LiberTEAS

These leaves are gorgeous! And they brew up the most beautiful, pale green colored liquid. So very pale … like a color blending of alabaster and the softest, palest green. So beautiful!

The flavor is unbelievably good. So sweet and it seems to sparkle on the tongue… it’s almost effervescent. The flavor starts out with a very, very subtle vegetative tone – almost barely existent – tasting of the mildest, youngest steamed artichoke heart. Buttery and rich, but with only a hint of vegetative taste. As I continue to sip, the vegetative tones develop somewhat, but they never become a really STRONG taste. Everything about this tea is very soft, delicate, and almost white tea-like. I mean that to mean that it tastes of such an exceptional quality, something that is in the furthest reaches of green tea (I like green tea, but, this is like a step beyond green tea, even).

I really love this. A truly remarkable tea.

I don’t recall what it was that lead me to order this particular flavor of Matcha from Red Leaf Tea … available here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/brandy-matcha.html Was it on sale? Probably.

I’m not typically overly excited about alcohol-inspired flavored teas. Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed many of those that I’ve tried. (By the way, Red Leaf Tea has many delightful wine infused selections of tea too: http://www.redleaftea.com/wine-tea/) But, I’m just not a fan, in general, of alcohol, so, I don’t really feel the need to enjoy it via tea. As I said, I have enjoyed the various alcohol-infused and/or alcoholic beverage inspired teas that I’ve tried, some more than others … but, generally speaking I’d prefer other flavors over alcohol inspired flavors.

But, I REALLY do like this and am glad that I got it … whatever it was that inspired me to get it. When I first opened the pouch, it smelled of sweet brandy, kind of like a sweet, truffle-y filling in a alcohol infused chocolate. My order specifications for this particular matcha were my “go to”/usual specifications: distinctive level of flavoring with the classic grade of Matcha. This seems perfect for me as I taste a really pleasing balance between Matcha and flavor … although I don’t know that what I’m tasting is actually Brandy flavoring. Is brandy typically this sweet and fruity? (Again, not something I would know, since I don’t usually partake of “spirits”)

The Matcha is sweet and creamy and not quite as vegetative as some other Matcha. The vegetative tones are there, but they’re quieter, more elusive, and off in the background.

I do taste notes of what I’m going to call “brandy” if for no other reason than this is supposed to be a brandy flavored matcha … there is a certain alcohol-like flavor to this. But, it is also rather subdued in the presence of some rather strong flavors. As I quickly perused some of the tasting notes, I saw a comparison to “Juicy Fruit” gum and I get that comparison, it is sweet and almost candy like. As I mentioned earlier, the fragrance reminded me quite a bit of the sweet, truffle-like filling of a chocolate covered, brandy-infused confection. And I taste a lot of that same type of flavor here. Not an overwhelming, straight-up alcohol note, nothing strong or overbearing or drunkard tasting, instead, it is sweet and very, very smooth.

Yes, for this bowl of Matcha, I would say that smooth is the best descriptive. No sharp or astringent alcohol notes. Nothing at all off-putting. An aftertaste that is vaguely reminiscent of the aftertaste you might experience after a sip of brandy. (Again, that’s going off a distant memory because it’s been quite a while since I’ve consumed brandy)

Very enjoyable. I like this one a lot, and look forward to trying this mixed with other flavors! In case you forgot, you can get some here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/brandy-matcha.html

This is FANTASTIC! With the flavors of orange and cardamom you get a very “orange spice” kind of feel to the background. It isn’t overly spicy, just warm and exotic, and the orange is sweet and adds a little bit of brightness to the overall cup. But what really makes this blend unique is the lingonberry. Lingonberry can be very tart but here it isn’t overwhelmingly so. It is tart … but there is more of a sweet-tart kind of taste rather than straight up tart… which probably has a bit to do with the addition of the orange to this blend.

The sweet-tart taste is there throughout the sip, and the finish is tingly and tarty and lingonberry-ish. The warmth of the cardamom is also present throughout the sip, while the Ceylon plays a good support for the rest of the flavors – offering a delicious, medium-bodied flavor of black tea without becoming too intrusive on the flavor. In this case, that is a really good thing because it’s a lovely way to experience lingonberry.

I like this one a lot. This might just become my “holiday blend” alternative. Very nice.

Oh yum. Oh yummy yum yum yum!

This is really good. The blueberry flavor is perfect – tasting like ripe, juicy blueberries that are bursting with flavor. They taste like the cooked blueberries … the kind you’d taste in a blueberry muffin – and when you bite into it it just oozes with juicy flavor. Mmm!

Then there is the buttery cake taste that Frank captures so well. It is rich and dessert-y delectable. I can even taste the brown sugar crumble on top … all that’s missing is the crumbly, crispy texture. The subtle lemon note brightens the cup without intruding too much on the overall flavor.

This is better than my local bakery’s blueberry muffin. So yummy!

I’m finally getting around to trying this sampling sent to me by DaisyChubb (thanks … and sorry it took me so long!) I figured I had better get to trying it because the three jelly bellys that were in this sampling represented the last of the jelly bellys in the house (the large jar somehow disappeared) and I feared for these jelly bellys safety.

Oh… YUM! I like this. It is remarkably sweet, which should come as no surprise. It’s a bit like a handful of jelly beans that have been liquified and served warm. Sweet and tasting very much like jelly bellys.

I like that I don’t taste a lot of rooibos flavor here, just a slight woody/nutty note from it, mostly I taste coconut, pineapple and strawberry … in that order. Sweet and candy-like. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, this isn’t the right tisane for you.

My tasting note went bye bye after Firefox crashed on me. :(

This is an exquisite white tea … the leaves are incredibly green. If I had not opened the pouch myself, I would swear that these were green tea leaves and not white. They are so tiny and delicate looking… and deeply green!

The flavor is amazing. Sweet and vegetative, tasting very much like sweet sugar snap peas as suggested by Verdant. I also taste the hint of almond to this, it tastes almost creamy like the creaminess of a raw almond, but, with the sweetness of a roasted almond (but not so much of the toasty flavor of the roasted almond). It’s really quite delightful. Delicate in the way that I taste generally only from a white tea, but, also quite green tea tasting. Very intriguing and lovely.

In subsequent infusions I notice more sweetness, like honey… reminding me of the honeysuckle of my childhood memories, but not quite that either. It’s somewhere between that honeysuckle and wildflower honey.

I really love this White tea … I can see why it has been so highly regarded by other Steepsterites. I’m enjoying this immensely.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

This is an adventurous tea – it takes the palate on an adventure. It is also quite different than I expected it to be. With a name like Tropical Island, I expected something pineapple or papaya or mango … or a combination of these flavors. But I didn’t get those at all.

The first flavor that I tasted was lime. It really stood out over all other flavors in the cup with the first two or three sips. After that, the blackberry flavors began to emerge, and I also began to notice the flavor of the black tea. After a few more sips, I tasted a sort of “sweet and sour” kind of taste, and I guess that’s from the sour sap? Soursop? I’m not real familiar with this fruit, as I tend to shy from things called sour. But, I’m liking it just fine here.

By about mid-cup, I notice a hint … very subtle hint … of pear.

A really intriguing cup that kept me on my toes. I like the challenge that this tea offers.

I know that I should be drinking other teas right now… I have so many different teas to be tasting and reviewing, but I wanted more Matcha!

When I opened the package, it smelled very much like banana candies. I’m not a big fan of banana runts but I do like banana taffy. I don’t know why I don’t like the banana runts. I just don’t. So, as I was whisking this, I hoped that it wouldn’t end up tasting like banana runts.

It doesn’t. I don’t know, maybe it actually does but as I have it made up in my mind that I “don’t” like banana runts that because I do like this Matcha, I’ve decided that it doesn’t taste like banana runts. Does that make sense? Probably not. Does it have to make sense? I guess not.

It tastes good and sweet, but it isn’t an overly sweet banana taste. It tastes more like the fruit to me, rather than something overly sweet. The sweetness is more like the sweetness from the banana and the Matcha … which is what I mean about the tasting like the fruit rather than something too sweet. It tastes like banana mixed in with Matcha without the texture of the banana.

As I was opening this pouch and all the while as I prepared the Matcha, I couldn’t help thinking about the minions – http://youtu.be/BYBw_o_2nG0 – and their love of bananas. I love the minions.

I chose the distinctive level of flavoring together with the classic grade of Matcha, and I think that this combination worked well. The banana flavor is strong but doesn’t overwhelm the sweet taste of the Matcha. Interestingly, though, I don’t taste a lot of vegetative taste from the Matcha with this… it’s almost like the vegetal tones have melded with the fruit tones in some way. It tastes less vegetal and more banana-y, but I still taste the Matcha. The Matcha tastes more buttery to me this time around than vegetative. But it is still smooth and creamy and rich, and I’m loving it! You can get some of your own Banana Matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/banana-matcha.html

It tastes absolutely lovely. I love it on it’s own, but I think it will also taste great mixed with just about any of the various Matcha flavors that I have in my cupboard. Cinnamon Banana … yum. Banana Cheesecake … yum! Strawberry banana … might be good. I think I’m one of the only ones out there that isn’t particularly crazy about the combination of strawberry and banana, even though I do usually add strawberries and bananas to my smoothies … I usually have other fruits in there too so that it’s not all about the strawberries and bananas. I am thinking I’d rather have boysenberry and banana.

Anyway… I don’t usually close my reviews with a song choice, but, I think it’s fitting to offer this song choice with this Matcha: http://youtu.be/wCkerYMffMo

I like pumpkin pie. It’s not my favorite dessert, but I like it, and no Thanksgiving is really complete without it. (I also make it for our Christmas feast as well, because my family loves pumpkin pie, and I really only make it these two times a year)

This flavored Matcha from Red Leaf Tea – http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html – has managed to capture the essence of pumpkin pie so well. It tastes as though someone has liquified the pumpkin pie and added it to a bowl of Matcha! So rich and creamy and deliciously pumpkin!

I can taste the rich and savory taste of the pumpkin, the sweetness of it, and the accent flavors of cinnamon as well as the hint of buttery pastry. If I could change anything about this, I would like a bit more pumpkin flavor here, but I wouldn’t want to sacrifice any of the other flavors to add the pumpkin flavor, so as it is, I like it just fine. So yummy! I made this into a latte (using a 1:1 ratio of hot water to warmed milk) because I wanted to accent the creaminess a bit more, and I think that this Matcha really benefits from being served this way. It tastes good prepared traditionally using only hot water, but it tastes REALLY GOOD when prepared as a latte.

The Matcha flavor is not overwhelmed with my specifications of classic Matcha with distinctive pumpkin pie flavoring, however, if you want more Matcha flavor, go with the delicate flavoring level. I don’t think I need more of the pumpkin pie flavor, I think that as it is with the distinctive level, there is a really good amount of flavor, with the flavor of the pumpkin pie just a little stronger than the Matcha, but the sweet, smooth, vegetative taste of the Matcha coming through in a nice way.

I really like this one, and I look forward to also trying this with the Cheesecake Matcha for a Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Matcha! Mmm!

This Pumpkin Pie Matcha is available here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/pumpkin-pie-matcha.html and you really should get some before Thanksgiving … I’m looking forward to enjoying this on Turkey day!

I think that KeenTeaThyme send me a bag of this tea … THANKS!

this is not a bad chai … although I’ve definitely had better. Very clove-y. I’m enjoying it. The black tea is fairly mellow, the spices are very pleasant and warm.

Hmm… well, I can definitely smell the licorice, to e honest, I was really hoping to smell more of the lavender, but, I can barely discern it at all from the scent … in either the dry leaf or the brewed tisane. I can smell the cardamom, an hint of mint, and the licorice.

The flavor is very herbal. As in medicinal. It has a sort of medicine-y taste. It’s not a horrible taste, but not something I’d want to drink on a regular basis either.

And I LOVE licorice, but, here, combined with the other herbs, in a sort of weird combination, it just isn’t working for me as well as I had hoped it would. It’s alright, but, nothing I’m all giddy or excited over. I can finish the cup, but, I don’t know that this is something I’d buy. It might be good for occasions when I was feeling under the weather, because a nice side affect is that I feel my throat feeling very soothed as a result of sipping this.

It’s not bad … it’s just not my favorite. I think this would be better if it were lighter on the licorice, and maybe heavier on the lavender or perhaps the mint. Which is weird for me to say because I like licorice… but in this particular combination, it’s just not working out for me all that well.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

This is a delicious green tea. I do not see it on the Praise Tea Website anymore though … I wonder if they’ve just sold out or if they’ve discontinued it?

It’s vegetative (sweet grass taste) with a smooth buttery taste at mid sip. A moderate astringency (slightly dry, not pucker-y) toward the tail. Very enjoyable, it is very soothing and relaxing to sip. I taste warm, nutty tones, and a lovely fresh sweetness. A wonderful cup.

This is a lovely Yunnan … smoky, rich, earthy and sweet. Lovely malt tones. Even though the description depicts an Oolong by saying it’s partially fermented … it tastes much more like a black tea than either an Oolong or a green. I do taste a lightness to this, hay-like and sweet, but, I still find it leaning more toward the black tea type.

It’s good, a fairly strong amount of astringency toward the tail. Enjoyable. Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this.

This is seriously one of the BEST Matcha I’ve tried. Since I’m not drinking it side-by-side with another high quality Matcha, I can’t say it’s the absolute best, but, it definitely ranks right up there in the top three, if not #1. Yes, it’s that good.

First of all, after having consumed so many flavored Matcha (and yes, I love those too), I’ve kind of forgotten what REAL Matcha froth is like. This is thick and foamy and lush! The color is vivid, bright green. And the flavor is superb. Sweet, vegetative, of course, but, not like some other Matcha … this is buttery and more like mild steamed vegetables with a hint of grass rather than grassy and/or vegetative. It’s milder, mellower, and the strong buttery tones mellow it out further. This doesn’t have the bittersweet taste that I often talk about with Matcha, this has no bitterness whatsoever. It’s just sweet. Sweet and lush and green and DELICIOUS! Thick and creamy. And there is some pleasing complexity to this too, every once in a while I could swear that I taste a note of cocoa in the background. Or sometimes a hint of flower … or a fruitier tone that I didn’t notice previously. It plays games with the palate, but in the very best way possible – it keeps the palate interested and keeps me sipping.

An excellent Matcha. TRY this Matcha!

Backlog: Yesterday afternoon, my Matcha was this Matcha… I had just enough left for one chawan and it was a delicious way to say goodbye to this yummy Matcha. Here is my full-length review for it: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/05/02/matcha-sendo-from-camellia-sinensis-2/

Mmm! My first couple of sips, I wasn’t completely sold on this, but, I decided to try it with a splash of milk to go latte with this, and that made all the difference in the world.

Without the milk, I didn’t taste much of the bake-y cookie/cake/bread-y kind of taste I was looking for to distinguish this as a gingerbread Matcha rather than just a spiced Matcha … but the milk helps bring out that bready/cookie kind of taste that I wanted.

The spices are strong, making this a bit more like a gingersnap than what I’d expect from gingerbread. But that’s OK, generally speaking, I’d rather eat gingersnaps than gingerbread because most gingerbread tends to be more of a sweeter, cake-ier kind of treat with a muted ginger flavor. When I eat ginger cookies or gingerbread … I WANT ginger! (The best ginger cookie I’ve ever had, in case you’re curious, are these Ginger Snapdragons from Liz Lovely: http://hungryinportland.com/2011/04/26/ginger-snapdragons-from-liz-lovely/ … oh yeah, and they’re VEGAN! Hey, TeaEqualsBliss did you see that?)

Anyway… back to the bowl of Matcha that sits in front of me. If you have this Matcha, I recommend trying it latte if you haven’t already. It takes it from yum to SUPER-DUPER-YUMMER-ISTIC! And if you haven’t yet taken the plunge and bought this Matcha, you can do so here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/gingerbread-matcha.html By the way: what are you waiting for? The holidays? They’re just around the corner! Imagine adding some of this Matcha powder to your favorite ginger cookie recipe – that would be AH-mazing!

This has a strong ginger flavor, but, it’s not a super-spicy ginger, it’s warm, but also sweet. There is a brown-sugar sweetness to this in the background, sort of molasses-y, just like in real gingerbread. There is also notes of cinnamon that meld delectably with the ginger to create a very warm and festive flavor that is very holidays-y-ish to me.

And the matcha is not overwhelmed here, it adds a very pleasing, smooth, creamy taste to the cup (err… bowl) that is not overwhelmingly vegetative … it’s more buttery than anything and I think that this buttery, slightly vegetative taste really lends itself well to the bakey-cakey kind of taste of the overall flavor.

I ordered this using my go-to specifications: basic/classic Matcha with distinctive level of flavoring. And I don’t think I’d change a thing with these specs … although I am curious about how this might taste with a black Matcha base as well as a higher grade of Matcha. But as it is, I really like this a lot. Very comforting and yet invigorating at the same time.

I’m really enjoying this. Our autumn here in the Pacific Northwest has been kind of an odd one thus far – we’ve have next to NO rainfall for quite some time (there was a day or two where there were very light drizzles, but nothing at all what I’d call RAIN), and the temperature for the most part has been warm. A few days here and there I’ve felt the need to don a sweater when I go outside, but, they seem few and far between.

But today, it is somewhat blustery. Chilly, but not incredibly cold, but the wind makes that chill feel even colder. So it seems a good day for a warm mug full of this Spice Blend from Tiger Spring Tea.

This is very much like a Christmas Spice blend … and in fact, when I visited the website to learn more about this tea, the tab on my browser says “Spice Blend Christmas Tea” so I think at one time the company called this their Christmas blend. The strongest notes come from the Ceylon, the orange and the clove. It tastes a bit like a good mulled spice cider … replacing the apple with Ceylon tea and a touch of orange.

It’s not quite chai like, although, I did categorize it as a chai, because the spices are similar to chai. It’s more even toned to me than a chai would be – which in my opinion are usually more aggressively spiced. This offers warm, comforting notes rather than a strong, solid spice flavor.

Very enjoyable, just what I needed today.

OK… right off the bat, I’m very impressed with this blend. I open the package and am greeted by some of the freshest white tea I’ve ever seen, what a surprise to see it in a flavored tea! It’s beautiful!

And it tastes amazing too. Sweet and coconut-y, with a lovely buttery undertone. The white tea tastes as fresh as it looked prior to infusion.

So light and delicious. I like this one a lot!

An exquisite Assam. Sweet, rich and malty, but also fruity. This Assam seems to meet somewhere between malty Assam and wine-y Assam. Very pleasant. Not bitter, although, I did only steep for 2 minutes so it might get bitter if oversteeped.

But as it is (was, since this is a backlog) … this tastes amazing. Sweet, with the sweetness coming from the fruit notes as well as the caramel-y malty tones, rich and flavorful. Complex and absolutely delightful to sip.

My favorite Oolong teas are Alishan, although, I’ve got to admit that Shanlinxi teas are providing some stiff competition. This Oolong is amazing! So sweet and creamy … and yet so light and crisp.

The third and fourth infusions are stronger, but, smoother. The floral notes are really apparent in these infusions, resting on the back of the palate while also melding with the creamy notes.

It’s really quite an interesting tea – if you like Ali Shan Oolongs you might just find that you also enjoy Shanlinxi. They’re similar, but there are striking and intriguing differences too. Very lovely!

Not bad, not bad. I don’t like hibiscus, as I’ve mentioned many times, but, when it’s not brewed too long it doesn’t taste bad at all. And because I only steep green teas about 2 minutes (which is exactly how long I brewed this) the hibiscus didn’t have enough time to get too tart or syrupy. It adds a nice berry-like tartness to the cup which melds nicely with the orange notes.

Overall, it’s pretty good. It’s got a sweet and sour thing going on, with the tart notes most noticeable near the tail end of the sip and in to the after taste, while the sweeter notes are up front.

An interesting cuppa.

I ordered this Matcha not just because I love the flavor of cinnamon, but because of the many different blending opportunities it would present with so many of my other flavors. I was thinking primarily with the Caramel Matcha, because I LOVE the combination of cinnamon and caramel, but it would also be great with the pear and the fig Matcha, and well… just about all of them, really.

But it’s also really amazing on it’s own. I ordered the distinctive level of flavor with this one, and I’m not really sure why except that it is my “go to” specifications, but in the past I’ve been kind of mindful of the flavor that I’m choosing and I would have thought I would have gone for the delicate flavor so that the cinnamon did not overpower the matcha. And this distinctive level of flavoring does overpower the flavor of the matcha just a bit. (I also ordered the basic/classic grade of Matcha) Actually, not even by a “bit” – but a whole lot. This is like the Matcha’s answer to the cinnamon challenge! It’s STRONG.

But … it’s still really yummy. And by the time I’ve reached mid-bowl, I taste more of the Matcha… it’s like it needed time to catch up with the flavor of the cinnamon which is really quite aggressive.

However, even though the cinnamon is strong and it’s a sweet-yet-spicy-hot kind of cinnamon taste, it doesn’t taste like cinnamon candy at all. This tastes of true cinnamon, like Saigon cinnamon. It is really vibrant and zesty.

This matcha is available here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cinnamon-matcha.html

For those of you who have “known” me for a while, I was quite put off by the idea of peanut butter flavored teas (ie: Frank had a few peanut butter teas that he offered way back when, and those were some of the only teas that I would not, could not order. I could not drink them in a house, I would not drink them with a mouse, I would not drink them here or there, I would not drink them anywhere.)

So, you might be thinking … what has changed that would prompt me to order a peanut flavored Matcha? Well… it wasn’t a tea at all that changed my mind, but a taffy! Yes, a taffy. This taffy, to be exact: http://hungryinportland.com/2012/06/29/salty-peanut-salt-water-taffy-from-the-salty-road/ This taffy that I received in one of my last Foodzie boxes was the best taffy I ever had. And it was a PEANUT taffy (which tasted remarkably like peanut butter). It was amazing. So, I guess … I was just thinking that if I could enjoy a peanut taffy so very much … maybe I AM missing out on something pretty spectacular with the peanut butter flavored teas.

So when I saw that Red Leaf Tea had a peanut flavored Matcha, I decided to try it. (They now have a peanut butter flavored Matcha too: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peanut-butter-matcha.html ) Maybe I might like it, since I did like the peanut taffy so much. And I do actually like peanuts. And peanut butter. But, it just seemed kind of WEIRD to have it in my tea. I don’t know why. Tea + Peanut … just didn’t sound like something good to me.

But, the taffy was a turning point for me, and now, I am courageous enough to try Peanut Matcha!

I prepared it traditionally with water and whisked it (it frothed up beautifully), and then I took a taste. It was good… but all the sudden I wondered how it might be if I were to add a pinch of sea salt into the chawan… so I did. This instantly dissolved my froth. But I whisked again, and the froth came back. I didn’t add a lot of salt, just a little teeny pinch of it, just enough to accent the peanut a bit.

YUM! OK… this is really quite good. Much better than I was prepared for. I thought, maybe I’d like it, but I like this very much. It is sweet and nutty and creamy. The taste of the peanut is balanced well with the flavor of the Matcha, which is smooth and vegetative. I like the way these two flavors work together. Quite yummy.

My specifications for this order were NOT my go-to specs. I went with the delicate peanut flavoring instead of the distinctive, and the basic/classic grade of Matcha. I went with the delicate in case I wasn’t all excited over the peanut flavor, so that I could easily add the peanut Matcha to smoothies to help disguise the peanut flavor if I needed to. But no need to do that, because I’m loving this!

You can order your own Peanut Matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peanut-matcha.html

This is the random tea that I received as part of Pekko Teas’ generous offer a couple of weeks ago in the forum. I am glad that this is the tea that was chosen for me, because really, it is not a tea I would have selected for myself. I’m not big on Lapsang Souchong, I’m just starting to gain an appreciation for it, and I don’t generally add them to my cart when shopping for tea.

I like this one. It’s smoky, of course, but, after a quick rinse, I find that it’s not too smoky, and I can easily discover the caramel-y undertones and even a hint of pine, and the earthy undertones. It’s quite a lovely tea. Sweet, smoky and interesting.