Alphakitty Send Message

I love baking with tea, but I had yet to experiment with Red Leaf’s matcha and baked goods. Well, two days ago I decided to change that! I whipped up a pretty simple pound cake batter, and added cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of this matcha… well, maybe a little less than a tablespoon. I’ll be honest, I don’t really measure (except for flour & sugar). I eyeball everything!

It was SO GOOD. I was worried the Bavarian Cream flavor wouldn’t come through but oh man it does. The cake is fluffy light perfection, the cream cheese/bavarian cream combo make it ridiculously decadent without adding too many calories at all (I used light cream cheese). Ugh, it’s like cake and frosting in one but with like a third of the calories. If you have this matcha with any base, put it in a cake. Right now. Just do it, it’s so good!

I love tiramisu. I mean, I really really love it. If I go out for Italian, you can bet on what dessert I’ll have (no matter how good anything else is). Even a medicore slice of tiramisu is good, but a really great piece is just… perfection. Coffee, chocolate, cream, ladyfingers. It’s tangy, rich, decadent, and so so good. The best I ever had was in Paris, though several places in NY have tiramisu that is almost as good. Of course, I had to try the tiramisu flavored matcha! And because I love the flavor so much, I went for the Robust level and the black matcha base which I just loved so much on the Cookies & Cream.

This matcha really solidifies my love for the black matcha base. I think… I might even like it better than green matcha! In fact, I think I might like the base here better than the flavoring. This was my first time with Robust, but I don’t think it is significantly more flavored than Distinctive. Then again, I think it really depends on the flavor itself—I’ve had delicate matcha that was stronger flavored than this one (Caramel) and my Cotton Candy at distinctive was so strong I honestly could barely taste the matcha! Here I think the Robust works well, it’s definitely not the strongest dessert flavor.

You can taste many of the elements: coffee, cream, and chocolate. I think the black base bolsters them a lot, since the similar notes make it taste more like tiramisu. I can’t imagine this one with a green base, I feel like the grassiness would be kind of in competition with the trio of tiramisu elements. Well, the green does have good reviews, but I think I prefer it with a black base!

This is a good matcha, though perhaps not as mind-blowing and great as some of the others I’ve tried from Red Leaf. It’s actually quite similar to cookies & cream, but without such a bold chocolate taste. What I find really interesting is that I’d swear I can taste a bit of alcohol here—not artificial flavoring, but like what they soak the bottom layer of real tiramisu in. Interesting! You can pick this one up here:

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

I think where this matcha will REALLY shine is in baking. Just imagine, a lovely delicate square of Tiramisu Black Matcha Pound Cake. Aww yeah.

This tea was really not at all what I expected. It tastes good, but kind of… an unidentifiable dessert taste. I’ve found many dessert-type teas have kind of the same taste profile: sweet, maybe-chocolate, a bit creamy, kind of a weak pastry vibe. That’s exactly what I got from this tea. No strong chocolate sadly, and only a hint of spice even though there were 5 peppercorns in my steeper. It was just not that great, tasted like tons of teas I’ve had before but without any stand-out notes to make me go “wow, this was great!” I’m wondering if my tastebuds are off on this one or something, since other people seem to be getting the chili chocolate vibe that I find lacking.

I am on a quest to find the perfect grapefruit tea, so of course I had to ask for this blend when I got my samples from Zen Tea! Anything with grapefruit, I’ll get. Orange grapefruit usually isn’t my favorite combo though, I find that the orange is often used to mask the grapefruit and in the end it tastes just like, well, an orange blend. I decided to be brave and cold brew this one: cold brewing anything with hibiscus makes me nervous since it tends to overwhelm everything when made that way. And when I strained this one, wow, it’s bright red. Like… Kool-aid red, fruit punch red. BUT there’s beet in this used to get that lovely ruby tone, so I wasn’t too worried about the tartness.

This blend is hibiscus done right! It’s so mild and really only comes in at the very very end of the sip, a little tartness which goes well with grapefruit and kind of mimics/adds to the grapefruit taste. And the grapefruit… wow! It’s really present! The orange doesn’t take away from it but just adds another layer of citrusy goodness, a little sweetness as well. Kind of like if you mixed grapefruit juice and orange-ade.

Halfway through my glass and I’m convinced something magical is going on in here. You can taste all the components: citrus from grapefruit, orange & lemongrass, fruity sweetness from the carrot & beet, a slight tartness from the hibiscus and a really nice, brisk herbaceous tone from the eucalyptus. But together.. it’s magic! SO GOOD! The eucalyptus is what does it I think, I’d swear it was juniper berry but it just ties everything together and elevates it into what I honestly think is the best herbal tisane I’ve ever had. I am so so impressed by these samples, and sad I only have one left to try! Definitely placing an order soon, hopefully with a ton of this beauty.

I totally forgot to mention it, but this blend is stunning! Whole orange slices, gorgeous whole herbs, bits of carrot and beet! Just lovely, everything about this cuppa is perfection.

As a kid, I was kind of obsessed with cotton candy. If I got any, no one could eat it but me, I’d go through an entire bag in about 5 minutes. If it was fresh cotton candy, probably 2. Anything cotton candy flavored I HAD to have. I think this has carried over into adulthood, since I go bananas for cotton candy flavored tea. I consider the 52teas blend mana from heaven, so of course I freaked out a little when I saw Red Leaf had a cotton candy matcha. How I waited until my 4th order to get some I’ll never know!

But now my tea is here and in one of the new packages! They’re about half the size and silver, very cute plus they take up less space. Yes, I don’t put my matcha in tins. I know, bad matcha owner! But I go through it all pretty fast with 1-2 cups a day so I don’t worry about it going bad or tasting less potent. I think I have like… 1 cup of caramel left? And I got it a month ago, so just a bit of tape is fine for me! Anyway, I got my Cotton Candy with the following options:

Size: Small (30g)
Matcha: Classic (did they change the name of this one? I remember it being called Starter a few weeks ago)
Flavor: Distinctive

Cotton Candy is a STRONG flavor, so maybe I should have gone with Delicate but OH WELL I WANT MY COTTON CANDY. Seriously, the flavor at this level is so strong it might as well be the “there’s matcha in there?!” option. And I love it! I made this iced (mixed up the starter and just poured it in a cup with ice cold water)—usually I do lattes but I don’t see milk and cotton candy going well together. Plus I’ve found you can add a lot of water and still retain the flavor, while the same amount of starter will only mix well with a small mug of milk. I guess the milk kind of “dampens” the flavors? In any case, I had a nice large glass of cotton candy!

And OH MAN does it taste like cotton candy. The beginning of the sip is just matcha taste, but everything after that… heaven. It might as well be melted (green) cotton candy in my glass. And the taste lingers, my mouth was all cotton candy-y for a good half hour after I finished. This is just… it’s so good. If you like cotton candy you owe it to yourself to try this one out right now. Seriously! You can get some here:

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cotton-candy-matcha.html

My samples from Zen Tea came in yesterday, and man do they all smell good! I have two cold brews to try today, with this one being first. I was the most excited about this one, I even asked for the Green Coconut as well to compare the two. GMT’s Coconut Pouchong is one of my favorite teas, and I was hoping this one would be similar since they have the same base & flavoring combo.

The coconut flavor here is SO good! Kind of toasty bake-y, but also with some fresh coconut sweetness. It’s a nice combo, and really natural tasting. Fake coconut is… blargh, reminds me of suntan lotion, but thankfully this tea doesn’t remind me of a day at the beach. Well, maybe a tropical beach, sitting on a little foldy chair while sipping a drink from a coconut. Mm yeah, this is a vacation drink for sure! Some teas really transport you by association, kind of a mental vacation. And this, well, it’s so relaxing and refreshing, makes me feel like it’s still summer.

The Bao Zhong is lovely too, lightly floral and a little creamy. A perfect compliment to the succulent coconut! This obviously reminds me a LOT of GMT’s Coconut Pouchong, in fact I like it just as much. Coconut + oolong is a winning combination for sure!

I can’t believe I am the first to review this one! Crazy! I mean, it’s eggnog, a tasty delicious dessert-type treat. And the dessert matchas really do seem to get the most attention (for obvious reasons haha) BUT not this one! Maybe because it hasn’t gone on sale yet? I’ve wanted it for a while, and decided to just go for it in my last order. I needed one more, so eggnog hopped into my cart! I got:

Size: Small (30 grams)
Flavor: Delicate
Base: Basic Matcha

I’ve only gotten one matcha with the Delicate level of flavor: caramel, my very first one! I’ve found I really like the Distinctive, though I did get a Robust one in this order that I haven’t tried yet . However, eggnog is a REALLY strong flavor and I wasn’t sure if it would meld well with matcha so delicate it was. Just a regular starter base this time, since I adore my Pumpkin Pie with the green and thought eggnog might be similar in feel. You know, fall desserts! I plan on mixing them together very soon, mm pumplin pie eggnog.

Eggnog has a very distinctive taste: creamy, vanilla and almost custard-like with nutmeg and other fall spices. Much like the Bavarian Cream, this matcha actually captures the creaminess! Vanilla is dominant, along with a custard taste and nutmeg coming in at the end of the sip. Like pumpkin pie, it melds well with the grassiness of the matcha, keeping it from being so heavy. Honestly, I can’t even drink a mug of real eggnog, it’s wayyyy too rich. In fact, as much as I love it, it makes me nauseous. So this matcha is perfect! All the eggnog flavor without the eggnog ickiness. I love it! You can get some here:

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

And while it doesn’t seem to be super popular, I think it’s definitely worth a try! A very special flavor.

I really don’t know why I got an ounce of this instead of a sample. Odd, since I am not a huge rooibos fan. But anything with cream in the name is usually a winner for me, so I went for it! And thankfully, it was successful. I cold brewed this because the last time I cold brewed a rooibos, I really couldn’t taste the negative aspects. And indeed, no medicinal taste here! It is woodsy and has that rooibos-y flavor moreso than black tea, though there’s still some signature black tea notes. A wee bit malty, and honey-sweet.

The blueberry flavor is so damn authentic! Really tastes like fresh blueberries. And the cream, yumm. Ties it all together, this tea works way better than I thought it would. Kind of like… iced blueberry yogurt, only not heavy and very refreshing.

Whenever I order from Red Leaf, I seem to gravitate towards the dessert-y or exotic flavors, and overlook things I’d usually go for. “Rose Matcha, how mundane!” is what I thought at first. But after experimenting with a lot of candy-like flavors, I wanted something simple that I knew I’d love. And what do I love more than floral flavors? So, Rose Matcha found its way into my cart, and with a fancy base too! I got:

Size: Small (30 grams)
Flavor: Distinctive
Quality: White Matcha

I got the 50/50 matcha mix for Bavarian Cream, and I really liked it so I decided to go for the full monty this time. White tea + rose is always good, so why not with matcha? Well, it definitely works! The white base is actually… grey-brown, which I was expecting but it’s browner than in the pictures. The flavor is different from the 50/50 blend a LOT (obviously): no grassiness at all, and there’s a really nice fruity taste. Peach, maybe? It’s very nice! Of course it has natural fruity notes as well, which compliment the rose.

Now, about the rose flavoring. I really like perfume-y flavors, but most people don’t. In the bag this smells like a perfume store, seriously strong! But once mixed up into a nice iced latte, the rose is smooth and really only slightly floral. It’s like rose candies: sweet (the most naturally sweet matcha I’ve tried) and with a good rose flavor but with no perfume notes. I think people who only kind of like floral teas would even love this!

It’s quite unusual compared to the other matchas I’ve tried, but I love it. So tasty and really refreshing in a way even the fruity ones aren’t! I’m also really happy I went with the white base, it goes sooo perfectly with the rose. I think lavender is next up for me!

You can buy this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/rose-matcha.html

Amazingly enough, this is the first Teavana blend I’ve tried! I think I have a few other samples floating around, but I got this in my envelop from Amanada which was just packed with goodies. I think my expectations were too high for this tea, since it fell… well, really flat.

Sure, there’s a little mint and a little chocolate. It reminds me a LOT of English Tea Store’s chocolate mint… I honestly don’t know if I could tell the difference between them, except the ETS one is more chocolatey for sure. Considering that you can get 4 ounces of that for the price of one ounce… yeah, I get why Teavana is overpriced.

This probably has sounded really negative, but I did enjoy this tea! It just needs a little oomph, like where is the hazelnut? I was really looking for it. I think a well-done hazelnut/chocolate/mint tea would be beyond amazing, sadly this is not it.