Matcha Outlet

i just tried a cold latte with this stuff. it was quite good, but i prefer it in hot water

so my “Red Leaf Tea” order came in:

what an amazing tea:

when i smell the matcha powder, i smell sweetness and green grass

when i smell the brewed tea, the smell is intensified.

when i taste the brewed tea, i taste strong and lovely sweetness and fresh cut grass. mmmm :D

i rate this a 100 because this is the perfect matcha for me :D

i definitely recommend trying this tea!

this is best with 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon

I need some whip cream. Currently drinking this cold because it’s warm out. Just threw 6 oz in the blender followed by 1tsp of matcha. Great chocolate smell emits itself from the package. The taste is also much better then I was expecting. Oh man…. I just had a great thought! Mix this with the orange matcha. Oh that is so happening!

I had a sample of this and prepared it the same way I did the Belgium Chocolate one.

*with a few ounces of hot water and whisked in a chawan
*stirred with a few tablespoons of cold water and topped with cold, unsweetened cashew milk
*stirred with a few tablespoons of hot water and topped with hot, unsweetened cashew milk

I added sweetener to all three preparations. Again, as with the chocolate one, I felt like it was strange to have a candy-like flavour without significant sweetness. I’d have to try these again with dairy milk, to see if that provides enough sweetness on its own.

I liked this a lot better than the chocolate and would consider restocking. The flavour is good, very butterscotch-y. The matcha is a bit bitter, but not unpleasantly so.

I’ve tried this twice and both times not according to instructions, quite frankly the recommended 1 tablespoon is too much in my opinion. The first one was half hot water (80C) and half milk, mixed well with 1 heaped teaspoon of matcha. I found this to be rather bitter after a while and while it was sweet at times it tasted too strong and not evenly balanced.

So I tried warm water (50C) with 1 level teaspoon of matcha and 4/5 water to 1/5 milk. This was almost perfect. The sweetness is enhanced with cream and sweet but lightly bitter grass. The sweetness is like honey, not too much but a nice level. Overall flavour is lighter but the matcha flavour is distinct and as it settles towards the bottom of my cup it becomes stronger with each sip. Plus I also found that it tastes lighter and stays foamier with most water in the mix.

Next time I may try a bit more matcha but it makes for a nice treat every now and then. I picked up a pound in their sale :D Should give me enough time to perfect the brew.

This is my fourth sample from the flavored matcha sampler. It’s delicate flavoring with the classic base. The flavor is very subtle. It doesn’t actually taste like flavored matcha. It doesn’t taste like unflavored matcha either. It’s somewhere in between.


This tea is very smooth and less grassy than most other matcha. It’s a little creamy but doesn’t taste like cream per say. I can’t really describe it but it’s good. I definitely recommend getting a higher flavoring level if you want to really taste the cream. Unlike other reviewers, I’m not getting anything even remotely lemon-flavored or citrusy here.

I also tried mixing it with Vanilla Bean Matcha because I thought that would be stellar! Ironically, it wasn’t super amazing like I was expecting. This is a good matcha for people who like smooth, creamy matcha that isn’t heavily flavored. Personally, I think I’ll stick to other flavors for future purchases.

this stuff is great with milk and bananna made into a smoothie!

I used this in a latte – cold milk and Splenda. I really enjoyed it. Adding 12 oz of milk to 2 tsp of powder tends to overpower the taste of most matcha. I thought this stood up really well. Grassy and vegetal.

This is my third sample from the flavored matcha sampler. It’s delicate flavoring with the classic base. The dry leaf aroma is full of beautiful vanilla goodness. The flavor is gently sweet vanilla bean. The aftertaste is really lovely and the best part of this tea in my opinion. The natural-tasting vanilla flavoring lingers long after the sip.

This is delicious but I think I’d prefer vanilla as a component in a flavoring rather than the only thing going on. I can recommend this one, even in the lower flavoring level. I think vanilla may be one of those flavors that you want to be delicate. Although I’m really on a vanilla kick right now and I almost always prefer for it to be punched up about 100 notches. So that I enjoy this in delicate flavoring level is saying something!

grandma made shortbread cookies with starter matcha from “red leaf teas”. all i can say is, mmmmm.

https://instagram.com/p/8oGMJYp443/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

i tried this with just milk in a blender, tastes good

so i tried something new.

putting a teaspoon of this matcha in hot water, stir and drinking it. then using the stuff left on the bottom, i would add more water and stir and repeat.

the experience is: somewhat bitter then gets sweeter over 3 to 4 refills :D

i suggest trying this

tried a different smoothie:

starter matcha + 2 strawberries + milk = a smoothie that’s good but not as good as banana version

starter matcha info can be found here -→ http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/starter-matcha-en.html#.VbuNgvlViko

so, since my other review left me with a good feeling, I trie this tea just now with water and it was great!

love this matcha! it’s great for matcha smoothies and matcha pancakes! I have yet to try it with hot water

When I didn’t think this tea could get much more perfect I found a way….by dipping ginger biscuits into it! Now it’s ginger toffee matcha :D

A beautiful aid while I watch Sixteen Candles. I adored Anthony Michael Hall when I was a teen. Always had a ‘thing’ for ‘geeks’ which probably explains why I married an IT professional. Well that and it comes in handy to have someone ‘in the know’ when my laptop/blog goes ‘tits up’. Oh and if you don’t know what ‘tits up’ means then check the link. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/385050.html

Hopefully I will have a tea fuelled weekend with lots of reviews, and I hope you all do too! Hurrah for the wonders of tea.

I want to apologise for being inactive. A lot has been going on recently. I had my driving test and study before hand, of which I failed and have had to re-book. That was very upsetting, the nerves got the better of me and I made stupid mistakes. So this left me feeling down, as did the fact that if I want a car I need to find a job and save up for one. My husbands money is covering everything else but we can’t get a car as well, so for the last month or so I’ve been job hunting. After starting at one place and fainting on my first day, there has been no other progress. I was messed around a few times with training and supposing to start work but at the last minute they let me down. So needless to say everything has left me feeling about an inch small and my depression got the better of me. Hence no blog writing, no SS posts, no Steepster posts and so on. It’s been difficult and I’m just back on the road to recovery. This really is a long story put simply into a small paragraph, please know it was not my idea to leave the wonderful tea community for the time being but was rather something I needed to do. I was away from most online communities but continued to cross stitch as a sort of therapy, stitching away my problems.

Anyway that is enough of that, I’m not back to bloody depress people! So today I’m drinking this English Toffee Matcha which was with my last RLT order. I tried it originally in normal flavour but thought I would order distinct, to really see what the difference was. It actually does make a substantial difference, this one is creamier and more toffee flavoured though it does still have some of it’s Matcha flavour characteristics. In the background especially; for example it starts off creamy, sweet and toffee but turns stronger and slightly bitter with mild grass tones. Despite that it leaves a very creamy after taste in my mouth, making it seem that the Matcha qualities were just a figment of my imagination…until I take another sip and taste them again.

This truly is delightful and I’m glad I went for distinctive. It was worth the extra money for it :D And this still tastes like English Toffee so I’m happy on all levels.

I will be working on articles hopefully this weekend, if not the start of next week. I have 2300 Magic The Gathering cards coming tomorrow so I will be busy sorting them out before I go down on Sunday to play with people. So please forgive me for that additional delay, but believe that I am back and plan on staying. It’s time to stop letting my depression get the best of me.

This was a free sample that someone kindly gave me but I cannot remember whom, there is also a possibility this came from the EU TTB. Unfortunately it got mixed with some other stuff so I may never know. Either way thank you!

This says it can make 5 cups which sounds rather nice for a sample amount.

As I open the packet there is an overwhelming scent of toffee, definable as toffee as well, the type of toffee that I used to have sweets of as a child. A large block that I would buy on holiday at the seaside and break pieces apart with a hammer. Such good childhood memories all come rushing back as I smell this. As nice and creamy as it does smell there is little to no Matcha or green tea among it.

Putting one serving of this ie one scoop into my bowl and filling with a combination of 3/4 warm water and 1/4 milk. Whisking produced a nice level of bubbles and froth, more than expected though they didn’t last long.

Flavour was more subtle but the toffee notes were there, so was a slightly bitter undertone from the Matcha. Some dryness though subtle and the after taste is creamy though short lived.

Overall the scent is stronger than the taste but regardless this was a pleasant flavoured Matcha. One that I would consider purchasing should the chance arise.

I prepared this three ways:

*with a few ounces of hot water and whisked in a chawan
*stirred with a few tablespoons of cold water and topped with cold, unsweetened cashew milk
*stirred with a few tablespoons of hot water and topped with hot, unsweetened cashew milk

I wasn’t crazy about this in any preparation and I definitely had to sweeten it all three times. The matcha itself is only slightly bitter, but the chocolate flavour just seems to demand sweetness. It’s sort of unpleasant and weird to drink unsweetened chocolate. I’m also not sure that chocolate and matcha flavours mesh that well together.

The preparations with cashew milk were both better than with water alone. I think the extra creaminess really works with the chocolate. Dairy milk would probably be even better since it would bring a lot of its own sweetness to the mix.

I didn’t have any trouble finishing my sample pack, but I won’t be re-ordering this.

I tried this tea back to back with Red Leaf’s Emperor Matcha. Both are some of their highest quality matches you can order. This is a warm green powder, velvety smooth and richly fragrant. It mixes up into a dark green liquid, and frothed well with my bamboo wisk. I really loved Red Leaf’s Emperor Matcha for it smooth creaminess. This one, the Manju Matcha, is the savory brother to that tea. This is much more vegetal, with mellow tones of kale and seaweed. It was a bit too strong at my usual mixing proportions, and found it to be preferable with a bit more water to matcha. I want to emphasize, this tea is FAR from sour or bitter, but definitely savory on the scale of matchas. If you prefer your matcha to be leafier, this will be a divine tea for you. I personally, prefer the Emperor Matcha, but both of these are high quality and well worth a try.

This matcha had a vegetal flavor that was quite similar to spinach. The hint of sweetness made it more appealing, but if you’re not a fan of vegetal flavors this might not be the best matcha to start with. This was our second place winner and pick for best budget matcha in Round 2 of the Matcha Blind Taste Test.

You can read the full results of the blind taste test on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/7/13/tuesday-tea-blind-taste-test-6-matcha-teas-compared-sponsored

This matcha was slightly sweet, with a somewhat nutty flavor and grainy texture. It ended up being the least expensive of the samples in the matcha blind taste test I’m taking part in, but isn’t among my top picks as far as matcha goes. I think it’s worth exploring some of the slightly more expensive options from Red Leaf Tea.

You can read the full results of the blind taste test on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2015/7/13/tuesday-tea-blind-taste-test-6-matcha-teas-compared-sponsored

Sipdown (124)!

I’m cheating with this sipdown; I simply give up trying to find ways to make this enjoyable so I brewed up one last chawan worth of tea, hot and in plain water, mostly just for the caffeine buzz and then gave away the last of the matcha (probably around 10g) to my Dad/Step Mom.

Even if they end up not liking the flavour, I come out as thoughtful since they’ve both really gotten into wine/Sangria as of late and I’m sharing some of my nicer teas with them which I know they always appreciate as well. For me, it’s a win-win. No more crappy tea; and parental appreciation!