Matcha Outlet
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from Matcha Outlet
See All 237 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
I’m sure you’re all waiting on pins and needles for me to try the Shamrock Shake wannabe I’ve been talking about for ages XD. Well, I did it this morning with the following recipe:
1/4 t Mint Matcha
1/2 t Madagascar Vanilla Matcha
2 oz hot (but not boiling) water
4 oz vanilla soy milk
2 t of sugar because I like overkill
So I dumped the matcha and sugar into a Perfect Mug from Davids and whisked in the water with my handheld milk frother. I added the milk to the mix and…
OH
MY
BOB.
There are not words. Seriously, all I can say is that if you are a vanilla mint fan, buy these two matchas and get to mixing. Now. I’ll wait.
You ready? Awesome. It’s creamy, it’s sweet, it’s minty without being harsh, it’s creamy without being too sweet, it is heaven in a mug. Heaven.
Bumping my rating to the ceiling for this glorious mix.
Preparation
Ah mint. My wife and I both adore mint, but I’m a spearmint girl, where she’s a peppermint lover. And these are two very different mints.
But I have love in my heart for mint teas. My childhood summers were fueled by Lipton tea bags with fresh mint set out on the porch to brew in the sun. Picking mint and just chewing on it as we played in the sun. Heck, my college days were fueled by mint juleps and raspberry mojitos. Mint and I are good, good friends. And a Shamrock Shake is a must-have for me every March! At least, it was until I found out about my dairy allergy.
Which is what brought me to this tea, Mint Matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mint-matcha.html), was a desire to make my own version of the Shamrock Shake (which is essentially a vanilla-mint milkshake from McDonalds) with vanilla and mint matchas and soy milk or ice cream. But for the sake of this review, I’m drinking this matcha the way I drink all my tea, no milk and some sugar.
Earlier today I made a cup of this for a friend of my wife’s, who I am eagerly trying to seduce to the ways of matcha with my Red Leaf Tea collection, and I fell in love the second I opened the package. It smells like a smooth creamy mint. When I commented on how good it smells, my wife agreed with me…and she doesn’t even like matcha! I can’t wait to have a cup of this myself!
My wife’s friend (who needs to be on Steepster, darn it!) says this tea tastes like Christmas (which may have something to do with the Rudolph travel mug I sent it to her in!). This made me think of my favorite tea of all time, Santa’s Secret, which is a vanilla-mint black tea, so I have high hopes for this one.
Holy mint, batman! This is definitely a peppermint tea, with just a hint of the smoothness that reminds me of spearmint tea. Wow. I am definitely craving a raspberry-mint matcha mojito now. Yum, yum, yum. It’s mega minty in a non medicinal way and now I am dying to try it with the vanilla, but if I have any more matcha today, I’m going to explode XD. I love it! The burst of strong mint really helps wake you up too, and can definitely see myself adding this to my collection. And mint mixes so well with berries and fruit that I can see endless smoothie options here. If you’re a mint fan, I definitely recommend this one.
Your reviews are seriously making me want to make an order tonight. So you deserve every bit of free matcha you get darling :D
awww, thanks! It’s true, I can’t stop gushing about these matchas to every tea lover I know and it’s partially because I sat down and took the time to do these reviews. And hey, if you order over 60g of matcha, the shipping is free! tempts
New comment!
I am placing an order tonight after checking the bank and seeing that there is a perfect amount in the tea budget.
But now the dilemma is which one to start with ; 3; I’ll just read your reviews again. :D
XD I recommend the Madagascar Vanilla. Seriously, heaven on earth. Also, if you’re going for the free shipping, you can get 30g of three different matchas, it doesn’t have to be over 60g of a single flavor.
Happy hunting!
Thanks for your help!
I totally have the Madagascar Vanilla in my cart, so now I know it’s staying there for sure! :)
We are currently working on having 2 Mint Matcha tea since we have found 2 different ways to flavor it. We are looking for a new name for our second Mint Matcha. Any suggestions? If you like your new name and use it, we’ll send you a FREE 30g packaging :-)
Oooooh! Well, what does the second mint taste like? Is it a sweeter mint? Maybe a Bold Mint (the current one) and a Mild Mint?
Wintermint and/or (Re)freshmint?
One will have natural mint flavor and second one will have mint powder only, so the flavor would come from the herb itself.
Deeelicious!!
A tiny bit fishy, but nothing off-putting. I’d have it again, for sure. I would have liked a tiny bit more goji berry flavour, but then again I’m a bit head cold ridden at the moment.
Anyhow, thanks to Aisling for sharing this beaute with me xx
YUM! This is absolutely delicious. Some of the other chocolate Matcha teas I’ve had have come off tasting a bit like ovaltine. That’s not a bad thing, as I like Ovaltine just fine, but, I like that this actually tastes like chocolate! The best way I can describe this is a combination of Matcha and a thinned sipping chocolate. Very yummy.
I bought this tea (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bee-pollen-matcha.html) because when summer rolls around, I am a little puddle of miserable. Seriously, my allergies attack with everything they’ve got and there are days where I simply cannot go outside. Last summer, I discovered green tea seemed to help with some of the symptoms, as did local honey. So when I spotted Bee Pollen Matcha, I had to try it, if only to keep on hand for when I make smoothies all summer. Mmmm smoothies. A little frozen fruit, a splash of tea, and I am in heaven. This is why I bought a blender!
This is most likely a case of mind over matter, but the first few sips of this tasted like honey to me. I don’t know if it actually does, it’s not overwhelmingly sweet, but it tastes a touch like honey. Kind of like how Honeybee from DavidsTea tastes like…well, how you imagine a bee would taste. All bzzzz and the like. But it is sweet enough and flavorful enough that while I was drinking it at work, I kept reaching for it. I tend to place my travel mug on the corner of the desk and forget it’s there until I lose my voice.
This matcha is also a good addition to my smoothies, since it provides calcium and protein. As someone on a dairy-free diet, the ability to get calcium in my tea is very important to me. A friend of mine says that “drinking tea for the health benefits is like having sex for the exercise,” but after a summer of allergies made manageable by local honey and green tea, I’m a believer. Do I think tea is going to magically make me skinner? No. Damn it. But I do firmly believe that teas like this matcha can help with things like allergies and vitamin deficiencies. If nothing else, this tea keeps me away from carbonated drinks like Coke and Dr. Pepper….mmm, Dr. Pepper. It also helps me cut back on sugary fruit juices and heart attack causing energy drinks. Matcha is all I need to get that rush to help me make it through my day. And this particular matcha is a tasty, tasty option. I love it! A sweet green tea that makes you feel like you’re drinking something that will give you superpowers? That also helps you get your vitamins and bounce around your office like you just had a large can of Red Bull? Sign me up!
Preparation
I was just talking to my roommate about this! I think it sounds interesting and I could imagine it tasting like honey. I chewed honeycomb before and it was like honey bubblegum.
I really enjoyed it! You should definitely try it!
Do you have to have a matcha kit to make this aside from adding it to smoothies?
Nope. My wife recently bought me a matcha whisk, but before I was just using a regular whisk in a cereal bowl. Don’t get me wrong, the matcha whisk is easier, but if you’re just starting to get into matcha and don’t want to invest in all the shiny accessories just yet, a regular whisk and bowl work fine.
Sounds excellent, but I would think local bee pollen would be best for allergies, hmm
I initially thought I liked Honeybee, but later found it to be too pollen-y and floral. Presumably I’d probably think a similar thing about this matcha?
@Autumn yeah, of course, but I don’t know of any local companies making bee pollen matcha :). Of course, come summer, I’ll likely sweetening it with a dab of local honey like last summer.
@Krystaleyn – I don’t find it particularly floral, but I don’t really find Honeybee to be floral either. shrugs
I just plain love Red Leaf Tea for their bundling options. 30 grams of this matcha, Goji Berry (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/goji-berry-matcha.html), is 15.99. However, if you bump it up to large (60 g), it’s only 8 dollars more (23.99) for twice the matcha! Love. So much love. It makes it really easy to just buy a sample and then get a great deal on the ones you love.
I took this one to work with me today and it just about saved my life. It gave me the much-needed energy to deal with with busiest doctor in our practice. It was light and sweet and painfully refreshing. I had some while it was hot, but by the time I was able to find time for finish my thermos-full, it was cold. Even better! My thermos is vaccum-sealed, so I carefully shook it to mix it up again and downed the rest…oh yes. This will definitely be an amazing addition to my summer smoothies. Never mind that it snowed today. Anyway, the berryness of this was just right, not overly sweet or fake, just amazingly delicious. I’m only familiar with goji berries in tea, but this is the best goji flavored tea I’ve ever had. To be honest, I kept taking sips and being surprised by how good it was. I have the memory span of a goldfish, so it was like I given a gift of amazing tea every time I took a sip. If you’re a berry fan who isn’t really into strong greens, this might be the tea to get you into matcha. It wasn’t overwhelmingly bitter like some matchas can be, it was just a smooth, tasty sip for a long workshift.
I am very impressed with their matcha, I have to say. My wife recently bought me a matcha whisk (so much easier!), but I was making it with a regular whisk in a cereal bowl and I have yet to encounter a clump. Like someone else said about their matchas, it’s not flavoring added to cover an inferior product. I really like, though, that you can choose which grade of matcha you get. I’m a matcha newbie, the cheapest grade is fine with me, but for those with more refined tastes, you can have Imperial grade matcha that tastes like goji berries!
You can also choose the level of flavoring! Gah! It’s like the choose your own adventure book of the matcha world. I see these matchas becoming a very big addiction for me. I’ll just be sitting in the corner with 100 tins of matcha labelled “Delicate Vanilla” “Robust Cinnamon” “’There’s Matcha in This??? Goji”. I would never sleep again because of all the matcha I was drinking, but hey, you gotta make some sacrifices, right?
Preparation
What does goji berry actually taste like? It sounds interesting.
A regular whisk in a cereal bowl. Awesome! I bought my first matcha at DavidsTea today and she wanted to try and sell me a whisk and whatnot… but I only bought 14g! Don’t want to invest in equipment if I don’t like matcha (ok, I probably will, but I’m wayyy overbudget already). I do have a regular whisk though, so thanks for the suggestion!
@Meg I dunno, but it’s a berry flavor that isn’t quite like any other berry I’ve had.
@Krystaleyn I was the same way, I had a few cups of matcha at work before investing in some. I whisk the sugar into the matcha before I add water, it dissolves easier that way. The matcha whisk is easier, but in a pinch, a regular whisk will do. And y’all know how much I love DT, but you can find matcha whisks much cheaper elsewhere.
With all the tasty flavored ones, I haven’t been using this one. But I figured it would be good in a smoothie. I forgot I bought strawberries, so in they went along with some frozen mango and pineapple, and coconut milk to smooth things out, along with a big scoop of this matcha.
I’ve been mixing up the flavored ones in smoothies lately but it gets too be too many different fruits haha. Oddly I can’t taste much of the matcha in this compared to the ones where I used like peach and orange together. And I used the same amount of matcha. Of course I’ve also had it for a really long time at this point, since March, but it’s been in an airtight jar kept in a drawer.
I think I can taste it, it just makes it taste sort of flat. Like it’s pulled from the sweetness. I’ve never understood adding sugar to smoothies because what is fruit, but this one I almost feel like I should.
Guess I’ll stick with crazy blackberry-raspberry-cherry-pineapple-banana with orange and peach matcha smoothies?
This one I’m gonna relegate to baked goods already. I keep telling myself I’m gonna bake with matcha and I don’t do it. Well if this one is less tasty in drinks then it’s time to do it!
So after the first iced matcha latte I made, I made another…and made myself sick to my stomach so I had to negate so much matcha with pizza. Except I so rarely get pizza and usually make them bring me it, so I got lost trying to find the pizza place I ended up in some way rich neighborhood and then I didn’t want matcha anymore.
Finally today I feel it is okay to go back to the matcha since I got enough nachos for 3 people at lunch and won’t have to go outside again. I added some sweetener, but it wasn’t enough. I don’t think I would really like this sweeter unless it came from the matcha itself.
Also I had no idea last week I think that Starbucks has green tea lattes so I tried one and it failed in comparison to using this stuff. Not surprising but I wanted to at least compare with the most readily available version I could get around here.
I will not drink another one when I finish this off. I will not.
Oh the yuckiness! Pour Amanda! (Did you get rich people cooties?) ;)
It was actually a fun road to drive on but there was nowhere to turn around and I was really mad at Google Maps for failing that badly. Street view didn’t work because that area it claimed as the location I guess has been under construction for ages. But I wanted my pizza! I ended up just making a loop WITHOUT the help of their useless map.
So all in all you actually LIKE the matcha, right? ;)
Google…I broke down on the freeway once and it was raining…google was on the other side of the fence …it was a weekend …they called a tow truck and sent a bunch of goodies to eat over the fence! Nice!
So I’ve been wanting matcha for awhile, and didn’t really want to spend too much on it. I’d only had it before at a Japanese tea ceremony, and I thought it’d be worth trying again.
When I couldn’t find a modestly price matcha at an international market, I figured $14 and change for 30g shipped to me wasn’t going to hurt.
I don’t have the proper tools but you know what, an immersion blender does a fine job too. After using it to whisk the matcha up nicely, I added about 4 oz of coconut milk and poured it over ice.
It’s not bright green like your typical matcha, but a rather precious pastel olive green.
It was a bit chalky at first, but I ended up pouring it into another glass and now it’s perfect. The thickness gives it a really rich taste. It’s not too sweet, which I’d figure for its price point. It’s a touch bitter, but I think the usual green, vegetal flavors tone it down a lot. I used water that was probably around 180 degrees so maybe I’d go even lower next time.
Not bad! I’ll give it a try by itself later, considering half the glass has me feeling rather reinvigorated right now.
Backlogging a bit here:
First off thanks to aisling of tea whose review piqued my interest enough to pursue this tea! :)
The idea of a flavored matcha did boggle me at first. Accustomed to the lively, fresh vegetation taste of traditional matchas I was worried what flavoring might do to something already so close to perfection!
My concerns were unnecessary, it would appear because this stuff is delicious!! It’s still quality matcha at it’s base, so there’s no attempts at adding flavoring to mask an inferior tea here. It’s delicious!! And as I was unfamiliar with Madagascar Vanilla as well I’m going to have to borrow from aisling of tea here and agree that it does have a full, decadent richness about it similar to french vanilla. It’s easy to see such a succulent treat coming from the wild and windy, rainy island.
Even better still is Red Leaf’s system. Rarely in tea pursuits does the tea drinker have so much control over the cup they’re about to enjoy. Variation in blends and batches are bound to deeply affect the range of flavors from steep to steep. But fret no more! Red leaf puts the power back in your hands! You get to choose not only the flavor of the matcha itself, but from a selection of the base matcha’s quality, the flavor potency, and storage options. It’s your perfect matcha in your ideal world.
Try this delicious tea here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html
Or choose from pretty much any other flavor + matcha combination under the sun at their website.
All in all, a wonderful treat to start the day or to pick you up halfway through!!
Preparation
I’m so glad you like it! I realize this is the point of this website, but I never write a review thinking that someone might order a tea because of it, so it blows my mind that I led you to this tea XD.
I freaking love this tea. I can’t wait to try more matchas from them!
(posting this for both teas as I feel EVERYONE should know about it!)
I’m sure you’re all waiting on pins and needles for me to try the Shamrock Shake wannabe I’ve been talking about for ages XD. Well, I did it this morning with the following recipe:
1/4 t Mint Matcha
1/2 t Madagascar Vanilla Matcha
2 oz hot (but not boiling) water
4 oz vanilla soy milk
2 t of sugar because I like overkill
So I dumped the matcha and sugar into a Perfect Mug from Davids and whisked in the water with my handheld milk frother. I added the milk to the mix and…
OH
MY
BOB.
There are not words. Seriously, all I can say is that if you are a vanilla mint fan, buy these two matchas and get to mixing. Now. I’ll wait.
You ready? Awesome. It’s creamy, it’s sweet, it’s minty without being harsh, it’s creamy without being too sweet, it is heaven in a mug. Heaven.
Bumping my rating to the ceiling for this glorious mix.
Preparation
ah it sounds sooooo good!!!
You are amazing! Man I wish I would have picked up the mint.. haha!
I did get the vanilla though.. and blueberry and mango. Figured they would make good smoothie mixers ^^
I totally recommend getting it in your next round ;) Because it is amazing stuff, lemme tell you. I put blueberry in my most recent order and mango just made it onto my wishlist, so I look forward to your reviews!!
As my resolve to not buy more tea goes down the drain very quickly…. Darn you and your reviews! :P
I do my best ;). But this mix blew my mind this morning.
In preparation of a day spent running about with Miss Red Rose (TinaS), I made us a pair of matcha lattes. I dumped some matcha into the blender, added some super strong spearmint tea and cold soy milk and there we go! A super tasty (dairy free) vanilla mint matcha latte! So much love. So very tasty. Send my energy level through the roof! (poor Tina)
Lol! I certainly kept up with you okay. And the matcha was nommy!
Hm, three of you have changed your names to bagged tea brands. What did I miss??
Four! I feel like I’m hunting for Easter Eggs or something.. : )
It’s kind of an inside thing for the Toronto Tea(bag) Party. Do you like it?
I thought it might be TTP related from comments I had seen. I frequently forget that you can change your name on Steepster, so when I logged on yesterday morning I spent a while trying to figure out who Celestial Seasonings was. Then I clued in. : )
Added a few drops of Irish Creme agave to my matcha this morning, mmmm what a treat. I have to stop reaching for this one every morning, or I won’t have any left to blend with the ones I just ordered last night (with a $70 gift certificate for writing three reviews! If you’ve ordered from them, it’s really easy to get the free matcha promotion!)
In other news, I made a cup of this for my wife last night and she didn’t care for it, so there was half a mug sitting on the windowsill. We just caught Pekoe (our kitty) drinking it by dipping her paw into the mix and licking it clean. She did this several times before we could get it away from her, so at least she likes it!
Preparation
Awe. Kitty drinking matcha. That would be a cute sight, but though I’m not sure it would be best for the kitty. I can’t wait to get my starter matcha so I can start out with an unblended base. I need to talk to my fiance tonight and see when we can get some because he has the card and I live in another state right now.
Yeah, she only got a few drops, but I feel bad for my wife, who is off work today, when that matcha high hits our little crazy XD.
Good luck on your matcha journey!
sneaks over to get a vidcam installed intime for the fun to begin and be recorded!
Ooh! We have an ornery siamese at home and she is hyper enough already. I can only imagine a cat on a matcha high if the high is anything like being on a mate high.
AWESOME name for a cat!
Thanks! And in case you couldn’t guess, yes, she is orange.
HA!
Had a cuppa yesterday morning to try and wake up before work and because I was making a cup for Tina, so I may as well indulge.
I love this tea so much. Seriously, if you like matcha, try this one. It’s beyond amazing.
So I posted a review of this tea on my blog because Steepster doesn’t allow “dofollow” links. Regardless, I am in love with this tea! Read more about it here, where I get painfully Southern! http://wp.me/p1GKE7-3r
Yum yum yum. So I am trying (and often failing) to live a dairy free lifestyle, as dairy wreaks havoc on my system. But around this time of year, a mystical drink is brought out from shrouds of mystery…the Shamrock Shake. Long have I loved and adored this drink, my mother a huge fan of the creamy green goodness. We’re Scot-Irish, for heaven’s sake, it’s practically in our blood!
But after a few months of at least lessening the amount of dairy that enters my body, I know I cannot handle a milkshake, much less one of the ones from McDonalds. So my wife has been drinking them in secret, coming home with green lips and a minty fresh smile….the harlot!
But then I had a cup of this matcha. The vanilla-ness is right on, creamy, smooth and perfect. Intrigued, I dumped a scoop or two of it in with some soymilk and peppermint extract…oh my goodness. Shamrock Shake, I have missed you. It needs a bit of tweaking, I think I need the mint matcha from Red Leaf Teas to make this complete, the peppermint is too biting. And perhaps vanilla soy milk instead of unflavored…but yes. My quest for a Shamrock Shake has begun and it can only end in happy, happy tears! The matcha gives it the lovely green color and an added burst of energy as I spend my day researching and cooking a mass of dairy free soups. I am very impressed with Red Leaf Teas and their flavored matchas, and look forward to trying more! But I suspect vanilla will be a longstanding favorite.
oh my, this sounds delightful.
It is wonderful. I highly recommend that all matcha fans order from Red Leaf Teas ASAP! They have a program for free matcha, they have free shipping on orders of matcha over 60g, and they have amazing bundle options!
I just saw that free matcha thing! I think I’m going to have to avail myself of it…muahaha
Yup. I’m waiting to hear back from them about whether posting the review to Steepster counts or if it has to be a personal blog, but I already have two reviews ready to go and a wishlist as long as my arm of matchas to try!
You can bundle the matchas too to get the free shipping, so 3 30g pouches of three different matchas is enough to get the shipping, it doesn’t have to be over 60g of just one!
I need to try this – did you blend it or whisk it in?
I just put it all in my blender.
I tried the matcha promo but they don’t accept reviews on Steepster. It needs to be a specific kind of link you post to the product and Steepster does not allow those types of links because spammers are attracted to sites that allow them.
Try Googling “dofollow” and “nofollow” links. I was pretty disappointed but if you find a way to get the promo let me know! :) I have everything ready to go except for the dofollow link.
Thanks! Fortunately I do have a wordpress blog devoted to tea stuffs, and it looks fairly easy to do a dofollow link there. I will let you know as things progress!
I was scheming up different re-mixes to the shamrock shake but this is far superior than any ideas I had! Thanks for sharing it!!!!
Aisling, I just learned that they removed the need for a dofollow link so posting on Steepster might be ok. Though they seem to want a link within the text of your review. Can you do that on Steepster? I never tried.
Yeah, they just e-mailed me about that too, unfortunately you still can’t do an embedded link on Steepster, boooo. Might be something to talk to Jason about.
Ah well. I still have my personal blog that no one reads. I might make a suggestion to Red Leaf though. Being visible on Steepster will probably help them more than embedded links on blogs with no traffic.
Just ordered this! So beyond excited to try it! Thanks again for the great review!
I’m curious.. I’ve only tried a few matchas. In what way does one taste better than the other?
Well, for one, this one is flavored? >.<
@teaNsympathy YAY!!! I am so falling in love with this green goodness!
indeed
@Mercuryhime Okay! So guess who just got her first gift certificate for free matcha? So all I did was e-mail info[at]redleaftea.com, sent them links to my twitter post about the matcha, told them the name I used for the review on their site, and a link to my post here. 20 minutes later, the gift certificate was sent (and spent). One of the reviews I sent was this one: http://steepster.com/teas/red-leaf-teas/26171-bee-pollen-matcha?post=107333 and they accepted it, so yay! Good luck!
Awesome to hear that worked, aisling! Now I am tempted for free matcha…
Thank you Aisling. I had actually sent them a message encouraging them to accept Steepster reviews even without embedded links and they were prompt to reply and tell me that they would change their expectations. :) I’m glad it worked for you. Now I can write my reviews here instead of at my blog that no one reads. Everyone wins!
Traveled for work again. This time I had different colleagues and the trip was much better. Much longer flight though. It’s a trade-off I guess.
I brought only this tea with me. Matcha is so easy. You just stir it into whatever water you have, be it hot or cold. Most of the time, I just added a some into my water bottle and shook the heck out of it. Frothy and delicious. I would have liked it better hot, but it’s still tea. Can’t complain. :) I also love the color of matcha. It’s such a lovely green. It makes you feel positively healthy. :)
I have to try this!
It’s a great way to get tea on the road without the long wait of cold/room temp brewing!
I can also find instant green tea packets at the Japanese grocery store. They are made for iced tea and are very convenient. Someday I need to get into the world of matcha…
One thing we don’t have here is a Japanese market. And the people who work at the fast food restaurants look like Leave It To Beaver cast members. Way not S.F. Bay Area! Amy oh!
Try red leaf Tea’s website. They have a free matcha promo. If you do it right, you only need to buy your first matcha. The starter matcha is cheap and tasty. Do iiiiit. :)
Ah K
I’m kind of a matcha noob, mostly because matcha is so expensive, but Red Leaf seems to have matcha at good prices. I’ve only had maybe two different matchas in my life so this Starter matcha is perfect for me. It’s kind of like how California Rolls are a perfect starter sushi. It’s pleasant and mild and hard to dislike. There’s better stuff out there, sure, but you want to get acquainted with what it is before you get too adventurous.
Anyway, even lacking the traditional matcha utensils, I think I still made a pretty good cup with a mug and a fork. I made it pretty thick at first, thinking I could water it down to suit my taste if necessary. It started out thick and foamy. Decadent! I took a sip of it in this thickened state and it was a bit too strong and bitter, so I added some water. The foam died down considerably. It’s got a nice creamy consistency even if it is thinner. There’s also a bit of chalkiness, but it’s not unpleasant. It’s a nice dark olive green. Very pretty. The taste is not too exciting, to be honest. It’s just green and mild. It’s got none of that sweetness or even oceanic flavor some matchas seem to have. It’s also a tad more bitter and the teeniest astringent than some other matchas I’ve had.
I suspect this would make a really good candidate for lattes since you don’t have to worry about hiding delicate nuances of flavor. It’s just a nice green creamy drink. This would probably also be good in a banana and almond milk smoothie. Or pancakes. nummy. In fact, this matcha reminds me a bit of Starbucks’ green tea lattes. Of course, their green tea lattes are only barely matcha tasting since they’re conserving the expensive powder, so having control over your own proportions is extremely awesome.
Overall, this is a pretty good matcha for the price. This is the lowest quality matcha they sell so I’m thinking it only gets better if you buy the other kinds. I can’t wait to try the royal matcha or vanilla matcha. While this particular matcha might be better used as a flavoring or a latte, I’ll bet the other ones are good for just drinking straight.
Also, wow, the caffeine kick is instant! I’m half done with my mug and I need to stop. Gonna heat up some milk and make a latte for the husband. :)
Later: The latte was well received!
You find this matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/starter-matcha.html
This is a very rich, thick Matcha, as is to be expected from a Ceremonial grade. I agree with TeaEqualsBliss (thanks for sending me some of this, by the way!), this does have a buttery aspect to it that I don’t often experience with other Matcha.
Bittersweet and delicious. I wish it was a little less chalky, which is noticeable in the first couple of sips particularly but after those first couple of sips, it becomes quite smooth and very enjoyable.
Looking for a boost (gotta go make cookies!) and I’m thinking that this is just what I needed!
I held off on trying this one until I was brave and since I was feeling squirrelly (Did you see my previous post? I’m giving away tea!) I thought I would belly-up to the matcha bar and try it today!
Pu-erh matcha. Ok. Here-goes!
The matcha powder looks just like cocoa-powder. It doesn’t have a heavy aroma like I thought it would which is fine. I only just one scoop of this powder for my first go around and really – I think that is all I needed!
Once I added water – it didn’t foam or bubble like other matchas but I’m not basing my opinions on that. The liquid is the darkest-of-dark, tho, much like a tar-black in color.
The aroma is a subtle pu-erh scent. Thankfully.
The taste is silky and velvety and very strong considering the amount (or lack there of) I added to the water or the water I added to the powder depending on which way you look at it – I guess.
But the actual TASTE is rather nice. I like this one much more than I anticipated! And chalk-full of B Vitamins, Calcium, and folic acid – that’s always a PLUS.
Nice!
Wow I didn’t even know puerh matcha existed!
Wow, I’m surprised you liked it. I found this to be absolutely horrendous. Like, fishy powder.
I’m rather surprised, too! LOL – I used a VERY little bit!!!! How much did you use?
I actually used two-to-three chashaku spoonfuls. A smidge above usucha approach. Even that was too much fishy.
I went with one smalles-of-the-small matcha scoops! LOL
yikes… this one… scares me.
Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this Matcha.
This is very interesting. I had never heard of Gymnema Sylvestre, but if it helps to keep that sweet tooth under control, then I am definitely excited about this herb.
This is a delicious Matcha, but it is a little different. It isn’t as foamy or frothy as some Matcha, it foams up after whisking, but it disappears rather quickly. The flavor is a bit more even than a typical Matcha. That is to say, it isn’t as distinctly grassy or bitter as a typical bowl of Matcha. It is more of an even-tempered flavor with fewer high notes. The sweet, vegetative and even bitter tones are still there, just not quite as distinct as they would normally be with a typical chawan full of Matcha.
As I near the end of my chawan of this Matcha, I notice more of a herbal-y kind of flavor. It isn’t off-putting, just definitely different from the normal Matcha flavors.
A very enjoyable, albeit different, bowl of Matcha!
Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this Matcha!
Yeah… it’s probably a bit too late to be sipping on Matcha. But… I thought… hey maybe I’ll be alright with it since its WHITE Matcha. But, I’m already feeling myself getting that burst of GO.
This is really good. I’ve tried a couple of white Matcha teas in the past, but this one is definitely the best that I’ve tried. The others all had the same problem … they tasted too bitter… but this one is delightful. It has a pleasant sweetness and really no bitterness to speak of. Smooth and creamy and rich. YUMMMMM!
