Matcha Outlet

Busted out the matcha again this ‘morning’ (it’s 1pm here), because I’m devoted to trying all of my various incarnations of these delicious drinks before I manage to share them all in swaps.

So cheesecake it is today, although there may have been some pineapple on the spoon as well from having just packaged up some for JennyFur.

Size: Small (30g)
Flavor: Delicate
Quality: Classic
Type: Regular
Quantity used: one matcha scoop in 8oz of cold coconut milk
Mixed with a chasen
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

All I smell when I open the package is butter. Creamy butter. Lovely, however not what I normally associate with cheesecake. Drinking it also gives me butter at the start – which is delicious! Still, I want more cheesecake-y tang. After about half of the cup is finished however, I start to get the tang – so maybe I just needed to use more chasen-whipping skills to get this right. Yum….

Hey, did anyone see the newest offering on Red Leaf yet? Starbucks-comparable green tea frappuchino. Oh.. this makes me excited. I used to down those things like nobody’s business…

I saw this in the Traveling Teabox B and decided I needed to try it. I fell in love D: I made it as a hot latte with warm milk and a couple scoops and shook it in my tumbler. Mmmm it’s so creamy. The caramel flavor is there, but not too much. I just can’t get over the creaminess. This would be nice to take to work when I work the early shifts and its chilly :D

Ok, if you like Eggnog you will love this. I wasnt to sure about flavored matcha in the begining but I was proved wrong. The second I opened this the smell just filled the room. I was in shock. It smelled amazing, and sure enough I immediately made a drink with it. Its tastes exactly like it smells which is amazing. All I did was add 1/2 a teaspoom to a cup of nonfat milk and a packet of sweetnlow and it was amazing. I was so happy with it. It also comes in a cute little package that is easy to get matcha from without making a mess, which is great for someone like me who is super klutzy. Red Leaf never fails to amaze me, Their matcha is so good, and also very reasonably priced. They also have made me a true believer in flavored matcha, which is great for those even starting out or for those who dont like the real taste of it. It tastes like eggnog, but is so much healthier!! Absolutely love it and will definitely be buying more.

If you are interested you can get it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/eggnog-matcha.html

Want to go with a guaranteed winner this morning with the matcha -so this naturally is what I reached for! So delicious, and so surprising each time just how bang-on it really is.

Had to overleaf significantly for some reason; I’m a bit confused as to why. Perhaps the high fat content of the heavy cream I’m having to drink? Will need to investigate. 1 tsp in 1/3 cup of heavy cream.

Oh my, this is so delicious. I think I’ve figured out how to make this to my liking now. Yay!

Size: Large (60g)
Flavor: Delicate
Quality: Basic
Type: Regular
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-popcorn-matcha.html

Mixed up a heaping matcha spoon of matcha with about 8oz of coconut milk, and whisked it all together with my new chasen (thanks Zen Tea, for shipping that in record time, yet again!) The chasen made all the difference and it took me less than 15 seconds to get all the globs out.

Out of the bag, this definitely smells like a ooey, gooey caramel popcorn. My mouth watered immediately. So good! Mixed up, this tastes almost exactly as it’s described: buttery, caramel-y popcorn. My only complaint is that I didn’t order it with a stronger flavor level. I’ll order it as distinctive next time – which I’m definitely doing. Ordering more, that is… when I’m done the massive amount that I have now.

Delicious!

Tried this again today. I did get the cookie feel from it, however it was still.. not enough. I think I need to try this at a robust level, and maybe with a black base.

Inspired by VariaTea and her desiring some of this, I opened up the package (just received this morning!) to try it out.

Flavor Level: Delicate
Size: Large (60g)
Grade: Classic
Type: Regular
Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

Opening the bag was a pleasant experience. I smelled mostly cream, with a hint of something chocolatey and cripsy, if you can smell crispy. Mixed it up in some coconut milk with the FREE wooden matcha spoon included in this order (thank you!), and started sipping away.

The first thing I taste is the cream, and then a very much oreo-like chocolate cookie. I haven’t had an actual oreo in many years due to grain intolerances, so I can only go on memory – and it actually feels like I’ve eaten an oreo cookie.

There is something that tastes a bit off to me though, and I can’t quite place it. Maybe a chemical-ness to the vanilla/cream? It may however be my coconut milk (the kids have a tendency to leave it out on the counter), so I’ll leave it at that.

A tasty treat, and one I’ll definitely have more of.

Sipdown!! (164)

I took Roswell Strange’s advice and prepped this as a tea soda. However, my prep was different than hers as I took 1/2 tsp and mixed it in 8 oz of club soda. The result is not half bad. The bubblegum comes through as a candy sweetness. The slight chemical taste I got in the matcha originally was drowned out by the different chemical taste of the carbonation. Nonetheless, it was a tasty drink so thank you to Roswell Strange for the suggestion and another thank you to Cavocorax for sending me the sample of this unique matcha.

Cavocorax shared some of this with me in a swap package. I am super excited to finally try it because (1) it just seems so interesting and (2) it is my first 50/50 matcha. After tasting my first sip, “interesting” really hits the nail on the head because this is definitely reminiscent of bubblegum. Unlike some of the other matchas, the flavor is a bit more subtle but it is definitely there and I think I prefer it that way otherwise it might be bubblegum overload. Would I buy this? No, probably not. Nevertheless, as it is now, this makes for a tasty matcha treat and I doubt I will have any problems getting through the sample I have. Thank you Cavocorax for sharing this with me :)

This is going to be short, because I just had a couple sips off of someone else’s tea. It has a thick, robust ( in a good way ) green tea taste kind of like I was expecting, but it is surprisingly smooth and creamy. I’m kind of curious how this would be with milk and ice.

Sipdown!! (169)

Thank you Cavocorax for the opportunity to try this matcha. It grew on me with each cup as I was able to better detect the delicious peanut butter flavor. However, with the arrival of Peanut Butter Pie matcha, I feel comfortable saying good bye to this for now. Perhaps we will meet again in the future…

A snuck a cup of this tasty matcha milk in before my classes this morning. It was deliciously nutty and salty-sweet (and yes, I understand those two words contradict one another but you know what I mean :P). Thank you Cavocorax!

I was planning on having yogurt mixed with peanut butter for today’s dairy servings only to realize my milk expires today. Since, I can’t smell if milk has gone bad, I don’t usually keep it long after its expiration date so I figured it was best to use up what I could and save the yogurt for later. Thus, I compromised and made this instead. I am happy I did though because something about what I did today has made for a really tasty cup. No grassiness from the base, just smooth peanut butter flavor. Mmmmm… I really can’t thank you enough, Cavoocorax for sharing this and so many other matchas with me :). I certainly appreciate them all.

I think it was originally Cavocorax and then Courtney who had the idea of mixing this with milk and letting it sit for a few hours. That method seemed to get positive reviews so I decided to try it out. I find that the peanut butter flavor is a little more infused into the milk as a whole making for a thicker cup that is more reminiscent of peanut butter. However, with that said, there isn’t as much a difference between this cup and the cup I usually have to justify the wait if I want a cup immediately.

Well now that I have finished my exam and was finally able to go to the grocery store, I am celebrating having milk by having yet another glass of matcha! I wanted something creamy but not overly sweet and so I decided to go with peanut butter. It is smooth, creamy, nutty goodness and definitely hitting the spot as I package up some swaps :) Thank you Cavocorax!

Oh Cavocorax your mixing with milk method has done it again. Though the flavor is not strong, I am definitely detecting a smooth and creamy nuttiness that is distinctly peanut butter right at the end of my sip. It makes for a delightful finish and a pleasant aftertaste. Thank you Cavocorax for both your matcha wisdom and your matcha sample.

This came from me in a generous swap package from Cavocorax. I pulled out the box she sent to try SoHo and when I saw the matchas I decided I would make myself a cup of this too with whatever water was left in the kettle. Unfortunately, I overestimated how much water there was so I probably ended up having 1/2 teaspoon of matcha for about 4-6 oz of water.

As for taste, I did not really pick up much peanut butter flavor. I tasted mostly sweet matcha. There was a nice creaminess to the tea that was reminiscent of smooth peanut butter. Even adding some milk did not bring out the peanut butter flavor. I am holding off on numbers though until I try this properly. It was still an enjoyable cup though so thank you Cavocorax for sharing with me!!

I’ve had this a couple times now and keep forgetting to write a note. Sadly i just looked at the time and realised i don’t have tie right this second, but i WILL come back to this tonight/tomorrow morning. Especially since this is a sipdown lol

Edit
My matcha was composed of the following:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Distinctive

Now that I have two moments to breath, i really wanted to come back and review the Madagascar vanilla matcha that i finished up last weekend. I’m very partial to the French vanilla flavour from Red Leaf so i wanted to try and see how the two compare. I’ve had this a number of times now, straight, in a smoothie and as a latte. I have to say, my favourite was as a latte but even then, I found myself wishing it were more like French Vanilla. Now to be fair, i have NO clue how their supposed to be different, but i found the Madagascar Vanilla to be less smooth, with a bit of an edge to it, while the french vanilla is on the creamier side. It might be that i need to try this as a Robust flavouring level, but for now I’m leaning towards just sticking with the French vanilla.
What i have to say though, is that honestly, Red Leaf does a pretty bang up job with their more creamy flavours – the ones i would associate with Coffee or with milk. Vanilla, Caramel, Cheesecake, Chocolate…they’re all decent and the customer service is pretty bang on!
Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html

I’ve had this a couple times now and keep forgetting to write a note. Sadly i just looked at the time and realised i don’t have tie right this second, but i WILL come back to this tonight/tomorrow morning. Especially since this is a sipdown lol

Edit
My matcha was composed of the following:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Distinctive

Now that I have two moments to breath, i really wanted to come back and review the Madagascar vanilla matcha that i finished up last weekend. I’m very partial to the French vanilla flavour from Red Leaf so i wanted to try and see how the two compare. I’ve had this a number of times now, straight, in a smoothie and as a latte. I have to say, my favourite was as a latte but even then, I found myself wishing it were more like French Vanilla. Now to be fair, i have NO clue how their supposed to be different, but i found the Madagascar Vanilla to be less smooth, with a bit of an edge to it, while the french vanilla is on the creamier side. It might be that i need to try this as a Robust flavouring level, but for now I’m leaning towards just sticking with the French vanilla.
What i have to say though, is that honestly, Red Leaf does a pretty bang up job with their more creamy flavours – the ones i would associate with Coffee or with milk. Vanilla, Caramel, Cheesecake, Chocolate…they’re all decent and the customer service is pretty bang on!
Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html

Oh mannnn, are you kidding me? This stuff is GOOD. I blended it up with ice, will have to try it hot. It tastes kind of like sweet toasted almond to me, in addition to caramel. I don’t really get much of a tea taste, but I wasn’t expecting to.

I can honestly say that this is exactly what I wanted. I have been in love with matcha tea ever since I had my first green tea latte at Starbucks. I had started to spend so much money there that I figured that I would go ahead and buy my own matcha and make these drinks at home. The shipping was extremely fast, which is great of your as impatient as me, so of course I made a latte the second I opened it. It smelled so good, and tasted exactly like the latte I pay $5 for at Starbucks. It is a beautiful green color, and smells amazing. I was also very pleased with the company for sending me a small sample bag of their Eggnog flavored matcha! Red Leaf Tea has so many flavors of matcha, and if they are as good as this one, I will definitely be buying more flavors from them, as well as this Connoisseur’s Matcha. This is also very great for people just starting our in their journey with matcha. Its the classic matcha taste, and in my opinion, doesnt even need any sweetner. It also mixed very well with my milk. I dont have one of the ceremonial wisks that one should use when making matcha, but a regular whisk worked fine. The packing was also very nice, and makes for an easy, mess-free latte at any time. Tastes great hot or cold, and even makes a great green tea frappuccino!

Another one from my first order that really, really needs more than delicate level flavoring. I did however get a hint of pineapple this time (yay!) so that makes me think I can likely, with help, sip this one down.

Heaping 1/4 tsp in 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

I used to have an unhealthy love affair with matcha. That is, two huge mugs a day, with coconut or almond milk, and a hint of maple syrup. Always ceremonial grade, and always in a downtown Calgary tea house. The staff knew when I walked in the door what to make me, and would have it ready by the time I’d set up my laptop. The manager once told me that when I was ‘rich and famous’, she’d cordon off ’B’s table’ like they do for Hemmingway in Havana.

Matcha and I had a bit of a falling out, only because I moved around a lot after that and have yet to find a public writing spot that I love as much (and that also serves proper matcha). So when I saw that Red Leaf sells many different, flavored variations of matcha? Oh yes. I’m ordering.

I’ve shared quite a bit of this order already, however this is the first I’ve tried.

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pineapple-matcha.html
Size: Small (30g)
Quality: Basic
Type: Regular
Flavor: Delicate

Out of the bag, this smells like candied pineapple to me. There’s a hint of a chemical quality to it, however for the most part it’s pure pineapple. I missed how much a ‘scoop’ is (there’s a handy printout that comes with your order), so I winged it and went with 1 tsp for 8oz of coconut milk, and four ice cubes in the blender. Whirrr…. done.

Hm. I think my proportions are off, as the pineapple tastes bit weak and all I really can taste is the matcha. Of the pineapple that I do taste, it’s at the end of the sip and builds gradually. Sweet, fruity, juicy. It’s going down REALLY easily. :)