Hazelnut Matcha

OH my! This is yummy!

I was amazed at how fragrant it is. From the moment I opened the pouch, I could smell the aroma of the Matcha, it literally filled the kitchen. My mouth began to water. I love hazelnuts – I live in the Pacific Northwest, after all! – but I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to love this as much as I do. I figured I’d like it, but, this is really exceeding any expectations I may have had. Blowing them away with how delicious it is.

I ordered the starter Matcha with the distinctive level of flavoring which is my go-to specs on most Matcha. And it works very well for my personal tastes … however, I will say that usually I find that the distinctive level usually delivers a well-balanced Matcha that tastes pretty equally of Matcha and flavor … but here, the Hazelnut does win out over the Matcha.

That does not mean that the matcha is not tasted … it definitely is there, but the hazelnut does outshine the flavor of the matcha a bit, so if you want a more balanced bowl of Matcha, with this particular flavor I might recommend to try the delicate level of flavoring.

As it is though, I am very happy with the distinctive flavoring. This is deliciously hazelnut, with tasty notes of sweet, vegetative Matcha … and they meld together very nicely.

Very yummy … I’m wondering how it might taste with a pinch of salt, so this is hopefully something I’ll remember the next time I whisk up a bowl of this Matcha!

Oh my goodness. Sil, you are magic. Really. Thank you SO much for sharing this with me!

Mixed with 1/4 tsp of distinctively-flavored hazelnut matcha, 1/4 cup of whipping cream (I’m currently on an extremely high fat diet for medical reasons) and the tiniest possible amount of pure stevia (maybe an eighth of a pinch, if that)… and this is hazelnut creamy deliciousness. I could drink this all day. It is perfect, and the only thing I can say I want more of is hazelnut flavoring – which came about in my next tasting note!

I actually made this yesterday, but totally forgot about it! I ended up ordering this one because I was so enchanted with the Macadamia Nut Matcha (one of my favorites!) and needed to try out more nutty flavors. Hazelnut isn’t a flavor I have often, but it’s so delicious, especially in tea. I was debating over getting this or Almond, but Hazelnut won out… mostly because of the possibility of making a Nutella Matcha Latte. Mmm! I ordered:

Size: Small
Base: Classic Matcha
Flavor: Distinctive

So, the same as usual! I almost went for a black base on this one, but I was so enchanted with the green macadamia matcha that I decided to just go for it. I’m not sure if I regret that decision or not… this really would be great with a black base, maybe even Nutella-tasting on its own! Since the black matcha has some chocolatey notes.

That’s not to say it’s not good with a green base! The hazelnut flavor is strong and nicely present, with rich nutty, almost buttery tones that do meld really well with the smooth and light green matcha. But it’s kind of… lighter than I was expecting. The Macadamia seemed to combine effortlessly with the matcha flavor, but the same thing isn’t happening here. Not entirely in a negative way: it’s still a perfectly tasty matcha, just not as totally amazing as macadamia nut. I think the green base competes a little bit with the hazelnut flavor, since they don’t exactly have similar profiles.

I may sound a bit negative, BUT I do love this matcha as I almost always do with Red Leaf Tea flavors. It’s just not quite what I was expecting, though I think my expectations were just too high! It’s still scrumptious and I think making it cold was a mistake: this just begs to be a hot, rich latte…. maybe with some actual Nutella mixed in? I think this one will be great for baking to! You can get some here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/hazelnut-matcha.html

i need to have this one again. I’m not yet sure how i feel about this one as a latte. it wasn’t a bad cup of tea but i wasn’t quite sold on the whole hazelnut flavour. I’m wondering if that’s because this would be better as a robust flavour. I’ll have to give it some more thought over another cup :)

Once upon a time ago, I was away at a conference. I found myself in the elevator talking away to total strangers. I was the only person talking in the elevator. When it was apparent that no one was going to talk to me, I said, “oh well, just call me a nut.” Then I heard this lone voice say, “ Hello Hazel” as he exited the elevator. I died laughing and ever since that day Hazelnut has long been a favorite flavoring. I was thrilled to find it available in a matcha, I could hardly wait to get my order. Upon getting my order, I poured the bright green matcha powder into a tin. The smell from this endeavor almost took my breath away. This is one strong flavored matcha! Hazelnut is typically nutty and aromatic. This particular blend is extremely roasty. Perhaps a coffee drinker could more appreciate the roast on this blend.
To say the least, I was disappointed. I could certainly drink the tea and I did, but it was not as tasty as I had hoped. It was a bit too roasty for my taste and left an aftertaste in my mouth.
I contemplated this tea all week long. Every Matcha I have sampled from Red Leaf have been superb. I just could not stand to turn my back on this one. I searched recipe after recipe and finially decided upon making scones.
Today, I made a Hazelnut matcha scone from this tea from Red Leaf tea: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/hazelnut-matcha.html
My disappointment turned into elation! This strong flavored matcha is the perfect addition to a basic scone recipe. The scone is flaky, slightly sweet and is this beautiful pale green hue. I am drinking a Ceylon black tea with my Hazelnut Matcha scone and let me tell you I am in heaven. This is just what I was looking for, who knew that Matcha would be a great addition to baked recipes. Now, I can get all the health benefits of Matcha when I enjoy my black teas and not blow my diet on a cookie filled with fat. This is definitely a Win, Win for me in a tea ordering situation that I viewed as bleak. I am so thrilled that I took a chance and added that 1 tablespoon of matcha into my scone recipe. You read that right! Only 1 tablespoon was needed to bring out the nuttiness of the hazelnut and the smoothness of the matcha. Both are greatly enhanced in this flaky scone.

Thank you Dinosara for sending this to me. I love nuts, and I especially love hazelnuts. When I smelled this, I knew I was going to like it. It smell sweet and nutty and almost like a dessert. I made it up latte style with milk and a bit of sweetener, and it was delicious. Sweet and nutty and creamy and mouth watering.

The hazelnut is the star of the show here, but that doesn’t mean that the matcha doesn’t make an appearance.

This is a new favorite flavor for matchas, and I can only imagine how decadent this would be blended with a bit of cocoa powder, or even chocolate chip ice cream.

Not too good of a tea, :( it is kind of bitter. could use some sugar :)

I tried making this pretty much the same way I did it yesterday for the amaretto, with the exception that I heated the milk a little in the microwave before adding it to the cup to froth. I’m not sure if that made a difference or not, but I had a hard time picking the hazelnut out in this one. Yesterday I could clearly taste the amaretto. So I might try the cold milk again and see what happens with another flavour.

Continuing on with the matcha adventures, thanks to the wonderful Sil. As soon as I opened the massive box of matcha, I was hit with a cloud of nuts, above everything else in there. I thought, “Wait, is there macadamia in here?” I have that one in the highest flavouring level and it’s damn potent, so I was amazed to discover that a) it’s hazelnut and b) she ordered it in “only” (big quotation marks there) distinctive. It was even wrapped in an additional layer of aluminum!

But that said, it smells almost the same as the macadamia. I wonder what RLT is using as the flavourings for these then, a generic nut flavouring? Or they’re two different flavourings which so happen to have a generic nut scent in the background? Or I’m just losing my mind, as per usual?

Hot latte, here I come. I combined around half a measuring tsp of matcha with almost a cup of water, half a regular tsp of brown sugar, and a tablespoon or so of half and half.

Yep, tastes like a slightly calmed down version of my “There’s Matcha in There?!” macadamia. I honestly don’t get a distinct hazelnut flavour from this.

Another sip. And another. Nope. Nada. Maybe some weird genetics are at play here and these simulated nut flavourings are far too chemical for me because I seem to be one of the odd ones out.

I’ll try it as a cold latte next, and will probably stick to that. I think it would go better/well with banana and honey. I’m sure it would be great with hazelnut butter, which I’ve yet to try but heard it’s a billion times better/more flavourful than Nutella because you don’t get all that sugar and chemicals in it.

Thanks for the opportunity, Sil! :)

Take some plain almond milk, half a banana, half a spoonful of Nutella, and a 1.5 servings of this matcha, and you have one nutty beverage. Indulgent but not as sweet as I thought, which is nice.

Thanks, Sil, for making my day a little richer!