Blueberry Matcha

Blueberry is one of my favorite flavors, second only to vanilla. Unfortunately for me, blueberries don’t grow in Ecuador. We have “Mortiño” which is a type of blueberry, but it is tiny and sour. So, any time I am able to get something blueberry flavored, it is a no brainer. I MUST have it. This tea was no exception. Since Red Leaf Tea is amazing and ships to remote corners of the world (ex. Ecuador) I placed my order immediately!

Blueberries are native to North America. The flowering end of the berry (the one that isn’t connected to the stem) is a perfect 5 pointed star. Because of this, some Native American cultures referred to it as the “Star Berry”. They had many uses for it, including relieving persistent coughs! In modern day, it is known that blueberries are incredibly high in antioxidants. Also, it is one of the few naturally occurring blue pigments in plants. How can you not love blueberries? They taste delicious, are good for you and are interesting too!

Since blueberry is one of my favorite flavors I am very picky about it. There are delicious blueberry flavored things and not so tasty artificial blueberry flavors. I had my fingers crossed and hopes high for this Matcha. So far, Red Leaf Tea has been nothing but positive surprises. This Matcha was an incredibly delicious experience. I have downed 4 cups of it so far, and fear that I will have to order quite a bit more soon! Oh blueberry flavored Matcha… My wallet laments that you are so delicious!

As soon as I opened the big golden packet (I went ahead and got a large…) I smelled blueberry. It was like taking a fresh blueberry pie out of the oven. My mouth started watering and I couldn’t wait to have it in my cup. The green powder smelled so much like blueberries that my brain kept wondering how it could still be green rather than blue!

Once prepared it frothed perfectly, the foamy surface was delicious. I prepared it hot and nice and thick. Each sip was smooth and sweet, even though no sweetener was added. Its thickness made me imagine a sip of blueberry smoothie in my mouth, it even made me feel full after finishing the cup! It is a delightful experience. I also tried it iced which was delicious and refreshing. I think this would be delicious to sip by the pool with a good book, or even better, by the ocean! Yumm… I think I will have to do that one day!

This Matcha is now permanently invited to live in my tea cabinet. It is a staple that I can’t imagine living without now that I have tried it! If you would like to try it (and trust me you should!) you can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html . (Just keep in mind, that after one try, you will be hooked!) :)

Now, I’m a Southern girl through and through, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret…I was born a Yankee. Yup, born in South Bend, Indiana and raised in Michigan until I was ten, when we moved to Tennessee. As a Michigander, I can say with complete confidence that Michigan blueberries are the best blueberries in the entire world. Blueberry season comes around and the state explodes into a world of deliciousness. You can stop at just about any roadside stand and get a ten pound box of blueberries, or you can head out to one of those you-pick places, if you’re feeling particularly energetic (or you’ve got young kids…I’m looking at you, Mom!). Blueberries played a huge role in my childhood. We would snatch up all the blueberries we could during the season and freeze them. Blueberry pancakes, muffins, and cobblers were served all year round, but my favorite blueberry dish was blueberry ice cream. It’s a real complicated recipe, y’all ready? You take frozen blueberries and pour cold milk over them. Yup. We’re a simple folk.

But my love of blueberries has come with me through my travels and life path. So when I spotted a blueberry matcha, my immediate reaction was one of “Um, heck yes, please!” The scent when I open the package is to die for. Oh my goodness, blueberry. In your face, juicy, sweet blueberry. My mouth is watering already.

The taste? Oh my. No, no, let me rephrase that. Imagine that I’m George Takei. Oh myyyyyy. Yep, it’s that good. George Takei “Oh myyy” inducing good. You know when you go into one of those bath and body stores, and you pick something blueberry up, smell it, and immediately tell your wife you wish you had something that tastes as good as it smells and then you lick it and it just plain doesn’t taste as good as you want it to? No? Just me? Well, this matcha tastes the way those soaps smell. Intensely blueberry and incredibly delicious. Juicy is just the word that comes to mind with every sip…it’s incredible. I have a few blueberry fans among my friends who will go ape over this.

This review brought to you by the letter M and the number 2, which is the number of cups of matcha I’ve had this morning in an effort to taste them all and get my reviews written…and it’s only nine o’clock. Pray for my wife, folks, she’s in for a crazy morning.

Blueberry Matcha

Get it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html

Okay this is not my all time favorite from Red Leaf Tea but before you skip reading over this review thinking I didn’t like it – think again!

Red Leaf Tea has so many and I mean MANY wonderful selections that there are always going to be a few that you just can’t live without! For me, this is not one of those but let me say it is very yummy! I mean come on after the amaretto matcha I reviewed earlier today, then the bavarian cream which was my first Red Leaf matcha purchase, let us not forget that amazing boysenberry, well you get the idea if you have read my reviews – I have my favorites. Blueberry is close to Boysenberry in flavor in some ways though so this for me would be a nice backup to that.

Now this one here, Blueberry Matcha was composed of the following:

Options:
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Starter (Basic Grade)
Flavor: Robust
Storage : Add Small Metal Tin Container (Holds up to 45g) as per usual I purchased the tin for an extra 3.00 which I do recommend unless you have tins of your own at home.

Funny thing is as I say this is not a favorite here I am forgetting to type up this review and just keep sipping away on my iced latte!

I don’t have an exact recipe for my latte. I’m part Swede and my great great grandmother never measured in cooking or baking! She just taught me how to cook by eyeballing things and tossing it all together yet things always turned out yummily! So for this I take an average sized iced tea glass, toss in some ice, put in a splash of vanilla creamer, what I would guess to be about 1/3 up of milk, you can use soy, almond, whatever you want, and the matcha tea mixture which I do prepare before hand. What I get from that is a delicious blueberry and cream iced matcha latte. Perhaps some would say it is more a shake, or smoothie, heck I don’t know what it technically is but I love it! Now as I have said in every review for the most part I do always try my matcha before mixing into the latte. When I tasted it in its straight form I did not care for it too much – it was not very blueberrish to me and a litter stronger in the matcha base itself which was good – the matcha green tea powder used by Red Leaf Tea is really quite good, and I went with the Starter (Basic Grade) on this one. But I was looking for a bit more blueberry flavor although I did get robust I was not really tasting it as straight blueberry – it was somehow different to me than what I anticipated HOWEVER once added to the latte mixture OMGOODNESS it totally POPPED with fresh ripe juicy blueberry flavor! I have no idea what the deal is with that but I am quite pleased!

Another thing I notice with this blend – in the tea base and flavoring itself, is that the green matcha really nicely stands out even more so than in some of the other flavors I have bought. You know, the more I drink this the more I am loving it for that very reason. You lose none of the blueberry flavor mixing it with a shake, latte, smoothie, whatever… and the green matcha base comes out even MORE! Its like some magical blueberry matcha gnomes came in while I was not looking and sprinkled some mojo on it! Mmmmmm. Okay I may have to take back that this is not one of my favorites but with so many amazing matcha to select from how could one really choose?

Such an interesting flavor, as I continue to drink I seem to pick up different subtle nuisances in this tea mixture. I mean I am used to that in non matcha teas, but I have to say this is the first matcha, let alone a flavored matcha I have tasted something slightly different each and every time! Sometimes its just really fresh and refreshING, other sips I get more sweet, some sips I am getting far more of the matcha base with that vegetal buttery sensation, other times I get peppery note even! Its strange, and enjoyable. So maybe I rushed to my initial statement that this was not one of my favorites. Maybe in the future I won’t make such remarks and if and when I ever find a Red Leaf Tea matcha I don’t like I will let you know but so far we’re batting 100%!

Here is the link again to get your own Red Leaf Tea Blueberry Matcha
http://steepster.com/teas/red-leaf-tea/26897-blueberry-matcha

So, does anyone else have baby fever?

I have serious baby fever. My biological clock started ticking the second I turned 26. I’ve since been trying to feel out my new husband and see where his feelings on the matter are. Perhaps I can convince him to start trying in 6 months…perhaps. ;)

It’s going to suck being pregnant and not getting to enjoy my sizable tea stash for 9+ months. Can you drink caffeine when you’re nursing? I still have a lot of research to do before becoming a mother. In this age of information overload, it can be hard to sift through all the myths and misconceptions to get to the truth. I just want to do what’s best for my child, so if that means no tea, then I’d better start drinking this stash down!

In order to further this goal, here’s another SIPDOWN! This swap sample came from Indigobloom. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get to this one. I was on a matcha craze a while ago. I couldn’t get enough!

Wow, this one is SUPER frothy!! Hmm, the taste is surprisingly floral. Like really floral. It definitely tastes like blueberry, but it also tastes like flowers. If God made a blueberry flower, that’s what this matcha would taste like I imagine.

I gave some to my budding tea drinker husband and he agreed it was very perfume-y. Neither one of us liked it very much. Could it be age? It was stored in an air-tight container and was still very green. Hmm, I’ve really liked some of the other fruit flavored matchas, but this one just tastes too much like flowery perfume for me to find it drinkable. Oh well. Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!

Wow! I just checked everyone’s recent reviews and the amount of Red Leaf Tea is off the charts! Woo, we’re an international Matcha team :D Love it.

On to the review! :
Yummeh. Blueberries are not my favorite fruit, but when I opened my package I knew I was going to love this just as much as the mango. The scent was strong blueberry! It reminded me of fruit leather, deep purple, chewy, yummy homemade fruit leather by the hippie auntie I used to have. Ah sense memory, I love it so.
So I whisked up this delight with the plan to make a couple little lattes – one with soymilk, one with almond and one with regular. I don’t know, I just wanted to taste the nuances and find my favorite pairing I guess! Also to see which milk went best with fruit flavoured matcha.
Honestly though, I really enjoyed this one sans milk – just with some sugar. (I also experimented with sweetener, and found I prefer sugar over agave for my matcha).
The froth! I got a crazy amount of froth with no clumps in this batch. I definitely credit the quality of the matcha for that, because my whisk skills are shoddy at best. That’s when I knew I was in for a treat today. This blueberry matcha in particular was very smooth. The berry taste fluctuated from sip to sip – one sip it was a tart not quite ripe berry, the second it was an overly plump, huge juicy ripe berry. The aftertaste was definitely the latter. The flavouring felt more strong in this batch than I expected, but I loved that very much. What a deal :D Again, I love that this company uses natural flavouring – it really shows in the quality of this matcha that it tastes like the berries, not like a candy.
With almond milk, the matcha latte tastes almost like a baked good – a blueberry matcha scone or shortbread. The soymilk tasted, well, like soymilk (I think it was my least favorite of the 3). With hot frothed 2% milk it was very sweet. I find hot milk to be naturally sweet, so that probably accounts for it!
Last, but certainly not least, I had it as an iced latte. (If you’re wondering, with all this crazy matcha energy – I’m learning the ukulele!) I HIGHLY recommend enjoying these fruit flavour matchas from Red Leaf Tea as iced lattes. Oh my goodness! The fruit flavour just comes alive and honestly tasted like a blended real fruit smoothie. Of course, once I get a blended I will be making blended iced drinks 100% – but until then, the ice cubes will suffice.

You can find this deliciousness here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html
(Oops, I almost posted the link to “Bilberry” matcha, which is cool because I got to read about and learn what a Bilberry is! I can’t help but wonder what it tastes like…)

If you like 52teas Rainbow Sherbert, I think you would like this one! It reminds me of it in scent and flavour. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but I can’t wait to mix this with other flavours to see what happens!

I figured I’d start the new year with a new matcha flavour for my morning smoothie! Ill post a proper review later at some point but man this is a fantastic! I was pushed into getting this by a few of the reviews on here by someone who’s name escapes me at the moment. I added just a touch of vanilla matcha to this smoothy just to make it a bit creamier and delicious. Th blueberry flavour in this is super intense and spot on to real blueberries. There really isn’t any artificial taste to this, which I was worried about after the pear fiasco. This was also distinctive flavouring since I’ve found with the fruit matches, robust seems to bee just a smidge too much for me. In the creamier, coffee, chocolate flavours I could totally probably push it to “there’s matcha in here” though I tend to stick to robust :)

Anyway wonderful start to the new year!

This is my first matcha! Haha, of all my black Friday/Cyber Monday orders, this was the second last one I placed, and it’s the first to arrive! Yay for fast shipping :) so yes I tore open this box and was super excited to see all the matcha, unfortunately, only one pack is for me and the others are for Christmas presents! Also got 2 whisks and 2 scoops for the gifts as well, not one for myself yet. But onto my first experience with my matcha, the blueberry one!

Here is the type I ordered:
Blueberry Matcha
Size : Small
Matcha Quality: Classic (Basic Grade)
Matcha Type: Regular Matcha
Flavor: Robust

So upon opening the package, BLUEBERRY!! SOO MUCH BLUEBERRY! I was amazed at how intense it was! That must be the robust flavoring haha! It smelled ridiculously berry like, and I was very excited to try it out.

So now here is where my attempt begins. It was not the best attempt, but bear in mind, it is my first, and I didn’t really know what I was doing, and also didn’t have the proper tools haha. So I measured out roughly .5 tsp (used a baking spoon) and put it in my metal strainer to remove clumps. I put it in a plastic blue bowl, and got out my kitchen whisk. It was a big big for the task to be honest, and I really wish I had ordered a whisk for myself! I boiled water, and let it cool for a bit, then added roughly 3 oz to the bowl.

And then I tried to whisk…lol, it didn’t really work! I got a few bubbles, but I’m pretty sure it was more my unorthodox (and not very good) whisk/technique that caused this.

But I persevered with my task. And finally i thought hey I’ll just try it like this. So I put it in my cup, added some more water and a bit of sugar.

And it actually isn’t too bad! For a first attempt, it tastes pretty decent :) it’s a lovely green color, LOVE IT, and it smells like a blueberry, and what I’m tasting is a muted blueberry (and a real blueberry at that, fresh and juicy!) and some green teaness. I confess, I haven’t actually tried plain matcha before trying this, so I’m not really sure what matcha tastes like. But overall, this is pretty good, which means it must be AWESOME if I actually knew how to prepare it right!

Oh, and I feel a caffeine buzz coming on, probably contributed to this long review hehe. I am so excited to experiment with this! I want to try it cold, with milk, smoothies, everything! I can’t wait to get this perfected. I will hold off on rating this until I get my technique down.

ETA: I had to try it again haha, so after finishing my cup with water, I tried again using a ceramic bowl and a bit less water when whisking this time. YAY I got some bubbles to stay!! And I added it to hot milk with a bit of sugar and it’s really good this way too! :D

I have joined the world of Matcha! :)

MMm blueberries, my favorite fruit! I go crazy with fresh blueberries – eating lots of them! Off season, I love blueberry jam. I’ve been planning to give this matcha a whirl for awhile. Let’s see how it goes:

Blueberry Matcha
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/blueberry-matcha.html
Matcha Quality: Classic Basic Grade
Flavor: Distinctive

Out of the package, the matcha smells blueberry candy – like a huge blueberry sticky lollipop! Over the top sweet blueberry flavoring smell.

Prepared simply as a hot cup of matcha, there is a mix of flavorful earthy matcha with a finish of blueberry taste. However, I kinda find this blueberry sharp and tart, like I’m eating a bunch of blueberry skins packed into a sip.

While I was making this as a latte, I took a sip of the matcha made with a bit of hot water and sugar and it tastes a nicer blueberry flavor, the sweetener hiding that blueberry tartness.
As a latte with soymilk and some sugar, this matcha becomes a nice mix of blueberry and creamy flavors, backed up with the depth of earthy matcha. I think I will at least sweeten this matcha, as I prefer the flavor more.

I find the Distinctive flavoring does a perfect job here – it does taste more blueberry than matcha, but still enough green tea taste to remind you its matcha.

I can’t wait to combine this matcha with my other flavored RLT matchas!

Special Thanks to Azzrian for this one!

Eventho this is REALLY GOOD – I do like Matcha Mountains and Shanti’s Blueberry Matcha’s a bit more. BUT…don’t take that as a BAD thing…this is REALLY GOOD, too!

It has a medium-strong Green tea/Matcha Base that is smooth and true! LOVE that! The Blueberry flavor is secondary but also natural and true tasting. I wouldn’t mind even more Blueberry Flavor but it is super good as-is, too! YUM! Juicy yet smooth yet green matcha!

yummy