The scent of this tea reminds me a little bit of caramel mixed with the woody red matcha base. It smells very sweet, but actually doesn’t offer much as far as the crème brulee is concerned. From across the room, I do smell more of a buttery, vanilla frosting.
Sipping… the first thing I notice is the red matcha. It seems like it would be a difficult thing to hide as it seems so much more concentrated in a powder form. I love the taste: woody & sweet. There is a tiny bit of bitterness that lingers in the background and I’m not sure if that’s from the rooibos or the flavoring. It’s been relatively consistent in Red Leaf Tea’s red matchas.
The rooibos fades into a kind of creamy sweetness that reminds me more of vanilla than crème brulee. It really does remind me very much of the French vanilla red matcha from Red Leaf Tea. Not a bad choice, really, but I was hoping to pull more of that crème brulee flavor out! Still, this drink is creamy and makes a very soothing drink.
I’m going to give this a try with milk as I’ve found matcha to pop a bit more with milk. I have faith that I will get more crème brulee flavor the more I experiment. You can order some crème brulee matcha for yourself here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/creme-brulee-matcha.html.
