Sea Buckthorn Matcha

I bet a lot of you are looking at the title of this and saying “what on earth is a sea buckthorn?” I didn’t know either until I went to Mongolia and saw bottles of orangey-yellow sea buckthorn juice in the grocery store with depictions of a cluster of berries of the same color on the label. I have sort of a penchant for foreign fruits, so I bought a bottle out of curiosity and totally loved it. I also looked for a sea buckthorn tea in the somewhat vast selection of teas in the Mongolian grocer’s, but it was a no go. So when I saw that, out of all of the weird flavors they have, Red Leaf offers a sea buckthorn matcha, well I knew I had to try that one. I ordered the basic matcha with a robust flavoring level, from here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/sea-buckthorn-matcha.html

This is one of my favorite matchas that I’ve tried, which is totally a surprise. And it’s one of my favorites because Sea Buckthorn is a flavor that seems like an extension of the natural matcha flavor, not an addition. When I opened up the pouch and smelled it, it really just smelled like straight up matcha, and I was kind of skeptical. However, as soon as the water hit the matcha I could smell the tart, acidic aroma coming out of the bowl. I always find it hard to describe a flavor in terms of other flavors; sea buckthorn is tart, almost apple-pear-ish, in a berry way, if that makes any sense at all. There’s no mistaking, though, that this matcha is sea buckthorn, and very well done. I don’t even know what artificial sea buckthorn would taste like (I suppose it would at least be a big chemical), but this one tastes all natural to me, like the sea buckthorn juice I gulped in Ulaanbaatar. It doesn’t need sugar, for sure, but it is more matcha-y without it. The sugar doesn’t make it sweet, but somewhat ironically brings out the tart, delicious sea buckthorn a bit more.

If you like tart flavors and are looking for an unusual matcha flavor you should consider checking out this matcha. It’s also a matcha I would consider springing for a higher grade on in the future, not because this one is bad, but because it is so prevalent, even in the robust flavoring level, that you would really notice.

Robust level, from Dinosara. :)

Soooo… I made this as a matcha soda. Umm. I’m not so sure about this. I dissolved some sifted matcha in a little warm water, then added ice and club soda. It mostly tastes of club soda and grass.

This one might be better with a more recognizable (to me at least!) matcha flavour. Maybe some sort of citrus would go well with the club soda. Because I’m not loving this. Which is weird because I love club soda…

Backlog:

I wasn’t really sure what a sea buckthorn was until I did a little search on wiki about it. It’s a berry with lots of health benefits. But really, I didn’t order this Sea Buckthorn Matcha because of health benefits, I ordered it mostly out of curiosity. I didn’t think I’d ever encounter a sea buckthorn in the produce section of my local market, so I figured, hey … this is a chance to try something I probably won’t have the opportunity to try otherwise. Right?

It’s tart with notes of citrus-like flavor toward the finish. I described it in my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/04/27/sea-buckthorn-flavored-matcha-red-leaf-tea/ as a lemon, a lime, and a berry had a love child.

It’s a bright and flavorful Matcha, and I enjoyed it. My specs for this Matcha were the classic grade with distinctive level of flavoring. If I were to order this in the future, I’d probably go with the delicate flavoring because I think I’d want more Matcha taste in it.