Madagascar Vanilla Matcha

Yum yum yum. So I am trying (and often failing) to live a dairy free lifestyle, as dairy wreaks havoc on my system. But around this time of year, a mystical drink is brought out from shrouds of mystery…the Shamrock Shake. Long have I loved and adored this drink, my mother a huge fan of the creamy green goodness. We’re Scot-Irish, for heaven’s sake, it’s practically in our blood!

But after a few months of at least lessening the amount of dairy that enters my body, I know I cannot handle a milkshake, much less one of the ones from McDonalds. So my wife has been drinking them in secret, coming home with green lips and a minty fresh smile….the harlot!

But then I had a cup of this matcha. The vanilla-ness is right on, creamy, smooth and perfect. Intrigued, I dumped a scoop or two of it in with some soymilk and peppermint extract…oh my goodness. Shamrock Shake, I have missed you. It needs a bit of tweaking, I think I need the mint matcha from Red Leaf Teas to make this complete, the peppermint is too biting. And perhaps vanilla soy milk instead of unflavored…but yes. My quest for a Shamrock Shake has begun and it can only end in happy, happy tears! The matcha gives it the lovely green color and an added burst of energy as I spend my day researching and cooking a mass of dairy free soups. I am very impressed with Red Leaf Teas and their flavored matchas, and look forward to trying more! But I suspect vanilla will be a longstanding favorite.

The only milk we had in our apartment today was Vanilla Almond milk and given the snow storm outside, I did not feel like venturing out to get some regular milk so today I used almond milk to make my matcha. Apparently that was the key to finding the vanilla flavoring (granted I am not sure how strong the vanilla flavor is in the plain milk) because this cup is vanilla overload. It is like drinking a creamy, liquefied vanilla bean and I have not determined if that is a good or bad thing in this case. Nonetheless, thank you Sil for sharing this sample with me! I think in the near future I will be placing a Red Leaf Order and getting some French Vanilla so it will be interesting to finally get to compare the two.

Made icing with this Matcha!
Madagascar Vanilla Buttercream. I almost wept!

There is no bitterness at all when you make this into an icing for a chocolate cupcake. Just saying – if you want to try it, I will high five you.

Here’s the recipe/pictures!!!
http://www.daisychubb.com/recipe-chocolate-cupcakes-with-matcha-buttercream-chocolate-ganache/

Thank you Kittenna for sharing some of this with me! Now all I want to do is place an order with Red Leaf Tea and get some other yummy matchas! I was looking at their site and there were so many options and I seem to be interested in the white matcha as well. I was seeing how things kept adding up and forced myself to close the site lol.

This is a lovely matcha so I am curious which you chose for the base! Yes you get to choose what grade of matcha you want and SO many flavors to pick from! Wow!

This here is so good its not an “in your face” vanilla but just the right touch to allow the yummy base to shine through. I think I have this whole matcha making thing figured out and now I am needing to purchase some more of this stuff. I can’t though as I do have enough plain matcha already but for some reason THIS matcha just seems better – the base itself seems of a higher quality I suppose.

SIGH okay maybe next month. Fingers crossed.

In spite of the fact that I have drank this delicious matcha at least four times, I have yet to write a proper review for it, so now’s the time!

When I first received this matcha, for some strange reason when I smelled it, all I could think of was strawberry. I don’t know what exactly triggered that, but today when I opened the packet it definitely smelled like vanilla to me, although not quite the vanilla I had expected when ordering the matcha (I had expected more of a strong vanilla extract aroma/flavour, and this isn’t quite like that, although it is clearly vanilla-y). Brewed up, that same vanilla aroma is there, and it translates wonderfully to the flavour, combining beautifully with the vegetal matcha flavour. Although I like this matcha flavoured as is, Red Leaf Tea also offers different strengths of flavouring, and I’m curious to try this one a little bit stronger to see if it can make it any better (is that possible?!)

My favourite way to drink this (and any) matcha is as a cold (not iced) almond milk latte, made by dissolving (or technically, resuspending) the matcha in a bit of hot regular milk, mixing in the matcha, and then topping up the glass with almond milk from the fridge. Hence, a cold but not an iced drink, which is usually what I’m craving, as I have sensitive teeth :D Due to the vanilla flavour, unlike with other straight matchas I’ve tried, I don’t find that it’s necessary to add a ton of additional sweetener since I’m using a slightly sweet version of almond milk (TrueAlmond Original), and that adds enough sweetness. For a treat though, a few squirts of agave nectar make this absolutely decadent.

Another plus of this matcha is that the flavouring helps to mask some of the natural bitterness present in matcha, which is probably another reason I can drink it with less sweetener. That’s not to say there isn’t bitterness here (I tasted a bit of the dry matcha for curiousity… not a good idea!) but it isn’t as prominent as I’ve tasted in the past.

Given the health benefits of matcha, I’m super excited to try more of Red Leaf Tea’s flavoured matchas as I start to drink more cold lattes to beat the summer heat! Anyone curious to try this matcha can purchase it here http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html (and I would highly recommend doing so!)

I’ve had this a couple times now and keep forgetting to write a note. Sadly i just looked at the time and realised i don’t have tie right this second, but i WILL come back to this tonight/tomorrow morning. Especially since this is a sipdown lol

Edit
My matcha was composed of the following:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Distinctive

Now that I have two moments to breath, i really wanted to come back and review the Madagascar vanilla matcha that i finished up last weekend. I’m very partial to the French vanilla flavour from Red Leaf so i wanted to try and see how the two compare. I’ve had this a number of times now, straight, in a smoothie and as a latte. I have to say, my favourite was as a latte but even then, I found myself wishing it were more like French Vanilla. Now to be fair, i have NO clue how their supposed to be different, but i found the Madagascar Vanilla to be less smooth, with a bit of an edge to it, while the french vanilla is on the creamier side. It might be that i need to try this as a Robust flavouring level, but for now I’m leaning towards just sticking with the French vanilla.
What i have to say though, is that honestly, Red Leaf does a pretty bang up job with their more creamy flavours – the ones i would associate with Coffee or with milk. Vanilla, Caramel, Cheesecake, Chocolate…they’re all decent and the customer service is pretty bang on!
Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html

Staying at work until really late at night has made me a bit of a grouch lately… Thankfully I have delicious tea at home to get me smiling again! Today was particularly exciting because my Red Leaf Tea order made it all the way to Ecuador! Yep, the entire box (I made a decently large order) made it! I am finally at home sipping my first cup of matcha and smiling as I type. What a great way to end a stressful day on a positive note!

I have always had a soft spot for vanilla, so this was an evident first choice. When placing my order, this went into my cart automatically. Admittedly it took me a few days to decide everything else I wanted to get, but this was where it all started! Each of the flavors comes in a little golden pouch and a pamphlet is included that explains how to make matcha (just in case you are new to it).

I did a bit of research to find out what the difference between Madagascar Vanilla and French Vanilla is. Apparently Madagascar Vanilla originates from Madagascar and is also known as Bourbon Vanilla and is supposed to be the creamiest of the vanilla beans. French Vanilla refers to a preparation of cream, egg, and vanilla rather than an actual type of vanilla bean. Also, on a side note, I read that vanilla is supposedly proved to increase production of catecholamines (which are naturally produced in your body, for example adrenaline!). It is thought that it may be mildly addictive because of this effect. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone addicted to vanilla… But I must admit that vanilla is my chocolate! I love it!

I opened the little package carefully. I was really curious to find out what exactly Madagascar Vanilla would smell like. It was creamy and smooth. The scent was stronger than I expected. I liked that it was prominent. The color of the powder was a pastel green. I quickly got some into my teacup. I was so afraid to spill something that smelled so delicious!
I added a bit of hot water to froth it up. It was fluffy in seconds after whisking! I added a bit more water to it and took a sip. The first thing I noticed was that it was super smooth. Next I was hit with delicious green tea flavor and rounded off with creamy vanilla. The texture and flavor worked so well together that it felt like drinking a vanilla milk shake with matcha in it! I love it!! I am afraid it will need to be re-ordered very soon…

You can read more about Madacascar Vanilla Matcha and purchase it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/madagascar-vanilla-matcha.html

I’m having this in a latte made with a touch of honey, and some unsweetened coconut almond milk.

You see, I’m starting to get a migraine, but I really want to go dancing tonight – I’m even getting in free because I volunteered for a shift.

So. Caffeine, advil, some muscle relaxants, and a lot of hope. Some dinner would probably help too.

This is from Sil, and it’s distinctive. I have a tiny bit left that I will probably be mixing with the tiny bit of Caramel later this evening.

It’s definitely vanilla-y. I’m not sure which vanilla I like better – I’ll have to review my notes. There’s this, French Vanilla, and Boston Cream (yes, I class that as vanilla! It’s pastry cream, which is essentially amazing vanilla pudding.). Eenie meenie miney moe.

:)

WOW! a BIG thank you to Sil for this sample!!!

i have had two contributors to my matcha experiences….. MissB and Sil. MissB’s were also red leaf, but i tried them hot. not sure why, but i decided to go the opposite way with Sil’s…. and a good call it was!

i’m not sure if it’s an acclimation to matcha, or a normal matcha newbie stage, but i really prefer it cold. this was awesomely smooth, a beautiful vanilla flavour…. not false, not cloying. i will absolutely buy this flavour from red leaf. THANK YOU SIL! as well thank you MissB….. for me matcha seems to be a process of elimination as to how i like it, lol.

maybe i’ll wind up heating it gradually? =0)

I’m so confused by this tea. I wanted to fall madly in love like everyone else seems to have. But I’m trying to figure out if I even like matcha, let alone vanilla-flavored matcha. I’ve only had matcha one other time, and it was in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. It was part of my Japanese Civilization class in college. I think I liked it back then, but that was a long time ago…

Anyway, back to this matcha. It’s good. It’s spinachy and grassy. It’s noticeably vanilla. It’s very naturally flavored. There’s no weird aftertaste or funk. So, why don’t I love it? I tried it straight. I then added a tiny bit of sweetener. Then I tried frothing it in my milk frother. Finally, I added a little splash of skim milk. All of this tweaking helped squelch the grassiness. I’ve never really been of fan of green tea grassiness.

I think I would love this if I used it in cooking/baking. I can imagine amazing vanilla-flavored matcha icing on cupcakes (see DaisyChubb’s killer recipe here: http://www.daisychubb.com/recipe-chocolate-cupcakes-with-matcha-buttercream-chocolate-ganache/). I bet vanilla-flavored matcha scones would be good too. But this matcha by itself? Hmm, I think it’s something I’d have to learn to love. I don’t love it right now. I like it, and it’s definitely interesting. But it took me a good hour of slowly sipping on it to finish the cup.

Big thank you to Ninavampi for sharing her beloved matcha with me! I’m glad I got to try this before investing in a 30g bag. I think I’d enjoy a fruit flavored matcha more. So I’ll probably buy the strawberry one next with the strongest flavoring it comes with, which I believe would be “There’s matcha in there?!” I’ll let y’all know how that turns out, whenever I’m allowed to buy tea again that is. ;)