Almond Matcha

So I am very pleased that Red Leaf included a sample of this for me to try with my last order. I have a severe peanut allergy and have avoided all other nuts as well to be safe in case of contamination. However, I emailed Red Leaf to check that their teas are nut free and they told me that even their nut teas are nut free! The natural flavorings are not actually made with the nut extracts! So since I have avoided almonds all my life for fear of them being contaminated by peanuts, I finally decided to see what they taste like in the form of a safe matcha before I actually try the real thing. I still don’t think I will chance trying a peanut matcha, but I thought this would at least be a step into trying nuts that I am not allergic to without fear. And tonight, I got up my nerves to make this matcha.

So I have never had almonds before lol, except for amaretto coffee flavoring on a few rare occasions, so bear with me for this review! At first, I thought this smelled an awful lot like cherries! LOL, I asked my boyfriend to smell it and he says “no, no, it’s like that almond topping they put on cakes”. Ah, marzipan, which I have never had lol. And then I remembered that amaretto is supposed to taste like almond-y, and that’s what this smells like to me. Yummy!

As for the taste, well, I don’t have a lot to base it off of, but it is super creamy and smooth! A bit of the amaretto flavor and what I expect to be almonds in there too! This is sweet and yummy! And I finally tried something with almonds (kind of)!! I am grateful that I finally have gotten the chance to try an almond flavored item that I am not afraid of getting sick from. Once again, thank you Red Leaf Tea for allowing me to branch out in trying new foods!

ETA: This is really good. I might actually have to order some more of this! It is just so tasty and creamy! Perfect amount of sweetness for me too :)

This is such a treat for me that I’ve been holding back on indulging… not wanting to let it become less special. Maybe I need to set up a rotation schedule, so that I give all my matchas equal love.
Also, I really like that there are no resteeps with matcha. No guilt! I mean, it’s one of those things that I really enjoy about tea, but sometimes it’s nice not to, ya know?

Sipdown, 120. Sil posted earlier about making a matcha milkshake and I couldn’t get it off my mind. So I used the rest of this matcha and made a strong matcha milkshake. It was perhaps too strong… The almond flavor in this is already excessive (the highest level), and I put a lot in (it didn’t look green enough, haha!). So there’s just a hint of almost alcoholic flavoring compound to this that doesn’t usually show up when a reasonable amount of matcha is used. Still, I slurped it down quickly. Mmmm.

Someone stop me, please! No, don’t. I am going to sing to my matcha lattes…..if lovin’ you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

Since almond flavor is a big favorite of mine, and one I only tried in recent years, not having been brought up around it, I decided tonight’s flavored matcha latte would be almond. While it was DELISH, I think I am starting to prefer unflavored matcha. GASP! (We knew this day was coming, didn’t we?? I plan to try an unflavored and a Bavarian Cream Latte tomorrow. I have high hopes for the Bavarian Cream one. It is so fresh and lemony, I think it will be scrumptious served cold.)

Now I want to try the three highest grades of unflavored matcha that Red Leaf sells and see which one makes the very best latte! I am hoping i can use one of the not quite so expensive ones successfully!

I am really loving these with honey instead of the raw cane sugar I was using. That is totally unexpected to me. I really like my raw cane sugar and thought the honey would add too much of its own flavor to the drink, but instead it really enhances it.

Almond Matcha

Stunning flavor! Accurate to the core on how almond tastes only in a sweeter version! Close to amaretto but there is a difference and I do love both! I am glad I got both as well because I contemplated if they would be too similar and not worth the cost of both however as much as I love both flavors, I had to do it and I have no regrets!

This Almond matcha is sweet and nutty. The aroma is captivating!! My daughter was in the process of making macrons and decided she will add some almond matcha to them. Unfortunately we had to stop because we were out of parchment paper – can’t use waxed …. so anyway off to the store we shall run and I am going to pick up more sparkling water because I want to make an Italian Creme Soda with this almond matcha which will be AMAZING! Frothed up lovely even in milk.

I love that Red Leaf uses natural flavors!

I got back having paused in my review here and have made my almond matcha into a lovely Italian Cream Soda! DELICIOUS! I recommend trying nearly all of the matcha flavors this way.

My matcha was composed of Basic grade matcha powder and I got the Robust flavoring – this is one that you could easily go delicate and still have enough flavor. It is that strong and that good but I am glad I did get Robust just because that is what I generally prefer but next time I may just go a level lower because it does cover up a lot of the matcha base flavor and I enjoy that very much as well. I also always get the tin, even if I have to order them later I always end up going back and getting them. They are so handy and some of the best tins I have ever come across – I love that they screw on! Easy to clean as well for your next matcha flavor.

Here is where to get yours:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/almond-matcha.html

OMG – this is SO good. Thank you Azzrian for sending me some of it! I love this … this is actually one that I’ll be adding to my stash at some point because I’m really loving it.

Sweet and nutty – the two elements play with one another so well, both are sweet and creamy, and they seem to accent each other in such a beautiful way. Dinosaura likened this to liquid marzipan, and I agree… it is so good, like a dessert! Loving this!

This is the only matcha I ordered a while ago with my super-sale caramel matchaccinos. I had to try this one, as it seems it’s the highest rated here on Steepster. It’s a good start anyway! Also, I just received some lovely samples from Red Leaf, so I thought it was time to write this tasting note!

Cup #1 – Hot latte
The dry matcha has a heavenly fragrance of marzipan.. which I guess makes sense… that is certainly more fragrant than plain almonds. Microwaved warmed milk slowly poured from measuring cup to a mug with matcha in the bottom. I have no idea how much to use, so I went with half a teaspoon. It is very delicious – tastes just like the scent, though the milk does mellow it a bit. But the flavor is definitely like marzipan, creamy and sweet. But this is why I’m glad tea is so hot – this cup was gone QUICK. If I drank all cups of tea this cooled and not risked burning my mouth, I would have to drink even more tea. To taste the flavor better, I’ll move on to…

Cup #2 – steeped like a usual cup of tea
I waited for the water to cool around 40 minutes to not burn the matcha. ( Forty minutes is probably not necessary, but it just happened.) I learned that a serving is half a TEASPOON and matchaccino is a whole TABLESPOON… unless the matchaccino bag is wrong. The flavor is lovely.. more to the front than if it was a cup of milk. Just marzipan! These cups are gone quick though. :D
redleaftea.com

omg!
Dinosara!
my first matcha!

i started timidly. 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk. 1 teaspoon matcha. 1 teaspoon agave syrup (cuz the milk is unsweetened). and a little hot water to mix with the matcha.

i loved it. and i know i could make it better too!
i loved it.

This is my very first time making matcha. I couldn’t pass up the deal Red Leaf had on Black Friday. Sure, I don’t have all the fancy tools for proper matcha. I made do with a mug, strainer & little wire whisk. It turned out excellent!

When I first opened the gold pouch a really strong smell of almond hit me. At this point I was glad I started with the basic. I was afraid this was going to be super overpowering. It wasn’t an overpowering almond taste at all. It was pretty subtle. I could really taste the vegetal notes of this, which is ok by me. I’m so glad I ordered this!

Oh yum! I love almonds and almond flavored anything so I was pretty sure I would love this. This is a definite winner! I did the basic grade with distinctive flavoring and love that it’s more of a sweet almond flavoring. I added a little almond milk to it to make it more of a latte and it made it taste even better. So much almond I love it! :-)