Ok so this is my both my first matcha and my first review on Steepster. I’ve been lurking around the boards for a little while trying to find some new tea to try, but now that the red leaf matcha program is about to end, I had to get one review in so I could try another flavor! So here it goes:
I’ve been seeing so much talk about Red Leaf’s flavor matcha on here and was getting curious about what it tasted like. I’m a big green tea lover so the idea of grassiness didn’t scare me away; it just sounded too complicated for a tea novice. But that all changed when the caramel went on sale and I realized this was my chance! I got the distinctive caramel flavor in the basic starter grade, which you can get here at Red Leaf Tea:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html
Oh boy does this smell good! My roommates were standing a few feet away when I opened it and came to check what that delicious smell was. It’s that strong. (And of course they were like: Oh no you bought more tea again. But this is Matcha, I said….).
I brewed a cup of this as a latte (what better way to try it?) using my milk frother as a whisk and was totally amazed at how good it was (and how I had not overly messed it up). I was very careful about following the instructions, pouring 2 oz of 180 degree water into the matcha and started “whisking” it up. Then I added some milk and sugar (It definitely didn’t need the sugar, but I was having a bit of a sweet tooth craving that morning) and frothed some more. The flavor was so rich and creamy and totally caramel. Yum. I’m glad I went with the distinctive base. The caramel flavoring was so perfect. It’s a fresh caramel taste and it doesn’t overwhelm the grassiness of the matcha, but acts as more of a compliment to it. And the milk worked to enhance the creamy aspect of the caramel. Oh wow, how did I hold off for so long? I wanted to have another right away but had to stop myself because I can’t handle too much caffeine. But I did make it the next day. And the next. I can’t seem to stop.
I am so glad I finally caved in and bought some of this. It’s totally not what I was expecting, but way, way better. Now I just have to decide what flavor to try next…
