Starter Matcha Tea by Red Leaf Tea

Starter Matcha

Matcha tea is well known the world over as the tea for the opulent. This is true given its rigorous processing and top notch taste. Despite this, Matcha can be taken by everyone who wants to begin developing the palate for this galaxy of fine exotic teas. Since it may be difficult to adapt to its new taste easily, the best place to start is with regular Starter Matcha. This Matcha is the starting point for people who want to join the class of Matcha nutritional drink foods.

For those who have never tried Matcha and are apprehensive about whether it will suit their palate, Starter Matcha helps slowly build in the striking Matcha taste. Furthermore, this Matcha is much more economical than its more expensive counterparts. Given the Matcha reputation for first-rate health teas, this makes a good return on investment. It can also be taken by the whole family since it helps all family members boost their personal health.

5 Tasting Notes

momo 3 tasting notes

So I’ve been wanting matcha for awhile, and didn’t really want to spend too much on it. I’d only had it before at a Japanese tea ceremony, and I thought it’d be worth trying again.

When I couldn’t find a modestly price matcha at an international market, I figured $14 and change for 30g shipped to me wasn’t going to hurt.

I don’t have the proper tools but you know what, an immersion blender does a fine job too. After using it to whisk the matcha up nicely, I added about 4 oz of coconut milk and poured it over ice.

It’s not bright green like your typical matcha, but a rather precious pastel olive green.

It was a bit chalky at first, but I ended up pouring it into another glass and now it’s perfect. The thickness gives it a really rich taste. It’s not too sweet, which I’d figure for its price point. It’s a touch bitter, but I think the usual green, vegetal flavors tone it down a lot. I used water that was probably around 180 degrees so maybe I’d go even lower next time.

Not bad! I’ll give it a try by itself later, considering half the glass has me feeling rather reinvigorated right now.

2012-03-21 16:04:57 -0400

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With all the tasty flavored ones, I haven’t been using this one. But I figured it would be good in a smoothie. I forgot I bought strawberries, so in they went along with some frozen mango and pineapple, and coconut milk to smooth things out, along with a big scoop of this matcha.

I’ve been mixing up the flavored ones in smoothies lately but it gets too be too many different fruits haha. Oddly I can’t taste much of the matcha in this compared to the ones where I used like peach and orange together. And I used the same amount of matcha. Of course I’ve also had it for a really long time at this point, since March, but it’s been in an airtight jar kept in a drawer.

I think I can taste it, it just makes it taste sort of flat. Like it’s pulled from the sweetness. I’ve never understood adding sugar to smoothies because what is fruit, but this one I almost feel like I should.

Guess I’ll stick with crazy blackberry-raspberry-cherry-pineapple-banana with orange and peach matcha smoothies?

This one I’m gonna relegate to baked goods already. I keep telling myself I’m gonna bake with matcha and I don’t do it. Well if this one is less tasty in drinks then it’s time to do it!

2012-08-09 16:29:39 -0400

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So after the first iced matcha latte I made, I made another…and made myself sick to my stomach so I had to negate so much matcha with pizza. Except I so rarely get pizza and usually make them bring me it, so I got lost trying to find the pizza place I ended up in some way rich neighborhood and then I didn’t want matcha anymore.

Finally today I feel it is okay to go back to the matcha since I got enough nachos for 3 people at lunch and won’t have to go outside again. I added some sweetener, but it wasn’t enough. I don’t think I would really like this sweeter unless it came from the matcha itself.

Also I had no idea last week I think that Starbucks has green tea lattes so I tried one and it failed in comparison to using this stuff. Not surprising but I wanted to at least compare with the most readily available version I could get around here.

I will not drink another one when I finish this off. I will not.

2012-04-01 19:10:03 -0400

Mercuryhime 2 tasting notes

I’m kind of a matcha noob, mostly because matcha is so expensive, but Red Leaf seems to have matcha at good prices. I’ve only had maybe two different matchas in my life so this Starter matcha is perfect for me. It’s kind of like how California Rolls are a perfect starter sushi. It’s pleasant and mild and hard to dislike. There’s better stuff out there, sure, but you want to get acquainted with what it is before you get too adventurous.
Anyway, even lacking the traditional matcha utensils, I think I still made a pretty good cup with a mug and a fork. I made it pretty thick at first, thinking I could water it down to suit my taste if necessary. It started out thick and foamy. Decadent! I took a sip of it in this thickened state and it was a bit too strong and bitter, so I added some water. The foam died down considerably. It’s got a nice creamy consistency even if it is thinner. There’s also a bit of chalkiness, but it’s not unpleasant. It’s a nice dark olive green. Very pretty. The taste is not too exciting, to be honest. It’s just green and mild. It’s got none of that sweetness or even oceanic flavor some matchas seem to have. It’s also a tad more bitter and the teeniest astringent than some other matchas I’ve had.
I suspect this would make a really good candidate for lattes since you don’t have to worry about hiding delicate nuances of flavor. It’s just a nice green creamy drink. This would probably also be good in a banana and almond milk smoothie. Or pancakes. nummy. In fact, this matcha reminds me a bit of Starbucks’ green tea lattes. Of course, their green tea lattes are only barely matcha tasting since they’re conserving the expensive powder, so having control over your own proportions is extremely awesome.
Overall, this is a pretty good matcha for the price. This is the lowest quality matcha they sell so I’m thinking it only gets better if you buy the other kinds. I can’t wait to try the royal matcha or vanilla matcha. While this particular matcha might be better used as a flavoring or a latte, I’ll bet the other ones are good for just drinking straight.
Also, wow, the caffeine kick is instant! I’m half done with my mug and I need to stop. Gonna heat up some milk and make a latte for the husband. :)

Later: The latte was well received!

You find this matcha here:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/starter-matcha.html

2012-02-04 10:55:48 -0500

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