Alphakitty

I don’t like rooibos at all. That being said, I do love s’mores, and I couldn’t resist getting a sample of this. I mean, it’s not like I would be stuck with a bunch if I hated it! Sadly it’s discontinued, but replaced with a very similar blend I see which is good because I LOVE this tea!

I steeped it for 20 minutes, which seems like a very long time but it’s the suggested amount. I think it really paid off—I sniffed it a few times during the brewing, and while it smelled pretty rooibos-y after 10 minutes that weird medicinal odor was gone after 20! I think I might actually go back and experiment with some of my rooibos blends with longer steeps, maybe it masks the flavor better or brings out different aspects?

In any case, this tastes nothing like what I expect from rooibos, except maybe it adds a little woodsy-ness. What it DOES taste like is crusty, buttery, delicious graham cracker and soft marshmallow. It’s pretty darn amazing! As others have said the chocolate is almost non-existent, but I don’t really mind much. In fact, I think I’ll mix the rest of my sample with Della Terra’s S’mores (which I find strong on the chocolate but lacking in graham cracker flavor). This tea is so rich and luscious, but not too heavy. I know I said it doesn’t taste chocolate-y but it does remind me of red velvet cake for some reason, so I guess there’s a little chocolate! There’s also a bit of a tanginess, which I suppose is why I am getting the red velvet association.

I had enough on my gift certificate from the caramel matcha review for 2 and a half small matchas, so after cheesecake and watermelon I needed a third. I couldn’t quite decide, but I do love pumpkin pie so I went for that one! I found myself waffling after the purchase. Maybe I should have gone for pear or english toffee? But the second I sniffed this I knew it was the one. First, off, this is how I got my matcha:

Size: Small (30g)
Flavor Level: Delicate
Grade: Basic

I went for delicate flavoring because pumpkin pie is a really overpowering flavor and I didn’t want the matcha to be overshadowed. I think it was a wise choice, because right off the bat the flavor is like BAM in your face! You can smell all of the spices: clove, cinnamon, ginger, mmm. And, of course, pumpkin! I love pumpkin, it’s so great for all sorts of fall-themed sweets. My favorite is pumpkin fudge!

Anyway, I was preparing my pumpkin pie matcha latte when my boyfriend came in and said (and I quite) “shit, make me some of that!” From across the room while I was sifting the matcha. Yup, it’s that strong! So I ended up making two mugs haha. I decided to prepare it a little differently than usual, as a hot latte! Instead of mixing it with hot water at first, I just used hot milk! 2 ounces at first, and then the other 6 once it was properly whisked. I was a little worried about clumping, but it came out really well and blended perfectly. It also foamed even better than it usually does! I’m sure it’s just because I whisked extra hard in an attempt not to mix it up, but I do love that foamy surface.

This is AMAZING. I have loved all of the matchas I’ve tried from Red Leaf (this is the 4th) but this is the best. It squeaks out just over the caramel. The spices are really strong, especially the clove. I love clove, so of course I was very happy with this! The nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger are also present. Then the pumpkin: creamy, smooth, squash-y. Uhnf, sooo tasty! Then the grassy, sweet matcha comes into play. It keeps this delicious concotion from being overly rich and dessert-y, in fact I could drink this ALL day! In fact, I already want to make another serving even though it’s far too late to have so much caffeine. You can find this matcha here

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

And I really can’t recommend this one enough! If you’re on the fence about choosing a flavor, go with this one. You won’t regret it! Unless you hate pumpkin pie, and well… who hates pumpkin pie?

Second Red Leaf matcha of the day! I am actually feeling kind of icky and nauseous, and don’t want any actual food so matcha is pretty much my food for the day haha. Okay, maybe not the best for you, but it’s sooo good!

I really love watermelon, but so often it’s just a bit icky and gross and artificial in tea, candies, pretty much anywhere you’d put watermelon. You know, like a Jolly Rancher! Confession: I actually do like Watermelon Jolly Ranchers. BUT I don’t want my tea to taste like that! I want fresh tasty watermelon. And I do trust Red Leaf to deliver on really authentic watermelon taste!

My matcha is as follows
Size: 30g (small)
Flavor: Distinctive
Quality: Basic

I almost went with robust flavoring but I am really glad I didn’t: the flavor here is stronger than the cheesecake, which is the same level. Maybe the fruit is just more powerful tasting! I think Robust would totally drown out the matcha flavor, which I definitely don’t want.

In the bag, this smells… like a Jolly Rancher. Uh-oh! I wasn’t too worried, since often sitting around in the bag have a much stronger and more artificial smell than the actual taste. I didn’t really want a latte for this, so I decided to experiment with a smoothie! I have no clue how to make a matcha smoothie so this was definitely a bit of a mad scientist project.

I first sifted & prepared the matcha extra strong. I tasted it at this point, and wow! Too strong and a bit bitter for my taste, but the watermelon flavor was spot-on. Kind of like a plain matcha was made with watermelon juice instead of water! Hmm, now I wonder if you could do that—make matcha with juice or something instead of water. I do have some tamarind juice in my fridge, I’m tempted to make the caramel matcha with that!

I popped the mixed matcha in my food processor (yeah, I don’t have a blender haha) with some chunks of fresh watermelon and ice, then blended away. When it was done I added a splash of milk as well, because milk and matcha go together like… well, watermelon and summer!

OH MY GOD. This is sooooo delicious! Juicy, fresh, amazingly bold watermelon taste. The milk adds some really nice creaminess, but it’s still refreshing. This is summer in a glass, sweet and cool and just.. uhnf, I am in love. Everything I have tried from Red Leaf so far has been beyond my (admittedly high) expectations. I think I am a matcha addict now! You can find this matcha here:

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

My second Red Leaf order is finally here! I swear, the post office at my apartment is cursed or something. My first order, which went to my house, only took 3 days to get to me! This one? Well, it shipped on Saturday and I got it today. Even with the post office holiday, that seems like a LOT longer when I am only 60 miles from my house. Ugh, I was worried I wouldn’t get it in time for the Bavarian Cream sale! But, here it is, and of course I started diving in about 5 minutes after my order came.

My matcha is as follows:
Size: 30g (small)
Flavoring: Distinctive
Base: Basic

I went for a bit more flavoring than in my caramel matcha, since I wanted a little bit more oomph but didn’t want to overwhelm the matcha. It seems like most people go with Robust, which I was tempted to do but I REALLY like the taste of matcha. Maybe robust next time, but for now I want to go up in flavor slowly.

Of course I was tempted to start off with a mix of caramel and cheesecake, but I need to try this one on its own first! The smell coming out of the bag is sooo good, it’s got that creamy aspect but also tang! I feel like a lot of cheesecake teas miss out on the tangy aspect, so it’s nice to see it up front and present from the beginning here. I sifted it into the mug (a little bit more than usual, because I am feeling really tired and need to wake up!) and added 2 ounces of hot water—around 185, though I think you can use boiling? I’m not entirely sure, but I’ve been playing it safe since I’d hate to ruin some of this godly stuff. I have been thinking about getting a real matcha whisk—so far I’ve used my little baking one and it’s worked fine, but there’s only a little bit of froth. I added a little sugar too. Hey, it’s cheesecake! It needs to be sweet!

I tried it “straight” (well, as straight as it gets with sugar added haha) and it was sooo good, but really strong. I definitely prefer lattes, so I poured in some ice cold milk and whisked a little more. I feel like that fish in Finding Nemo. “Bubbles, the bubbles!” I’m so enchanted by the whole process! Once completed, I think I gulped this down in roughly 30 seconds. I try to savor, but it’s too tasty!

The cheesecake taste is spot on. Creamy, sweet and delicious! And of course, that wonderful tang is present, which really is what makes it cheesecake for me. I swear, I can taste a little bit of the buttery crust as well! Of course it doesn’t overwhelm the matcha, which I think keeps this from being overly dessert-y. Don’t get me wrong, I love dessert teas, but given the caffeine content in matcha I tend to drink it in the afternoon or early evening and I don’t really like dessert teas unless it’s right before bed. So this is perfect! It’s like a slice of cheesecake in a cup without the calories or guilty feelings, plus it gives a nice energy boost. I am SO in love with Red Leaf’s matcha, it’s perfection. I got 2 more flavors in my order and I am sure I will try them both before the day is up!

You can find this matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html

I managed to mess this tea up royally, sigh. It smells amazing dry, very similar to DT’s Honeybee, and the cold brew was just as fragrant. It even looked like liquid honey! Sadly, it tasted like licorice. Bleurgh :( Definitely need to try again!

My last sample from Della Terra! Thankfully I have an order from them in the mail, though (perhaps sadly) I didn’t add this to my order. It smells soooo good, but I have a caramel apple tea from Culinary that I enjoy. This, however, is quite different!

I’ve found that Della’s teas brew a little weak, so I used my whole sample (which was probably good for 2 small cups) on one mug. It’s such a pretty color, just like a shiny red apple! I added sugar and a splash of milk since, hey, it’s a dessert tea! Granted, I made this for the bf and only had a sip myself. It’s tasty, caramel-y and with a strong apple flavor followed by a hint of candy goodness. It’s not a complex or delicate cup, but definitely fixes sugar cravings!

I love coconut and I love chai—my search for the perfect combo still continues (and will most likely end with the Yogic coconut chai, which everyone tells me is godly and I FINALLY have a sample of!). Zhena’s is nice but tastes more like coconut water than fresh coconut, so I was excited to try a toasty version.

There is a LOT of coconut in this blend, but it doesn’t really smell anything like coconut, just a strong chai blend. Unfortunately, it kind of tastes the same. The chai aspect is really nice, with bold spices and a strong black base. The coconut is a bit lost, adding a hint of fruitiness but not that big bold coconut taste I was hoping for. I found the coconut a bit weak on their Jasmine Coconut as well (though I did prefer that blend).

So it’s a nice tea and I did enjoy it (definitely look care of my chai craving) but it just didn’t deliver on the coconut front. Maybe I’ll try steeping it for a bit longer, I have enough left to play around with!

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

I love mint and I love oolong, but I’ve never had the 2 in combination. There’s a first time for everything though, and I added this intriguing sounding blend to my Whispering Pines sample order because, hey, it’s mint! At their suggestion, I cold brewed this one overnight and opened my fridge 12 hours later to the deliciously powerful smell of mint. Seriously, it pervaded my whole fridge! I mean, nothing else in there TASTES like mint, it’s just a little fresh smelling haha.

This blend is minty perfection. It’s so smooth, crisp and refreshing! The oolong is thankfully not lost but adds a light, almost mineral taste to the cup that keeps this from being an ordinary mint tea. It’s also a bit floral and very strong—I’m not sure if it’s caffeine or the mint, but it woke me right up when I’d finished the glass! Definitely my favorite from Whispering Pines so far, and one I very much think I’ll be ordering in a larger quantity.

I’ve had my eye on this tea for ages—in fact, it was the first Verdant product to make me go “OH GOD I need to order from here immediately.” Sadly, the second tea that almost pushed me over the edge (Thai Ginger Fire) is now discontinued. But hey, at least I finally got my paws on some of this! That $10 off coupon was just too tempting.

I made this two ways: I cold brewed some leaves (buds?) last night and then steeped them Western style this evening. I wanted to do fancy gaiwan style but I had to do a photoshoot and there were lamps all over the table where the tea setup would go. Oh well, I got a full 2 ounces of this so I definitely have tons to play around with! I actually drank the hot tea before the cold brew, so I’ll start there.

Hot: This smells like pure, heavenly jasmine. Given that it’s the first ingredient, not surprising! I was a bit worried because it smells like JUST a jasmine tea, but the floral scent was hiding a lot of depth. Yes, there’s jasmine—sweet, lightly perfumey and perfect—but there’s a whole lot more going on as well! There’s a soft sweetness and an underlying berry taste (probably from the goji berries, but I don’t have enough experience with them to go “oh, this is goji!”), and a strong plant-y presence. It’s not grassy or even vegetal, it tastes like… plants. Like fresh leaves! It’s really interesting, especially with the jasmine, and it gives the tea kind of an outdoorsy feel. Like one should drink this on the porch of a cabin in the woods, overlooking golden fields as the sun goes down through the trees. Lastly, there’s a bit of a bite at the end of the sip—grapefruit, though it took me a while to identify it as such. It’s got that hint of acidity that brings everything together!

Cold Brew: This was done before the hot, so I suppose it got the majority of the flavor…. not that the hot tea was lacking in any of that! This is quite different cold, more softly floral and grassy. The grapefruit does add bitterness, moreso than in the hot tea for sure. But it’s cut by an almost creamy sweetness, possibly the vanilla? I didn’t get any berry taste this way (which is odd, they sat in water for 12 hours!) so I think it is definitely the vanilla beans. And oddly enough, while the floral taste hot was all jasmine the rose comes into play more this way.

I honestly don’t know which way I like it more—both bring out different flavor profiles, and I adore them both! This tea is definitely a keeper. Like, an “I must have this in my cupboard at all times, I’ll eat ramen for a week to afford it” kind of keeper.

Another from Nicole! I really love assam, it’s my favorite unflavored type of black for sure. While I am quite loyal to my Captain Assam, I know it’s not going to be around forever so I’d like to find a good substitute for the horrible day when my tin runs out (actually I’m almost there!) and there are no more for sale.

This is a nice assam, perhaps a bit lacking on the strong, malty molasses notes I look for usually. In fact, this is pretty light for an assam, without any of those “WAKE UP!” flavors I’d expect. It’s a nice tea and I’m happy to have tried it, but it doesn’t quite have the punch I was hoping for.

My second to last sample from Malt! This is a lighter version of the 120 Malt, which I totally adored. Apparently these ones are given a bit of a lighter treatment, and as such have a less potent malty flavor. This is definitely true—it brews up lighter in color, and looks more like honey than molasses. Tastes like it, too, there’s a really strong honey taste here! Also notes of hay and corn, it reminds me a bit of a pu-erh.

There’s still quite a bit of malty goodness, it’s not as rich and savory as the 120 but still very present. If the 120 was a dark chocolate malted ball, this is a milk chocolate one—sweeter, lighter, with less depth of flavor but not in a bad way. The 120 was kind of a kick in the tastebuds, this is a bit… easier to drink? If that makes sense. With the 120 I found myself intrigued with every sip, while the 60 goes down smooth and easy. I do enjoy the molasses-y, complex notes of the stronger malt but this one is also so delicious!

I am SO behind on tasting notes! I think I’ve just been drinking an unusual (for me at least) amount of tea recently, and it’s finally caught up with me. I’ve been doing 2-4 cold brews a day, and this is one from this morning.

Thanks to Nicole for this tea! I really like what I’ve tried from Golden Moon Tea, and I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. I’ve never had a black jasmine tea, though I do have a Jasmine Cream from NMT to try out. Ah, my sample backlog is getting overwhelming! Anyway, this tea has all the ingredients for success. It’s got a really nice kind of malty black base, a rich floral taste from the jasmine, and a wonderful creaminess from the vanilla. In fact, it reminds me of cream soda! Only, you know, without the fizz and a lot less sweet. The black base and the vanilla also tone down the jasmine a lot so it’s not perfume-y or overly floral.

While all the elements are there, it’s missing a little bit of pizazz. Don’t get me wrong, I really like it, but it just doesn’t scream “this is a special tea!” to me. I think it would be nice for an everyday iced tea, though it seems to be a bit expensive for that. I am really digging the cream soda vibes though, it’s a nice way to get a sweet fix without having tons of calories!

I bought this tea knowing full well it wouldn’t taste anything like baked goods or truffles or whatever they say it is “supposed” to be. I found the idea of a pseudo-Indian savory tea really intriguing, so into my cart it went!

The smell of the dry leaves is incredible. And I almost understand the name: the very first whiff is very much like buttery baked goods, and then you get a big hit of that cumin. It’s so intriguing, I spent a long time just smelling it! It tastes very interesting: the spices come out well and are almost chai-like, there’s a nuttiness from the pistachio, the cumin almost makes it savory but there’s a creamy vanilla-like texture that brings it back to sweet. I don’t really know how to rate this one so I am just going to leave it off: I really enjoyed it, but it’s a very very odd tea and definitely not for everyone. I plan on mixing some with a rose congou and sweetening with honey to create more of an Indian dessert feel!

I love rose teas. I mean, I really love them—if push came to shove, I’d probably pick rose as the one flavor to have every day. Not that I’ll ever be in a situation where that will happen, but hypothetically. Unless, you know, a genie comes down and will grant me one wish if I pick one flavor of tea to drink for all eternity. Actually… I love tea so darn much I might only take that offer up if it was for 3 wishes! Or if the first wish didn’t have an “I wish for infinite wishes” clause.

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a while, but I have so many rose teas I didn’t know if this would be worth a 50g purchase. Fortunately, I got a sample in a swap with Sare! It smells SO good, like rose perfume. Okay, I know most people don’t like perfume-y teas, but I do. They remind me of when I was a little girl and had fake tea parties. In my head, the imaginary tea I served smelled JUST like this. I made this iced, since I have enough to try it both hot and cold.

This reminds me a lot of Upton’s Rose Congou. It’s got that same pervasive rose taste, backed up by a strong but not overwhelming black base. However, this might be even more rosy, believe it or not! The white chocolate also adds a wonderful hint of sweetness. This is such a little girl tea—not, of course, in a bad way. But you know when you’re 5 and all dressed up for some party in a pink frock, with ribbons in your hair? That’s what that tea is. Simple, sweet, innocent, fresh, delicious! This is definitely one of the very best rose teas I’ve tried, thanks so much Sare!

Another one from my sampler pack! I let this cold brew probably for longer than I should, but it was so light in color after 12 hours that I just let it sit for about 6 more. Well, no harm done! It’s not too strong, but it’s also not as light as it was. It’s still pretty pale, but doesn’t lack flavor!

However, this is a lighter genmaicha than what I am used to. The green tea taste is stronger and grassy-sweet, with softer backing notes from the roasted rice. Given the strength of the other teas I’ve tried from Malt, I was kind of surprised! It’s not bad, in fact I like having a less toasty genmaicha option since the ones in my cupboard are either very toasty or mixed with matcha and not really an “everyday” drink.

While I am enjoying how refreshing this is, I wonder what a genmaicha-style blend with Malt’s roasted corn or crystal malt would be… I could imagine that being SO good! Toasty corn mixed with green tea, mmmm.

I won a contest on Della Terra’s Facebook page for a free sample of tea of my choosing (I went with S’mores) and 2 other samples: this was one of them! It doesn’t seem to be one of their more popular blends, probably because it’s on the pricey side. I was excited to try it though, since mango + rose petals is a combo I love. As a side note, their site says rosehips are an ingredient while my bag says rose petals. I looked through my tea and saw a lot of petals but no rosehips.

I have a few fruity-floral blends already, so my hopes for this weren’t that high. I mean, I wanted it to be good, but I wasn’t expecting to be blown out of the water. Boy was I wrong! This stuff is DELICIOUS. The strawberry is so juicy and fresh, and balanced perfectly with the mango. They’re two fruits I never thought of really going together, but they work so well here! I was amazed at how good the strawberry was, not at all artificial. The rose backs up the fruity flavors perfectly, for that hint of floral undertone that I just love in iced tea.

The most interesting aspect of this blend is definitely the pu-erh. It adds an earthy, smokey undertone that keeps this from being just a nice fruity/floral blend and really elevates it. The cute little faux pearls also aren’t for show: they melted pretty quickly into my cup during a short 4-hour cold brew and added a lovely sweetness. This tea is fruity, floral, earthy, and sweet: so perfect for an iced tea! They have a spend $25 get 2 free ounces of tea promo going on, and I am REALLY tempted to pick up some sampler packs and some more S’mores just to get my hands on more of this tea.

Enjoying an iced caramel matcha latte this evening to celebrate the purchase of more matcha! This stuff is so good, practically addictive. Can’t wait to mix it with pumpkin pie and cheesecake! But probably not with the watermelon, that would be weird…

I debated between this tea and the Sakurambo Vert for quite a while. I know the Vert is probably a better tea objectively, but I already have some cherry greens but no cherry blacks so I thought I’d take a swing at this one. Also, it looks so pretty with those cute little red balls! I’m not exactly sure what they are, but they look nice.

The weird thing about this blend is the little needles in the blend. They look like pine needles, but they can’t be, right? Well, I ate one (as I often do when there’s a mystery ingredient!), and… yup, pine needles. Or something that tastes exactly like a pine needle. I was a little worried at this point, but let it sit in the fridge for about 5 hours—I did a fast cold brew with this one, mostly because the smell was SO strong I wasn’t sure how it would fare after an overnight steep.

Well, as I feared, this tastes like pine needles. It has that tanginess I associate with them, and it’s kind of odd. It’s not overwhelmingly pine-y, but it’s still an undercurrent that ran throughout the whole cup. The cherry was there too, on the tarter side than most blends. It reminds me of the cherry tree down the street from me: my neighbor has a whole bunch of fruit trees, and as kids we’d get overly excited and start eating them before they were ripe. The cherries would be quite tart, with only a hint of sweetness. This is kind of like that, but while it brings back pleasant memories it’s not at all what I was expecting. I think I need to try this one hot, as cold it’s just a little strange.

Another from my swap with TeaEqualsBliss! In the bag this smells JUST like Tropicalia and I’m kind of obsessed with that tea so it was a good starting point. Seriously, why don’t I own any Tropicalia yet?! I always just get it iced in the store. Well, I guess this will do for now!

Many of the notes say that this is a tart blend, so I cold brewed it. Actually I would have done that anyway, but I’ve found that it really cuts down on the tartness from hibiscus even in long steeps (and this one was in the fridge for 13 hours). It’s a gorgeous red color when finished, and the tropical smell is a bit diminished. It doesn’t taste as boldly pina colada-y as Tropicalia, but the coconut and pineapple are still prominent. They’re tempered a bit by the hibiscus and rosehips but it’s still a great iced tea! I actually don’t mind hibiscus when it’s not overwhelming the other flavors, and I do think it works well here and keeps it from being too sweet.

One of the packages in my tea blitz was a wonderful envelope from TeaEqualsBliss packed to the brim with goodies! I laid them all out on my living room table and basked in their gloriousness for a while before sniffing all of them (and having the bf stick his nose in about half!). The next day, I asked what tea he wanted for the evening and he replied with “that one you had me sniff that smelled like a field.” Mm, very helpful! We knew it was from the envelope, and I went through every tea looking for a “field smell” before realizing it was the cute little tin of dragonwell I’d put in the cupboard already! Oops.

This is a nice, basic dragonwell. A little grassy, a little nutty. Very plant-y, which I do enjoy! And yes, it does smell like a field. There’s no astringency even though I wasn’t very good about cooling the water, which is nice. I think this is a good, everyday green—plus it comes in a teeny little tin! It’s just so cute.

I was away from my apartment for three full weeks, and of course came back to a veritable flood of mail. It was about 20 packages, and half of them were tea! Opening them up wasn’t exactly what I imagined: it was more overwhelming than joy-inducing. For once I sat there and said “what am I going to do with all this tea?!” Thankfully it is almost all samples, so I suppose it won’t take too long to go through. I’ve tried to compensate by drinking more tea than usual per a day, but it’s still slow going. And of course now I need a bigger sample basket…

Anyway, I ended up getting my samples from Whispering Pines really late compared to most people. On one hand, it might be a good thing since they got to sit and have all the flavors mingle! On the downside, my entire package smelled like s’mores so it was hard to distinguish any individual tea smells. No cross-contamination, but I picked this for a cold brew based on the name rather than an enticing smell.

This is pretty much what I expected: a nice but demure green base backed by a very nice floral jasmine and a hint of tropical coconut. I could go for a bolder coconut taste, it seems a bit odd that it’s muted since there are so many flakes in the bag! But it’s nice: maybe not in-your-face creamy coconut, but enough to give a distinctive beachy taste to the tea. The jasmine is really the most prominent taste, and I do like iced jasmine teas!

Before I get into how this tea tasted, I added this as a new entry even though there’s a generic Crystal Malt one—they come in 3 different levels, so I thought it’d be easier to have an entry for each one. This is 120, apparently the maltiest of all.

Like the barley/corn I cold brewed this for about an hour. It brewed to a lighter color than the barley/corn teabag, but I could tell by the smell that it was done already. I’ve mentioned this, but I LOVE that these brew up into strong iced tea so quickly AND they resteep! It’s so convenient.

This is unlike any tea I’ve ever tasted. Well, it’s a tisane I suppose, but you know what I mean! It is so savory, like roasted corn and wheat. The smell reminds me of fresh baked croissants! It’s also very nutty and rich. However, while it’s really savory it’s also surprisingly sweet. The malt taste is really strong, like a malted milk ball without the chocolate, and there are caramel/honey notes as well. It’s so intriguing, I just can’t stop sipping it!