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When I saw this had been reblended, I just had to order some. I LOVE genmaicha and it has been WAY too long since I’ve had any in my cupboard. The first infusion was fairly smooth and just really toasty plain, I added a pinch of sugar and the marshmallow emerged beautifully. On the second infusion now and it seems more balanced than the first. I’m really enjoying this one!

Every time I have this I wonder if it truly is decaf – the flavor is just too rich! I’m running low on my pound bag, but until then it is amazing. On the bright side, there are lots of vanilla specks at the bottom of the bag so each pot is more vanilla-y than usual.

Okay, finishing up the last of this gem tonight! :( It will be missed – I didn’t crave it often, but there were times when nothing else would do.

Tea of the morning! I am up way earlier than usual for a Sunday morning due to sinus issues so I figured caffeine was in order. This is pretty good today, as usual, but I really think I was craving some more green tea with honey as that seems to make me feel better. Oh well, there is always time for more tea!

De-cupboarding this tonight! It is lovely with a bit of honey but I don’t think I’ll be restocking any time soon.

It has been far too long since I’ve had some matcha so I decided that tonight would be as good as any to remedy that situation. This cheesecake matcha is seriously smooth and has a very strong aroma that makes me want to double check and make sure there isn’t any actual cheesecake somewhere in my kitchen. I’ve had this matcha several times now and each time this flavor is spot on to a real, creamy cheesecake. You can find out more about this matcha here (and pick up some for yourself!): http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/cheesecake-matcha.html.

Initially, I tried this matcha traditionally in my chawan and it was creamy and rich. I was pleasantly surprised that the color was a vibrant green instead of being muddled by the flavoring. Even though the cheesecake flavor is front and center, it is tempered nicely with a smooth, fresh matcha aftertaste that prevents the flavor from being cloying. The matcha also whisked up quite well with no noticeable clumps and I didn’t even sift it!

After the initial success with this matcha, I couldn’t wait to try it as a hot cheesecake latte. Although the thought of hot liquid cheesecake is not necessarily my idea of a great treat, I was confident that the quality of Red Leaf Tea’s product would not let me down. With a bit of sugar and the addition of warm milk, this latte was so great! I downed it in no time flat and had to make another immediately.

Tonight, I’m having this as a cold iced matcha with a teensy bit of sugar and enough milk to complete the cup. The flavor seems to really pop when prepared this way and I’m certainly wondering how I made it for so many days without drinking this or any other of the great flavors from Red Leaf Tea. A couple of weeks ago I made a delicious matcha cake and I think it would be amazing with this cheesecake flavor as the base! Now to figure out what the next flavor I’ll try will be…

Good as always – but now I need to switch to decaf if I ever want to sleep tonight.

It has been a LONG weekend of feeling exhausted so I’ve been sleeping quite more than usual. I also have a sore throat and the beginning of a cough – the luxuries of the first of the school year teaching 6 year olds. I added quite a bit of honey to this tea and from what I can tell I quite like it. However, I’ll be saving the rating for a day when I can truly taste this tea.

Another tea from threewhales! This was interesting. The flavor is mostly of jasmine, but there is a definite caffeine kick from the yunnan. However, like jasmine tends to do, it is relaxing and making me a bit sleepy. It is good, but not my favorite.

I have a bit of this tea thanks to threewhales! It is a really good, juicy strawberry tea. The strawberry and tea are in perfect harmony and really work well together. This is really good plain, but I’m having it with a pinch of sugar and milk – this is great!

Thanks to threewhales I’m getting to try another milk oolong! I definitely oversteeped this a bit but it isn’t bitter. The texture is a bit creamier than others I’ve tried, but I’m just not sure that I love milk oolongs. However, this is a pretty good one and I’m enjoying it!

Matcha-thon! English Toffee latte all the way! I desperately need a kick so hoping the matcha will work fast! Out of the flavors I’ve tried from Red Leaf Tea I think this is my favorite flavor.

I’m having a nice big mug with 2 hefty scoops of this matcha and a bit of milk to start my day. It is a good one!

After my morning cup of Earl Grey Creme Vanilla (Upton), I found myself really craving Rosy Earl Grey – that I haven’t had in my cupboard in many months. So I improvised. To my infuser basket with the used Earl Grey Creme Vanilla leaves I added 5 Rishi Jasmine Pearls and a small pinch of Upton’s Rose Congou. Yay! Vanilla Rosy Earl! This is definitely satisfying my very specific craving.

Morning tea once again! The bergamot and cream are perfectly balanced today.

First tea of the day with a splash of milk! Good and dependable as always.

This is my latest taste adventure from Red Leaf Tea! Now, I consider myself a bit of a coffee expert. I don’t drink much coffee now but I used to live on the stuff and have had more than my fair share of traditional hot and iced mocha coffees. I wasn’t super convinced that the mocha flavor would translate well to matcha, but I gave it a shot. I’m really glad that I did! This is pretty awesome. You can find more information and order some of this Mocha Matcha for yourself here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mocha-matcha.html.

I knew once I opened the pouch that I was in for a treat! This smells like a rich, dark chocolate with just a tiny bit of a coffee aroma coming through. Out of the matchas I’ve tried from Red Leaf Tea, this one had the most powerful aroma. Once again, I was impressed that the matcha was a beautiful, bright green despite being flavored. I immediately wanted to have this cold since that is how I prefer my coffee based mochas. So I added a really hefty scoop of this matcha into a blender bottle along with milk and a tiny drizzle of honey. After shaking it all up, it smells just like sitting in a coffee house! The taste of this is completely awesome. If I was blindfolded, I would be certain that this was a coffee based drink. The chocolate is dark and rich with the coffee flavors just backing everything up. The coffee flavoring isn’t bitter or overpowering. I think I can taste just a hint of the matcha towards the end of the sip, but the flavoring is really in control of this blend.

Even though I almost always drink tea rather than coffee, it is nice to have something that will suit my occasional coffee cravings without having to brew an entire pot (and have the entire house smell) or go to an overpriced coffee shop. Like all of the matchas I’ve tried from Red Leaf Tea, this is really great and I think it would make a good addition to any baked good. I’m thinking that adding it to buttercream to top a chocolate cake would really set things off. This is a great gateway matcha for those who enjoy coffee. There is no bitterness that matcha can sometimes have and the flavors are bold with a good kick of caffeine.

This poor tea has been pushed to the back of my tea cupboard for far too long. I had forgotten how great and soothing this tea is! What a great tea for a Friday night cuddled up on the couch with my cat and reading The Princess Bride.

I’ve been sipping on this tea all day ~ it is alright, but nothing memorable. It is a good tea for when you are focusing on other activities. It is a bit nutty and not really sweet – not nearly as complex as I prefer my darker oolongs. Overall, I wouldn’t purchase this but I’ll definitely enjoy what I have.

Tea of the morning! Nice and smooth as always.

This is a free sample thrown in to my Butiki order. Thanks! I’ve never had an actual mango lassi, but if it tastes similar to this tea I think I would love it. Although the aroma is heavy on the rooibos, the flavor is creamy mango all the way. This will definitely be going on my shopping list! I need some more decaf options for the evenings.

I’ve had this several times, but I don’t think I’ve logged it yet. This is another really good one from Butiki! It tastes so much like a raspberry truffle and it is so rich, yet guilt free. Yum!

As I was considering which flavored matcha I would try next from Red Leaf Tea, I was stumped. There are so many amazing flavors! However, this Raspberry Truffle matcha caught my eye fairly quickly and I knew that I had to give it a try. I am a sucker for all things chocolate, particularly super rich truffles of all flavors. I had very high expectations for this matcha and I have to say that it more than exceeded my expectations! You can find out more about this matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/raspberry-truffle-matcha.html.

Once again, I was very pleased by the intense aroma as I opened the package. I could have sworn that somebody just opened a very expensive box of raspberry truffles somewhere in my kitchen. The matcha was a very bright green color despite being flavored. I first tried this traditionally as a hot bowl of matcha in my chawan. Initially, the slight bitterness of the matcha hits your palate, but it is followed by an intense and slightly sweet raspberry flavor with the chocolate aspect occurring more in the aftertaste. I love how the aftertaste lingers several minutes after your last sip and I also appreciate that the matcha was very easy to whisk with no noticeable clumps. While this is a super awesome way to drink this matcha, I just had to try it as a cold latte since it is so unbelievably hot here in Texas.

For the cold latte I added a healthy scoop of this Raspberry Truffle matcha and milk into a blender bottle and shook it all up. Once again the matcha blended beautifully without any clump which is something I’ve noticed in other matchas when preparing them with a cold liquid. Although I didn’t add any sweetener, the matcha seems a little sweeter now, but not by any means overly so. I also think that the flavor profile is a bit more balanced at this temperature. The bitter edge of the matcha is almost non-existent and the raspberry and chocolate flavors are more unified as a raspberry truffle would be. It is quite refreshing on this hot day and I was impressed that it didn’t settle out even after being left on the counter for 10+ minutes.

Overall, this is another big success from Red Leaf Tea! Not only is the tea quite tasty, their customer service is amazing. My order arrived within 2 business days! If you haven’t tried anything from this company, you are missing out!

I was having trouble deciding which tea to have this morning, but Jim Marks had a great idea with the Black Dragon! This is really hitting the spot this morning – it is oh so smoky with a slight sweetness that is really appealing. Yum!