Mango Matcha

This sample came to me courtesy of Mercuryhime who didn’t really care for it. First off, I had some this morning in a smoothie with banana, frozen mango, chia seeds and soy milk and it is so incredibly good this way! yum! I feel like I am eating a decadent mango dessert, but that doesn’t say a whole lot for the matcha since there are so many other things mixed in with it.

So then I decided to mix it in with some water the traditional way to see what would happen. The color is a brownish-green and is not that attractive. The flavor is swampy and gross – mango swampwater?! lol. This is just dandy mixed in a smoothie but quite disgusting on its own in my opinion. Oh well! I will enjoy it in my fruit!

Mango madness! Ok so mangos are one of my favourite fruits. When I was in Australia I pretty much ate Mangos non stop any way that I could. In ice cream, yogurt, candies etc… sooooo good!

My matcha order was the following:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Delicate

I ordered delicate for the first time with this one because I was a little worried after the intensity of the pear matcha. When I opened this package the scent was that of Mangos but also the rind of the mango. I was a bit worried that the rind taste would carry over in to the matcha but luckily it didn’t! I popped this matcha into my morning smoothie since I’m fairly certain I don’t want to drink this hot ever :)

Delicious! I know some others haven’t loved this, but I still find it an enjoyable matcha. The taste does have a bit of the rind in it but I don’t mind that so much. It makes it feel more like I took a bite out of a mango and got a bit of rind in my bite. I’d be interested in trying this in a different base just to see how the flavour changes (if it does). I wonder if something like a white base would bring out more of the mango flavour. I’m happy with this purchase – it’s not quite the wonderful fruit flavour that the black cherry is but it’s still good and something I’ll enjoy in my smoothies. I’ll enjoy mixing all my different fruit flavours into a giant matcha smoothie one of these days.

Buy it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html

Mangoes are my favorite fruit. Or at least, I think they are! My opinions seem to be divided, and watermelon (any melon, really) and pomegranate are close contenders. Man, you know what would be amazing? Honeydew Matcha. I could see that ripe melon taste going SO well with a grassy green base. Oh man, I am drooling at the thought. Not, uh, literally drooling, but I might if honeydew matcha was a real thing! Ummm back to the matter at hand. Mangoes! I love ’em! Especially when they reach that perfect peak of ripeness and are fall-apart juicy but still with a great texture.

Of course I had to try mango matcha. I especially got it to mix with my coconut and rose (separately!), but regular old mango has to be tried first. I got a small with green matcha and distinctive flavor—my preferred for fruity matchas. The smell in the bag seemed particularly strong/artificial, but I’ve found that’s usual for matcha and it doesn’t reflect the taste.

I have to say, this really isn’t a straight mango flavor. The mango aspect is quite interesting—it’s not juicy mango flesh, but more like… you know, when you’re cutting a mango and there’s some flesh left after you peel it so you scrape your teeth on the rind to get it all? You get mango flesh, but also some rind-y goodness as well that adds a woodsy, almost tangy taste. Well, that’s what the mango is like here! Rind-y. It’s kind of nice, quite different from other mango teas I’ve tried.

But… and sadly, there is a but. This tastes like lemon! Not a hint, a little whiff of citrus. It’s really lemony! I would guess this was Mango Lemon if I didn’t know better. Another review mentions citrus too (I didn’t read them first, just perusing to see if I was way off-base), so I guess it’s just how the mango flavoring is? Now that I know it, it won’t be such a surprise when I make it next and I think I could really get to like it. You can find it here:

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

Okay, I’m finally getting to some of my new matchas! I really have too much tea. I don’t even know what I have anymore. Samples everywhere!

anyways, this tea. In my last order, I got some matchas that I thought would be good for making smoothies. I also happen to love mangoes. The Champagne mango is the queen of all mangoes, but alas, she knows her worth. It is every so pricy to feed my mango habit. There’s nothing like a sweet creamy mango. yumm. Even my dogs love it. They sit at my feet and give me puppy dog eyes until I give them a nibble. So cute. so anyway, this mango matcha (http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html) seemed like the perfect thing for me!

The appearance of this tea is a slightly brownish green powder. As usual, there’s a little specks of white stuff in there that I’m guessing is the flavoring agent. It’s a bit clumpy but I’ve definitely seen worse.

For preparation, I added a bit of cold water to make a paste, then hot water to make the tea!

Well, sad to say, I’m a little disappointed. The smell reminds me of plastic. Like sweet peach and plastic. The taste is similar to the smell, except I’m also getting the grassy mineral flavor of the matcha. This is just so artificial and not like mango at all! I’ve loved all the other matchas from this company so I have no idea what happened here, but this flavor is not for me. At least, not as a hot tea. I think I’ll chill this and see if it gets better cold.

Later:
Okay, cold, this is a lot better. Still not good though. It tastes oddly floral and perfumey. I can still taste the matcha base, and that is as good as always but please find another mango flavoring. :( I can’t finish this. I’m sorry.

I’m working on a real review, but I have to just come and say:

mmmmm
ango!

So delicious!

After seeing some of the glowing reviews for this matcha (found here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html), I had to try it. Trying Mango Diablo from DavidsTea recently has brought back to mind my love of mangos and real mango flavor. I had forgotten it in the face of so much fake-tasting mango flavored tea and candy out there. But I used to beg my mom to let me buy a mango. There are few things better than slicing into a perfectly ripe mango. Makes a royal mess to eat it (at least, the way I did it), but it was so, so worth it. Still, I hate messy food, so if I can find that mango flavor without the mess, I am all for it! It was a bit worried about this tea after the strange bitterness of the Peach and Lemon flavors, but what’s life without a few risks? Mango makes me think of summer and tropical smoothies and everything delicious in life.

So when I opened it, it had that same smell the Peach and Lemon flavors had, a faint hint of bitterness, and I got worried. Still, never let it be said that I’m afraid to try new things. I made a cup of this to take to work with me, and thank goodness I did, it was a hellish day and I desperately needed the energy from it. But…it wasn’t that great. It tasted like decent mango flavor with a back hint of chemicals. I don’t know what it is, but I think I just need to stay away from the citrus group of flavored matchas. The Peach redeemed itself when iced, so maybe the mango will do the same. I’m hoping it does. My feelings may also be skewed a bit, I’ve been spoiled by the delicious goodness of the Mango Diablo from Davids, so my opinions on the mango flavor might have been different if I hadn’t been drinking tons of the Mango Diablo lately. That’s my new standard for mango flavor and this just doesn’t match up to it.

Still, it will be no great hardship to finish this off, especially in smoothies over the coming summer months. It’s not horrible, it’s just not for me. But maybe a lower temperature will help or finding another way to drink it. Or maybe one of my friends will try it and like it and then it will have a good home!

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve managed to have only good experiences with matcha, despite being pretty skeptical at the beginning. When I heard that Red Leaf Tea had flavoured matchas, I was so excited! I knew right away that I was going to order mango matcha- http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/mango-matcha.html – my favourite fruit (possibly my favourite food). The hard part was deciding what else I would order! I waited impatiently for my order to arrive (which it did, quite a long time ago…I have not been good at keeping up with my postings!) and as soon as they arrived I ripped open the mango pouch!

My one disappointment was that the pouch that the matcha came in was sealed at the very top, unlike the pouches that I’ve had from Davids Tea, which have about a half inch of extra pouch at the top of the seal. This sounds like a strange thing to be disappointed with, but I definitely struggled to smell the contents without getting the powder all over the place! Needless to say, I very quickly transferred the contents to a tin.

The smell of this tea is wonderful. It smells like fresh mango juice. I would describe it as a very clean and refreshing smell, which is how I feel about most matchas. I will also say that I had no issues with clumps. I have been very careful to check the temperature of my water before adding it to the tea, and so far have not had any bitter disasters. The mango matcha has a grassy sweetness that definitely keeps the mango taste. The actual flavour isn’t as strong as the smell, but I think that it would be overpowering if it was. I love this both hot and iced, which a slight edge going to the iced version. I haven’t tried it yet in a smoothie, but I am thinking it would be fantastic. I did try adding a bit to some yogurt, and it was almost perfect – this was the only time I had clumps, but I also wasn’t very patient trying to mix it all together. I’m sure it would be good with other types of foods too – I keep seeing recipes for cookies and cheesecakes and such, but for me that defeats the purpose a bit of trying to drink healthy teas. I wonder though what mango matcha ice cream would be like….I am thinking very refreshing! That might have to happen.

I’ve been using my frother to whisk my matchas for the last few months (they actually work pretty great), but I felt like I was cheating. I looked at DavidsTea and on amazon for whisks, but the price was enough for an awful lot of tea…so the frother stayed. The mango matcha is only the third kind I’ve tried, so I really don’t have much skill whisking anyway, but I am happy to say that I was able to get what looks like exactly the same whisk as at DT this weekend for only $4! I was amazed but very happy. You know what that means…more matcha is in my future!