Matcha Outlet

Oh oh oh HELLO.
So I legit went to the store this morning because I wanted matcha and I had no milk, so I just got my usual fat free milk and I got vanilla almond milk as well because… Dude I was just craving that right now okay.

So I made this matcha with my vanilla almond milk and DANG THIS BRINGS OUT THE FLAVOURS SO MUCH 15/10 WOULD RECOMMEND

From MissB and I am definitely a matcha newbie!
I’ve always been interested in matcha and I figured that the mystery pack that she was doing was the perfect way to get just a small amount and IT’S GREAT.

Yes. Matcha newbie. Definitely don’t know how to prepare matcha and it was a total fail this morning but IT’S ALL GOOD I STILL ENJOYED IT SO I AM FINE.

This tea is great though. I could really smell it from the package and it was super nice and I definitely don’t know how to make this tea so I’m going to shut up now.

Cold steeped this in milk overnight a la Courtney!

I do think I prefer it this way to just shaking it with cold milk and drinking it immediately. Seemed more evenly mixed. Plus it was less work first thing in the morning, which is always good.

Good breakfast!

Made a ice/milk/matcha shakeup for breakfast, with no sweetner at all. Our raw milk is super fresh today so it really didn’t need any adornment.

This is the March free sample of the month, so if you haven’t tried it yet, hop to it! All you have to do is pay for shipping and you get five servings!!!

I made a hot latte out of this for breakfast. WOW. Super cheesecakey! This is officially my 2nd favorite matcha flavor from Red Leaf, right under coconut (#1!). I would definitely order this one again :)

Sipdown (119)! Ok, so after seeing posts about almond milk both here on Steepster and on other sites, I decided to go for it and buy unsweetened vanilla almond milk. First, I tasted the milk on its own, and I don’t think I’m a fan. It tastes kind of weak. Maybe because it’s unsweetened? Anyhow, I mixed this matcha in there and shook it about to see if I liked it better than matcha in regular milk. It still wasn’t really my style. The matcha had a sharp, grassy/seaweedy flavor that was matched with an artificial sweetness from the cheesecake flavoring. Not my favorite combo by far. At least now I can read others’ tasting notes about flavored matchas and not feel too sad that I’m missing out.

Thanks to Red Leaf for the monthly free sample! I’m thinking that I’m just not a fan of matcha. I’ve had matcha before, prepped hot and cold, with not so much success. Today, I took a jar and shook up some of this matcha with cold milk. I can kind of tell there is a cheesecake flavor there because it tastes more dairy than just regular milk. I just can’t get over the seaweed-y taste from the matcha base. It’s weird because I like “green tea” flavored foods that are essentially flavored with matcha. I just don’t like the tea itself I guess. It’s a real bummer because I always see these fun flavored matcha reviews and get really excited about it. Oh well, another lesson learned on this great tea journey of mine.

I freaking love this tea. I’m surprised I haven’t reviewed it before. Oh well.

As we were packaging up some of this for Christina, I knew I needed to have some soon. Unfortunately, every time I remembered it, it was after 4 pm and I knew that if I had a cup, I wouldn’t sleep.

But today, it was awful hard to get up, so I am all over this matcha thing. This matcha is lovely, I’m drinking it cold with some sugar and it tastes just like a wintergreen lifesaver. Yum.

Sipdown (128/135)!

Shaken up into a bottle of vanilla Milk 2 Go; last one in the house too, so now I’m officially out of milk until I can find time to go pick some out.

Honestly, I had enough matcha left for at least two cups but I was trying to very carefully scoop it out of the tin and the pour it into the small nozzle of the bottle of milk, and Tre got frustrated watching me pour it and insisted he could do a better job. Instead he just wound up grabbing the tin and trying to pour it into the tiny opening straight from the tin. Yeah, didn’t work – he dumped what was left in the tin on the newly cleaned counter, which was still wet.

So unintentional sipdown.

Anyway, it was good. I figured whether this would work in the vanilla milk was maybe a little bit dicey because it can makes things ungodly sweet or make them like creamy milkshakes. This was more the creamy milkshake route. Really, it was more of a creamy Pumpkin frap. I’m on board with that!

So goodbye Pumpkin Pie Matcha; we had a really all over the place run. Seriously, I tried you in so many different ways – but it was good!

Made a Pumpkin Pie/Coconut Matcha Milkshake! For the recipe and thoughts on the two check out the other half of this tasting note here:

http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/258103#likes

Time to blow through some tasting notes!

Apparently I’m getting in the routine of letting a small queue of backlogged reviews pile up and then mass posting them. Oops? I’ve been lounging around the house all day (it’s my day off, and Tyrell wanted to go to the gym today so nothing for me to do but marathon Drop Dead Dive and drink tea all day), but now I feel like writing.

Kinda.

I don’t feel like writing a lot – but I want to get my reviews posted.

This one. I’m really close to a sipdown with it, and I’ve tried it in a lot of different ways and enjoyed it, but maybe not loved it. I figured, why not push things a little a try it in an even crazier, “out there” method. Matcha Soda!

1 tsp. of Matcha
About 2 oz. of hot water to dissolve the matcha
A can of Club Soda
1 tsp. of Sugar

Yeah, it was pretty strange. I made it in my leaky timolino (I have the one I usually use for work, and then another that’s missing the plastic seal and leaks when it’s closed) and just drank it all during my walk to work so I didn’t have to worry about it leaking in my backpack or the carbonation fizzing stuff up or whatever. It tasted like Pumpkin Pie and Nutmeg but was so stupidly weird. Also, it went flat really fast…

Good though. Again, I didn’t love it, but it was an experience.

So today at work I picked up a package of vanilla pudding so that I could have fun mixing different flavours of matcha into it! I feel like I have a lot of different kinds that would lend themselves to that format.

When I got home today this is the one I ended up going for first, although I was tempted to do Strawberries & Cream – but the prospect of increasing sipdown speed for this (I have a lot of matcha to go through) was too hard to pass up. And, I made a good choice: the Pumpkin Pie goes really well with this! The creaminess of the vanilla makes the “pumpkin gut/filling” flavour pop more than milk does, and the spices/nutmeg feel a bit toned down which is preferable to me as someone who doesn’t think Pumpkin Pie is automatically equated with loads of spices.

My only “gripe” is that it doesn’t blend super well so there were a bunch of matcha lumps. Meh…

Oh, and kinda funny work story! We were closing for the night and our gate had just been pulled shut so people couldn’t enter from the mall side of the store when my landlord came running down the mall to try and make it to the store before closing. He was about to walk away when he saw the gate was locked, but then looked up and made eye contact with me.

So I let him in to make his purchase because you kinda don’t not sell shit to your landlord. It’s just a thing you do because he’s your landlord. He was really grateful though, and he only had one thing to pick up so it didn’t set us back at all. What was his all important purchase, you ask? Bobby Pins.

I attempted to whisk this into cold water when I got home from work, and I say “attempted” because no matter how long or vigorously I did it I couldn’t get a lot of the large lumps out. I know I could have strained it before hand but I really don’t like the extra time that takes when whisking normally does a good enough job.

However, it still tasted pretty decent; lots of creamy pumpkin tastes and then more spice than I recall there being last time – but still nice overall. I almost wished I had made up a larger cup of it, but then I would accidentally bite a lump of matcha and the taste would be icky and I’d change my mind.

In other news, I brought one of the two work phones home with me tonight. Oops. Hopefully it’s not still in range and I don’t get people calling me all day tomorrow asking stupid questions like “what time are you open until” and “do you carry ball point pens?”. And I don’t work again until Thursday…

So, there’s that.

Daily matcha!

I’ve always loved having a large glass of milk when I get home from a long day of work (calcium, yo!) and it’s even better being able to have a large glass of matcha whisked milk now! Serendipitous, actually.

This is, of course, part of the giant matcha sampler from aisling of tea.

I’m so happy with this though, which is good because they sent so much! It blended amazingly well and frothed up really nicely too. On top of that, it tastes very good (not too weak or strong, and no grassy matcha taste) – and just like pumpkin pie gunk. The only thing that’d make it better is some super rich creamy vanilla icecream. Yes! I definitely want to try making a milkshake with this one! Vanilla icecream, milk, and pumpkin pie matcha! Mmm!

Matcha of the morning…..

Well, this is actually my second matcha today. I should be bouncing from the rafters, pretty soon. This was my free sample with my last order. I wish I knew what flavoring level the samples are. I asked on Steepster once, but my inquiry must have been overlooked. I have not taken the time to email directly, so that is on me.

This is pretty good. It really kind of reminds me of the Eggnog matcha, though. They are very similar tastes, I guess. I kind of feel that way about English Toffee and Caramel, too, but DS likes the English Toffee and not the Caramel. Go figure. I guess this could be a possibility for a flavor in the rotation. We can see if my daughter likes this better than French Vanilla. One of these days, I need to try a strawberry or coconut version.

Prepared with 8oz 1% milk, 1/2 tsp matcha and a little sweetener in a personal blender. No ice this time.

Sipdown (113)!

Finished this one off cold shaken in a timolino of water; I think I liked it better than the cashew milk actually. It seemed a little bit less sweet; though still followed the same pattern of “grassy top notes” and “sweet body flavour”.

I’m happy I revisited this one, but like I think I remarked last time it’s just not distinct enough for me to want to have it stocked up. Besides, I still have the full sized pouches of matcha from my last RLT order to crack into…

I’m revisiting this matcha; I tried it over a year ago. Here are some of the highlights from my old tastings/reviews just to see if my observations are consistent:

“…there’s also a slight vegetal taste in the first part of the sip”, and

“…in the aftertaste you get more of a true cotton candy flavour”.

The first time I tried this was in cold milk, but for this tasting I’ll be using cold cashew milk like I have for all the other flavors so far from RLT’s sampler. Dry, I think this smells pretty rich but in a generically sugary way; it’s hard to capture a smell that’s clearly cotton candy when, realistically, all cotton candy is just hot, spun sugar.

Funnily enough, my initial impression/observation is true to my old review: I think the first thing you taste is a very grassy top note which eventually does lean into a more sweet body flavor. It is very generic for me though; I don’t think if I was trying this blind I’d be able to pinpoint it as cotton candy flavor. That said, I did actually like it and I appreciate the nice balance between the flavor of the matcha and the added flavors. It’s not as accurate as it could be though, so that is a bit disappointing.

I’m happy I revisited this one though! And I look forward to trying out the last sample to see if my observations from a year ago are also accurate for that one.

Sipdown (188/190)!

What goes better with hot, fresh out of the oven brownies than a glass of cold milk? And, what goes better with a glass of cold milk than a tasty matcha whisked into it?

Anyway, this is only sort of a sipdown; there’s still enough left for one more cup but I’m going to be sending it to Keychange. Now that I’ve properly tried all (except the White Chocolate) the matchas I have, I’ve started to compile my “matcha sampler” for her so that, come payday, I can send it out to her ASAP!

This cup is pretty good; I actually taste the cotton candy a bit more strongly than I remember tasting last time – though it’s still a little weak/fleeting for my tastes. I’d love something more akin to that tasty pastel pink/blue cotton candy ice cream you can buy! If I ever place an order for more of this one, it’s definitely going to be at a higher flavouring level.

That said, I’m ok with saying goodbye to this one; out of the match/milk combos I’ve tried I think I liked Bubblegum a lot more, and it sort of “fills” the same spot in my cupboard that this one would have – so right now Bubblegum is the one I’m looking to eventually repurchase.

I picked up milk on the way home from work because I was super excited about all the new matcha and just HAD to get some so I could try at least one of them today. It was a hard pick, but eventually I settled on this one.

So, 1/2 tsp. of matcha whisked into cold milk. I was a bit concerned because it hardly frothed up at all but it seems to be completely blended/mixed in so that’s good. I’m practically done the cup and haven’t encountered any lumps.

Taste wise; this starts of as kinda sweetened/sugary milk with is a bit disappointing but then in the aftertaste you get more of a true cotton candy flavour – and it works pretty well with the cold milk. In addition, there’s also a slight vegetal taste in the first part of the sip though it’s not too much or anything like that and it’s only a tad bit noticable. I’m not sure what flavour level this is, but I’d wager it’s either delicate or possibly distinctive.

Overall, this is nice and enjoyable though maybe a little average when it comes to sweet flavoured matches. I wish the cotton candy was maybe a bit stronger – but I’m very happy drinking it as is too.

I got my “free” sample in the mail today, so I tried it out, because why not and also because caffeine, which I desperately need today as I cannot seem to wake up. (Better late than never, right?)

I made it cold shaken with milk and a dash of cream, like I did for the matchaccino. I used 1/2 teaspoon and about a teaspoon of sugar, and I think I added too much cream, so after drinking a few sips I added another 1/4 teaspoon and some milk. I think I need to sort out the proportions better, because I’m not sure what part of what I was tasting was the cheesecake flavor and what part was just cream overdose.

It smelled really good, though. Matcha-y and cheesecake-y and only a touch artificial which I don’t really mind at all. I look forward to trying it again?

This week has been a nightmare. I’ve already handed in one assignment and written one exam. Tomorrow I have two more exams, and Friday I have my physiology research proposal due. It’s a week where I want to pull an all-nighter, but I know I’ll need to tomorrow, so I have to wait, because there’s just no way two all-nighters are going to happen.

Enter matcha. Matcha has been keeping me going, because evidently I’m getting old and my body actually requires going to bed at a reasonable hour.

This matcha is still delightful. I love the buttery vanilla-ness of it. Perfect flavour to name ‘ratio’.

I am going through this buttery delight faster than I’d care to admit. Between this and Banana & Cream I’ll be placing another matcha order at any moment. I don’t think I can live without them. I cannot get over the butteriness of this one. The scent, the flavour. It’s all so heady. Butteriness itself doesn’t seem overly appealing to me, but in vanilla cookie tea form it just works. I’m so impressed, and all with the delicate flavouring.

I discovered Dem White Boyz on Vine a few nights ago. The juxtaposition of teenage boys doing choreographed dance is hilarious (https://vine.co/v/hMZLYMIdAH0). This morning I was reenacting some dances, because you know, procrastination, and I threw out my knee. Sadly, I haven’t danced since this morning and now I’ve wrapped my knee and been icing it all afternoon.

This one smells so deliciously buttery, gah. This one will be a permanent fixture in my cupboard. I am loving it. It may be time to go through and rate some of these matchas. I so rarely rate things, but every so often I feel I should.

I meant to have this one last night, but in my attempt to keep my caffeine levels consistently high, I went a little overboard and had to burn off some adrenaline in the form of exercise at 11pm because I felt like I had rocket fuel coursing through my bloodstream. But, despite that, I managed to register for both spring and fall courses and got into all the courses I needed. YAY!

This is also my 500th tasting note. Certainly a great tea for it.

I let this one chill with milk in the fridge all afternoon. This is the delicate flavouring.

Even in a mason jar full of milk, the buttery flavour is prominent in the scent. The taste is vanilla-like and creamy. This one is quite tasty. I’m so happy I took a chance on this one. I might even go the next flavour up to see if it gets more delicious.

I think I will put together another batch right away, and let it sit in the fridge for later on tonight. When I’m battling to stay awake until midnight. :P

Thanks VariaTEA for the idea on this one!