Babble Send Message

So I knew I wanted a vanilla matcha, but I was unsure of what exactly to get since Red Leaf offers several different types of matchas. I saw that the Madagascar Vanilla was highly reviewed, but the French Vanilla got some good marks too. People remarked about how the French Vanilla was more in your face, while the Madagascar Vanilla was more subtle. While I love matcha, I do love the flavorings, so I went with the French Vanilla and got myself robust flavoring.

Opening the package, it definitely smells very frosting-ish and reminds me a lot of the French vanilla coffee creamers that I used to use to flavor my coffee.

The matcha itself is definitely delicious with creaminess and velvety texture to it. I’m sure I could bring even more creaminess out with some milk or cream, but I decided to enjoy the matcha flavor pure. Perhaps later when I’m not so lazy, I can prepare this in a fancier style to make the flavors pop even more.

It’s very lovely as just one flavor, although I admit I am anxious to mix it with other things such as cola or cherry or cherry AND cola. I plan to do that soon and report back.

All in all, another solid desert matcha.

You can get the matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/french-vanilla-matcha.html

After a tough battle of matcha sales, caramel popcorn won, so when it was on sale I had to grab it. I love kettle corn, but I was a little hesitant. After all, I already had caramel flavored matcha. Would this be any different? And the verdict is a resounding YES!

As always, the matcha smells wonderful, and potent (that’s what I get for getting robust flavoring). The boyfriend came in and asked if I was baking cookies, but nope, just opening a bag of really strong smelling matcha.

This matcha is even better than caramel because it has a lot more complex flavoring in it. I can taste the caramel, which is nice, but I can also taste the butter notes and the popcorn notes. I would say it’s almost a little more buttery popcorn than sweet popcorn, but then again I didn’t add any sweetener. I bet if you really wanted the kettle corn effect, you could add some sweetener and make it pop.

I put this in a water bottle tonight and brewed it up cold. I wasn’t sure how well it would do, but the flavoring really holds up. Not need to add any sweetener because the flavor just pops. Even the boyfriend admitted that it was very tasty.

All in all a surprisingly good matcha, and this coming from someone who’s not too big on desert matchas.

The matcha can be purchased from here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-popcorn-matcha.html

I will start off by saying that this is a very enjoyable bagged green. I know I enjoy it, but I’m not giving it a rating right now (read below).

I’m in Port St. Lucie for today and tomorrow with my boyfriend, who is here for a business trip. I’m just hanging out with him and decided to brew up a cup of this because I don’t have access to my loose tea stash (and I have a ton of bagged tea to go through). I took a sip of this and it was AWFUL. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it.

And then I figured it out – the water quality here is not that great. Blehhhhh. Oh well, I’m only here for a couple days, but it’s amazing how much poor water quality can affect a tea. Maybe I’ll go pull out some bottled water, although it is a pain to make it without all my comforts from home.

I like white tea, but don’t always drink it because of the cost. However, I got a sample from Teavivre and decided to break it open. This tea is so pleasant. I’ve always thought of white tea as very light (almost watery), but maybe I just wasn’t using enough leaf. This tea is rich with so many different notes. I’m getting the melon and butter, as others have mentioned.

Very enjoyable today.

I was a soda drinker for years – at one point I drank it more than water. A few years ago I did the impossible and gave it up to better my health. It wasn’t easy, and there are times when I find it hard to resist, especially since it’s so easily available. One of the problems is that the flavoring is hard to find. You don’t see “cola” flavored things very often. So when I saw this cola flavored matcha, I knew I had a found a winner. Tea AND cola flavors brought together? This is amazing.

And I have to say, it definitely is. Even from the smell I knew I was in for a treat. I used 1/2 teaspoon of powder in my water bottle, shook it up, and then took a sip. It was absolutely delightful. It tastes just like cola (I think it has more of a Pepsi taste than a Coca-Cola taste). I even added some seltzer to give it just a little zing, which also helped.

This is definitely recommended for anyone who loves soda, but wants to indulge in a healthier option.

I can not WAIT to blend this with other matcha flavors like rum and black cherry. I’m also planning to buy a couple more fruit flavors in my next order to mix with this. Hmm… maybe I should have bought a large.

It’s fall, and you know what that means .. TRY ALL THE PUMPKIN THINGS! In all serious, I’m not a pumpkin fanatic, but I do enjoy indulging in the various pumpkin related offerings this season, especially pumpkin pie. I’ve been underwhelmed with a lot of these desert matchas lately, but this one got pretty decent reviews (and it was on sale), so how could I resist? I got this with my usual “Robust” flavoring.

When I first opened the package the smell was AMAZING! It didn’t taste artificial at all and instantly evoked memories of Thanksgiving dinner for me.

Even though I’ve been “brewing” via the water bottle method, I didn’t even bother going that route. I knew this had to be enjoyed hot, so I brought out the gear. I whisked it up, added some milk, and took a sip. And man oh man, is this delicious. The pumpkin pie flavors really pop, especially the cinnamon. I think the spices are a little more pronounced than the actual pumpkin flavor, but it’s a delicious and yummy treat. I even added sweetener to kick it up a notch and it certainly did.

All in all, a fantastic desert and a lot less guilt after having this than a regular pumpkin pie.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

I’m not much of an alcohol drinker, but rum is one of the few drinks that I like. There are lots of alcohol matchas, but when I saw this I knew I had to jump on it. I got this with the usual “Robust” flavoring, and when I first opened the package the smell was very strong. It didn’t exactly smell like rum though, maybe more of a “bubblegum” flavor? I was worried I should have gotten a lighter flavor level, but there’s no turning back now. Might as well drink up.

I first tried this cold. I put 1/2 teaspoon in a water bottle, shook it up, and I wasn’t getting a whole lot of flavor. So I added another 1/2 teaspoon, but the flavor was still lacking.

So I decided to brew this hot and I think the flavor comes out a little bit more there. I added some milk, which helped a little with the bitterness. I think I was just expecting the flavor to be a lot more prominent based on the smell.

I think it’s better hot, although I still want to try and mix it with other flavors to see if I can coax out the flavor a little more. The flavor is also a tad disappointing for me. I was hoping for more of smooth rum taste but it almost tastes like candy…

As a reminder, you can buy this matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/black-currant-matcha-clone.html
( not sure why the URL is like that, but that’s what it is)

I normally wouldn’t get a straight black tea but this got such great reviews i thought I would step out of my comfort zone.

And….it’s not bad, but it’s not great. I wonder if I used too much leaf. The site said 7g but maybe that was too much? My steepings were short but I’m still getting some astrigency. Getting some smokey flavor which is turn off for me.

I think people who really love black tea will like this, but as more of a green tea fiend, this is just so-so.

Roobios blends usually lack flavor for me, so I may have added more “tea” then necessary. Nonetheless, I’m getting a strong orange flavor from this and it’s quite pleasant. No sweetener needed. I’m not sure now enthusiastic about the rooibos base, but it’s not bad. I bet this would be good iced.

Oh, and there’s hibiscus in here. And as a total hibiscus hater I’m not tasting any of it. Or it’s meshing very well.

I went back and forth on whether or not to get this tea for a long time, but as the stock started dwindling, I knew it was now or never – so I went for it. And lucky for me, now it’s sold out.

I LOVED Strawberry Zabaglione, so I thought I would give this a try. I cold brewed this as I knew a traditional steep wouldn’t work (strawberry zabaglione wasn’t great as a traditional brew either). As others have said, it’s not exactly as creamy as the strawberry version, but it’s definitely blueberry-y (is that word?). It depends on what you are looking for in a tea.

The black base is also a little more prominent here. It’s got a tad bit of astringency, even with a cold brew. It’s still great without sugar, but it doesn’t quite compare to the strawberry version. Overall, though, not a bad tea.