When I saw this Matcha on the homepage of Red Leaf Tea, I had to put it in my shopping cart. I love fig. It brings back happy memories from my childhood (much the same way that the mention of boysenberry matcha did) – at one point when I was very small, I lived on a farm, and there was a fig orchard there. I don’t remember a whole lot about who it was that I lived there with, but I do remember spending lazy summer afternoons strolling through the fig orchard, picking the ripe figs and eating them right away, when they were still warm from the sun.
When I opened the pouch of tea, I could smell the figs. It almost smelled like a package of fig newtons. It smelled of figs but something a little more. Something sweet, something almost cake-y about it.
The flavor is amazing and quite unlike any matcha I’ve tried yet. There is a spiciness to this that I don’t think I’ve ever noticed in a matcha before. It is like the sweet flavor of the fig has brought this interesting note to the surface. It is a vegetative spicy tone … which is why I attribute it to the matcha. The matcha is, of course, smooth and creamy, but what I’m really finding most intriguing is this wonderful vegetal spice. The overall flavor is warm, autumnal, and really very good. Love this!
Is the fig flavour that of fresh figs, or dried figs?
That’s exactly what I was wondering, Nik! I personally love fresh figs, but only really perfectly ripe ones.
I would answer but my experience with figs prior to tea and matcha is non existent for the most part. I have had fig jam but not sure what was used in that.
My gramma used to make an amazing fig preserve! She had a fig tree in her yard, along with apricots, which she used to make spiced apricots (& they were to die for too), & other fruit trees. Her fig preserves were in a super thick sugary syrup, & spread on toast dripping with butter…well, what can I say? Heaven? They were also good in a bowl of oatmeal! Or straight from the jar. When gramma & gramps came to visit they always brought boxes full of canning jars, filled mostly with sweet jellies, preserves, etc.
In my neck of the woods, figs are pretty trendy in the restaurants that like to emphasize local grown produce-I’m not big on eating them by themselves, mainly because they are sooo sweet, but have seen them incorporated into delicious recipes. This sounds like a matcha worth trying.
I would say partially dried…not fresh off the produce table but not completely dried to a leather…if that makes sense.
Thanks for the clarification! Terri, I love fresh figs, too. The other kind I really only like on occasion, and in Fig Newtons or some such.
how is the tea flavored? with extract of real figs?
it says
Pure Matcha powder from green leaves, Fig Natural Flavor