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This is sooooooo amazing cold brewed. Sooooooooo amazing. It tastes like heavenly snow. Like lilacs and winter. Smooth and sparkly and so delicious. I can’t describe it. I can’t compare it. Nothing compares. It would cheapen the tea to be compared to any other scent or flavor. I tried comparing up there, but it all falls short. So tasty.

It’s also soooooooo expensive. Sometimes, I wish I were like those people who can’t taste the different between lipton and high quality looseleaf. Or maybe I should just wish to be rolling in money?

Anyway, my sample is gone now. Bye bye delicious tea.

Thus far Dan Congs are the only non-green oolongs that I enjoy. I think green oolongs are still my favorite by just a little, but sometimes I really just want a delicious cup of Mi Lan Dan Cong. I made a cup of this and put it by my side to cool a bit before drinking. I kept catching whiffs of sweet honey and fruity lychee. numnumnum. The first sip was amaaaazing. That first sip of hot tea in the morning really warms your belly. :)

I think I may have made this a bit too strong. but it’s still tasty, just intense. It tastes autumnal to me, though lychees are in season in the summer. I think most dark oolongs have that autumnal flavor and I really like my teas to be more light and springy feeling. The natural honey and lychee flavors really make this tea and exception though. So good.

Now I want lychees. Can’t wait for summer fruits to start rolling in! Mmmm…berries and peaches…

okay. So I know it’s unwise to drink matcha so late in the evening. It’s probably going to keep me up, but heck, it’s Friday tomorrow and everyone knows nothing really gets done on Friday anyways, right? It’s like, a law of office work ethics everywhere!
Anyway, I’ve had this matcha in my tea drawer for a while now. I keep thinking about it, but I wanted to wait for a “perfect” moment. The perfect moment will probably never come! Oh wait…my friends and I are going to a Cherry Blossom Festival this Saturday at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Dammit! That would totally have been the perfect moment! I suck…

Well, I’ve already sampled the tea so on with the review! Perhaps I can bring some to share! But there’ll probably be a tea ceremony at the festival…

Anyway… I’m going to compare this tea to the Starter matcha since it’s the one I’ve had most often and most recently. I must say, I don’t see or taste too much of a difference. The green is a bit brighter, but not the light neon green I’ve seen in super fresh oceanic matchas. It’s also pretty clumpy. It makes me wish I had a mini sifter.

The flavor, is minerally and sweet. It’s smooth and green with no bitterness. I’m enjoying this quite a bit, but I think not more than the starter matcha. Hmmm… There’s nothing distinctive or extraordinary about this tea, but that does not make it bad. After all, ordinary vanilla ice cream is still vanilla ice cream, which is awesome. I would say this is representative of a classic matcha flavor. This is what you taste when you get green tea ice cream in china town. It’s delicious, just not super high quality. I would definitely recommend this for lovers of green tea, but if I wanted to get a regular matcha from Red Leaf, I think I’ll stick with the Starter Matcha. And oddly enough, I think this may be one of those rare teas I simply prefer sugared and milked. Like early grey and chai.

I am still super curious about the higher grade stuff though! What does the Emperor’s Matcha taste like, for example? And White Tea matcha! So intriguing! And I can’t imagine liking red matcha, but I’m super curious about that too! Halp! I want to try them all!

Oh, and the caffeine has kicked in now. I was feeling really sluggish and tired, but now I’m all energetic. ack! And I only had so little. :( I wish all teas were caffeine free so I can enjoy them late into the night. I’m always having to drink honeybush/rooibos or plain mint. While I enjoy all those things, I’d really rather be sipping a cup of oolong or green tea.

For a good matcha experience, please check out:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/royal-matcha.html

Okay. I so I have had this bag of delicious matcha in my cupboard for a while now. I kept wanting to open it up and make myself a delicious sweet drink, but I have refrained. Why? Well, I wanted to finish my starter matcha before opening another one. My mom has always told me to finish one box of cereal before starting another one. Even if they are different flavors. And I know how quickly matcha can deteriorate. :( But I can’t stand it any longer. Aisling’s mouth watering review pushed me over the edge. (Thank you, by the way. :))

I normally don’t have time to get a drink of tea in before leaving for work, but I start a little later today but my body made me wake up at the same time. In any case, this is a delicious way to start the day. The moment I ripped open that foil packet, my heart was lost. How could I have waited so long? The smell is intoxicating. It’s like those caramel hard candies wrapped in that neon yellow wrapping paper. I think I might even spy tiny bits of caramel in the tea. Yummy. I quickly whip up a cup with just hot water. Smells so amazing!

First, the color of the powder is a bit of a brownish green. This is likely due to whatever is used to flavor the tea. I did get a stronger flavor than the default. I love me some caramel. The powder blended into the water nicely with barely any clumps. The froth in minimal, but I only have a spoon and a mug so I’m probably at fault here rather than the matcha.

And best of all, the flavor! The flavor is true to the smell. It’s really more of a hard candy caramel than a soft gooey caramel. I’m not too picky about my caramels in general though, so I pretty much love this. From the smell, you’d expect a sugary sweetness, but it’s just the usual natural sweetness of the matcha. It’s manages to be both green and refreshing and sweet and desserty. I definitely approve of this compromise.

As for the matcha itself, I used the cheapest option, Starter Matcha, since I figured I would let the flavor shine and drink high quality matcha unadulterated. Not that the Starter Matcha isn’t a good matcha. I think it’s a very good matcha for the price, though it definitely not the best matcha ever.

As usual, my sensitivity to caffeine makes me a good judge of how caffeinated a tea is. This one is moderately caffeinated, by my judgement. It certainly left me feeling energetic this morning! And my spring allergies were a bit less irritating, but I don’t know if I can attribute this to the matcha. Perhaps I should just drink matcha every morning and see how it goes! Certainly better than popping Claritin everyday.

The flavor of this matcha also begs to be played around with. Perhaps I could dust some over vanilla pudding/ice cream? Of course it would be good as a latte. As an add in to homemade caramel green tea truffles? I think I’m drooling…

In closing, if you love caramel and enjoy matcha, you’ll love this tea!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

More on this tea later. I just wanted to pop in and say OMG! This is good! I’ve got to share this with my sister. We sat around one day and decided which matchas to get from Red Leaf and she chose this one with quite a bit of enthusiasm. I really didn’t expect their flavoring to be so good but it SO is. And of course matcha is pretty awesome too. :)

Weekend mornings are oolong mornings, it seems. It’s just that I always want to spend time with an oolong and evenings are bad because of the caffeine so it’s always got to be a day with I have a few morning hours to spare. This oolong is definitely worth the time.

Steep 1: Mmm…so floral honey and creamy and sweet. It has an unusual crispness. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s intriguing and delicious.

Steep 2: Vegetal now, but still sweet and smooth. It tastes like summer. Like the smell of the country in July, full of promise for a fruitful harvest. (I hope you’ll forgive my poetic inclinations this morning. :)) It’s also a delicious floral perfume and a hint of fresh cut grass or maybe budding spring greenery. I’m trying to describe it objectively, but this tea just tastes like imagery instead. No wonder oolongs always make me feel so meditative.

Steep 3: More vegetal and more creamy. Like a creamy vegetable soup. Asparagus? not really… milder. artichoke heart? hmm… maybe.

Steep 4: That floral essence is sort of in the background now with the vegetal aspect being more assertive. That odd delicious crispiness is also stronger. It is pleasantly drying on the tongue. There’s a bit of a honey aftertaste. The caffeine has me feeling alert and invigorated, which is great since I plan on going for a jog soon. It’s such a beautiful day, I might not even need music to convince myself to keep going just a little longer. :)

I think I’m good now. I maybe steep more later but I’m done for the moment. Good bye delicious oolong samples from t-oolongtea. I’d buy more but I’ve got lots of tea to drink through first. I really need to drink through my collection faster! I need more visitors so I can make tea for them! Also, when I ask people what sort of tea they’re interested in, they NEVER pick oolong. Sad.

EDIT: My 200th tasting note! Cheers! clinks mugs all around :)

Tasty! I didn’t expect to like this too much since previous orange flavor things from David’s has been too candy like in the past. Fortunately, this one is more natural with a rich creamy chocolate flavor. The puerh base is also pretty notable. I was a bit surprised by it at first but really started to like the earthy flavor as I continued to sip. The flavors blend so nicely! Very sweet. This might be a good base for hot chocolate or as a latte. Or hot chocolate latte? Holy cow! I’m brilliant. I know what I’m having tomorrow!

Before tea, let me just say that this weather is amaaaazing. Sunny and warm but still a bit of a chill. I’ve opened my windows and my doggies sit themselves in front of the breeze and just sniff. They do this all day long. You would think I never take them outside. sheesh. But it’s cute so it’s ok.

Anyways, I got home early from training for my new job craving something fruity. Fortunately, it’s not so warm that hot tea is an unbearable thought. I found this tea that I got from the generous MadelineAlyce a while back. I think I’m brave enough to try it today. :) I actually love the way it looks. It’s got cute little jasmine tea balls and nice colorful dried fruit. The name of the tea is a bit off-putting, as is Teavana’s reputation. But it smells pretty good and I like jasmine so how bad can it be, right? I grew more nervous when I realized from the red brew that I was about to imbibe some hibiscus concoction. I cut the brewing time short so it wouldn’t get too sour.

I’m actually enjoying this. Jasmine and peach go pretty well together. I could definitely do without the hibiscus though. The flavors are pretty light. I’m pretty sure it’s because I took the leaves out so quickly to avoid hibiscus overkill. Perhaps a second brew would be good now that the jasmine balls have unfurled a bit. I do love me some jasmine. As for the berry part of this tea, I don’t really taste it. It’s mostly hibiscus with a smooth jasmine and peach background. Not something I’d buy, but I think I’ll be able to finish the sample without any trouble. :)

Had this as a latte for dessert. Steeped perfectly at 6 minutes. Totally yum! I love the strawberry in this. And the chocolate. I’m very impressed with this blend. I’d say that this and the piña colada and the lemon lime cheesecake are the epitome of tasty honeybush blends. The end.

I’ve gotta learn to be careful with my honeybush/rooibos teas. After a long steep, the flavors I don’t like come out and ruin things. AFter 6-7 minutes, it starts to taste like sour wood.

Anyway, over steeping aside, this tea is nice flavored! It’s actually better than any neapolitan ice cream I’ve ever had. The strawberry was sweet and juicy and the chocolate was totally yum. I didn’t get much vanilla, but I’m betting it’s the stupid sour wood flavor that’s getting in the way. I’ll have this again soon, steeped correctly, and then we’ll see. I’m enjoying this one though. I’m glad I picked this one over the strawberry pie, though I’m sure that one’s good too. :)