I’m so excited! My matcha is finally here. After reading all the amazing reviews about Red Leaf here on Steepster, I just had to jump on the matcha bandwagon. I hemmed and hawed for quite a while because the selection of flavoured matcha is a bit overwhelming. I settled on Royal Matcha Tea and Caramel Matcha because I felt the need to try the pure version as well as the yummy deliciousness that everyone keeps talking about. You can find it here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html
When I opened the bag of Caramel Matcha, I thought I’d gone to tea heaven. Seriously, I could sit here and smell this all day. Sweet yummy caramel. I do wish I had gotten the little tins; I thought the bags would be resealable like other teas I’ve purchased online. Well, live and learn. Besides, my tea is here!! I was so nervous about messing this up since 1) I’ve had really bad tea mojo lately (see my last 3 reviews), and 2) I really, really wanted to make a great bowl of matcha with this. I have a chasen already, and got the little bamboo spoon with my Red Leaf order. I still don’t have a proper chawan; I’m waiting to find the right design for me. I have a small sifter, but anticipation led me to blindly forget it right beside the bowl, and I dumped a teaspoon of matcha in. Poured in 3 oz of water that I boiled, then let sit for a few minutes to cool. Like Alphakitty, I measured out the water exactly because I really didn’t want to mess it up. I’m still working on my whisking technique. I can build up a pretty good foam but it disappears in the time it takes to walk from the kitchen to my desk. Not sure if that means I’m not whisking enough. My first sip definitely told me I didn’t whisk enough. Too grassy and no caramel taste.
After further whisking, I was very happy. The scent is still nice and strong; even in my now empty bowl. The matcha was still a tad bitter but wonderfully delicious. I got hints of caramel at first. I got even more after I added a pinch of sugar and more whisking. I went for the “distinctive” level of flavouring. I will probably bump it up to “robust” next time. I have got to learn to drink faster though because it got cold really quickly. I also should have read up on how much caffeine is in here before drinking matcha at 7:30 pm.
So let’s go for broke and make a matcha latte too. Another teaspoon of matcha (again forgetting to sift…will drinking matcha help with my memory?), 3 oz of hot water…lots of whisking…1 bare teaspoon of sugar and a cup of heated soy milk…more whisking. And I’m in heaven. Sleep? Who needs sleep when I have the most amazing matcha sitting right in front of me?
