516 Tasting Notes

93

Wow – a huge thanks to LiberTEAS for instigating a swap with me!
Not only did she send me an amazing package, she was awesome enough to send me a sample of the famous blend!!! Thank you !

The flavour is over the top. I only used 1.5 teaspoons and a pinch of seasoning salt, steeped for 3 minutes and I’m in love.

Some reviews have mentioned that you have to be in the right mood for a tea like this. I think I would agree – but luckily for me, I was in the perfect mood! I had a suuuper sweet lunch and breakfast and was craving something salty and savoury. This seriously did the trick.

The strongest flavour I’m getting is basil, with the sweetness of the sundried tomatoes and then finally the black pepper kick at the end. It’s subtle but definitely there.

My favorite part about this tea is that it tastes like tea~! It’s blended perfectly, the black base with the hint of smokiness from the lapsang souchong (it really is the perfect amount) is so satisfying.

Thank you LiberTEAs for letting me try this seriously one of a kind tea! I’m a fan. :)

(Also, this tea will be the very first review to christen my blog! ee!)

Mélissa

Sounds great!

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95

Had a wonderful gong fu session with this beauty.

The flavour is wonderfully light and smooth. Buttery corn in the air, sweet corn in the taste. Very refreshing.

The perfect compliment to soothe my tummy after a hearty and heavy meal – I took the time to enjoy the beauty of the sunny day and spend some time with this tea.

Details review coming next time I drink it. First – I enjoy. :)

Bonnie

Glad you had a beautiful day and gentle tea time!

Daisy Chubb

Thank you Bonnie :) You are so sweet and wonderful

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96
drank Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea
516 tasting notes

Autumn Harvest:

mm oh I am in heaven.
There is a lot I want to say about this tea, the 2012 Spring Tieguanyin and Verdant tea as a whole, but I’m too overwhelmed to put it into words at the moment.

Suffice it to say, this is the second tea that has brought me to the emotional brink. It’s hard to “type” about – it has made me speechless, breathless.

More notes to come – but I just want to say, this one reminds me SO much of homemade roasted pumpkin seeds – which is one of my most favorite things in the world.

I’ll be back!

Bonnie

Heaven…I’m in Heaven….(remember the line…dancin cheek to cheek with Fred Astaire) ah yes…yumalicious!

Kittenna

Verdant never manages to disappoint, do they? :)

Daisy Chubb

it felt like that, it really really did! <3 <3

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17

Thank you MadAlyce for the sample! I’m slowly but surely going through my sample drawer :D

With the ingredients in the tea, one would think it would be absolute heeeaaaven for me! It has everything I love – yet something smelled wrong. It reminded me of sickness. I think it was the quality of the mate to be honest. (but I’m not sure what it was)

I brewed up a cup and sadly, it tasted the same. I couldn’t taste any coconut, but I think some pineapple was there, and a little bit of lemongrass, but other than that – it was just very murky.

I appreciate being able to try this tea – but Teavana has been a 100% miss for me! Nothing I’ve bought or sampled has been good. Oh well! Thanks for the sample though – you never know until you try! :)

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90

Alright I am finally sitting down and doing this review. It’s only been about a week since I received my Red Leaf Tea order, but I’ve had this tea three separate occasions since then. Every time I went to sit down and write a review – I was already finished my cup and I didn’t quite know what to say. I knew I wanted to thank aisling of tea for her amazing reviews of this company, and this matcha in particular. (thank you!)

I think I understand what took me so long. This is a seriously mysterious matcha. When I opened the package and took a whiff, I associated the sweet vanilla smell with something else, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I whisked up a cup between 175-185 degrees – the matcha itself was bright, vegetal, creeeamy and full of vanilla deliciousness. Definite vanilla bean or real vanilla extract – a flavour that isn’t sweet but is associated with baking. When I bake with my 3 tablespoons+ of real vanilla – it always smells sooo delicious and sweet, but if you were to taste it itself – it doesn’t taste how it smells. That’s the opposite of this matcha – it really does taste how it smells – I think that’s where the mystery came from.

Finally I associated the smell with the matcha whipped shortbread I made a while back. Of course! It smells and tastes like delicious flour, sugar, matcha and vanilla! Since I ate over a dozen of those cookies, it’s now obvious where that taste association comes from haha. Love it. (You can find this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html ).
I really want to do a comparison of this vs the new French Vanilla matcha. Subtle but delicious differences I’m sure!

Oh man I just got an awesome idea. Mini matcha shortbreads for summer, using the different flavours of matcha! Ah! I can’t wait to see how the flavour translates into a simple flour, butter, sugar cookie. Paired with an iced matcha. On the front porch. Okay I don’t have a front porch : ( But I have the makings of the rest of it :D

Today I mixed 1/2 tsp Madagascar Vanilla and ½ tsp Mango. Deeelish. Want to know a secret? It was so delicious and perfect that I drank the entire cup without realising I didn’t put any sugar in it. How sweet it is! It wasn’t bitter at all – because I accidentally let my water cool to 165 degrees. This is my new matcha sweet spot temp when I want to drink it straight up. I didn’t even want to make it into a latte – it was creamy and sweet – with the vanilla matcha it almost tasted like I already put milk in it. This isn’t my number one matcha choice, but it is PERFECT for blending!

I don’t know if I mentioned this in my other reviews – but this matcha (and the other varieties) has (have?) an amazing echo of taste. The aftertaste of the natural flavours lingers long after I’m finished the cup. To be honest, it kind of makes me crave more. If I wasn’t already bouncing off the walls with matcha energy, I might make more! No joke. This stuff packs a serious energy punch. I’ve been having it every morning! I feel lucky :)

Bonnie

I wish I was well and could drink this! Sounds so good! And cookies!! I’m on a bland diet (includes tea black only) …nausea. I want matcha cookies!

Daisy Chubb

Aw Bonnie – feel better soon!!
When you’re feeling better, I really recommend adding matchas to a sugar cookie or shortbread! If you make scottish-style shortbread it would be less sweet and sugary, and more of a melt in your mouth treat that isn’t overwhelmingly sweet. I bet matcha is good is pretty much all baked goods though haha.

Sending good energy your way from eastern Canada! Hope you get well very soon <3

Bonnie

Thank you!

Kittenna

Mmmm, I need to write up my full review as well, so I can try some more delicious flavours!!

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94

Wow! I just checked everyone’s recent reviews and the amount of Red Leaf Tea is off the charts! Woo, we’re an international Matcha team :D Love it.

On to the review! :
Yummeh. Blueberries are not my favorite fruit, but when I opened my package I knew I was going to love this just as much as the mango. The scent was strong blueberry! It reminded me of fruit leather, deep purple, chewy, yummy homemade fruit leather by the hippie auntie I used to have. Ah sense memory, I love it so.
So I whisked up this delight with the plan to make a couple little lattes – one with soymilk, one with almond and one with regular. I don’t know, I just wanted to taste the nuances and find my favorite pairing I guess! Also to see which milk went best with fruit flavoured matcha.
Honestly though, I really enjoyed this one sans milk – just with some sugar. (I also experimented with sweetener, and found I prefer sugar over agave for my matcha).
The froth! I got a crazy amount of froth with no clumps in this batch. I definitely credit the quality of the matcha for that, because my whisk skills are shoddy at best. That’s when I knew I was in for a treat today. This blueberry matcha in particular was very smooth. The berry taste fluctuated from sip to sip – one sip it was a tart not quite ripe berry, the second it was an overly plump, huge juicy ripe berry. The aftertaste was definitely the latter. The flavouring felt more strong in this batch than I expected, but I loved that very much. What a deal :D Again, I love that this company uses natural flavouring – it really shows in the quality of this matcha that it tastes like the berries, not like a candy.
With almond milk, the matcha latte tastes almost like a baked good – a blueberry matcha scone or shortbread. The soymilk tasted, well, like soymilk (I think it was my least favorite of the 3). With hot frothed 2% milk it was very sweet. I find hot milk to be naturally sweet, so that probably accounts for it!
Last, but certainly not least, I had it as an iced latte. (If you’re wondering, with all this crazy matcha energy – I’m learning the ukulele!) I HIGHLY recommend enjoying these fruit flavour matchas from Red Leaf Tea as iced lattes. Oh my goodness! The fruit flavour just comes alive and honestly tasted like a blended real fruit smoothie. Of course, once I get a blended I will be making blended iced drinks 100% – but until then, the ice cubes will suffice.

You can find this deliciousness here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html
(Oops, I almost posted the link to “Bilberry” matcha, which is cool because I got to read about and learn what a Bilberry is! I can’t help but wonder what it tastes like…)

If you like 52teas Rainbow Sherbert, I think you would like this one! It reminds me of it in scent and flavour. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but I can’t wait to mix this with other flavours to see what happens!

momo

I’ve had the caramel one twice since last night because of all the reviews of matcha, hahaha.

Daisy Chubb

mmm I can’t wait to order it.. I’m going to get one with a bit more flavour to see what it’s like :D

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89
drank Mango Matcha by Matcha Outlet
516 tasting notes

Oh. My. Goodness.

I know this is common knowledge, but I am a mango enthusiast, just as much as a tea enthusiast. I have a very keen tongue when it comes to mango. Or something. Anyways! I love it! And I love this matcha! It totally delivers.

So I started with ½ tsp and 2 oz of water (175 degrees), whisked it up like crazy – Woah go back, let’s talk about the dry smell. When I first opened the package, I couldn’t stop sniffing. It was so rich, like a mango candy but not artificial. I found the package again and now I can’t stop sniffing it again. It smells like a mango so ripe that you know it’ll be dripping down your chin. Yes!
Okay on to the brew:
The colour is a deep, almost forest green. I took a sip and it was a bit strong for my tastes so I added another ounce-ish of water. As strong as the sweet smell of mango is, the matcha is not at all lost. In fact, it takes the forefront of the taste. I’m not a matcha connoisseur – but this is definitely the tastiest matcha I’ve had as of yet. It’s vegetal in that matcha way: full flavoured, lively and fresh. Fresh! This flavour combination is so well balanced. The mango is subdued (fyi: I stuck with the delicate flavour choice. You can really customize your order with Red Leaf Teas – the grade of matcha, flavour strength, etc), but definitely still there.

For my second cup, I added some sweetener, as mangos are quite sweet when ripe. Yep. This is perfection. The mango flavour tastes real, like a fresh mango popsicle as opposed to a mango lollipop. It’s so full bodied, I can almost feel the texture of the mango. That is cool. I added frothed milk to the last half of the cup. Mmm creamy matcha latte, my favorite way to have matcha. In the future, I would definitely use a full teaspoon and not add more water when adding milk to make a latte. I lost a bit of the flavour of both the matcha and the mango, but I know for next time to make it stronger! Either way this 30g will last me a while… until summer hits and I’m making smoothies 24/7.

I’ve already tried this matcha in 3 ways – on its own, sweetened and as a latte. I can’t wait to try it iced, as an iced latte and in smoothies!! It honestly holds its own though, and I can’t wait to try more!

If you love mangos and/or matcha as much as I do, I definitely recommend you pick this one up at: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html

Check out how much you can customize your order anyways, I found it really cool and very unique to a tea company.

Yum!

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89
drank Mango Matcha by Matcha Outlet
516 tasting notes

I’m working on a real review, but I have to just come and say:

mmmmm
ango!

So delicious!

KeenTeaThyme

Mango & matcha?! I just drooled a little…

Daisy Chubb

That’s exactly how I felt right before I ordered it! :D yay fellow mango lover

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96
drank Kanpe Tea by DAVIDsTEA
516 tasting notes

I bought a tin of this tea. Holy man. It almost makes me want to give away my Pink Flamingo and trade it in for more Kanpe. I am freaking obsessed with this tisane – although I’ll say it again, I would never ever ever drink it hot. Bleh.

But iced! mmm, it’s fruity, tart at the end of the sip, like a sour candy (I’ve sweetened with agave to cut a bit of the sourness and add the candy-like flavour), perfectly (lightly) spiced with cinnamon.
I think I need several hundred grams of this tea, strawberries, raspberries and oranges, a couple big bottles of cheap red wine – and I will have delicious tea sangria all summer long. But it’s only spring!

Oh well, I’ve started early.

Daisy Chubb

I will say this, the only bad thing about this tea is it is heavy, bringing a tin of 100g to 14 bucks. :| I guess that’s what’s stopping me from buying a lot of it, so a treat it will remain!

Kittenna

Yeah, so I’m discovering about many of the “cheaper” herbals – they’re heavier and require 2 tsp – no bargain! In fact, perhaps more expensive than some of the white teas!

Tina S.

This is definitely one of my favourites, I compare it to cherry pie. Nom nom nom.

Daisy Chubb

mm cherry pie, totally! It’s even “thick” feeling to remind me of that haha! Nor syrupy thick, but definitely not weak or watery. mm. I need another cup :D

This one is worth the price to me for now. We’ll see what happens when I drink it every day – it’ll be a good test! :)
Cattibrie

I really enjoy this one hot. It was a great fill in for Pink Flamingo while it was gone in the fall. Still prefer my Pink Flamingo though.

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97

YUUUUUUUM

I just iced this and added a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk.
Honestly I was a little afraid the milk flavour would take over the pina colada and it was scary, but I went for it.

Oh. My . Gosh. Youguys.
It tastes like a Pina Colada Honeybush CHEESECAKE. I get the coconut and the pineapple and the rum and : mmm it’s so refreshing and so delicious. This was the iced tea I went for when there was no hibiscus to be found.

Next step would be to blend it into a Smoothie. Sadly I don’t have a blender, but it would be the perfect amount of sweetness and creamyness with the crushed ice. mm.

Kittenna

I should try this…. Felt like the tea needed more; perhaps more = sweetened condensed milk!

Daisy Chubb

haha who knows! I had to try it thai style with a few iced teas, and this one worked too well.

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Bio

29/f/CAN

My favourite tea companies are DavidsTea and Verdant Tea. They please my palette in different ways – and I love them both for it.

I’m back bb!
-

<3 Daisy

Location

Ottawa, ON [Canada]

Website

http://www.daisychubb.com

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