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Mangosteen Matcha

So as you know I am on a matcha tea roll here sucking down as much as I possibly can. I feel like I may turn into the indestructible Matcha Monster anytime soon which I can imagine myself as some comic book heroine with green hair, possibly in dreadlocks, sort of like Medusa, with tea leafs growing out of my skin, and of course I would be glowing! I’ve yet to decide what my powers would be exactly, perhaps regeneration and re-growth of plants in some post apocalyptic world crisis!

In my pursuit to try every matcha possible from Red Leaf Tea I decided to get a few out of the ordinary flavors for a couple of reasons. One reason is because I’m curious. Another reason is because I want to “give back” in some way for the generous offer of “free matcha” with reviews, because the generosity has been quite astounding and has aided me in getting many wonderful matcha I otherwise never could have tired. I feel like by trying some flavors that may otherwise be overlooked for more known flavors that I am helping in a small way. With that said, I decided one of the more unusual flavors I wanted to try was the mangosteen. I choose mangosteen for a couple of reasons, one being that the health benefits are pretty good! Mangosteen aids in a number of health related issues and I know this for a fact because Dr. Oz said so (said with sarcasm)… but one thing that really stood out to me was this :Treating disfiguring skin illnesses such as eczema and psoriasis. I happen to suffer from psoriasis and let me tell you its extremely painful and agitating to say the least! If someone told me jumping off a tall building into a pool filled with alligators would help this condition I would do it! Also I had recently watched a cooking show where mangosteen was used (Iron Chef I think but I’m not sure), and it looked so yummy!

So here I am with my Mangosteen Matcha which you can buy here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mangosteen-matcha.html

This flavor is interesting and unusual. While it is sweet I also find it extremely earthy and really compliments the natural flavors of the matcha base itself. The flavor is difficult to describe but some of the key words I would have to use would be grassy, earthy, vegetal, sweet, with a gritty texture. Now lets talk about this gritty texture a moment. I used a regular cooking sifter to sift the matcha, and it was already quite well sifted as all Red Leaf matcha seems to be. Its a very fine grind to begin with but I still sift it and it was no different in its grain than any other matcha I have tried from Red Leaf so I have no doubt that this is a texture / taste of the mangosteen itself and not due to an error in preparation nor due to a lower matcha quality – as I feel Red Leaf Tea has very fine matcha base quality. Yet there is just this slightly grittiness to this matcha. Again giving me that very earthy like feeling when drinking it. I really can’t say that if asked “what does mangosteen taste like” that I could give someone a good descriptor. As a matter of fact before I ordered it, and even now sitting here sipping it, I have googled “what does the mangosteen fruit taste like?” and no one really has come up with a solid answer to that question! The elusive mangosteen fruit has been described most closely as tasting like every fruit you can imagine. Well again that does not tell me much now does it and here I leave you with your own imagination to do the work as even sitting here having this I can’t tell you what it tastes like but I can tell you that I personally love it. What I will say is I disagree with that statement because to me that says it would taste like a fruit punch and it doesn’t.

I prepared my matcha in the traditional way and tried it straight, then I made my normal matcha latte with milk, natural vanilla creamer but only a splash, ice, and the matcha itself. What I have here is a cup of wonder, mystery, and complexity.

Fall is upon us almost and I have been longing for it to come quickly. On September 1st our yearly Renaissance Festival opens and I can’t wait to go. This is important because I feel that of all the fruit flavors I have in my matcha arsenal at this time, the mangosteen is the most autumn like, the most like the earthy feeling that I get on going to the Renaissance Festival, the aromas, the sounds, the sights, the smells, the wonderful incense in the air, the fresh breads baking, the dirt and drying leaves on the ground, that earthy delightful feeling of escape one gets from the experience. Mangosteen matcha is like taking a departure from the norm when it comes to “fruity” flavors.

I would not really even describe this AS a fruit if I didn’t know it was one, but rather something more of a plant based or even wood based drink. Yet it is sweet but not in a cloying sappy way! There are some melon aspects to it perhaps, but I don’t feel any citrus or tart fruit flavors here, maybe a light berry hint now and again, but it makes me feel quite grounded, this would be an excellent meditation tea!

All I can say is there is nothing to fear here in this matcha, no reason not to try it, its not some crazy punch you in the face flavor that is so distinct that someone who does not like one flavor would absolutely dislike this one, its so subtle yet so refined that you can’t dislike it for any association to something else. It is unto itself glorious!

My matcha was comprised as the following:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g) I paid 3.00 extra for the containers but they are unfortunately on backorder so I hope they are in soon.

All I can say is I am glad I ordered it and look forward to drinking a glass a day hopefully I will see some improvement in my psoriasis condition as it has been horrible this past summer and it usually gets worse in cold weather. Arggggg.

So basically this is not for me like Bavarian Cream, or Amaretto where I crave it like candy or cakes, its just a very real natural flavor that makes me stop, take pause, and really savor it rather than sucking it down. It brings about a calm and center and makes me feel like I am doing something good for myself without suffering some nasty vile medications. I mean look. if the claims of what this fruit can do are true. then I am very happy, and even if they are not, its mind over matter with many health related issues. For psoriasis suffers stress is one thing that really begins to make the condition worse. Every time I get stressed I begin to have intense pain and itching, if I can whip myself up a cup of Mangosteen Matcha and get my focus and center back and I FEEL better, then I WILL be better.
I am going to keep this on hand!
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mangosteen-matcha.html