Red Leaf Tea

More on this tea later. I just wanted to pop in and say OMG! This is good! I’ve got to share this with my sister. We sat around one day and decided which matchas to get from Red Leaf and she chose this one with quite a bit of enthusiasm. I really didn’t expect their flavoring to be so good but it SO is. And of course matcha is pretty awesome too. :)

Saturday, to wake me up, I had a travel mug of this blended with vanilla soy milk and Irish cream agave. It was heaven in a cup and did the job beautifully. So, so good. Definitely more matcha lattes in my future.

I went through all of my matchas with my sister in law yesterday and gave her samples of quite a few. I also made us both a caramel apple matcha using this and Red Leaf Tea’s green apple matcha. She had hers hot while I had mine cold with vanilla soy milk….yum. Matcha lattes are amazing, I’m going to have to experiment more. I just placed an order for several of their new matchas, so keep an eye out for more reviews!

We went to the Zoo yesterday…in the snow. I needed a warm pick me up and this was it! Definitely tasty and sweet and so good. Gave me the energy needed to bounce around between the baby penguin and the baby polar bear! .

So in my search for the perfect vanilla (which I’ve now found in Red Leaf Tea’s French Vanilla matcha), I’ve found that many caramel teas are close enough to temporarily satisfy me. But after a while I miss that vanilla creaminess and begin the hunt anew. Plus, caramel is my favorite sweet candy, though I prefer sour candies. But as a child who went through two sets of braces, caramel was not a treat I was allowed to indulge in often. But every Halloween I would buy a bag of those Caramel Apple suckers, braces be damned, and make them last for ages. My love affair with caramel has been a long and torrid one.

Anyway, caramel brings out those feel-good feeling in me. So of course when I was ordering my Green Apple matcha from Red Leaf Teas, the caramel (found here:http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html) had to tumble into my cart too! I have to try them mixed, or I’ll be doing my teenage self a grave disservice. But first, I’m going to try it by itself, with sugar added, of course. If it’s anything like their French Vanilla, I’m in for a treat. I’m trying to try all of the new ones, but all I want to do is return to that little gem.

On to the caramel! I’m only making a small cup of this as it is 9:30 at night and I want to sleep at some point. But hey, sleep is for the weak and matcha-less, right? Right. The smell is amazing. Like I just want to crawl into the package and spend the rest of forever there. The taste…mmm. Mmmmm….mmmm. Okay, it tastes like….mmmm. Maybe I needed a bigger cup. A soup bowl, perhaps. Guh…mmmm. It tastes like the French Vanilla, but with a lovely burnt sugar aftertaste that is rocking my world right now. It tastes like real caramel made on the stovetop with nothing but sugar, cream, and a big mess that is completely worth it. Mmmmm. When I was in high school, at a church carnival I won a caramel cake. It was a caramel-flavored cake that was laced with real caramel bits, caramel icing and drizzled with, you guessed it, caramel. This reminds me of that. Or the caramel pie from O’Charley’s, which was essentially a pie crust filled with caramel. This is amazing, and I want to order some with the “There’s matcha in this?” flavoring option so I can just drown in the caramelly goodness. This is a must-always-have-in-stock for me.

Edit: My wife just pointed out that it tastes like marshmallow Peep s’mores, and I couldn’t agree more! If you’ve never made s’mores with Peeps instead of marshmallows, you haven’t lived. Just ask my father in law XD.

I am going to slightly participate in the matchathon with two matchas, the very first two I got from Red Leaf at that! It’s been so long since I had this one, so I had to have an iced latte with it.

Still so good. Oh I love caramel so much. I want to give it a try as a hot latte some time too but meh, it’s too hot.

Now if only the cheesecake one would come already. I thought it was going to come today, mean post office.

I prefer this iced with milk more than hot. I needed something good after I just went off on a commenter on a Formula 1 blog.

Don’t mix sports and politics. Of course first of all because it looks like sport is a pawn, but also because someone has to take the situation and one up it with stupid. Someone will always drag Obama into it, and in this case it was comparing “a disregard for the constitution” and also the healthcare act to human rights violations in Bahrain. Last night there was a petrol bomb incident involving some mechanics from a team. So you’re telling me that not governing a country based on a document from the 18th century is comparable to surprise petrol bombs and tear gas. RIGHT. Sometimes I think studying political science and economics is the worst decision I have ever made because now I want to slap so many people.

To stop myself from wanting to slap people (until I move to Paris with my job with the OECD because at 3am this morning I decided that’s what I am doing with my life), I made an iced matcha latte. I also always want to type matte latte. Actually, given the color of the drink, that might work.

I still love this so much. I pretty much only drink coconut milk, but when I use half a teaspoon of matcha, I don’t get the coconut taste. In fact, with this, I’d be pretty fooled that I hadn’t put cream in here just like if I was making caramel.

I am trying to think of a way I could work this into a caramel candy recipe that’s in the Baked Explorations cookbook. I think maybe a visit to Super H Mart is in order to see if there are any matcha caramels there to try out first! But I think that would be amazing.

Also the Atlantic like, insulted corgis in an article so I would also like to slap them. KEEP SIPPING, AMANDA, KEEP SIPPING.

I love caramel. A lot. I didn’t even think twice about whether or not matcha and caramel might be odd together until after I bought it.

One sniff of this matcha took away my fears that this would not work. This is awesome. I was feeling like an iced latte, but I think I added a bit too much coconut milk at first, because it tasted more like coconut matcha. But after stirring enough to get some ice to melt into it, it’s much better.

The caramel comes as more of an aftertaste to the matcha, which is perfect. And it tastes like there really is caramel in here! I am not much for sweetening tea, but the caramel definitely gives it a good bit of sweetness. For me, it’s good without being overpowering but some people might need a little more sugar.

This is really awesome. I got the “distinctive” flavoring so mine might be a bit stronger in flavor, but to me it’s perfect. If you’re a caramel diehard like me, you might want to pay for the stronger flavoring.

I am thinking this would be good in some kind of baked goods. I had an idea earlier when I first got my mail and I had a nap since then so of course I’ve forgotten it.

These little shaped leaves are so cool! They look like they have been braided into a wheat shape. The leaves look more like white tea than green tea, as they are a very pale color, almost silvery.

I infused these in my gaiwan, and after the first two infusions, the leaves have retained their braid, so I am going to infuse again and see if these open up.

The flavor is so lovely. The tea brews to a very light golden color and it is sweet with hints of hay-like flavor and slight wheat tones. There is an ever-so-slight hint of malt in there as well. So very, very good … definitely not a typical green tea… an excellent tea to try if you think green teas are too grassy … this is more wheat-like and not so much the green-grassy taste.

This is lovely! What an interesting tea. It has many similarities to Darjeeling, but, it is different enough to be its own unique tea. It has some amazing floral notes in there, and as the description suggests, I can taste honeysuckle and jasmine, which are particularly noticeable at the start, but then they taper somewhat by mid-cup, becoming part of a medley of floral tones that is absolutely delightful. There is even a hint of muscatel to this, as well as some wood tones and a pleasant earthiness.

Overall, a very surprising tea, quite lovely!

Backlogging from last night. Just wanted an Earl, this fit the bill. Despite the rapidly aging leaf, it’s stood up well. Smoky and citrusy, with just a really subtle peach fuzz over the whole thing.

I. Love. Red Leaf Earl. They are so good. So full and rich and just damn delicious. Better review next time I make a cuppa.

Finally got around to trying this, combating a bit of a headache and mint and a bit of caffeine usually helps. Red Leaf does an amazing Earl, but I have been underwhelmed by the rest of their offerings. The mint was very mild and the green tea tasted stale and dusty. It was better than a kick in the teeth.

I have TeaEqualsBliss to thank for sending me some of this, and I’m thrilled to be trying it. As I am sure you’re all aware, I LOVE Earl Grey, so I’m always happy to try a new variety.

The aroma is quite delightful, smelling of honey, citrus and a hint of flower. The infusion smells like a mellower version of the dry leaf, still quite honey like, but the citrus and floral tones have softened significantly.

The flavor is very pleasant. The honeybush offers its usual honey-like sweetness, and a slightly herbaceous as well as a nutty flavor. The bergamot is citrus-y but less floral than the aroma would have led me to believe. It is a snappy bergamot flavor, bright and tangy.

An unusual yet very enjoyable Earl Grey… great for later in the evening when I want to limit my caffeine intake.

I had this from Chado Tea at the SF Tea Festival and it was pretty good. It was super hot, and I didn’t have much of it, but I did buy it, so there will be further reviews.

Wow! I am really surprised by this Pu-erh. I was very hesitant to try it, I was worried that Pu-erh was going to ruin my beloved bergamot. But they balance each other out very well. The Pu-erh is strong and earthy, and the bergamot is equally as strong, and the bright, citrus-y notes really shine through.

I can’t say that this is my favorite Earl Grey, but it is definitely one of my favorite Pu-erh teas.

PS: Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this!

This was a beautifully juicy berry black, I’m so glad I tried it at long last.

The black tea base that Red Leaf uses is always a good accent to their blends, but it is very sensitive to timing. It can get bitter quick, but I managed to avoid that, yay!

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

I was very impressed to find whole rose buds in this tea, not just petals, and not some little wimpy rose buds, but big rose buds. No mistaking what they are.

And they provide a lovely essence to this tea. I don’t really taste much from the hibiscus or the rosehips, but I do taste the rose. It isn’t as powerful a rose flavor as say a Rose Congou would have, but, it is delicate and very pleasant. The black tea is brisk and tasty. Overall, this is quite good. I like it.

I was a little unsure about this one after reading some mixed reviews in the tasting notes, but I’m happy to say that it’s pretty good. There is a nice balance between Marsala wine and cinnamon flavor, and the black tea doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. It’s a tasty blend.

Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for making this tasting note possible!

Yummy. This is a pretty tasty black tea. Sweet and a faintly fruity flavour. I did enjoy it, but no one flavour really stood out to me.

I need to drink this more. It’s always delicious, always amazing. This amazing dusky full Earl flavour. It’s hands down my favourite Earl, and that’s saying something.

So I did my usual Thermos-and-travel-mug thing for work today, but forgot the travel mug, so I stopped at McD’s for a muffin and large Earl Grey, so I could have something to drink out of for the rest of the day. And, besides, I enjoy the Higgins & Burke Earl. I finished my large H&B, and then refilled my cup with this Oolong Earl.

It was like going from one of those “chocolate flavoured confections” you get half-price after Easter, to a real Lindt bunny.

I am in love with the Red Leaf Earls. There is nothing like them for depth of flavour. A two minute steep and hours later, it still knocked my over with scent and flavour.

Mr Red Leaf, you make goooood Earls.

Seriously. I don’t think I’ve had a bad Earl from them yet. Anyway. More crappy junk food, more oolongs to counter it. This was a very, very tasty discovery from the uncharted depths of our tea stockpile. First steep was just a hint bitter, I would do less than two minutes for a nice balance of Earl and oolong, because it’s a very, very strong bergamot flavour, and it stick around for multiple steeps.

. . . ew.

I’m not sure exactly which ingredient really stuck out to me, because everything (except the cabernet) sounded pretty good. And it didn’t really taste like cabernet. I did get the earthy nuttiness described, but not in a good way. I’m sure there is someone out there who likes sweet honeybushy teas with wine notes, but that someone is not me.