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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!

With the start of September I have been craving autumnal flavors, especially pumpkin. So needless to say I was really bummed to find that the post office was holding my latest Red Leaf Tea order over the Labor Day holiday. Was I being punished? Probably not, but it definitely made receiving it today all the more exciting!

Upon opening tearing into the non-resealable foil packaging, the robust pumpkin pie flavoring filled my nose. It was AMAZING! It smelled exactly like a spiced pumpkin pie was sitting in my kitchen.

I immediately made this into a cold latte based on the delicious smell alone. All I could think of was “WOW!”. Two ounces of warmed water blended with the pumpkin pie matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html ), a smidge of sugar and a healthy 6 ounces of icy-cold milk later, I found myself speechless! After downing the entire cup in record time, I must admit I really want another one! This is Fall in a cup!

My default ordering for Red Leaf Tea has become robust flavoring. I love flavoring, what can I say? In this particular offering the spices are rich! Cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg – they all mingle with the pumpkin without overpowering it. It sort of reminds me of the old Starbucks Pumpkin Pie coffee lattes I used to look forward to around this time of year. I loved them so much I’d try recreating them at home. Well now I don’t have to! There’s a much healthier version right here without the added sugar.

Regret began to fill my mind – I really should have gotten more than a small, robust blend! This will not last me very long.

I’ve had my eye on this one for awhile. With each 52teas order (and there have been many already!), this one never made it to the final purchase round. It’s jumped in my cart a couple times, but each time I end up taking it out in favor of a more unique/limited creation. So thank you to Awkward Soul for sharing a couple cups worth and satisfying my curiosity about this one.

This smells delicious before taking a 3-minute hot bath. After infusion, the tea liquor smells creamy and strawberryish, but less so than the dry leaf did. First few sips leave me a little underwhelmed… Added more rock sugar than I care to admit and it started to be a little tastier.

I do have the leaves resteeping in the fridge, so we’ll see if that turns out to be any different.

This isn’t something I’d purchase, but am glad to cross off another tea from my shopping list.

This one hit the spot today! I was really looking for something creamy with a little spicy kick on the backend and found it with Adagio’s Thai Chai.

Really liking this one better than the old coconut chai I had been housing for what seemed like forever! Zhena’s Gypsy Coconut Chai is too spicy for me – not a fan of black pepper in my chai.

This one has cinnamon, ginger and a little cardamon – just enough spice to keep my tongue excited. :)

Half-n-half and sweetener made this almost too much for late summer, but in the winter I can see this as a regular winner!

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!

Finished off this one too today! After 3 cups of matcha (!), I think I needed a good honeybush to start winding down…

The creamy vanilla in this blend is hitting the sweet spot that usually starts creeping up at this time of the evening. A little rock sugar helped even more. A little sad that I’m out, but I know where to get more. :)

Matcha, matcha, MATCHA!

That’s what I was chanting when my first order arrived from Red Leaf Tea this morning. I’m sure my husband thought I was crazy as I ran back into the house to tear open the package that contained both boysenberry and caramel matchas! Let the matcha fest begin! =D

LiberTEAS mentioned a few days ago that Boysenberry reminded her of her home in SoCal – Same with me! My family lived about 20 minutes from Knott’s Berry Farm during my high school days. If boysenberry isn’t already, I think it should be the official berry of Knott’s! So needless to say, the boysenberry flavored matcha Red Leaf Tea offers has a little nostalgia for me – that and the fact that it was on sale – win, win!

I purchased a 30 gram pouch of the Boysenberry Green Matcha, basic grade with robust flavoring.
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/boysenberry-matcha.html
I like my teas to be bold!

As I poured the matcha from it’s pouch into the small metal tin RL offers for a nominal price, I became giddy! This smells soooooo good! Whiffs of sweet berry start swirling in the air around me. I could nearly taste the boysenberry! I already have a feeling I’m going to regret getting a small tin of this…

For this particular review I’m sticking to a basic preparation – matcha and water. I usually like to enjoy my matcha latte-style, but I want to get a taste for what it’s like at it’s most basic preparation.

First, I sifted a teaspoon of matcha into my glass mug. Then adding 2 ounces of warmed water, I wisked it with the matcha with my electric frother. There was a nice layer of freshly formed foam atop of the liquid. Looking through the bottom of my mug, I could see there were no clumps of unmixed matcha to be seen. (Yay!) I added the rest of the water (6 oz.) and stirred.

Wow – this is really quite good! I like that the boysenberry doesn’t completely mask the matcha, but it does a good job of detracting from the grassiness green matcha has. (Remember, I did go all out and use “robust” flavoring!) This is really drinkable without sweetener, but I have a feeling adding it would just take this over the top into crazy good territory. So for now I’ll refrain.

I bet this is gonna be awesome iced! Can’t wait to play around with this and make fruity smoothies with this too – the ideas are endless!

Now I’m curious about trying the Boysenberry White Matcha – I think that’s going to be on my next order, which will be very soon! :)

Made a pot of this this morning and finished what little leaf I had left.

This time I added a tiny amount of half and half with a bit of sugar. I think I enjoyed that preparation the best.

Looking forward to reusing the tin that was housing this for more Butiki treasures when my next order comes on Monday! Yay!

My husband never asks for tea…

Except for the last 2 nights. He’s had a sore throat. So what does he ask for? Lemon tea. I had 3 different kinds before his request. Now it’s down to this one. (Good thing he doesn’t get sick often!) I made a large pot for us to share since I have the most of this. He said he likes this one the best! He tastes the lemon and cinnamon most prominently here.

I think this is a keeper for the cupboard!

“One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain’t free…”

For cryin’ out loud, this song is stuck in my head! And it’s not the original version either… Mike Tyson makes me want to beat my own head against the wall! Aaaagh!

Luckily this tea is better than his rendition of the song! Soothing coconut and lemongrass mingle with a light vegetal base… Bangkok, take me away!

I gotta find Murray Head on YouTube and get Mike outta my head…