I have to admit, this was a Red Leaf matcha that I found both intriguing and somewhat scary. I love coffee flavor in nearly any dessert or tea. And who doesn’t love chocolate? But coffee, chocolate, and green tea? That seemed like something that could go either way for me. I just wasn’t sure whether the freshness of the matcha would match the chocolate and coffee combo. Boy, was I ever wrong to doubt Red Leaf’s flavor mastery! It’s great and can be found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/orange-matcha-clone.html
I selected my usual “Robust” flavor. And I have no regrets on that front. I did a cold brewed vanilla almond milk latte with ½ tsp Mocha Matcha to 1 cup almond milk. The coffee and chocolate flavors were the most prominent. I didn’t detect any matcha at all. I find that strange, because I was able to pick out the matcha in all my other Red Leaf selections, but for some reason the coffee and chocolate combo just obscures the matcha really well. I think that may be why this one works so well. I don’t get any of the freshness or grassiness that I associate with matcha, which was what I was so worried about tasting strange when mixed with chocolate and coffee. I really like the flavor of this. It tastes like a calorie-laden, overpriced coffee-shop drink. I can’t drink those things. I love the smell and flavor of coffee, but actual coffee makes my insides feel like they’re turning inside out. So this tea makes for a great compromise between my desire for that coffee flavor and my desire to avoid the punch in the gut of actual coffee.
While I was drinking my cold matcha latte, I did think that it may be a matcha that would taste better hot, rather than cold. I’ve found that the other Red Leaf matchas I’ve tried have done better cold than hot, but this one seems like something that would just get along better with some heat. I’m not sure why. It might be because I associate that mocha flavour with hot beverages. At any rate, I still haven’t tried it hot so I can’t really confirm that suspicion. It’s just a hunch.
With the flavoring in this tea as strong as it is, I think it would work really well in baked goods. It really seems to call to be made into a frosting in a chocolate cake or something. Once again, true of all Red Leaf flavored matchas I’ve tried. This is definitely another Red Leaf success story.
