I’ve had my eye on Red Leaf Tea’s Cheesecake Matcha for some time now. Amanda was generous enough to send me a sample of her’s – which I immediately fell in love with. I believe her’s was “delicately” flavored. There was a nice tang to the matcha which was consumed – in record time – as an icy latte.
When I got around to finally placing my order for this, a month later (gasp!), I had a very difficult time trying to figure out which matcha base to go with. I knew I already liked the regular ol’ starter matcha, but would I branch out and try the white or red base? I probably placed each version in my cart at least 3 times before the basic grade finally became my choice. Seriously, it was a really hard choice to make!
So as a frame of reference my order was comprised like this: small, starter matcha with robust flavoring (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html ) and a small metal tin, which I’ve come to really like! The tin is a nice size for a small matcha and doesn’t hog my precious refrigerator space. When I find myself in between matchas, I like that I can reuse the tins to take small samplings of loose leaf tea when I travel. I’m a sucker for small, reusable items!
Anyway, the smell of the matcha is tangy and slightly sweet, even though there’s no sugar added to the flavoring. I prepared this my usual way – cold latte style. Two ounces of warmed water with a teaspoon of matcha and a half teaspoon of super-fine sugar – wisk until blended. I didn’t try sifting the matcha this time, and it frothed up very nicely without any clumping. Six ounces of cold, creamy whole milk (yes, I’m naughty!) and the taste was so smooth and creamy with a bit of tang – just how I like my cheesecake to be!
After my first cup as a cold latte, I went for a second cup – this time as a warmed, straight matcha. The tang and creaminess are much less noticable the second time around, but the matcha base is much more prevalent. As the cup cools, the tangy taste comes to the forefront with the matcha and the creaminess lags behind. It’s kind of like having two very different teas, which is pretty awesome for just buying the one! A creamy, dessert-like cup of tangy cheesecake with milk/dairy alternative or a green tea with a little tang – it’s up to whatever kind of mood you’re in!
