This tea was an absolute event for me. Red Leaf has such an amazing variety of products that choosing just one (or two, as I did this time) took a painstaking amount of effort. But if the biggest dilemma I have in a day is which delicious dessert tea to buy, I’ll be a happy camper. I eagerly anticipated this tea’s arrival and saved it for the weekend so I could savour it in peace. And savour it I did.
Prior to trying this tea, I had only ever had straight matcha, made the traditional Japanese way. I had never tried a matcha latte. I had never had a flavoured matcha. And I had never had Bavarian Cream. This morning, I made myself a cup of Bavarian Cream matcha latte and had:
1) my first matcha latte,
2) my first flavoured matcha, and
3) my first taste of Bavarian Cream.
Three firsts! And then my eyes rolled back. And my body sank into the couch. It was quite the experience. And I am hooked! It’s like Pokemon. You have to try them all! I certainly will try. I have to say the Bavarian Cream flavour is top notch though. You can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bavarian-cream-matcha.html
Having only had straight matcha before, I was expecting this tea to have some bitterness. I bought the “Robust” flavour and found no bitterness that I would normally associate with matcha. There were some undertones of matcha in the cup, but definitely no bitterness. It’s almost as thought the Bavarian Cream flavour does the job of the candies that you are traditionally supposed to have with matcha and cuts the bitterness. Anyway, back to the flavour. I initially noticed the lack of bitterness. The first flavour that came through was that of vanilla and cream. It was custard! This was my first taste of Bavarian Cream, so I can’t claim that this tea reproduces it perfectly, but I can claim that it is delicious. I guess Bavarian Cream is a type of custard and the flavour is custard-y, so it probably does a good job. Also, my boyfriend took a whiff and he said that it smells like Bavarian Cream. He’s not big on tea, so he wasn’t interested in trying any, but did comment that this would make a great icing. I agree. I think it would also be excellent in a cake. Bavarian Cream matcha cake…mmmm…That sounds so delicious. I will have to experiment.
This was my first matcha latte too! It was great with almond milk. I will definitely be doing this again.
