Taiwan Green Tea Powder Matcha Tea by Nuvola Tea

ashmanra 4 tasting notes

This is a free sample sent for review by Nuvola Tea. Thank you so much, Nuvola! This is fantastic! I had it three ways today.

I confess I am a matcha newbie. Two years ago I don’t think I would have tried it. Now that my eldest daughter is drinking tea solely for health reasons I stay on the hunt for the best tasting, most antioxidant rich teas I can find so we can share them.

I opened this pouch this morning for a back to school boost, as my youngest daughter and I are hitting the books again homeschooling. Oh, this smells so sweet and delicious! There is a strong, fresh green aroma, like sweet, sweet veggies. MMM!

I sift about 1/2 tsp. into my bowl and whisk with 176F water. The taste is much like the aroma, only at the end of the sip there is a quick bitterness because I used too much matcha, but also, not a bad taste so much as the palate cleansing type of taste that is often tasted in green teas. I am easily able to finish this.

I make a second cup with a little less matcha powder since I am not really measuring my water. This time I add two pinches of sugar. This probably amounts to less than 1/8 tsp. of sugar. I whisk it up and drink. VOILA! No bitterness at all! Also, I taste no sugar or sugary sweetness, only natural sweetness from the matcha! This cup goes down fast fast so I decide to experiment some more!

I put about 1/8 tsp. sugar in a bowl, maybe less. I warm some milk and whisk. Ahhhhh! Warm milk is so soothing and always takes on a dark and dreamy flavor to me, almost earthy. Now it is combined with the fresh green taste of the matcha, and the sugar is completely hidden flavor wise so next time I may leave it out entirely.

Excellent tea, Nuvola! I have really enjoyed trying your matcha in all these ways today!

2013-01-09 10:59:44 -0500

I Like This

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2 comments

I was searching for a good green tea to start my day and my eye lit on this sample from Nuvola. I have had three cups of it, had another today, and I would say I still have enough to make another two or three cups.

The liquor is a deep emerald green and it goes down smoothly. This is a very drinkable matcha! Thank you, Nuvola!

2013-01-14 15:42:48 -0500

I Like This

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Hoorah! Hooray! My tea came today! I just completed a SIPDOWN of another brand of unflavored matcha so I am glad to have this. I bought two pouches of it because the price was so reasonable and I would save on shipping in the long run.

The color of this is quite similar to the one from Zen Tea Life, and both are heartier in flavor than the one I got from Olive Nation. It is not as vibrant green as Kai Matcha or as the higher grades of Red Leaf Matcha, but it is lovely and an excellent price for a good quality of tea.

I made a latte with this as soon as it came and it was yummy! The smell reminds me very strongly of some Ti Kuan Yin and Dong Ding teas I have had, the smell of the acrylic paint art studio I took lessons in when I was very young. I LOVE that smell!

One thing I will be doing with this….I started out ordering all my matcha from Red Leaf in Robust. Now I love plain matcha and the robust flavor level is too much for me. Some of the flavors have a chemical taste if I put a full measure in, and if I cut back on how much Red Leaf I use, I don’t have enough matcha flavor for me anymore.

Solution: use half as much Red Leaf flavored, and replace the other half with a good unflavored matcha – like this one!

I am going to give a bit of this to my daughter and my bestie, because I think they are really going to love it.

2013-04-11 19:40:00 -0400

I Like This

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0 comments

Sadly, I finished my sample from Nuvola Tea today. Joyfully, I took a look at their website and saw that it is half the price of others that I have been looking at. I have been trying to get a couple of friends hooked on matcha lattes and have had pretty good success. Today I introduced them to unflavored matcha lattes.

My friend preferred this brand because she felt it was creamier and had a fresher taste than the first one she tried, though it could simply be that this one had more honey since I was drizzling it in and not really measuring.

Bottom line, this is a really tasty matcha for a price I can hardly believe. It is because this is made in Taiwan rather than Japan? Whatever the case, I want more, and I won’t be ordering just one pack!

Thank you, Nuvola Tea, for the sample. It was great to get to taste another matcha since I am fairly new to the type of tea. I have enjoyed every bit of this one!

2013-02-10 15:18:32 -0500