Matcha Outlet

I started drinking tea for the health benefits and soon fell in love with many different types. I enjoy drinking lattes and curling up with a good book or movie. The Cheesecake Matcha smells and tastes wonderful plus gives me an extra boost of energy to clean house. Green tea matcha has twice the caffeine of regular green tea so I enjoy drinking hot/cold in the morning and daytime hours. I tried the hot latte in the morning and it was great, I will try it iced next time. I have a friend who tried it in a vanilla milkshake and of course loved it, so there are many different recipes and ways to enjoy the benefits of green tea. I’ve always enjoyed coffee; it was a pleasant surprise to find that I could enjoy tea lattes that tasted as good as the flavored coffee ones I’ve enjoyed from local coffee houses. The quality and flavor of the matcha, I felt was very good. I only added ¼ teaspoon of sugar to a cup of 2% milk that I frothed and the teaspoon of matcha that was added made the drink great. It was creamy with a nice dessert aftertaste. While I’m not interested in putting it on my cheesecake or other foods, I love the taste it gives my beverages hot or cold. Ok, an update, I’ve just tried a latte using vanilla almond milk and liked it better than using milk and didn’t need to add any sugar!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

I didn’t feel like eating tonight due to some imprudent snacking this afternoon, so while I made supper for hubby I made a matcha latte for myself. I mixed one tablespoon of raw sugar, one sifted teaspoon of matcha, and about 18 ounces of skim milk. It was decent and kept me from getting hungry, but it didn’t taste like cheesecake to me. The taste was somewhat generic with a slight perfume/chemical taste this time, so I may need to rethink my mix on this one. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. I need to figure out the perfect mix for this one because I have a TON of it!

I was going to sample the set of green bases from Red Leaf today but I got a text this morning from a friend who had ordered during the Red Leaf referral program. “Shall I come over and bring the ones you have never tried?” Why, of course I can make time for that!

This was the first, and my friend only knew how to make the hot lattes from watching me make them a couple of months ago, so we did some quick matcha training. I sifted a teaspoon of matcha into a tall glass and added a bit of water. I whooshed it with my aerolatte, added honey, and whooshed again. Then I added milk almost to the top and finished it off with crushed ice.

I have to say I think this is my favorite matcha for these lower fat/lower sugar iced lattes. Almond still probably holds top spot for the decadent ones I make that a basically a milkshake with matcha added! This does not taste exactly like the French vanilla flavor. I smell a touch of lemon when it is dry, and after mixing it is definitely more complex than the FV one.

We really enjoyed this, so on my next order it goes!

I had a matcha marathon! This was one of the flavors in my latest order that I had never tried. (Two were refills of old loves!)

I like cheesecake but I don’t love it unless it is the kind I make myself. I don’t want it dry and dense, or heavy. I actually prefer the easy, super creamy kind that has a sour cream, sugar, and vanilla topping on it.

One of the main aromas that hit me when I opened the pouch was vanilla. That is great, because I love vanilla!

(By the way, I haven’t seen anyone address the best way to open these pouches to prevent the loss of any precious matcha powder. These pouches are vacuum sealed so tapping it lightly on the counter is not going to jiggle the powder down lower. If you start cutting or tearing the pouch from the side a little poof of your matcha might escape, or even more.

There is a little half circle notch on top of the pouch. Make a tiny cut right there with scissors, just big enough to allow air to enter the package. Now the matcha powder will obey the call of gravity and go to the bottom of the pouch so you can safely cut a larger opening and pour it into your container without losing any!)

So on to the tea! We made hot matcha lattes and they were excellent! I think this would be awesome for mixing with MOST other flavors, too, to lend its creamy vanilla goodness. I really want to try this as a cold latte tomorrow. Almond matcha is still my favorite of all (right now!) but this is running a close second, maybe tied with butterscotch!

You can buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

Someone stop me, please! No, don’t. I am going to sing to my matcha lattes…..if lovin’ you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

Since almond flavor is a big favorite of mine, and one I only tried in recent years, not having been brought up around it, I decided tonight’s flavored matcha latte would be almond. While it was DELISH, I think I am starting to prefer unflavored matcha. GASP! (We knew this day was coming, didn’t we?? I plan to try an unflavored and a Bavarian Cream Latte tomorrow. I have high hopes for the Bavarian Cream one. It is so fresh and lemony, I think it will be scrumptious served cold.)

Now I want to try the three highest grades of unflavored matcha that Red Leaf sells and see which one makes the very best latte! I am hoping i can use one of the not quite so expensive ones successfully!

I am really loving these with honey instead of the raw cane sugar I was using. That is totally unexpected to me. I really like my raw cane sugar and thought the honey would add too much of its own flavor to the drink, but instead it really enhances it.

Having a much needed almond matcha frap tonight. I am tired and my back is aching and I just can’t seem to get comfortable.

My son and godson have arrived and my daughter is coming tomorrow to celebrate lil sister’s birthday. I have made a cake and two batches of ice cream, and after washing dishes and cleaning it still looks like an utter wreck in there!

I wanted something super tasty to wash down a bunch of ibuprofen. I put a wee bit of skim milk, and a teaspoon of sugar in a glass. I sifted in one half teaspoon matcha. I whooshed it with my aerolatte, then added milk to the top of the glass. Nice! Nice! The amount of milk I first put in is all that gets frothed so I don’t risk ending up with a big glass of nothing but foam. It is a great way to control the amount of froth.

I love to top it up with milk and then add ice. For some reason I just love these extra cold.

I debated long and hard about getting the almond matcha. I love almond scent in hand lotions and such, but my mother never ever used almond extract and I never had anything flavored with it until I was grown. I have never had marzipan that I can recall though I had a marzipan chocolate bar that was quite good that my daughter picked up in Budapest or somewhere.

When I was young, I became friends with a man who owned a Chinese restaurant. He served a dessert drink called Toasted Almond. If I remember correctly, it contained Amaretto, Creme de Cacao, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a bit of milk, and ice shavings tossed in a blender. There was possibly a bit of sugar added. Bottom line – it was intoxicatingly delicious. Literally. Because there was alcohol in it but it was so good you wanted to have three in a row, which fortunately I did not do.

Yesterday, my bestie and I had a matcha marathon! I got a bamboo whisk and an aerolatte for Christmas so we were experimenting. We made an almond matcha latte – just cold milk, a spoon of Turbinado sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of matcha. Yummy!

Then my son and his girlfriend came. I amped it up for them. This is how I made two servings at once: Two scoops Breyer’s Lactose Free Vanilla Ice Cream (because it tastes sweeter due to the lactose being broken down), milk, a tablespoon of sugar,
and a teaspoon of almond matcha.

One second their glasses were full, the next – empty! They said it reminded them of an expensive dessert drink they had at a fancy Italian restaurant near where my son lives.

I think I have found my favorite matcha flavor! I am so glad I bought the large as I have a feeling this drink is going to be much in demand throughout the holidays! I chose Robust flavor level, as always! Here is where to get it:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/almond-matcha.html

I had this via waterbottle yesterday.
Now, I was in a bit of a rush… but I’m pretty sure I used enough powder. There is no reason it should have turned out to be so darn tasteless!
Next time, I need to use more precise measurements.
This worries me, because the waterbottle has proven to be the most successful “save my matcha” method and this is the first fail!! Oh dear.

Ugh. I have a headache.
So of course I made a smoothie, what else is there to do!?
Hmph. I can’t taste any of the berry at all. Boo.
First time I used this, it didn’t turn out that great. Thus, I’m letting it settle a bit before making another go at a regular cuppa.

Btw, does anyone know of some fun/interesting web shows? Pretty much just regular tv, posted online/youtube… A friend was asking me about them but I could only think of a few.
Also, does anyone else stream television from the internet? I use CH131.com or tv-links.eu but I’m always looking for options. (that can be viewed from Ontario that is)

My parents requested candy for Christmas—not as a present, but they asked me to make some to go along with dessert. I was already making Pannetone Eggnog bread pudding (yes, as delicious as it sounds) and didn’t feel like making anything elaborate, so I went to my old standby english toffee. But with this matcha, since I just got it in the mail!

I also added a layer of chocolate, because hey it’s Christmas and no one judges you for eating too much chocolate. The top layer was just not setting and it was getting kind of late, so I put it out on the back porch. Note that this happened on Christmas Eve… in NY. Yeah, looked out 10 minutes later and it was snowing. Aaah! Well, it certainly chilled the toffee to the right temperature, though it’s a little sticky on the bottom from interacting with the snow. Still delicious! I need to try this on its own before I rate it, but in candy the flavor is pleasantly subtle.

Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas.

I have come to like matcha, however wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one. Never been a fan of champagne, beer, wine. And this smelt remarkably like beer.

I would have to say this is probably highly true to the taste of Strawberry Champagne. I’m not gonna leave a numerical rating, because it’s just not my cup of tea. Made this the way I do all Matcha in my metal cocktail shaker with ice & milk

Thank you Azzrian for a super creative way to represent 2 Turtle Doves <3

my pic of it
http://instagr.am/p/TQ5x1gsGdO/

This was my first ever cuppa matcha. As a result I don’t feel comfortable rating it as I have no point of reference to compare it too.

I did really enjoy this – both the aroma and the taste. It actually tasted quite sexy to me!

Here’s the full review – I’m a bit behind thanks to a weekend migraine.
http://keenteathyme.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-turtle-doves.html

Azzrian – I really loved the seal and the explanation on your card! I laughed at the “whips and chains” part of romance. ;) We have a similar sense of humor – too funny! :) Thanks for creating such a unique tea to taste. I definitely want to order more! :)

Many thanks to Azzrian for this wonderful treat! I’ve been wanting to try Red Leaf for months, mostly because of Azzrian’s reviews and this is my first (professionally) flavored matcha! I was overwhelmed by the scent of this when it first arrived weeks ago and have been looking forward to it ever since. This also came with a cute card with two turtle and dove hybrid cartoons, in a lovely wax sealed envelope with an adorable wee wooden spoon attached!

I got three unique brews out of this today. One a small cup with cold milk shared with my housewights, the second a mug with hot water and the third a large and quite strong batch whisked with cold milk and sugar, drunk from a wine glass. The last was my favorite ;) I was hoping to share some of this with my husband, but he took one look at the sage brew in the stemware and said “no way”. His loss.

This is really delicious and I wanted to keep on drinking, but the buzz attacked quickly the third time round and I had to set it aside. Hopefully it will keep covered in the fridge till morning, I will re-whisk of course, it should be a nice jolt to start a busy day. I will not wax poetic about the taste as it is almost 1 am (actually not that unusual for me to be up this late). But suffice it to say it is a creamy, sweet and smooth, decadent treat that lingers on the lips (I could taste it long after when I sipped water). Ironically it does remind me a bit of lip gloss in taste, but in a very fond way.

One day I hope to order from Red Leaf, when our budget allows and I’m sure then I will think fondly of Azzrian for introducing me. Cheers!

So I added this horrible listing to the database! Feel free to give it a good ol college edit to clean it up haha!

I have to say, I had an awesome time mixing up this deliciousness this morning. Light and sweet, super creamy as an iced latte – what an awesome 2nd day of Christmas!

Another package made with incredible love and care! Thanks Azz~!

http://www.daisychubb.com/on-the-second-day/

Just received this in the mail as I ordered some for my BF’s Christmas gift. Review will follow after Christmas since I can’t open it until then :( So excited to try it though!!

I made my afternoon matcha latte with this flavored matcha today! I like this one both hot and cold, but for cold lattes I like Bavarian Cream, and plain matcha most of all! With honey to sweeten, and crushed ice, of course!

Okay, I admit that I would probably have never looked at this flavor twice had it not been for Azzrian’s rave reviews! The more I read about it, the more I wanted it. Here is where to get it!

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/butterscotch-matcha.html

Mine is robust flavor level.

I needed a good energy boost today because I have been about as useful as a knot on a log. I have felt tired, sluggish, and sleepy and I know it is because I have been cooking and eating all the wrong foods since Thanksgiving. But I can not let this house go any longer without doing some big time cleaning!

Matcha to the rescue! It really was a comedy of errors getting it all put together, which makes a great testament to how hard it is to mess this up! I got out a container and measure the milk, it is metal so I can’t heat the milk in the microwave. I got a container to heat the milk, it was too small to mix the milk. I put the warm milk in a larger container and mix, almost forgetting to add the Turbinado sugar I had especially picked for this matcha latte.

But hallelujah! It is delicious in spite of my blundering! And the very best part is that I got a ton of cleaning done that I have had my eye on for about a week now.

My method, other than needing three containers where I should have used one:
Mix 1/2 teaspoon matcha with a teaspoon of water for a thick paste. Heat one cup milk in microwave, adding about 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar either before or after heating. Add hot milk to matcha paste and mix with immersion blender.

VOILA! Delicious latte and clean house!

Well I think I didn’t prepare it properly. It is my first Matcha and I have no tools to prepare it, just drop it in the mug, put some water, tried to mix it it with few water first thanks to a spoon and then dropped the rest of water.
It wasn’t bad but wasn’t exceptional.
I thanks darby for sending me some of her matcha but need clearly to improve the way I prepare it !

~ 1 tsp Cheesecake Matcha + ~ 1 cup dry pancake mix + ~ 3/4 cup of milk + blueberries = the BEST pancakes I have EVER made, EVER. MAN OH MAN.