Pumpkin Pie Matcha

latte style this morning :D I just can’t seem to get enough pumpkin tea this month :D

Oh man…so i initially wasn’t totally crazy about this matcha, but I appear to have found my sweet spot. A 2:1 ratio of pumpkin pie to french vanilla matcha and I am laughing all the way to crazy town. Seriously! The vanilla makes the pumpkin just a little sweeter and adds a creaminess that when combined with the spices is A-MAY-ZING! Love it! Bumping the rating a little even though it’s the combo with french vanilla to make it supercalafragilistically wonderful!

I am mostly ordering and trying matcha for my daughter, who works at night and is trying to drink a lot of green tea plus she needs energy and to be alert but not jittery, and for my husband, who is terrible about not eating a good breakfast and needs energy for a long day. For this reason, the flavors I am choosing first are really flavors I think they will like rather than what I would choose for myself, although believe me, my turn is coming!

My daughter loves fall because she loves EVERYTHING pumpkin! She makes pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin fudge. She buys pumpkin doughnuts and pumpkin spice coffees. She even toasts pumpkin seeds. So a natural choice of matcha for her is the Pumpkin Pie Matcha! I don’t think I even noticed on the website until I saw Alphakitty’s review, and as soon as I saw that I knew my daughter had to have it!

You can find it here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

I ordered the small size and got the basic grade of matcha because I also got the robust level of flavor, so I thought that grade of matcha would be fine.

This time I got the tin. Matcha is a very fine powder, and they recommend keeping it in the refrigerator or freezer.

Naturally, I have to try it first! Again, I want the flavored matcha for lattes or smoothies so the big decision was how to make a pumpkin pie drink without adding coffee, because that is the only kind I really know.

I decided to make the matcha and add it to heated milk for my first attempt. I figured if i didn’t like it as a hot drink, i could always pour it over ice.

The dry matcha did not have as much aroma as I had anticipated thought had a pleasant smell. I had expected to open the pouch and be greeted by CINNAMON whopping me upside the head, but there was just a pleasant smell of light spices and pumpkin.

This time I didn’t use the Bamix immersion blender, but just whisked the matcha in a small cereal bowl with a kitchen whisk. I had tried making it that way with the first matcha I ordered, which was the mocha one, and it worked great! I don’t have a sifter – I just looked at the powder and since I didn’t see any lumps I figured it was okay. I poured on the hot water, probably only one ounce, and whisked with my plain metal kitchen whisk and used the “M” shaped motion they describe. As soon as, and i mean AS SOON AS, the hot water hit the matcha, the robust flavor showed itself in a rich aroma swelling into the air. Yes sir! This is a nice mix of pumpkin pie spices, but the pumpkin is there, too! I got a lovely froth completely covering the surface of the liquid. Even though my plain kitchen whisk works, I eventually want to get a bamboo whisk and a whisk stand, just because I enjoy the doodads and paraphernalia!

I added the ounce of matcha liquid to a ten ounce cup of hot milk and stirred in one teaspoon of raw cane sugar because I want a pie experience! It is hard to believe that this tiny amount of matcha is going to flavor that whole cup of milk.

And oh my goodness, my daughter is going to be very happy! This tastes like liquid pumpkin pie. It is so rich, yet this is skim milk. I feel like I am drinking a whole milk, calorie dense beverage.

As a hot milk drink, it was also very satisfying and I am hoping it is going to keep me going as we do a big clean up today. I wondered if I would need to add some real canned pumpkin to it to give it enough flavor, but it isn’t necessary! I can’t wait for my daughter to try this! I already told her about it and she is pretty excited! She had never heard of matcha before now, and is diligently googling all the health benefits.

Pumpkin Pie Matcha

Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

I really don’t know how Red Leaf Tea is making any real profit here with their Free Matcha Program – See link here – http://www.redleaftea.com/free-matcha/
but I tell you what I sure have profited from this program – my matcha stash is growing! As long as I don’t suck it all down or send out so many samples that its gone before it has a chance to grow lol.

I have to admit it is hard not to share the wealth and it is hard not to want to drink nothing but matcha all day long. I have kept myself going easy on matcha though because I do prefer matcha shakes, smoothies, and lattes and the fact is I don’t need all those calories nor do I want to have to keep going to the store to buy more stuff to make all that with. So I have allowed myself one sometimes two matcha per day.

So I got my latest shipment – again Red Leaf Tea delivers on their super fast shipping! Now I am located only two states away from them but still I would bet doughnuts to dollars that they would get your shipment to you at light speed regardless where you are located! Mine arrived in the characteristic two days!

So here I sit with five new matcha flavors!! WOO HOOO and I only paid a little over thirty dollars for all of them due to the added promotion they have going on now for writing a lengthy review which mine tend to be when it comes to matcha anyway! When I get into something new I get really excited about it and tend to be more wordy. So with that said I decided on Pumpkin Pie Matcha to begin with. I have been having autumn fever lately and nothing says fall like pumpkin pie!

Here it is again: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

So when I opened the package, and for those who have never received a package from Red Leaf Tea, their matcha come in pretty shiny gold foil packages but they are not self sealing, no zip lock, etc so you have to plan ahead for a container or purchase one from Red Leaf – 3.00 for a small that holds up to 45 grams or 4.00 for a large that holds up to 120 grams. I always get a small tin myself. Anyway, when I opened the package and took that initial whiff of goodness I was floored! What I was smelling was in fact fresh, creamy, pumpkin pie filling! It smelled very familiar to the stuff you buy in a can but yet there was something more complex to it. It actually smelled more like what my great grandmother used to make way back in the day. I swear I could also smell pie crust baking along with the aroma of raw pumpkin and spices wafting about. This was going to be GOOOOD! So this is the one I selected to try first among so many other wondrous smells from the four other matcha I selected.

Getting out my scoop, whisk, and bowl I was so nervous and excited. Like a kid at Christmas or ummm Thanksgiving, anticipating my pie! Could this really be THAT good? As I put the initial amount of water in the bowl to begin the paste and starter forth I was hit square in the face with the aroma of spices but clove was most predominant. I took a sip… POW nutmeg, clove, cinnamon … in that order. The clove was a bit overwhelming, a bit too intense, I did go with Robust flavoring but there was absolutely no sweetness to the flavor and the spices covered up the natural sweetness of the green tea. I was a bit bummed but since I am one to usually make milkshakes, lattes, etc anyway I went for my normal method. I added ice to a tall glass, some milk, a splash of vanilla creamer, and the tea. OMYUMNESS! This is what I was looking for! Creamy, rich, spiced, pumpkin pie love.

So yes in the natural state this tea was a little too intense for me, but lets break it down. First of all I do not normally drink my matcha straight. Second of all I did opt for Robust flavoring, and lastly, I always over scoop for some reason. I know I do this, I have no idea WHY I do this, I do this with matcha and every tea I steep. I always want a flavor to hit me in the face and most of you know that about me, so in this case I got what I asked for and then some lol.

I would like for this tea to be a bit sweeter in its straight form but again I feel like the intensity of the spices covered the natural green tea powder sweetness. Its a mixture of things but next time I will go with Distinctive perhaps and I bet it will be more to my liking. The thing is though when I add my milk and ice, and in this case the splash of vanilla creamer it is PERFECTION. I mean absolute and total BLISS!

Now I will add that when this particular flavor of matcha is in this form you do lose some of the matcha goodness – from the tea powder itself, whereas if it were in distinctive flavor I think it would taste a bit more matcha – ish. BUT it does still retain enough of the matcha flavor to be appreciated and of course matcha has its own texture which I love. Yes I use a strainer but I can feel the matcha grain still in this which is nice especially with this flavor it seems to just belong there.

So end result. I would absolutely recommend this flavor – that is if you like Pumpkin Pie. I can’t wait to make a latte for my husband when he gets home from work because Pumpkin Pie is his all time favorite dessert! I would suggest you get the robust flavor only if you plan to make lattes, shakes, smoothies etc but if you like to have your matcha straight then I would go with distinctive.

Here is what my matcha was composed of:
Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g)

Note: I do believe that my basic starter matcha was upgraded to Royal (Premium Grade) due to them being out of starter matcha but I am not positive of this. Either way I find even the starter grade being wonderful an far better of a grade than other places I have purchased matcha from before at a supposedly superior grade!

One last time here is where to get this matcha:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html

Made this one with 4oz of hot water and 4oz of warm almond milk (original, non-vanilla), with a pinch of sugar.

This matcha really shines as a latte. The thing about pumpkin pie is that it’s creamy and sweet, so adding more creamy and sweet elements really brings out the pumpkin pie flavor. It’s perfomance as a latte brings this one up into the high 80s in the ratings, and I will definitely really enjoy drinking it this way this fall.

Azzrian thanks for this one, too!

Upon adding the water and whisking the aroma is pretty intense and it doesn’t really diminish much during/throughout the matcha experience…which I appreciate!

It smells a little more like Potpourri than just straight-up Pumpkin Pie but that’s doesn’t bother me.

It has a nice spicy-combo from start sip to end-sip! Neat! There is that little bit of creamy-pumpkin filling type taste in there somewhere and the PIE part completely makes sense after that.

This is true and tempting! I do like this, too!

Thanksgiving is coming! :) Even though I am in Ecuador, my Mom is American and we have grown up loving and celebrating Thanksgiving as the beginning of the holiday season. I love everything about it! The food (except the turkey… Being vegetarian, I miss out on that bit of it!) and especially the Pumpkin Pie!!! My mom makes it fresh since here in Ecuador there is no way to buy canned pumpkin! So, pumpkin matcha!?! From Red Leaf Tea? An absolute must have! I bought it and saved it for a moment when I felt Thanksgiving was near enough! The time has come! Now, for the tea review…

I opened the golden package (yes, it is really golden! :) ) and was flooded with pumpkin pie spices! It smelled deliciously festive! There is something about cinnamon and nutmeg that immediately kick starts me into the Holidays. This was just right!

I drink my matcha unsweetened and without milk. So that is how this one got prepared. I drank half a cup of it and realized that this tea needed to be drunk sweetened and as a latte. Imagine unsweetened pumpkin pie… not really something that sounds delicious. So I added milk and sweetener and I got a perfect matcha pumpkin pie latte! It really tasted like liquid pumpkin pie with a bit of green tea flavor added for extra tastiness! It is absolutely delicious! Super tasty! I love how rich and creamy it is, even though I added skim milk.

So, to sum it up, if you want a pumpkin pie tea that will make the best latte ever, this is most definitely it! If you like Pumpkin Pie, you need to try this matcha. You can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html .

I like pumpkin pie. It’s not my favorite dessert, but I like it, and no Thanksgiving is really complete without it. (I also make it for our Christmas feast as well, because my family loves pumpkin pie, and I really only make it these two times a year)

This flavored Matcha from Red Leaf Tea – http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html – has managed to capture the essence of pumpkin pie so well. It tastes as though someone has liquified the pumpkin pie and added it to a bowl of Matcha! So rich and creamy and deliciously pumpkin!

I can taste the rich and savory taste of the pumpkin, the sweetness of it, and the accent flavors of cinnamon as well as the hint of buttery pastry. If I could change anything about this, I would like a bit more pumpkin flavor here, but I wouldn’t want to sacrifice any of the other flavors to add the pumpkin flavor, so as it is, I like it just fine. So yummy! I made this into a latte (using a 1:1 ratio of hot water to warmed milk) because I wanted to accent the creaminess a bit more, and I think that this Matcha really benefits from being served this way. It tastes good prepared traditionally using only hot water, but it tastes REALLY GOOD when prepared as a latte.

The Matcha flavor is not overwhelmed with my specifications of classic Matcha with distinctive pumpkin pie flavoring, however, if you want more Matcha flavor, go with the delicate flavoring level. I don’t think I need more of the pumpkin pie flavor, I think that as it is with the distinctive level, there is a really good amount of flavor, with the flavor of the pumpkin pie just a little stronger than the Matcha, but the sweet, smooth, vegetative taste of the Matcha coming through in a nice way.

I really like this one, and I look forward to also trying this with the Cheesecake Matcha for a Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Matcha! Mmm!

This Pumpkin Pie Matcha is available here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html and you really should get some before Thanksgiving … I’m looking forward to enjoying this on Turkey day!

This is great! The flavouring on this is distinctive and that’s exactly the right choice. I mixed hot water with the matcha to blend it up a bit, then added a ton of milk and frothed it right up.

The result is very pumpkiny and creamy and super satisfying. I can taste the cinnamon/nutmeg/other pumpkin pie spices quite clearly. I’ll have to try it hot too, but I wanted the easy way first. #lazy

I didn’t sleep too well last night so I’m kind of glad I have some of this matcha to perk me up today.

Hmm, I added one scoop into around 6 oz. of soymilk and heated it up in the microwave. I can see the only issue with making these matcha soymilk drinks all day would be the calories! This smells very yummy and tastes pretty good. I am getting a lot of nutmeg here and the pumpkin pie spice. I think this might be kind of nasty if you just prepared it plain but it’s definitely good with something creamy. I think I prefer the macadamia nut matcha slightly, but this is a really good treat for this time of year.

Matcha – wake me up! :D