Caramel Matcha

Ok, can I just say YUM!

I was wondering how I would write 200 words, unless it’s allowed that all my words were the phrase “BOY THIS IS GOOD” repeated over and over again. Probably not though.

I FINALLY received this in the mail yesterday, I was so excited. Last night I had some matchacchino sampling to do so I didn’t bother making this, 24 oz of iced matcha latte in one sitting was more than enough! I was looking forward to trying this one based on the awesome reviews. I had previously only tried Red Leaf’s Bavarian Cream, Maple and Cheesecake matchas, so that’s the only comparison I have.

I brought all my tools to work this morning, milk, frother, matcha, ready to make this as my morning tea.

Unfortunately for me, after I made it I went back to the kitchen with my cup to add a bit more hot water (to stretch this out, gotta make it last!!) and somehow managed to knock my cup over and spill the entire thing all over the counter. So much for making it last. I was so sad. And I cursed and then apologized for the curse to my co-worker who happened to be in the kitchen with me. I barely had one mouthful of it before spilling it ALL.

So anyway, I was going to say that nothing makes a morning easier than a good cuppa tea, but that’s assuming you don’t screw up an easy task!

I did obviously make another one, hot frothy milk and all, and dare I say this was even better than a regular cuppa tea as a great way to RE-start my day! I was so impressed with the flavoring here. I ordered the Classic Grade with Delicate Flavour and I was very happy with that. I don’t mind tasting the matcha, the way I see it is if I had a problem with the taste of matcha I shouldn’t really be drinking matcha! (Trying to see how many times I can say “matcha” in one sentence… I win!)

I would absolutely order this one again, I’m glad I got the large size of it! I am looking forward to trying as many more flavours in the future as I can afford!

Fly through the interwebs to get yourself some here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

STAT!

I wasn’t going to log on to steepster today because it is 70 degrees in Portland today. That’s unheard of pretty much anytime before July. So. Yeah. CRAZY!!!

Anyway, nice weather made me want a cold drink. I made this. I’ve had a few of these flavored matchas that haven’t worked for me but this is no brainer. So good. Yum.

Okay, back outside.

Jes was kind enough to send me some of her matcha, I ended up receiving this at the same time as the matcha that I ordered (which I feel I haven’t loved yet). Mixed this up this morning as a cold latte. I am exhausted after having caffeine too late in the evening, so here I am trying to cure myself with the same thing that failed me.

I do believe this was the starter grade and has the distinctive flavoring. It definetly smells like caramel. I put slightly more than 2 perfect teaspoons into my cocktail shaker, then added about 8oz of milk and shook. I then added some ice cubes and shook again. This yielded way more foam than with my first matcha experience.

I think I probably would have went with the robust flavouring. But this is definetly caramel. I literally feel like I am eating caramels. It’s sweet without anything added. It is so fabulous. I’m kinda sad I waited so long to try matcha, especially this one. Mmmm mmm mmmm

I am going to jump on the band wagon and review my first flavored matcha. Lured by the Red Leaf sale on their Caramel Matcha, and all the positive reviews of it, I ordered the small size, Starter (Basic Grade), with Distinctive Flavoring (found here:http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html). Since I had not yet gotten a matcha whisk (chasen), I was concerned if I made it the traditional way it would not be up to par. On the other hand, I was too curious to wait on the chasen which I had ordered separately. Therefore, I decided to forge ahead. First, I sifted ½ teaspoon of the matcha to get any lumps out and then mixed in about 3 ounces of hot water. I shook it up in a shaker and added about 3 ounces of unsweetened almond milk, a splash of cream, some stevia and a few ice cubes. It was really delicious chilled, just like eating dessert. I can see why it has had such good reviews. I can only imagine what it will be like when I get my whisk and can create some foam! If this is any indication of the quality of other matcha selections from Red Leaf Tea, I will be ordering many more.

I was very excited to try this matcha after all of the great reviews! Even though this is my third matcha from Red Leaf Tea, this is actually my first matcha with the standard matcha base. No red matcha this time! The first thing I noticed was that the scent of the matcha was much more smooth than the others I’ve had. This could be due to the difference in bases, but this one just seemed so much more… nice. I’m not sure how to explain it.

Sipping, I taste a little bit of a grassy flavor, but mostly a nice caramel sweetness. It’s smooth, a tiny bit astringent and very, very comforting. I don’t think that I can compare this with the red matcha because they seem so different to me. I would like to have both in my cupboard so that I could have one to drink at night!

I only wish that I could create a creamy and thick texture. The flavor has me looking for a richer mouthfeel.. not something so watery. I know that it’s tea, a liquid, but the flavor leaves me wanting something more. I’m going to try this as a latte next.. I think it would bump this matcha up to the next level.

Okay, this was bloody amazing. I had a cup of this kindly made for me in preparation for a road trip yesterday, and it was delicious. The caramel flavour is really incredible. I’ve never had a caramel tea that blew me away, so I was surprised that the flavour in this was so spot on.

This morning, I had to go for the combo of this with the green apple matcha. Perfect! Tart, fresh green apple with gooey, sweet caramel. This stuff tastes so sweet, and it’s so smooth and lacking any bitterness, that I don’t really understand how it works. But, I am loving it and I’m so glad to have had the chance to try ‘em! I’m also impressed by how vibrant the matcha is. It tastes very fresh, and is that awesome deep green colour, not the sickly powder green I’m used to seeing in flavoured matchas.

My very first Red Leaf Tea order arrived yesterday, in it about four of the basic grade flavoured matchas. They’re good but I find that I enjoy them a lot more if I make them in a smoothie. It has the texture I’m looking for I guess, the texture resembling the Starbucks green tea frap I like so much, or one of the Booster Juice matcha smoothies. Otherwise it still tastes milky — and I hate the taste of milk.

It needs a little sweetening, I didn’t add sugar the first time and then I was trying to dissolve honey in this icy cold brew. You all know how well that goes. I also find that just straight up with milk only it is a little chalky. Once you allow it to settle it gets better, the chalkiness goes to the bottom of the glass. I can’t help but wonder of the higher grade is smoother — I hope so — but since this is my introduction to matcha it felt silly to spring the big bucks for the “better” stuff before knowing what matcha is all about.

Dissolved 1 perfect spoon in a few tablespoons of hot water. Added sugar and dissolved that. Shook the whole thing around 10 oz cold milk. Smells a little chemically but taste is ok, some faint bitterness at the very very back. Overall, I’d say matcha is here to stay.

Oh and… It is not as caramel-y as I expected. I think I like English toffee better but that’s a review all in itself.

This was my first flavored matcha (thanks, Rachel!) :)
I made this with water but added a little bit of cream as I usually drink my matcha with a milk base.
This was really good! I still have a great aftertaste of caramel and I’ve been done for a while. I like how the caramel flavor works with the nuttiness of the matcha flavor.

When Red Leaf Tea offered this matcha at half off last week, I jumped at the chance to get it. The only problem was what size to get!

This is the second matcha from my first Red Leaf Tea order. A big thanks goes out to Amanda for sending me a sample prior to that! I believe she had the “distinctive” caramel flavoring in her’s, and because I liked it so much I ordered a large amount of the “robust” flavoring.

Let me first tell you that before I was turned on to Read Leaf Tea, I would sometimes put in some good quality caramel sauce into my matcha lattes as a treat – I really do love good caramel flavoring! Thanks to this company, I don’t have to do that anymore – AND I can control the sugar amount!

Upon pouring out the contents of the robustly-flavored Caramel Green Matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html ) from the non-resealable, gold foil packaging into the tin, I could smell the sweetness of caramel. I HAD to make a bowl right then and there!

For this first preparation I sifted a teaspoon of matcha powder into my bowl – I highly recommend doing this! Without it, you risk the chance of having clumpy matcha, and no one wants that! I wisked in two ounces of warmed water with my electric frother until the matcha was fully dissolved. Filled the bowl with the rest of the warmed water, about 6 ounces worth.

In my opinion, the “robust” flavoring is lacking a little. When I tried Amanda’s “distinctive” sample I could taste the caramel, but thought a little more flavoring would help. That’s why I added the “robust” flavoring on my order. But I found it missing an element – maybe it’s sweetness, which is something I usually associate with caramel. While Red Leaf Tea doesn’t add any sugar to their matchas, I found this benefited from some added sweetener.

I also think I might prefer the Caramel Matcha prepared as a sweeter latte – either hot or cold.

Not that they are necessarily comparable, but having gotten this and the Boysenberry Matcha with “robust” flavoring, I’m favoring the boysenberry more. That one was pretty fantastic without adding sweetener and the boysenberry flavor really popped!

I do look forward to playing around with the Caramel Matcha more – mixing it with other flavored matchas from this company. Caramel Cheesecake, Caramel Green Apple, Caramel Espresso, Caramel Vanilla, just to name a few! Oooo and I bet baking with this is going to be AMAZING!

Finally made this into a latte….first sip, I scowled and shook my head at myself (I seriously did, sitting alone in my room, haha) for not doing it sooner. So wonderful.