like the Distinctive flavor level just for that extra pow. As suggested in a review on their site, I whipped this one up as a hot latte with some brown sugar. I tasted the base before any additions, and I think the milk and brown sugar really bring out the cookie aspects. Before, it’s just very strong spices, and I’m not really getting “cookie.” I think it’d be even stronger with a black base!

The spice level on this reminds me of a gingersnap—ginger, cinnamon, maybe even some molasses going on. It’s much more warming than the chai matcha, which has a similar taste profile, but it’s also more… overwhelming? I don’t know if that’s the right term, but I feel like this is Robust or even There’s Matcha In There?! instead of Distinctive. It’s so strong! I think this is a matcha you really need to be in the mood for, but when you are it’ll be just perfect, especially around holiday-time. You can get some here:

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

This tea gave me the best idea ever: Zombie Gingerbread Men. Every year for Christmas, I make cookies for my wife and sister-in-law to decorate and they are insane with it. In the past years we’ve ended up with Ed Wood, an Orion slave girl in a Star Trek uniform, a Purple People Eater, and many, many other cracked decorations. These two really shouldn’t be trusted with pastry bags. But yes, this year I am definitely making sugar cookies with gingerbread matcha and letting them go at it. I should get some of those gingerbread men cookie cutters that look like they already have a bite taken out of it. I need to do a trial run to be sure they taste alright, maybe for Hallowe’en.

Anyway, yes, on to the matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/gingerbread-matcha.html). Well, one thing is for sure, it is definitely GINGER bread. The ginger is very, very strong, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a bad thing. Maybe a touch of brown sugar will help round out the edges, because right now I can’t really taste anything but ginger. I tried it witht he brown sugar and while it did bring out the molasses goodness of gingerbread, it’s still a bit too gingery for me. But the taste that remains on my tongue is amazing…maybe I’ll get used to that bite of ginger over time.

The first matcha that I’ve tried! Apparently I just found out how matchas are so easily flavored. Some of this was included in a traveling tea box. I had it stored next to a super cinnamon flavored tea in a tiny ziplock. The ziplock was not very high quality and I know there are much better quality ziplocks out there (and I’ll definitely be buying some of those next time!) The only thing I can taste in this is the flavor in the other tea it was stored next to: cinnamon. No gingerbread. I added a bit less than a 1/4 teaspoon to a bit less than 16 ounces of bottled water. (I have no idea if that was the right amount.) The other tea better not be doing that to my other teas… though I have all my cinnamon / chai samples stored together for that reason. At least I learned a lesson about matcha today, but I’ll leave off the rating. I would have much rather have learned about storing matchas properly with the first one I tried, rather than after getting a ton more and finding out the hard way. Let this be a lesson in matcha storing! Because yes, I plan on getting a ton more matchas. I just found out how healthy matcha is! Matcha lowers blood pressure, helps your concentration, has tons of antioxidants, plenty of vitamins, fiber, protein and calcium. That sounds to me like everything healthy! (If I drink matcha regularly, it may just become the healthiest thing I eat — plus it would start making me drink milk more.) The price may seem a bit high compared to some teas, but even tea doesn’t have quite so many health benefits!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/

The trick to this matcha is do not. Do not. Add more than a half teaspoon per 8oz of milk. And a little extra sugar won’t hurt it. It’s creamy and a tad spicy in the right amounts, but go a hair over and it tastes like Pine-Sol.

I was shocked I like this. The ginger isn’t annoying = but it’s a great warm spice matcha.