Caramel Matcha

Thank you Steepster for introducing me to flavoured matcha. This latte is ah-may-zing! My life and spending habits will never be the same again.

I’m so excited! My matcha is finally here. After reading all the amazing reviews about Red Leaf here on Steepster, I just had to jump on the matcha bandwagon. I hemmed and hawed for quite a while because the selection of flavoured matcha is a bit overwhelming. I settled on Royal Matcha Tea and Caramel Matcha because I felt the need to try the pure version as well as the yummy deliciousness that everyone keeps talking about. You can find it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

When I opened the bag of Caramel Matcha, I thought I’d gone to tea heaven. Seriously, I could sit here and smell this all day. Sweet yummy caramel. I do wish I had gotten the little tins; I thought the bags would be resealable like other teas I’ve purchased online. Well, live and learn. Besides, my tea is here!! I was so nervous about messing this up since 1) I’ve had really bad tea mojo lately (see my last 3 reviews), and 2) I really, really wanted to make a great bowl of matcha with this. I have a chasen already, and got the little bamboo spoon with my Red Leaf order. I still don’t have a proper chawan; I’m waiting to find the right design for me. I have a small sifter, but anticipation led me to blindly forget it right beside the bowl, and I dumped a teaspoon of matcha in. Poured in 3 oz of water that I boiled, then let sit for a few minutes to cool. Like Alphakitty, I measured out the water exactly because I really didn’t want to mess it up. I’m still working on my whisking technique. I can build up a pretty good foam but it disappears in the time it takes to walk from the kitchen to my desk. Not sure if that means I’m not whisking enough. My first sip definitely told me I didn’t whisk enough. Too grassy and no caramel taste.

After further whisking, I was very happy. The scent is still nice and strong; even in my now empty bowl. The matcha was still a tad bitter but wonderfully delicious. I got hints of caramel at first. I got even more after I added a pinch of sugar and more whisking. I went for the “distinctive” level of flavouring. I will probably bump it up to “robust” next time. I have got to learn to drink faster though because it got cold really quickly. I also should have read up on how much caffeine is in here before drinking matcha at 7:30 pm.

So let’s go for broke and make a matcha latte too. Another teaspoon of matcha (again forgetting to sift…will drinking matcha help with my memory?), 3 oz of hot water…lots of whisking…1 bare teaspoon of sugar and a cup of heated soy milk…more whisking. And I’m in heaven. Sleep? Who needs sleep when I have the most amazing matcha sitting right in front of me?

So…. I’ve completely neglected my matcha collection… and I feel sad about it so that’s what is going to be tonight’s tea of choice.
The aroma of this one is so nice after today.. Sweet, creamy, and caramel-y. Just like fresh warm caramel! Mmmmm…. The flavor is super nice. The caramel kind of hides behind the matcha but that’s ok. It’s still flavorful :]

I’ve been wanting to try Matcha for a long, long time. But for whatever reason, I’ve been totally afraid of trying it. I kept thinking I was somehow going to screw it up, or that I would purchase poor quality Matcha and end up hating it. Finally, I broke down and purchased some moderately priced starter Matcha and tried it. I made lattes with it and it was okay, but nothing earth-shattering. So I decided to try a flavored Matcha, which brings me to this review for Caramel Matcha from Red Leaf Tea.

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

I have always been a lover of all things caramel. I’ve probably tried every caramel cookie, cake, ice cream, tea, coffee, pastry, and countless other items that contain caramel. But I am very picky about caramel flavorings. Many of them taste too artificial, butterscotch-y, or are just too faint for me to enjoy. Happily, this Caramel Matcha did not disappoint me. When I received the package in the mail, I immediately knew my Matcha had arrived. There was a wonderful, strong smell of candy-like caramel coming from the package. After actually opening the package and smelling more caramel goodness, I knew I was in for a treat.

I decided to try this as a latte. So I prepared it using my usual method of 2 grams Matcha, 2 ounces of skim milk, 3-4 scoops of stevia, and 6 ounces of water. I whisked this up using my electric milk frother and tried it. It was very good, but a little strong. After adding another 2 ounces of water, it was close to perfection. This Matcha is very smooth and rich. Even though I used very little milk, it tasted so creamy. The caramel flavor is just right – enough flavor that you can definitely taste it, but not enough to outshine the flavor of the Matcha. This may be one of the best drinks I’ve ever made at home, and I’m actually kind of proud. I don’t have to make any more trips to Starbucks when I want a great latte. So I can save money, time, and calories. Hooray! I estimate that this whole drink took me 5 minutes to make, cost less than $1.00, and has about 25 calories. Plus I didn’t have to drive all the way across town to buy it. The only bad thing is, now I feel the need to try all of Red Leaf Tea’s other flavored Matchas. Oh well…

First taste of matcha….

I have to admit, the free sample offering at Red Leaf Tea put me over the edge on finally giving matcha a try. Unfortunately, their offer was such a good deal that there were a few hiccups in processing. No fear, because I picked up a black tea matcha (what do you really call this?) during Black Friday and asked that she include my caramel free sample from November when she shipped my order. I am generally a black tea drinker, and thought I needed to give the black tea version a try, too, as I am not generally one to like green tea much, even though I really wanted to.

Call me thoroughly impressed. I made a frappe version in my mini-blender with milk, ice, and just a little bit of sweetener. It did not taste bad without the sweetener, it is just that it tasted fantastic with it. I very much appreciated the clear instructions on how to prepare the matcha that were included with the free sample. I think I have found a way I can love green tea! Huzzah! Thank you, Red Leaf! You have won another customer.

Don’t get me wrong I like the stuff, but apparently not as much as the others. I prefer matcha warm and not as a latte so apparently I’m not the target market so much. Whisked for a minute with 68C water.

Time for a caffeine kick. This is a little hard to distinguish from other vanilla flavors, but there’s a butteriness and a deeper flavor that make it more obvious. I’m really liking this cup but I’’ll do a full review when I’m more awake.

Also note that I made this cup with a handheld milk frother and there were no clumps! Hooray, no more clumpy matcha for me.

Okay, yes, I DEFINITELY need to do a Red Leaf order as soon as I have some spare cash! (ugh, horses in Victoria, why you so expensive?!?!)

Got a very generous sample from the lovely CrowKettle during our tea swap last weekend, but saved it until this weekend when my BFF came home for Easter/her birthday (it’s Monday but since she has to head back to school that afternoon, we had tea and then went out for a group dinner at Red Robin with some of her other friends to celebrate early) so that we could share it and celebrate. So I made us each a latte!

First of all, I have to rave about a nifty little tool that I found deep in the pantry when we were ripping everything apart to get ready for new flooring. I should start off by saying that I’ve had a Bodum frother wand for a while now, but have never loved the foam it creates – the bubbles are big and the foam “flops” way too quickly, making the latte sipping experience kind of blah. But I found another neat tool, also by Bodum, that we have apparently had for a long time (but it was hiding so I didn’t know about it, apparently), and it’s AMAZING! It’s specifically for frothing milk, but it’s a glass caraffe with a black line on it, that you add milk up to that line, put on the lid (that has a plunger and filter mesh similar to a french press, just without the “cup” around the bottom edge, and the mesh seems a bit finer than that of my Bodum french press), pump the heck out of the plunger, pop the lid off, zap it in the microwave for a minute, then take it out, pump again, and it creates this amazingly fine, dense foam. I LOVE it!!! After it’s foamed to the point I want, there’s still enough liquid to make 2 lattes, so I add a dash of sweetener, hit it with the frothing wand to mix it in nicely without killing the foam, and then top off my lattes.

But back to the matcha. I dished out the matcha into my bowl (enough for two lattes), added about 1/3 of the water I’d eventually be using, and whisked away with my little bamboo whisk. I used to just throw the water and matcha into a cup and use the bodum wand, or throw them in a mason jar with the lid on and shake it up, but the bamboo whisk really does create a nicer texture and is worth the extra cost and effort for anyone interested in matcha. I was skeptical, but for someone with texture aversions, it’s really worth the investment/extra minute of time and effort.

every so often I’d add a bit more water, whisk some more, and then added the last bit of water, hit it with the bodum wand (so I didn’t whisk it over the edge of the bowl) and then dished it out between the two cups. My friend added her preferred amount of sweetener (she opted for my vanilla syrup) while I went unsweet, topped it off with the milk and foam, and sat down to enjoy! Now, 24 hours later, my room STILL smells like caramel matcha, and I love it, haha!

This is the smoothest (texturally) matcha I’ve had! I really like that there’s an initial “oh my god CARAMEL!”, then “wow, what a lovely green tea!” followed by a “My breath still tastes like caramel!” haha! Translated: While it’s definitely quite obviously caramel flavoured, it’s not so strong that it completely masks the lovely flavour of the matcha itself.

I’m really eager to do a Red Leaf matcha order as soon as I have the spare cash to do it, because I can see some of the fruity flavours being really good in smoothies, and some of the other richer flavours (including the caramel) being great for curbing my horrible sweet tooth!

Thanks again CrowKettle!!!

I decided to do this matcha because my daughter wanted to taste it for tea time. she doesn’t like it even after adding some milk.
So get I a latte caramel matcha for myself now…
I get this sample thanks to Azzrian and I thank her again for sharing it with me.
It’s really nice, I love the flavour and the scent is just amazingly yummy.
Drinking it it is really pleasant but to be honest I am not very impressed.
I had a very good latte with a fantastic caramel taste but the tea base wasn’t really detected by my taste buds.
It may be because I am not a matcha drinker (this is only my second one and the first with milk).
Anyway I liked my beverage even if for me it wasn’t really a tea.

I LOVE caramel. So of course, the first flavored matcha I buy would HAVE to be caramel, right? I bought this with the robust flavor, and I sprang for the royal grade as well; maybe next time I will order regular grade to compare?
First, shipping was lightning fast getting here, less than a week. I loved that I was able to enjoy my matcha quickly. Also, when I opened the package the smell of caramel immediately filled my dorm room, which was AWESOME! Like an instant febreze!
The matcha is smooth and creamy. Another reviewer said that the flavor does not smack you in the face, and I agree; it is more subtle. There were absolutely no grains on the bottom of the cup, amazing! Still getting the hang of whisking however, so it wasn’t too frothy, but this may be the error of my experience.
I am looking forward to trying it cold, with the water bottle technique, however my favorite method so far is with just a splash of soy milk and agave nectar if I want a super sweet treat. :) I will most likely buy this again, so yeah, I’d say if you are thinking about it, try it. :)
You can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html