Matcha Outlet

Homemade French vanilla mochi stuffed with fresh taro. Yum!

I tried and was less than impressed with the Madagascar Vanilla Matcha (thank you Sil!) but French Vanilla sounded quite delicious and came recommended by many on steepster. Consequently, when my friend asked if we could get one of the vanilla matchas, I suggested this one. We went with the following options:

Size: Small (30g)
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular
Flavor Level: Delicate

Opening the package, I was blown away by how accurately the scent resembled French Vanilla Buttercream. Having done a lot of baking in my life and learning how to decorate cakes, the smell was certainly familiar and definitely mouth-watering.

I was excited for my cup of smooth, creamy, vanilla deliciousness. Immediately I got to preparing the matcha in my usual fashion: 1/2 a teaspoon of matcha mixed with 8 ounces of milk. Alas, I believe delicate flavor level was not strong enough to really get the French Vanilla flavor across. This went the way of the Crème Brulee matcha and the Cheesecake matcha. It was creamy and sweet but it was not the cup of French Vanilla the name and smell promised. It was simply too generic for my tastes. Consequently, I will enjoy what I have left but I don’t think I will be reordering this unless it is at a stronger flavor level. For this interested, this matcha can be purchased here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

I have no idea what happened today but my smoothie is super thick. However, on the plus side, once again using frozen mangoes instead of frozen bananas has allowed the matcha flavor to shine. Sipping away at the smoothie, it is like sipping on mango creme brûlée. Yum! What a wonderful way to part ways :). So long Creme Brûlée matcha, it was nice knowing you!

Got more smoothie mix so I whipped some of this up with banana and strawberry. The crime brûlée added some sweetness but really not much else. This is another I probably won’t be reordering but it was fun to try and could potentially be great at a higher flavouring level.

If I did not know any better, I would have thought this was English Toffee as it is quite buttery. I like it, but I just don’t think it will be a restock.

Both my friend and I LOVE caramel so when we were deciding on what matchas to include in our “buy 5, get two free” package there were a number of matchas that immediately jumped out at us. They included Caramel, English Toffee, and this matcha. Since I tried the caramel matcha before (thanks Sil!), we ended up getting the other two flavors. We went with the following options:

Size: Small (30g)
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular
Flavor Level: Delicate

Crème Brulee is delicious, but the key is doing it right. I have had Crème Brulee where the custard was not the right temperature or texture and it ruined the flavor. The ratio of custard to caramelized sugar is also important, as is the amount of caramelization of the sugar. With that in mind, this matcha had a lot of high standard with which it needed to contend.

Unfortunately, this fell short for me. It was not that it did not live up to my idea of a perfect Crème Brulee but rather it did not taste like crème brulee at all. It is sweet and creamy but that is where the similarities end. There is nothing distinctive about this matcha flavorwise. Just like some other matchas, I wonder if it would benefit from a higher flavor level. As it is, when mixed with milk, it makes for a creamier, sweeter taste but I don’t think it will be a reorder when I use up what I have. Though I may consider trying it again at a higher flavor level. Anyone else interested in trying it can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/creme-brulee-matcha.html

Another sample from KittyLovesTea wonderful travelling box. This seemed oh so tempting and I was just in the mood for a matcha kickk.

But this turned out to be a total dud. I am all for raspberries in tea, but this smells totally artificial to me and actually the one thing it reminds me of is medication. Underlying tea is bitter, though I admit I might have screwed it up.

The more I drink this, the more it tastes like cinnamon toothpaste or gum to me. I can’t even finish my cup. I’ve only been drinking this one way – as an iced latte. Maybe I’ll try it hot. Anyone want to trade?

I was lucky enough to try some matcha for the first time due to a travelling tea box that made its way to me. I loved it and decided to make an order. I only ordered one flavour just in case I just really liked the flavour of the matcha I had and didn’t like matcha in general. I love all things pumpkin and so naturally, I chose to order the pumpkin pie matcha.
I was so excited to try this. The reviews were all so good! But when this came in the mail and I immediately opened it up to smell it, I was a little disappointed with the strong spicey smell. I couldn’t really detect any pumpkin creaminess. I made an iced latte out of this and was disappointed that the pumpkin didn’t come through in the taste either. It was still a tasty matcha latte, just not pumpkin pie for me. It could just be my batch, or it could be my tastebuds, i’m an fairly extreme non-taster. I would definitely order this again just to find out though, but would probably get distinctive flavour level rather than robust as I found the spices quite strong. I will try it hot to see if that makes a difference and update my review once I do.
I definitely recommend trying this matcha for yourself and you can purchase it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

So I have now successfully attended my first hot yoga class and it was no where near as hot or as frightening as I had anticipated. It was actually quite nice and relaxing and walking out into the cold air afterwords was pretty heavenly.

Alas, this matcha is not nearly as pleasant. Not that it is bad but mostly rather nondescript as it merely tastes like sweetened milk.

Just like the other matchas, this is part of the order I got with a friend. We went with the following options:

Size: Small (30g)
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular
Flavor Level: Delicate

As per Roswell Strange’s request, I decided to search through all the tin foil packages to find my White Chocolate Matcha. Of course, it was the last package I opened but I found it and got straight to prepping a cup my usual way. That means I used 1/2 tsp of matcha in 8 ounces of milk.

When I initially opened the package, I immediately noticed that this one smelled very much like white chocolate. Sweet, creamy, with just a hint of chocolatey goodness. Unfortunately, white chocolate is such a subtle flavor to begin with that I don’t think it quite transferred over to the taste. That is not to say that this isn’t a very tasty cup of matcha but rather it is not what I was expecting nor what I hoped it would be. There is a nice richness and creaminess to the cup but mostly it is just a generically sweet matcha flavor. I would be curious if that changes at a higher flavor level…

I don’t think this will be a reorder for me as there are so many other flavors to try and others that I love much more than this. However, that won’t stop me from enjoying what I have left of this. For those interested, it can be found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/white-chocolate-matcha.html

Got this tea in a sampler I ordered from RLT…it’s definitely interesting. :)

Dry it smells vaguely nutty – almost like a bag of salted sunflower seeds – though I know how strange that sounds. It didn’t come with brewing guidelines, but my google-fu led me to believe that 200F for somewhere between 5 and 15 mins was appropriate.

5 minutes into the steep it’s a lovely golden colour – still smells like sunflower seeds – and is lacking in flavour. I’ll give it a few more minutes and report back.

10 minutes in it’s still lovely and golden – and still smells (quite strongly) of salted sunflower seeds…which seems to carry over into the flavour. It tastes like a bag of sunflower seeds smells…which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but not what I was expecting from a cup of tea. I’m going to give it another 3 and see how it goes.

13 minutes in the colour deepened to an amber hue and it lost just a bit of the salty tones from earlier. The flavour is still very reminiscent of sunflower seeds – and yes, it’s still weird – but it’s just starting to pick up hints of bitterness, so I’ll end the steep here.

It’s not unpalatable, but I’d consider it more of an interesting novelty than something I’d reorder and drink again. A definite meh.

So this is not nearly as good as the bananas & cream matcha with cashew milk that I had yesterday but it is VERY creamy and the strawberry taste is strong making this a nice strawberry milkshake drink. The cashew taste is merely an undertone and though it is nice, it neither adds or detracts from the cup whereas yesterday, it greatly enhanced the overall drink.

Made this as a smoothie with frozen mango and coconut almond milk and it was AMAZING! The flavors blended beautifully while still being distinguishable on their own = creamy coconut, sweet mango, and awesome strawberry milkshake matcha blending together to make the perfect treat :)

I mixed some of this earlier but overestimated how much milk I had and ended up with a pretty disproportionate cup. As in, I had my usual 1/2 tsp matcha to only 1/2 the milk I usually use thus it was overleafed and sort of vegetal. Still, once I got past that, it was strawberry deliciousness through and through.

Strawberries and cream, definitely a valentine’s day treat. Plus, I love this matcha so it was obviously my first choice for my festive day.

Mmmm….strawberry milkshake matcha…I love you.

This is yet another matcha that I picked up in the “buy five, get two free” package that I am splitting with a friend. We chose the following options:

Size: Small (30g)
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular
Flavor Level: Delicate

Having tried and loved the raspberry and cream matcha (Thank you Sil), I was very excited when I saw this. Raspberries and cream are delicious but something about the combination of strawberries and whipped cream is just right.

When I was younger, my mother would take my sister and I to plays and afterwards she would take us to a fancy hotel for dessert. Soon the people at the hotel came to know us and they would have a nice big bowl of strawberries and whipped cream waiting for when we arrived. When I took a sip of this matcha, I thought this reminded me of that but I was wrong. This reminds me of something so much better…

Half a teaspoon of this matcha mixed with eight ounces of milk tastes exactly like a strawberry milkshake. I LOVE strawberry milkshakes!! Creamy, sweet, and delicious, what is there not to love? This captures that perfectly (minue the calories of course) and I could not be happier! If you are a fan of strawberry milkshakes, you need to check out this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/strawberries-and-cream-matcha.html

on the fly with this one….

thanks to sil, you and i have very similar tastes. sil, do you think that matcha and too loud music can replace sleep? somewhat? possibly altogether? i’ve been performing an inadvertent experiment…… and shortly an exam. yay! there will be irrefutable proof in the paper!

thank you sil!

cold, with xylitol. very nice.

This was perfection mixed Into a cold glass of cashew milk. The vanilla cookie flavor really popped making for a delectably creamy treat.

1 tsp matcha + 1 cup vanilla almond milk + 1 cup frozen mango slices + 1 tbsp Qi’a + 1 French vanilla smoothie mix = a very thick, filling smoothie. Alas, I think I overdid the mango because that is mostly what I tasted. Oh well, it was still delicious.

Oh French butter cookie, you make for an incredibly rich and buttery breakfast smoothie. Not something I could have all the time but certainly nice every now and then.