Babble

Thanks to Teajo for the generous sample!

I don’t normally drink too many black/green tea blends. I’ve found they can be finicky and hard to manage. But, when I got the opportunity to try a tea from Teajo, it jumped out at me so I thought I would give it a go. The tea has a very pleasant smell to it, and you can definitely smell the orange peel.

The brewing parameters are all of over the place for the tea. Apparently you can use anywhere from 180-212 F degree water? That’s a pretty big range. I’ve always been told to brew a blend at the most delicate level – so since greens are more delicate than black, brew it like a green.

Once brewed, this definitely tastes more like a black than a green. I imagine people who are a fan of “breakfast” blends or Assam would be a fan of this as well. It’s not quite as astringent as a breakfast blend would be, which makes it more appealing (I’m such a wimp when it comes to bitterness). The flavors are very light on this.

This is definitely a more unique tea and not bad.

It seems like just yesterday that it was a close race between Pumpkin Pie and Black Cherry for flavor of the week. Black Cherry squeaked by to win, and I happily jumped on the chance to order it. I was a little hesitant, since sometimes cherry flavors can be a little too artificial tasting, but I went with it anyway. As usual, I got the robust flavoring on this with the basic matcha. I took a whiff of the matcha, and I could definitely tell it was black cherry – no question.

This was prepared in a water bottle with 1/2 teaspoon of matcha. I put it in, shook it up, and tasted my beautiful creation.

WOW!! This is really good. I was not expecting much from this matcha, but am happily surprised. This is just as good as Boysenberry, maybe a little bit better. The black cherry flavor is potent, but not overpowering and not too sickly either. No sweetener needed. If you are a black cherry fan, you will not be disappointed. It definitely does not taste like cough syrup. I really want to get some cola matcha and mix this together to see how it would go. I bet it would be delicious.

Definitely glad I decided to take a risk and buy this matcha on sale.

As a reminder, you can buy this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/black-cherry-matcha.html

Since I had such good luck with the Boysenberry matcha, I decided to try another fruit-y matcha. There are so many fruit flavors and I couldn’t pick one, so I went with this blend of tropical fruits called “Tropical Matcha”. I got the robust flavoring, as always, with just the basic matcha. When I first got a whiff of the matcha it smelled very fruity, almost candy sweet. Not sure what to expect.

Like before with my Boysenberry, I put 1/4 teaspoon in a water bottle a shook it up to give myself a nice fruity drink. The flavor is very light on this one. It tastes a lot like a fruit punch of some sort. It’s hard to specifically point out one type of fruit over another. If you’re a fan of punches, I’d definitely give this a try. Since I was having a hard time detecting the flavor, I added another 1/4 teaspoon. The flavor was a little stronger, but I didn’t really get that overly strong matcha taste, which is good. I bet tossing some sweetener in here would bring out the fruit taste even more.

While I don’t enjoy this quite as much as the Boysenberry, it’s another good chilled matcha that takes little prep work.

As a reminder, you can buy this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/tropical-matcha.html

No notes yet.

Eh… I’m not sure how I feel about this tea. Not getting a lot of flavor and the base green tea just doesn’t taste good. I think I was expecting something “apple”-y and got something a little too grassy.

I’m going to leave a rating off for now. Maybe I’ll give it another brew and see how it goes…

Thanks, STEAp Shop for the sample! This is for the Virtual Tea Tasting 9/23/12

Thanks to Amanda for the sample!

Although I love bananas (they’re the most efficient fruit), I’m not the biggest fan of banana flavorings. So why did I request a sample of this? Because my boyfriend LOVES banana flavored things, and because who doesn’t want to take every opportunity they can to get their boyfriend to drink tea?

When I brewed this hot, it was actually quite nice, but that was because I couldn’t really taste the bananas in it. I was reading reviews that it’s better iced, so I waited for it to cool down and sure enough, those banana flavors come through the cooler it is. Even cooled-down it’s drinkable, and this coming from someone who doesn’t really like banana flavored things. Never got a chance to toss some sugar in it, unfortunately. My boyfriend liked it so much hot that he didn’t even wait for it to cool down. Good thing I set a little bit aside to do some post-hot testing ;)

I told my boyfriend not to like this too much, since as we all know 52teas come and go. Perhaps they will reblend it, though, and if so I may pick it up knowing it’s something a banana lover and a banana-flavor unlover can both enjoy.

No notes yet.

I’m not a fan of Lapsang Souchong – or at least the little that I’ve tried. Something about “smokiness” in my teas just doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t know what it is.

Anyway, I tried this with hesitation, and it’s not bad. It’s definitely a muted smokey flavor, and not unbearable like a straight LS might be. I’m not really getting any of the coffee or chocolate flavors either, though, unfortunately.

I’d recommend this to someone who doesn’t like LS, but doesn’t hate it either. I wonder what someone who LOVES LS would think of this.

Thanks, STEAp Shop for the sample! This is for the Virtual Tea Tasting 9/23/12

Hey, this isn’t bad. When I brewed it hot, I could definitely taste the cinnamon but was having a hard time tasting the berries. It reminded me of an apple cider, even though there are no apples in it. But then as it cooled off, the berry flavor came through a lot more and the cinnamon flavor became a bit more muted. This is much more enjoyable cold.

I like how there are varying steep times, too. I’ll have to see how the flavor changes the second steeping of this later tonight.

Thanks, STEAp Shop for the sample! This is for the Virtual Tea Tasting 9/23/12

I had already tried the Caramel matcha in the green tea base, and it’s definitely been my favorite so far of the desert teas. When a bunch of people ordered the black matcha base for Cookies and Cream, I was a bit jealous. So, when Caramel came back on sale I knew this was my perfect opportunity to try it in black matcha form. I decided to spring for the “There’s Matcha in there?” Flavor level because I had trouble tasting the Cheesecake flavor at the Robust level when I ordered it with the White. Plus, I wasn’t sure how strong the black would be.

I couldn’t find any official instructions on what temperature of water to use. For green matcha you use green tea temperature water, so I figured for black matcha (since it’s black tea) I would use sort of less than boiling water.

I didn’t sift the matcha this time around, and that may have been a bad idea. I noticed the black matcha made big clumps a lot more than the green or even the white did.

I prepared my usual whisk in a bowl method, and it was too bitter for me without anything added. So, I popped in a little milk and a packet of raw sugar to help bring out the flavor.

Well, it definitely tastes like caramel and black tea. I don’t know how I feel about this matcha. It’s not bad, it’s not great. There’s still a little bit of bitterness that comes through. I may have to give it a few more experiments before I make a final verdict, but for now I’m not overwhelmed, but it’s not unbearable either.

As always, you can get the matcha in green or black form here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

And now it’s time for yet another desert matcha. I’ve been craving a coffee-flavored matcha for a while, and luckily this Tiramisu went on sale, so I snatched it up. It’s been a while since I’ve had tiramisu, but I remember it was creamy, with coffee and chocolatey undertones.

I ordered the 30g, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: Robust. After trying all these robust flavors, I’m a little scared to scale back down to the lower flavoring levels. Maybe I might bite the bullet one day and do it.

I prepared this the traditional way using hot water and a whisk. When I took a sip of the matcha plain, it was of course too bitter and grassy for me, and I couldn’t really taste any tiramisu. I added some milk and it .. still seemed to just taste like regular matcha with water. I’m having a hard time picking up this flavor. Did I maybe add too much matcha?

Since my water bottle Boysenberry matcha experiment was such a success yesterday, I decided to repeat it and see if I could get the flavor better. I put some matcha in a water bottle, shook it up, and drank some. And still.. not really getting any flavor. Not like the Boysenberry the other day. I’m getting the matcha, but I was really hoping for coffee. Maybe this flavor is just too subtle?

It’s possible that I may be burned out on my desert matchas and they are all blending together. I think I was hoping for more coffee and chocolate notes, but I’m really just getting creaminess. I probably should just order a straight-up coffee flavored one the next time around if that’s what I want. Your experience may differ, though.

As a reminder, you can buy this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/tiramisu-matcha.html

Still debating if I want to order that pumpkin pie matcha that will inevitably be on sale this week. Decisions, decisions…

Ever since I’ve been ordering from Red Leaf, I feel like all my matcha purchases had been “desert type matchas”. So, when I saw that the Boysenberry matcha went on sale again (since I missed it the first time), I knew I had to grab it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had boysenberry on its own, but I definitely know I’ve had it in yogurt form. There are several companies that make boysenberry yogurt, and it’s delicious.

I ordered the 30g of Boysenberry Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: Robust. I really really like berries, and thought about upping the flavor even more, but decided to keep it at robust for now and see how it goes.

For all my previous matchas, since they were desert matchas, I had been making them hot the traditional matcha way. Usually, after my first sip, it was a little too intense for me, so I added some milk to help bring out the flavor. But for boysenberry, hot and milk added just didn’t sound appealing to me, so I thought I would try something new. On the Red Leaf site, under all the matchas, they have a “steeping” tab that talks about how to prepare them. There’s the traditional way, and the “traditional with a chill”. I’ve always wanted to try this, but none of the matchas I ordered sounded appealing cold, so I was excited to finally try something new.

I took my water bottle and measured 1/4 teaspoon for matcha, per the instructions. I then filled my bottle with 16oz of water. You can also use a water bottle, but since I want to be environmentally friendly (and I like my filtered water), I decided to just use a regular bottle. I debated whether or not to sift the matcha, but decided I wouldn’t the first time around. I shook my bottle vigorously, and then sipped the results…

WOW!!! I was really impressed. With all the other matchas, I had a hard time tasting the flavor just straight, but here I can definitely taste both the matcha and the boysenberry. The matcha is not overpowering, but there are definitely berry undertones. I didn’t need to add any sweetener, although I bet if I did it would bring out the flavor even more.

I can’t believe how easy this is to make. It sure beats using a whisk (no pun intended) and making water on the kettle. Those are good too, but this is better. I’m thinking I need to order some more fruity matchas in the future, since I liked boysenberry so much. I’m not sure how this would taste hot, but it’s definitely delicious cold.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here: https://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/boysenberry-matcha.html

Bavarian Cream was a flavor that many of us Steepsters fought to have on sale, but initially lost out to Cheesecake. Thankfully, Bavarian Cream was put on sale the next week, so I knew I had to snatch it up. I admit that my knowledge of Bavarian Cream is limited. I originally thought it was just a variation of vanilla. But apparently, it’s more like a custard and quite popular in pastries. I personally try to avoid pastries since they are delicious but can also be calorie-laden and full of sugar. So it’s nice when you can have a matcha instead that has the flavor without all the calories. Also, Bavarian cream seems like a hassle to make, so all the more reason to enjoy it in matcha form.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/bavarian-cream-matcha.html

I ordered the 30g Bavarian Cream Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: There’s Matcha In There? Yes. After a few orders of “Robust” I wanted to try my hand at an even stronger flavor. I like matcha, but sometimes the matcha can overpower the actual flavor. For those who were wondering what the matcha looks like, I can assure you that the name is a little misleading and there is definitely matcha in there. ;) .. But when I opened the package, I could definitely smell the stronger scent of the matcha. A nice creamy scent with some fruity notes as well. Very interesting.

I started to make this matcha, but then realized I needed to go somewhere, so I had a brilliant idea to stick my bowl in the fridge (like I do with all my teas when I can’t finish them in time). Up until this point I had all my matchas hot, but I thought it might be neat to see how they are iced. When I came back home and tried the matcha after a few hours of cooling – it was absolutely delicious. Normally I have to toss some milk in there to make it a little more drinkable, but this didn’t need anything at all. The taste was very creamy and I could just detect the tiny bit of citrus. It’s worth noting that if you do decide to chill your matcha this way, a lot of the powder sinks to the bottom, so you may have to froth it up again to get it to absorb. Just for fun, I did add a little bit of milk at the end just to see how it tastes, but I think I might have put a little too much in since I had a harder time tasting the flavor. I’ll have to definitely try it again in a hot matcha.

All in all, a nice matcha desert treat to avoid the calories.

Red Leaf introduced several new matcha flavors (as if they don’t have enough already), and when I saw that this was on the list, and on sale, I had to jump on it. I’m such a sucker for Oreos (even though they are so bad for me). This Matcha seemed like the perfect treat of healthy (cause its tea!) and sorta-indulging in Oreo-goodness.

As a reminder, you can get the matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cookies-and-cream-matcha.html

I ordered the 30g Cookies and Cream Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), Flavor: Robust. I admit that after I ordered, I saw some other Steepsters order there Cookies & Cream with the black matcha base, and honestly that sounds pretty good. I almost wish I would have thought of that. I’m interested to see what they think of it when the reviews come out. Anyway, back to the matcha.

As always, this matcha smells so delicious. The flavor is so overpowering just from a smell. You don’t really smell any matcha at all. I definitely smell the cream over the cookies, although both work together. The smell reminds me a little bit of the caramel matcha, very sweet but almost a bit creamy too.

First, I sifted the matcha. Remember how a few matchas ago I was having sifting issues? I found the perfect sifter (that’s not a sifter). I actually use one of my old tea balls that I got when I first started into loose leaf. You know, the one with the long handle that opens and closes that everyone and their grandmother has? This works great for sifting matcha. I pour in a scoop, close the ball, and then shake it around over the cup. It works great, and I’m thankful I get to put the ol’ tea ball back to use since it’s been out of commission for a while.

Before I put the water in, I took a look at the matcha. Maybe it’s just my imagination, or a trick of the lighting, but I think I saw some white particles in there along with the green – which would make sense, it is cookies and cream. I didn’t see any dark particles, though, so who knows. Anyway, I brewed my matcha as normal, added some milk, and took a sip.

As usual, this matcha is very very good. Another great desert matcha for those with a sweet tooth but who don’t want to over indulge. I don’t know if I would say it tastes exactly like Oreos, but there is definitely a creamy deserty type note to it. I will say that I preferred the caramel just a little bit more, but I think they can both stand on their own.

I will start off by saying that Oil of Bergamot is so hit or miss for me. Most Earl Grey’s I’m not a fan of (without milk/sugar). So, why did I order this tea? Good question. I was intrigued … and it was on sale. And as us Steepsters know, it’s hard to resist a good sale ;)

I couldn’t find any steeping parameters, so I just went with what the other 52teas White Teas use – 1-2 min, sorta boiling water.

This tea smells awesome. Smells fruity and very unique. Hard to put my finger on it, really. But it’s delicious.

As for the taste? It’s not bad. I can definitely taste the bergamot in there, but it’s masked but the fruitiness of the black currant. The flavors actually work well together. The white tea base also works nicely because it’s not overpowering.

As the tea cools off it’s actually very pleasant. Definitely drinkable without any addition for me, although I bet a little milk would make the taste pop too.

So, am I glad I tried this? Sure. Would I order again. Eh, probably not.

No notes yet.

I’m a little late to the party, but I thought I would brew this up and see what I thought. My milk oolong experience is limited, but this was the first official flavored one I’ve tried. I was surprised to see that they wanted me to use 10g for 8’oz. That’s a lot of leaf (and a good chunk of my sample), but if you insist Teavivre… I was also surprised to see it wanted boiling water. Aren’t you supposed to use less than boiling for oolongs?

Anyway, the tea itself is not bad. It’s creamy and buttery like other oolongs in the past. It’s not blowing my mind, though. There is a little bit of vegetal taste too. I wish you didn’t have to use so much leaf, too. Maybe I overdid it? I’m interested to see how the rest of the steeps turn out.

I got this as a sample from Azzrian. It’s been sitting for a while just waiting for the right time to brew it. When I saw that Verdant was going to be discontinuing this tea, I knew I had to try it. Nothing is more disheartening than try a tea sample you really like, only to discover it’s no longer available.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to rinse the tea or not. On the website it says you should, but here it says you don’t. Since I was lazy, I decided not to.

The tea turned out absolutely delicious. You can definitely taste the mint and chamomile. I’m not the biggest chamomile fan, but it works here. I’m having a little harder time detecting the cocoa, but I like how the black tea undertones are working for this.

The second infusion didn’t have quite as strong of a minty flavor, but it’s definitely still there. This is an interesting tea, and I’ll be sad to see it go, but interesting to see what new stuff they have in store.

When I first saw this tea I was really intrigued, especially since I am a former soda addict (specifically Wild Cherry Pepsi!)

I logged on to Steepster and checked the reviews of this tea (my ritual before posting my own), and wow – this tea got a lot of negativity. Now I feel kinda bad for it (is it possible to feel bad for a tea?). I cold-brewed this for 12 hours and had high hopes after the delicious Root Beer. I took a sip this morning and … meh. There’s definitely cherry flavor in there, but it’s really just a mishmash of stuff and not working at all. One of the problems, I think, is the stevia. It just gives it this weird sort-of-sugary aftertaste. It’s supposed to be sweet, but it’s not. It’s just not working, at all. The tea is certainly drinkable, but it’s not as enjoyable as I was hoping it would be. I think the tea might have been better had DT just left it off.

But, as I started to feel bad for the tea, I thought I would try to see what I could do up the rating. Adding honey definitely helped, but I really don’t like adding sweetner to my tea if I can help it. I also decided to add some seltzer. I don’t think that worked either. It was just not working at all. I don’t even know if it’s worth finishing.
When I got this order at David’sTea last month, I didn’t realize this tea was so new. I have a feeling this one won’t be staying around.

So in conclusion, this is probably a tea you should pass on. This is exactly why I’m glad I bought a sample size of this at DT and didn’t make a full order online. Sometime you win and sometimes you lose.

When I saw that Red Leaf was doing another sale on Cheesecake matcha, I knew I couldn’t resist. Since I already tried some green matcha for my last order of caramel, and cheesecake was a desert tea, I decided to spring for the white matcha this time because I really wanted to try it. I had never had white matcha tea before. I figured I could always mix it with caramel, too. I even sprang for the faster shipping to make up for the postal holiday.

I ordered the 30g Cheesecake Matcha, White Matcha, with Robust Flavoring
(found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html). I’m not sure what the quality of white matcha is, since you don’t get a choice of different qualities of matcha like you do with the green, but I’m assuming it is comparable to the Starter (Basic Grade). When I opened up the package, it had a cheesecake smell to it, but it also had an interesting butterscotch undertone to it. I’m not sure if that was the white matcha or just the flavoring. The powder was darker than I expected too. I expected white powder, but as you can see from the picture, it was more of an off-brown color. I was also surprised at how dark the liquid became when I mixed up my first cup. It was a medium-brownish color and I guess I was expecting something lighter because of white tea.

The taste was definitely interesting. I could taste some cheesecake, but the white tea brought an interesting flavor, too. It’s hard to describe, because I haven’t really had any experience with white matcha, but it’s definitely less vegetal than regular green tea matcha is. It definitely is a lighter taste, similar to how I expect white tea to be. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I might try the green/white matcha mix next time. I also want to mix the caramel to see how it compares.

Just like with the caramel matcha, I found that the flavors enhanced when I added milk. It definitely made it smoother and gave it more of a desert flavoring. I didn’t find the flavoring quite as strong and distinctive as the caramel flavoring even though they were the same level (robust), so I’m thinking the white tea matcha is a little more overpowering than the green tea. I also had a little harder time mixing the white matcha than I did with the green. But, this may have been due to user error.

All in all, the white cheesecake matcha was an interesting experiment. I think in the future, though, I may just stick to the green matcha base. Or, I may go with a stronger flavoring.

A while ago, I brewed up some Cafe Puer from Lupicia which is basically the same concept as this tea. I liked it a LOT, but then when I went on the website I saw that it was discontinued. Well, that’s what I get for drinking older tea. So when I saw David’sTea had a very similar tea, I knew I would have to get it. I stopped in on my trip to New York and picked up a small amount.

I brewed some today, and I think I didn’t use the right leaf ratio because it’s pretty weak. I can definitely taste the coffee notes, but it’s more like water with coffee essence. I bet there’s more to this tea, I just have to use more leaf next time. Until then, I’ll hold off on a rating.

This is the one downside to having small amounts of tea. You don’t really get a lot to play with. But with all the teas I wanted to try at DavidsTea, there’s no way I could justify buying 50g of each. Oh how I wish I lived close or at least closer to a DavidsTea.

On my latest trip to Davidstea, I knew I had to get this, but I only got a 1/2 oz since I didn’t know if I would like it. I’m a huge root beer fan, though, and I should have gotten more, but oh well.

I cold brewed this last night for 12 hours and it is absolutely delicious. I might try a stronger cold-brew next time. Or, since I’m reading people had difficulty cold-brewing theirs, I might try doing the hot-steep method and then cooling it off. Drinking root beer flavored tea hot doesn’t appeal to me too much ;)

I also tried to add a little seltzer but that didn’t really work. Tea was a little too weak for that. Whenever I get more, I’m definitely going to cold brew it a little stronger.

I had heard about the Red Leaf Matcha before from other Steepsters, but I was waiting to make my first purchase. And then, when I saw that Red Leaf was running a 50% off sale for one day on their Caramel Matcha, I was very tempted. While Red Leaf has many different flavors of matcha, Caramel is one of the highest rated. It’s also a nice universal flavor that’s pretty standard – I’ve had caramel before so I know what it tastes like. It seemed like a good started tea to review. I almost missed out on the discount, but at the last minute, I added it to my cart, and a few days later it arrived on my door. Not bad!

For the record, I am reviewing the 30g Caramel Matcha, Starter (Basic Grade), with Robust Flavoring (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html). I didn’t realize Red Leaf offers so many different choices with your matcha. It was hard for me to pick, but I decided on the starter grade, since I’ve tried various grades of matcha, and I couldn’t really taste the difference. The level of flavoring was an even tougher choice for me. Originally I was just going to go with delicate, but after reading plenty of reviews of people who had the robust flavor and enjoyed it, I decided to pay a little extra and go for the robust.

In my small but mighty package was my receipt, and a nice pamphlet on the history and preparation on matcha. Like a kid on Christmas, I didn’t waste any time and I got right down to business (if only I attacked all my other tea orders with such vigor). First, I opened the matcha package (very carefully) and smelled the matcha with caramel. It really did smell delightful, and there is no mistaking that it was caramel. Then again, I did get the second highest flavoring profile. I have to wonder how strong the matcha smell would have been with the lowest. I’ll have to see next time.

Once I got the fantastic smell out of the way, the first step on the “How to prepare Matcha Tea” said I should sift my matcha first. I’m not fancy enough to have an actual sifter, so I just used a tea strainer with the finest holes I could find. It worked well enough, although it wasn’t as slick as I had hoped. One of the downsides was that a lot of the matcha powder was left on the strainer and was tough to get off. If I end up drinking matcha more, I may invest in an actual sifting unit.

Next, the directions called for adding two bamboo tea scoops to the bowl. I, unfortunately, don’t have a bamboo tea scoop, but thankfully the directions said 1/2 to 1tsp, so using a generic measuring spoon, I just measured out that. I don’t have a fancy matcha bowl, but I do have a very large mug bowl with a handle, so that seemed to work well. I poured the matcha and hot water (lower than boiling temperature) into the water. The next step was to whisk the matcha, and thankfully, I did have a matcha whisk. I remembered from a matcha class I took a while ago that you can’t just whisk it in an “O” shape, you actually have to whisk in an “M” or “W” shape to get that frothiness.

Finally, after some vigorous whisking, the matcha was done. I took a sip up to my lips and thought, “Wow! This is definitely green tea”. I could ever-so-slightly taste the caramel. I bet if I had matcha more often, I would have been able to detect the caramel easier. I really wanted to bring out that caramel taste, but I didn’t want to add too much to my tea. I decided to throw in a splash of sunflower milk, and that really helped to bring out the caramel notes. I’m sure adding sweetener would have helped more, but I want to keep the calories as low as I can, at least for the initial batch.

After the first batch, I wanted to try again and play around with the preparation parameters. This next time, I decided to forgo the sifting process to see if it really mattered. I also measured out a little bit more matcha this time to see if it would help bring out the caramel flavor more. Finally, I only poured a small amount of water in in the beginning. While this definitely helped me get a better “foam of bubbles”, it made it harder to mix all of the matcha in the water. I wonder if my option to not sift it had something to do with it. Once I did all the same above steps, I had myself a new cup of matcha. I tasted this just plain, and the green tea taste was even stronger – so much for the “more caramel” idea. I also decided to add some skim milk to this batch to keep it simple, and I think skim milk really works the best. It helps smooth out the tea, and I can definitely taste the caramel notes.

So overall, my first foray into flavored matcha was a success. I discovered I’m not quite cool enough to drink it straight, but adding just a little bit of skim milk brings out the flavor without adding too many calories. I would love to experiment more with matcha tonight, but I know it’s high in caffeine and I don’t want to keep myself up too long if I can help it. I look forward to trying more flavored matcha teas from Red Leaf and experimenting some more along my matcha journey.

Thanks to Azzrian for a sample of this.

Genmaicha can be hit or miss for me. Most of the time it’s a miss. I’m not sure what it is exactly. Maybe it’s the fact it’s not very tea like? Or just the overpowering flavor of the toasted rice? Hard to describe. But everyone always raves about it, so maybe I’m missing something. Anyway, when I saw this, I wanted to try and sample. I’ve never had genmaicha flavored with anything before, and the marshmallows mixed in intrigued me.

The tea smells really good. It really does match the smell of a marshmallow rice krispie squares. And brewed up, it’s not too bad. I was worried with toasted rice would be overpowering, but it’s really not.

I wonder if they plan to bring this around again. It is very unique..