Matcha Outlet

Always nice to get back to the classics. I really like this one.

Drank this in the middle of frantically running around so I don’t remember much of it.

As deliciously smooth as I can make it.

Just drank some of this while being distracted by Avengers fanfiction.

Managed the perfect amount of sugar today. Now if only I had drunk it while it was still warm…

Tasty. And I see that there are new offerings at RLT. Might have to break my no-tea-buying oath.

Haven’t had one of these in almost a week. Still tasty although I was occupied when I drank it so I don’t remember much.

This was tasty but I’m a distracted mess today. Blah.

Sweet and tasty this morning. Smooth and delicious. Drinking it earlier than usual this morning because I actually enjoyed the pot of tea I had earlier so I drank it quite fast. So, earlier matcha. I love matcha so much you have no idea. I have no idea how I lived my life without it previous to this month.

Well, it’s morning at work so I must be drinking French Vanilla matcha. I would like it a lot except I keep doing weird things with my mouth today that I can’t seem to stop so that’s distracting me from my tea. Poo.

Started my matcha drinking of the day off with this, as is my wont of late. I sip downed the distinctive flavouring level batch yesterday and brought in my (larger) tin of robust flavouring level matcha. That said, I really do not taste much difference between the two beyond a little extra creaminess. The distinctive ‘vanilla’ flavour just isn’t that improved with this change. Don’t get me wrong, I still like it, but it’s not what I hoped for. Perhaps the next level of flavouring up again next time.

I know that I drank some of this already today, but this is a SIPDOWN! Haven’t had one of those in a while, since I don’t count trades in my cupboard so I can’t count them as sipdowns either. This one is also mixed with my creme brulee matcha so it’s not exactly what I drank earlier this morning.

The mixture doesn’t add much. It’s a bit creamier, more custard-y. Not much difference though, those flavours are very similar anyway.

Almost forgot to log this! Tastes better than yesterday when I burned it with too hot water that I didn’t notice until the end of the day. I checked the water temperature today. I’m almost through with this pack of matcha! I think I have one more latte’s worth of matcha left at this flavour level and then I can bring from home my robust flavour level french vanilla matcha and hopefully that will be even better! I love vanilla flavoured things. This matcha latte wasn’t my best ever, but it was nice. Not great, just nice.

Backlogging from earlier this morning. Tasted nice, but not great. Looking forward to getting to the end of this tin and being able to break open the bag of this flavour with robust level flavouring (current tin is distinctive level).

Today’s french vanilla matcha was much more pleasant and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’m definitely looking forward to the one that’s a little more strongly flavoured arriving. It was mailed earlier in the week so it should arrive soon. The customer service at RLT is great.

Had this this morning. Encountered the bottom of the tin while scooping. Consuming this quicker than I thought.

I just made a large order of this from RLT for the robust flavouring of this so I think I’ll drink this every day I’m at work (because it lives at work) until it’s gone. So expect tasting notes to that effect.

Slightly less sweet today, I think I put in a little less sugar than normal. I also forgot to swirl my cup before drinking the last swallows of this so I got a mouthful of matcha on the last swallow. Not entirely pleasant. For anyone reading this, Cola matcha still up for grabs on the swap thread from me.

Drinking this frequently to get rid of it….so I can order more in the robust flavouring! Devious I know, trying to free up the tin before the end of April so I don’t have to buy too too many new tins. I still have..I dunno, like 8 unopened matcha foil packets in the freezer from Red Leaf Tea, including a caramel one and a chocolate one (both in green tea, I’ve got them opened in black matcha). So much matcha! So tasty! And I have to thank the people of Steepster and RLT for bringing about this new obsession.

Taking a break from the gaiwan to have some matcha. I think I might take a break for the day and pick it back up tomorrow.

This matcha is good. I made it nicely and even remembered to bring my electric whisk into work today so it’s nice and frothy.

Backlogging this from yesterday, don’t know why I waited so long to log it. Tasty but weaker than I’d like, as always. I want to like this so much but the vanilla is just not strong enough for me.

Today is a minty day! Continuing the theme of the day I made a hot latte out of 2/3 tsp of french vanilla matcha and 1/4 tsp of mint matcha (any more mint and it would be overpowering). As noted in my earlier reviews today, I need a bit more sugar to overcome the bite of the mint. I’m curious how it will do with the french vanilla.

Well this is an intensely satisfying combination. The vanilla softens the mint up a lot and makes it more mellow as well as making the whole thing creamier and delicious. I think I’ll be making this again.

ETA: I just realized that this is tasting note number 200! Not bad for being a member only since mid-December of last year.

Drinking this again this morning. Actually, I just finished my cup, but it was made nicely (as I only sometimes manage to do) with complete smoothness and no bitterness at all. The matcha flavour was quite present and the vanilla was there, but not as strongly as I would prefer. Reading back through all the reviews, it seems that pretty much everyone but me got this flavour in robust, so I’ll definitely have to try that next time.

Well, let me start off with the fact that this is the 4th normal (green) matcha I have tried and is now ranked number 2 on my ‘like’ scale of green matchas. I have LOVED my black matchas, but I’m just starting out in my world of ‘normal’ matcha. Haven’t managed any of the non-flavoured stuff yet, but it’s just a matter of time.

The first green matcha that I liked was the champagne matcha in distinctive flavouring and so I thought, hmm, maybe I will like everything in distinctive flavouring! Wrong. Robust would be much more preferable in this french vanilla matcha. I like it, it tastes smooth and pleasant and there’s nothing much objectionable in this at all, even for someone like me who doesn’t especially like green tea at all. Unfortunately, I seem to be lacking the actual vanilla flavour though. I can pick it up in hints on the edges of my tasting perceptions, but I like it much more upfront than that. When I order again, and I probably will, I’ll probably order this flavouring again in robust, and there’s a good possibility it will be black matcha as well. I’m finding I like it better. But I have 14 more green matcha flavours to try, of which this is the first that I have actually bought and not just got as a sample from traders, so I’m cautiously hopeful. This one isn’t horrible, like 2 of them I tried, and although the flavouring isn’t as strong as I would like, I can definitely drink the rest of this without problems.

Key points to note: this was made as a hot latte, as in the ‘second best’ way to make matcha according to RLT’s pamphlet they send out with each order. I added no sugar, though I usually do for these types of things. This just plain didn’t need it. Though I think I will right now with the remainder of my latte. Maybe that will make the flavour stronger? Hang on a sec…

Alright, this is even better, sweetener does bring out a slight French Vanilla flavour. Now I know what to do next time.

Apologies for the rambling nature of this comment. I got no sleep last night.

This tea can be found at: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html