Pumpkin Pie Matcha

yuck. getting into matcha, this has been my least favorite so far. Not a lot of value for the money, and weak weak flavor.

I’m genuinely not a pumpkin spice fan (which is off as I’m a huge spiced chai fan. I like warn spices, I just don’t like the “pumpkin” they throw in with it. This tea is so-so. The matcha taste is fresh and not seaweed-y, the warm spices are nice, but the weird vegetation made it nearly impossible for me to finish.

Day 2 of 24 Days of Matcha
It wasn’t bad but I’m not a fan of pumpkin pie

This was by far my least favorite matcha. I didn’t get any flavoring here. It tasted strongly of fake, weird, savory grass. I added lots of milk, but the flavor didn’t get any tamer. I couldn’t drink it, but luckily someone else in my family enjoyed it enough to take care of it.

Only a few of these advent matcha samplers left! Full packet wisked in plain oat milk, cold.

I thought the Gingerbread Matcha tasted like buttermilk pancakes, and I think this one tastes like gingerbread! I have had a Pumpkin Spice matcha from Heavenly Butterfly, but it was a pumpkin spice matcha, ergo, a spice blend. I wasn’t getting much of a spice element in this one… or what was there was just countered so heavily by the sugary sweetness that I think that’s why my brain went to gingerbread cookies. I do think calling it “Pumpkin Pie” is accurate enough given the level of sweetness and more subdued spice note, but I still expected a little more of the spice element to “pop” from pumpkin pie, I guess? I did like what I was getting… a sweet cakey/cookie with a mild and very sweet spice note in the background. Still can’t taste the matcha!

I definitely liked the Pumpkin Spice matcha better for terms of smoothie blending. This flavor holds fine as a solo latte, but tastes a little weird trying to mix it with anything else. Since the spices were the main element in the other matcha, I could put it in smoothies with pumpkin, apple, or peaches and get a pretty bomb smoothie. This sweet cakey flavor mixed with peaches is a little distracting… it’s like I’m getting peach cobbler in one bite, pumpkin pie in another.

Only Salted Caramel and Cherry Blossom to go! I think I can safely say at this point I prefer the “floral” flavors the most, followed by the “sweet/desserty” flavors, since the heavy sweetness used in these just works for me better in those. However, I prefer (most) of the desserty flavors as straight lattes, while enjoy the fruity flavors as smoothie mixers. I don’t really jive with the fruity flavors as plain lattes, since they come off a little too sweet for me.

Steep Information:
2 g powder 125 ml water at 170 degrees Fahrenheit
Whisked in bowl

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Dry powder smell is sweet and like candy yams, maybe even nutty
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet squash a little bit of spices like cinnamon
Flavor: sweet, cinnamon with a vegetable finish
Liquor: Color is a opaque murky dark forest green, slight olive green
Aftertaste: bitter
Comments: I wish they didn’t put sugar in the mix

Steep Information:
6g tea, 12oz water
Sharp Tea-Cere (gadget)

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Dry powder smell is sweet and like candy yams, maybe even nutty
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet squash a little bit of spices like cinnamon
Flavor: sweet, cinnamon with a vegetable finish
Liquor: Color is a opaque murky dark forest green, slight olive green
Aftertaste: bitter
Comments: Not exciting. Not a fresh spring vegetal. More dull frozen spinach

Steep Information:
6g tea, 12oz water, 1T milk powder
Sharp Tea-Cere (gadget)

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Dry powder smell is sweet and like candy yams, maybe even nutty
Steeped Tea Smell: Milk, sweet squash a little bit of spices like cinnamon
Flavor: Hints vegetal and spice, mostly sweet and milk
Aftertaste: not really one that lingered
Liquor: opaque light green
Comments: Perhaps some less milk powder next time. Definitely more enjoyable as a late though

https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2021/01/davids-tea-company-loose-leaf-green-tea.html

David’s Tea Matcha Advent Calendar – Day 1
(I bought this one and was gifted two other tea advent calendars, so there will be a lot of tea!)

I’m learning to make matcha and don’t generally care for pumpkin spice flavored things except pumpkin pie, so take this with a grain of salt, but I don’t think this tea is for me. It had an overpowering sweetness that didn’t remind me of pumpkin pie at all, but more like the artificial pumpkin spices that aren’t my thing. Every so often I’d detect some freshness behind it, but the cloying sweetness kept masking it. I think I also used too much water; not sure if that would have made the balance worse than it was meant to be?

Finishing the last half of my advent package of this matcha, though I picked up a tin on sale so I have more in my stash. I dumped this directly into milk which I was warming in the frother. As a latte, it really is like pumpkin pie – creamy, rich, spiced, delicious!

DAVIDsTEA Matcha Advent Calendar – Day 1

You guyyyyyys (and gallllls), it’s advent time! SQUEE! (happy dance)

So I’m hoping to do a note for every tea, and at least one Instagram post a day. Wish me luck! I’ll be starting my mornings with matcha from this advent and toast with jam from the Bonne Maman advent. So I’ll probably put a few notes at the bottom about the jam too!

I prepared this as a matcha milk. I used the whole packet, which is probably about a tablespoon or a little more? (I couldn’t find the volume or weight anywhere on the package or calendar) I first added a little warm water and whisked the matcha into a thin paste before adding unsweetened vanilla almond milk up to a volume of 8 ounces and blending with an electric milk frother.

How is it? It’s okay. I don’t mind the added flavoring, which does go well with the milk and taste similar to pumpkin pie. The sweetness is strong but not overwhelming, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend using sweetened non-dairy milks. It looks like there are actual spices in here? But they tend to sink to the bottom and there’s not much so I doubt it would add a lot of flavor. The flavoring does come off a teeny bit artificial to me as well.

I will say, I am not a huge fan of the matcha base. Even in milk it tastes rather bitter, which does not bode well for traditional preparation. Then again, they do recommend 16 ounces of water for one packet, so it would likely be quite diluted that way. I will definitely have to vary my preparation a bit! This flavor just seemed like a good choice to pair with milk. :D

Anyway, the jam! Today it’s Pear-Mirabelle Plum Spread, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I adore pear and plum is one of my most favorite preserves. I will say the pear is definitely the stronger flavor here, and it has a lovely sweet honeyed flavor. There are also some delicious big chunks of pear mixed in. I’m not sure how much I’m getting the plum? There is a little tinge of tartness there, but I know Mirabelle plums are supposedly very sweet so that could be why I can’t distinguish it well from the pear. Delicious though!

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIQxllmAUip/)

This was SO good when I first got it. It’s been in my cupboard for about 8 months and the flavor hasn’t held up. It just tastes like matcha. No pumpkin or spices or anything, just matcha. It’s still tasty, but not the same. I’m going to have to remember to go through David’s flavored matchas faster if I want them to be flavored. Let the craving take hold and don’t let me hoarding nature kick in!