brandy3392

I’ve been wanting to try Matcha for a long, long time. But for whatever reason, I’ve been totally afraid of trying it. I kept thinking I was somehow going to screw it up, or that I would purchase poor quality Matcha and end up hating it. Finally, I broke down and purchased some moderately priced starter Matcha and tried it. I made lattes with it and it was okay, but nothing earth-shattering. So I decided to try a flavored Matcha, which brings me to this review for Caramel Matcha from Red Leaf Tea.

http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

I have always been a lover of all things caramel. I’ve probably tried every caramel cookie, cake, ice cream, tea, coffee, pastry, and countless other items that contain caramel. But I am very picky about caramel flavorings. Many of them taste too artificial, butterscotch-y, or are just too faint for me to enjoy. Happily, this Caramel Matcha did not disappoint me. When I received the package in the mail, I immediately knew my Matcha had arrived. There was a wonderful, strong smell of candy-like caramel coming from the package. After actually opening the package and smelling more caramel goodness, I knew I was in for a treat.

I decided to try this as a latte. So I prepared it using my usual method of 2 grams Matcha, 2 ounces of skim milk, 3-4 scoops of stevia, and 6 ounces of water. I whisked this up using my electric milk frother and tried it. It was very good, but a little strong. After adding another 2 ounces of water, it was close to perfection. This Matcha is very smooth and rich. Even though I used very little milk, it tasted so creamy. The caramel flavor is just right – enough flavor that you can definitely taste it, but not enough to outshine the flavor of the Matcha. This may be one of the best drinks I’ve ever made at home, and I’m actually kind of proud. I don’t have to make any more trips to Starbucks when I want a great latte. So I can save money, time, and calories. Hooray! I estimate that this whole drink took me 5 minutes to make, cost less than $1.00, and has about 25 calories. Plus I didn’t have to drive all the way across town to buy it. The only bad thing is, now I feel the need to try all of Red Leaf Tea’s other flavored Matchas. Oh well…

I think Teavana might have a problem with the consistency of their blend on this tea. While others have said the rose in this is subtle, I found the rose in my bag to be unbearably strong. The best way I can describe this tea in taste and smell is 25% Almond Biscotti and 75% rose air freshener. I’ve had plenty of rose teas before, but this just seems artificial and extremely overbearing. Somehow I managed to finish the cup, but it was probably just because I was too lazy to make something else. Considering this was supposed to be a “tweaked” or “upgraded” version of Almond Biscotti, I am seriously disappointed.

If someone is brave enough to give this tea a try, check out my swap list in discussions. I am willing to swap this for absolutely anything.

Excellent tea. Chocolatey with a very roasted flavor. I normally don’t like ginger in teas, but I can’t really taste it unless I steep for over 3 minutes. Unfortunately it loses most of its magic after the first steeping. The second steep was rather weak and not very chocolatey, but still retained the roasted flavor. Prepared with milk and stevia.

Thank you to The DJBooth for letting me try this one. It’s not harsh like I expected. There are no added flavors and nothing fancy – just a good, strong breakfast blend. I haven’t really paid attention to how much of an energy boost I get from it, but I think slightly more than your standard black tea. Once the stash in my cupboard goes down, I might need to get more of this. Prepared with milk and stevia.

It’s been a very crazy week for me, so I needed one of my favorite comfort teas. I love this tea so much! It’s chocolatey, creamy, and has just a bit of coconut flavor. This is a very flavored tea (you can’t actually taste much of the black tea, but that’s okay). Prepared with milk and stevia.

On a personal note, please send your best wishes and prayers to Minot, North Dakota and the surrounding areas. Thousands of us lost our homes this week due to record breaking flooding. Sometimes just knowing that others are thinking of us makes picking up the pieces a bit easier.

The last few weeks have been crazy for me (flooding, evacuating my home, moving back into my home, and now possibly having to re-evacuate my home). So today I decided I will drink only “Happy Teas” to make me feel better. This was the first one I reached for. It’s just as good as I remembered.

This is a truly great tea. Very creamy and buttery tasting. I am definitely getting the toasted coconut flavor from it. It’s kind of like a milk oolong with coconut. I may need to buy some of this when my sample runs out. Prepared with stevia.

I must be really weird. This is a coconut mango black tea, but I don’t taste any fruitiness. Instead, I taste… cookies!?! It is very buttery tasting and reminds me a lot of Lupicia’s Cookie tea. A very, very good tea, but not what I expected. This is actually one of my favorites. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

I’m very impressed by this tea. The tea flavor is strong, yet smooth with no bitterness at all. The fruit flavor is very gentle and enhances the flavor of the tea rather than obscuring it. Prepared with stevia.

Upping my rating because this blend really grew on me. A little bit of salt really adds to the flavor. I will be repurchasing this one.

No notes yet.

Another sample that I got with my Davids Tea order. I was really excited to try this, but was a bit disappointed by it. It’s like the taste isn’t quite fruity enough. IMO, it would is not tart enough and needs more hibiscus. I preferred Pink Flamingo to this one. Prepared with stevia.

I received this as a sample in my Davids Tea order. I’m really surprised I like this, I normally don’t like anything with lemongrass in it. It is very fruity tasting, but doesn’t just taste like warm fruit juice or jello. Very refreshing and interesting. Prepared with stevia.

Yuck! I normally like rooibos, but this just tastes woody and stale. The mango flavor tastes off. I’m going to dump out this cup. Hopefully I just got a bad batch – Adagio normally makes decent teas. Prepared with stevia.

This is an okay blend, but nothing exceptional. It tastes a lot like apple cider to me. A little boring for my tastes. Prepared with stevia.

First, let me express my intense dislike for all things Chai. Given the choice between drinking a good Chai or a crappy Lipton bagged tea made with pond water, I would choose the Lipton. But, something possessed me to try this tea. (It probably has a lot to do with the fact that it also has Chocolate and Cheesecake in the title.) When I tried this tea, I was shocked – it is actually really good! The taste is quite chocolaty. I can really taste the cheesecake flavor, especially at the end of the sip. The chai spices are pretty gentle, and remind me more of the spices in baked goods. This is truly an awesome chai, and that is a huge compliment coming from me. Prepared with stevia and a bit of half and half.

I love this! Very juicy, somewhat tart (but not too tart). This is great for when I am craving fruit juice. If you don’t like hibiscus, stay far away from this blend. Prepared with stevia.

I’ll be honest, I was scared to try this tea. I love peanut butter, I love chocolate – but peanut butter in tea just seemed wrong. But it is actually very good. The chocolate flavor is fairly strong. The peanut butter adds some warmth and richness. A fabulous dessert tea. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

I’ve had a rough few days, don’t feel well, and am in the process of getting snowed in. It seems like the perfect time to break out the PMS Blend. This is by far the creamiest, richest chocolate tea I’ve had. The black tea flavor comes across only in the aftertaste – the chocolate is clearly the main player in this blend. Very, very good. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

I’m surprised at how strong this tea is. It’s not weak and watery like many flavored teas tend to be. I’m guessing part of the magic of this tea is due to the assam in the blend. This is a proper black tea that can stand up to lots of milk and sweetener. The result is an awesome, almost coffee-ish drink with great caramel flavor. I’m sad that I can’t get more of this, because I would drink it regularly. Thank you Rachel for the sample! Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

Butter Pecan + Ice Cream = Very Bad
Butter Pecan + Tea = Very, Very Good

I’m not a fan of butter pecan, but apparently that’s because I haven’t had it in tea before. This is a great dessert tea and not nearly as heavy and syrupy tasting as I would have expected. The tea has a fair amount of astringency, but I think that helps keep it from being overly sweet tasting. The butter pecan flavor is fairly strong, but it doesn’t taste artificial. This would probably make a really great breakfast tea as well. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

Thank you Rachel for sending me a sample of this!

I am by no means an Earl Grey fan, so I wasn’t expecting to like this one at all. The cream and vanilla flavors really help smooth out the bergamot. Pretty good overall, just not really my type of tea. Prepared with stevia.

I’m not much of a green tea drinker and I’ve never had houjicha before, so this tea was a bit of an experience for me. It definitely had a toasty flavor, which I am not normally a big fan of. The caramel flavor is a bit subtle for me, I prefer the flavors in my tea to be strong. I did enjoy this tea, but it isn’t something I would normally drink. Thank you Rachel for sending me this one to sample! Prepared with stevia.

I finally figured out what this tea needed – salt. I like my teas sweetened, but every time I added sweetener to this, it just got sickeningly sweet. Adding half a pinch of salt to this really helped bring out the flavor. I’m really enjoying drinking it this way. Prepared with almond milk, stevia, and salt.