Matcha Outlet

I tried some of this in the red base in the past and loved it, so I had to jump when it was the sample of the month in the matcha base! Thanks Redleaf for the sample!

The sample came with two fliers explaining ways to prepare it. On one it said to use 1/2 a teaspoon with 6-8 oz milk hot or cold, but on the other flier it suggested using 1 tablespoon for 10-12 oz of a mix of milk, water and ice. I don’t know if it was a typo, but I hesitate to use a tablespoon worth and use up most of the sample in one go. I ended up doing 1/2 tsp in 8oz of a coconut/almond milk. I haven’t tried the milk before, so the taste of the milk was a little distracting. I added a little sugar, but think it could have done with a little more. The matcha is DELICIOUS. I adore this flavor! I haven’t tried many of Redleaf’s flavored matchas, but this one is my favorite so far and I can’t wait to try a few of the different preparation suggestions.

This was so freaking amazing. Thank you Sil! (207)

I boiled a little bit of water and mixed it with the matcha so that it was nice and smooth, and then filled my cup with milk. It was so amazingly delicious that I drank the entire cup while waiting for my other tea to steep.

Strawberry milk!

Oh man. I was craving this matcha like there was no tomorrow, and rushed to make it as soon as I got home. There is no doubt that I am going to be placing an order for this. The only question is which other flavours will I be ordering? I know I said this before, and I’ll say it again—I never thought I’d taste banana milk. Certainly you can get banana milkshakes (although to be honest, I find them to be few and far between; there aren’t nearly enough banana flavoured things in the world), but banana milk, plain and unadulterated in all its banana glory? Unheard of.

So yes. I was in nomville. And all was right with the world.

ETA: spellcheck suggested that nomville wasn’t a word. The nerve!
ETA 2: Thank you, Courtney!

Oh Courtney, oh Courtney, what a monster you have created. If I didn’t still have other matcha to try, I’d be on red leaf’s site right now placing an order for this.

I used this matcha as an opportunity to test out the magic bullet (you know, of the food processing variety, just to be clear) Mr. keychange got me for Christmas. What a handy and powerful little machine it is! Anyway, I used about 8 oz of milk, one matcha scoop of matcha, and set to work. When all was done, I had that familiar hesitation: what if I didn’t like it? what if it tasted like grass and everyone loved matcha except me and my underdeveloped palate? I turned to Mr. Keychange, resolver of many things.
“Here,” I encouraged, thrusting the glass towards him, “why don’t you take the first sip?”
“No way! First of all it smells like that nasty banana medicine from when we were kids, and secondly, this is your deal, not mine.”
“Please? Just let me know if it tastes weird.” I begged.
But he wouldn’t budge. So, and not without a wee bit of trepidation, I took my first sip.
Creamy banana milk. No grass to be found anywhere. No vegetation. No vegetables or foliage or underbrush. Just wonderful banana milk. Courtney is off soaking up the son at the moment, but I do wish I knew what the flavouring level of the matcha is, because hooooly shit it’s amazing.

perhaps this would be more aptly titled ‘Butter Coconut’….but that’s okay!

sad sample sipdown. i was nursing this one slowly, but i didn’t have reason to panic, since with this free sample, i decided to purchase some Caramel Matcha, as it was on sale, so i got a nice large size…and it tasted so similar to this one, which was yummy!

initially, i had such a difficult time telling the two apart. this has that ‘buttered popcorn from the movies’ sort of flavor, which the caramel also had, only it was slightly more butterscotch-y? this one seemed to have a coconut note (in the aroma of the dry powder) which may or may not have been present in the Caramel. this one smelled a tad less ‘sweeter’ & i think i understand what Red Leaf was going for in their rendition of Cheesecake.

i’m not even a fan of real cheesecake….at least not plain. it has that oddly tart, thick cream cheese flavor, which baffles me in terms of a dessert. i think in the matcha version, that quality was sort of conveyed, but i would never think ‘cheesecake!’ right off the bat. still….with milk & brown sugar, it was a treat, as always, for me. i went through this & the Caramel like a tornado. who knew chlorophyll could taste so good?

Red Leaf could perhaps even get away with calling this one ‘Bahama Breeze’ if they decided to throw in a pineapple flavor. lol.

ETA: with Cheesecake and Caramel tasting so much like butterscotch, i wonder what their actual Butterscotch Matcha tastes like?? a conundrum inside a conundrum. and one i must simply buy my way out of in order to truly know ;)

Oh. My. God.

Guilt free cheesecake.

Where have you been all my life?

This absolutely needs milk and a sweetener to bring out the smooth, creamy, tangy goodness that is the flavor of cheesecake. But once it’s right it’s really right. Though, even in chilled latte mode, the greenness of the matcha comes through (which I like, but probably couldn’t say the same for everyone).

The only thing it’s missing is the buttery, insanely decadent flavors that also typically come with cheesecake. I don’t feel like I should hit the gym after drinking this, though.

I was lucky to get a sample of this one! Thanks Red Leaf Tea!

Steep #1 // water cooled a half hour
Opening the package, it smells EXACTLY LIKE eggnog! How do they do it? HOW DO THEY DO ITTT? Wow. I couldn’t even tell the difference by the scent blindfolded. The flavor is the same way – so much like eggnog! Eggy and with the eggnog spices! I am amazed. I’d say this is the most accurate matcha flavor from Red Leaf of the few I’ve tried. All on their lovely fresh green matcha. I had major focus while reading after drinking this as well. I can’t wait to try it with milk….

Steep#2 // warm milk latte
Somehow with milk, this kind of tastes a bit less like eggnog than with water, which is just a testament to how much this actually tastes like eggnog. It still tastes very much like eggnog with milk… you just get more of the flavor showing through the water. It’s amazing magic. So delicious. It has a natural sweetness. It seems like sugar is in this one, but there isn’t. I’d prefer this over eggnog any day! One of my favorites from Red Leaf.
redleaftea.com

Had this again as a latte using two chasaku scoops to 8oz of ~150F skim milk. Not a fan. Hard to describe what I think this tastes like, but it’s not remotely in the chocolate-cocoa area of my taste buds. Has a weird taste to it. I think I prefer the chemically flower taste of the Belgium chocolate to this.

Had this as a latte this morning: 2.5 chasaku scoops sifted, enough 175F water to make paste, then added ~8oz of 150F skim milk. This was a sample so I’m guessing it’s basic grade matcha and delicate flavoring.

Reserving rating until I get another tasting, but this was neither over nor under whelming. More or less just tasted like a matcha latte. Creamy, vegetal matcha taste, didn’t get any bitterness, but also didn’t really get anything like carob either.

Finally got around to trying my March sample. :) My little girl is down for a nap, so I thought it was the perfect time to have a latte and weigh teas to send to people (all of which can be done while sitting down, mercifully—been running like a crazy person this morning). Anyway, I decided to do something a little different and try it hot, with the unsweetened almond milk I found in the fridge. I had to add some sweetener, because I do find unsweetened almond milk to be somewhat unpleasant (bitter is not quite the right word, but it’s close). I added a little xylitol, not to defeat the purpose of the unsweetened almond milk, which seems to be so proud of its 30 calories a serving.

The texture was nice and creamy, but the flavor profile was meh. It was a good cup of matcha, but I didn’t get any cheesecake flavor. Next time I will go all out and make it the way they recommend. Lesson learned.

This was actually half Belgium chocolate and half cheesecake matcha mixed together for a cold latte. It’s a very nice combination. I had this for my morning drive into the office tea. It’s also the first time I’ve had milk in a long time, and wow, was it GOOD. I highly recommend it.

This was a very nice treat for myself this morning. I even stopped on my way home last night to pick up milk so I could make an iced latte with it.

Delicious. Adult chocolate. I could see making this sweeter, but I didn’t need it sweet, and that would not have fit my mood this morning.

I ordered this at a robust flavor level, and I’m glad I did. I really wanted to taste the chocolate, and it’s chocolate. Not overwhelming out of this world chocolate, but it’s chocolate. Like I said, it was adult chocolate.

Last tea before I’m off! It’s a great choice. Thanks again Cavo for sharing. :)

I’ll miss you guys.

I am really enjoying this one. I was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t be as flavourful as I’d hoped, but it is. Yay!

I believe this is delicate, because it came as a sample size envelope, and I’m finding it quite flavourful. That sift vanilla I’m accustomed to. I would buy this one for my own cupboard.

Thanks Cavovorax!

I threw both this and French Vanilla matcha in the fridge with milk this morning to sit all day. Now it’s time to compare.

Upon first sip, the vanilla is here with a hint of, is that cinnamon? It’s very subtle, but there is something that isn’t just pure vanilla. Or maybe that’s what Madagascar vanilla is? It doesn’t seem to be cinnamon exactly, but I can’t figure it out. Not nutmeg either, since I generally do not like nutmeg.

I just checked the French Vanilla, and it’s definitely only in the Madagascar. Fascinating.

I would say this one is tasty, but I don’t really need it in my life. I’ve drank half the jar and only one sip of the French Vanilla, but I am preferring the FV.

Thanks for sharing both these awesome matchas Cavovorax! Also, is this one delicate?

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.

Sipdown (167/173)!

I had a pretty good tea day today, despite working all day! Actually, it was really just a good day in general. It started off with a bit of a shopping spree: I bought myself new shoes (converse) because my old ones were literally falling apart, and then I got three pairs of cargo pants for work so I don’t have to do laundry so frequently (I had two pairs of work pants previously) as well as a white button up t-shirt covered in tacos!

And then, I happened to be in the same mall as Tea Desire so I stopped in an of course I had to buy something! I walked away with 50g of Latte Macciato and Raspberry Oolong, just to top off my tins of each of them at home (they were getting sparce) and 50g of their new bamboo blend “Pure Life”. I adore their other bamboo blend Buddha Bamboo, and this one smelled very good too so I took a chance. I think it’ll make for a nice summer cold brew (and yes, I will send you some VariaTEA).

And the creme de la creme of today’s purchases? An Adeline Porcelain infuser mug covered in vibrant poppies on a crisp white background. It’s beautiful and by far the fanciest of all the mugs I own! I’ll definitely post a picture later because it’s gorgeous! I’ve actually made tea in it twice so far, heh…

Oh! And, I put in a RiverTea order tonight when I got home! Just a small one though; more Mulberry White and Infinite Good Feeling, and some other fruit blends! Definitely excited!

So yeah, this tea…

I brought the remainder of it and a vanilla pudding cup to work with me today and before my shift started (since I had an hour to kill from finishing clothing shopping early) I mixed this up into the pudding. My manager made lots of faces as I ate it; she almost looked sick. It did look pretty foul though, and to be honest it didn’t taste a whole lot better either. Oh well.

I struggled making this one work for me, but it did force me to be creative and it wasn’t the most awful matcha I’ve ever had either. Thank you aisling of tea for the taste! I don’t think I’ll be restocking though…

First tea of the morning/afternoon.

I fell asleep pretty ridiculously early last night, at least by my standards. I guess the major lack of sleep just caught up with me. In total, I think I slept for a straight 13 hours? And I could probably do it all over again – I still feel really tired.

But anyway, for my first tea of the day I decided to have some fun with experimenting – so I whisked a 1/4 tsp. of this and a 1/4 tsp. of Red Leaf Tea’s Cheesecake matcha into a glass of cold milk to make a “Berry Cheesecake” flavour for breakfast!

I really love the Cheesecake flavour, but the one time I had this one (a matcha soda) it fell pretty short for me and I figured I needed to switch things up and try it in a different way. However, straight Acai matcha milk didn’t sound appealing and I thought this might be a better way to try it. It’s actually very good!

Somewhat surprisingly, I can taste both the Acai and the Cheesecake – although I think the Acai is actually the strongest flavour which is awesome because my biggest complaint about the Acai soda was that it tasted weak and wasn’t flavourful. This is rich and creamy and does taste like a Berry Cheesecake. I’m really enjoying it!

I think both these matchas have also been featured free samples, so if you have both lying around I definitely recommended whipping yourself up a glass to test it out. You don’t really use much of each matcha so it isn’t a real waste if you dislike it, anyway.

Field testing this sample from aisling of tea as a matcha soda because, firstly, Acai milk sounds unappealing and, secondly, I picked up a flat of club soda today so I don’t have to hoard my last can of it anymore.

This is made my usual matcha soda method: 1/2 tsp. of match dissolved into an ounce of hot water, and then a can of club soda poured in and a pinch of sugar.

My first gripe it that despite how much or well I try whisking this, it refuses to nicely dissolve for me! It’s not that I have matcha lumps – it’s just that I have this fine “matcha dust” type stuff floating in my soda that continuously sinks to the bottom and wont mix with the rest. Boo.

This smiles really nice; very fruity and pleasant – however the taste is a little weak/bland so I think next time I go this route I’m going to need to use at least 1 tsp. of matcha (that hopefully dissolves better) to get a more distinct feel for this flavour.

What I CAN taste is nice though; it’s light, but it IS Acai – or what I gather Acai is meant to taste like. I’ve never had Acai berries straight – just mixed with other fruits. But I’ve tried enough different fruit mixtures that included Acai to feel like I have enough knowledge on what the flavour is meant to be like.

I’m wondering if mixing this and Cheesecake matcha into milk would taste like regret or if it would make for a nice “Berry Cheesecake” kind of drink…

It looks like I’m the odd one out here but this one isn’t for me. Inspired by Fjellrev, I mixed it with plain yogurt, but it has a bizarre perfume flavour happening. I can’t quite put my finger on where I know the perfume from – but I do know it from somewhere. The only problem is, I would have to take another bite in order to find out. The scent was the same, so I don’t think I’ll give it a go in milk.

Thanks MirandaGou for the sample! It’s always awesome to be able to try different matchas, even if they don’t work out.

Also, I searched specifically for “Cranberry Matcha” and only 52Teas came up. I went to enter it into the database and it gave me the message: this tea is already entered, find it here. Uhh, why didn’t you just show me when I searched it? Hmm.

Why hello there snow, I had forgotten what you looked like, and here you are falling all over my blooming crocuses. I really don’t mind that it is snowing, because snow is my second favorite kind of weather (stormy beats it) and it is far too beautiful to be mad at it for taking away the warmth. Such is the way of this part of the world, the temperature and weather flip flop around and keep you guessing.

Today’s tea is #10 in the Red Leaf Tea sampler, Dan Cong Oolong from Guangdong Province in China. Dan Cong is one of the strip style oolongs, meaning that it is not curled into a ball like Tie Guan Yin and its style, also it is usually grown in higher elevations. The aroma of the leaves is quite strongly floral, mostly orchids with a hint of osmanthus, but it is also richly roasted which blends well with the floral notes. There is also a hint of tobacco, that to be honest I could live without. I don’t mind when that note is in earthy or roasted teas, but when tobacco mixes with floral it just gives me a bit of a headache, luckily the note is very mild so it doesn’t bother me too much.

After steeping, the wet leaves have lost all their floral notes, now we have rich earthy and loamy notes with a slight metallic quality, and sweetness. The tea has a very sweet finishing note, almost sickly sweet like decay, it is not at all offensive and really accents the loam quality. The liquid smells like a mix of honey and maple syrup with a hint of honeysuckle and yeasty bread. The liquid’s aroma is really good, I would go as far as to say mouthwatering.

The taste is mild and fairly sweet, like honeysuckle nectar, which fades to a mineral midtaste. The mineral midtaste is exactly like wet limestone (I have licked my fair share of rocks, don’t judge) and I love it. The aftertaste is a blend of loam, cedar, and smoke. As the tea cools it becomes sweeter and more floral. This is an interesting tea, the aroma of the dry leaves compared with the wet compared with the liquid is vastly different. At first I was not sure I was going to be a fan, but after the transition I ended up really enjoying it. My only regret is that when I wrote the tasting notes in my notebook (back in October!) I didn’t have my gaiwan yet, and I used all the leaves up so I won’t be able to try a second go with this tea unless I bought the whole sampler again (which is tempting).

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/03/red-leaf-tea-dan-cong-oolong-tea-review.html

I’ve been enjoying this as a breakfast latte over the past couple days, and I’m now at a sip down. I’m almost out of milk because of this, so perhaps I should get my hermit self off campus and buy some groceries, milk included.

Said hermitry may explain why I’ve had a fever for, yes, almost an entire month now. I’m thinking it’s allergies, particularly the mold in this basement. Oh, Catch-22. I spend all my time down here trying to do my work, yet my progress has been significantly slowed down due to fever, fatigue, etc.

Anyway, thanks to Sil for passing some of this down! It’s been a treat.

Thank you for the opportunity to try this, Sil! As everyone can see, I’m riding the matcha train this morning. Perhaps I should eat breakfast soon because all this matcha/caffeine on an empty stomach is making me feel a little nauseated.

I was wondering how this would compare to caramel, if it would basically be a less creamier version of it. Sort of? I do detect a classic hard candy note in here, and yes, there is less creaminess going on. Or rather, it has a less velvety texture.

I’m trying this hot with some 1% milk. I think the milk is drawing out the candy flavour a little more. It seems like too subtle of a flavour if you were to use this in a smoothie. But I’m oh so curious to see what it’ll do in a cold environment.