Caramel Matcha (Black Matcha Base)

I had already tried the Caramel matcha in the green tea base, and it’s definitely been my favorite so far of the desert teas. When a bunch of people ordered the black matcha base for Cookies and Cream, I was a bit jealous. So, when Caramel came back on sale I knew this was my perfect opportunity to try it in black matcha form. I decided to spring for the “There’s Matcha in there?” Flavor level because I had trouble tasting the Cheesecake flavor at the Robust level when I ordered it with the White. Plus, I wasn’t sure how strong the black would be.

I couldn’t find any official instructions on what temperature of water to use. For green matcha you use green tea temperature water, so I figured for black matcha (since it’s black tea) I would use sort of less than boiling water.

I didn’t sift the matcha this time around, and that may have been a bad idea. I noticed the black matcha made big clumps a lot more than the green or even the white did.

I prepared my usual whisk in a bowl method, and it was too bitter for me without anything added. So, I popped in a little milk and a packet of raw sugar to help bring out the flavor.

Well, it definitely tastes like caramel and black tea. I don’t know how I feel about this matcha. It’s not bad, it’s not great. There’s still a little bit of bitterness that comes through. I may have to give it a few more experiments before I make a final verdict, but for now I’m not overwhelmed, but it’s not unbearable either.

As always, you can get the matcha in green or black form here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

Decided to try out my other matcha that I have here at work before I go home for the day. Maybe the amount of caffeine in 2 matcha lattes (black) will actually affect me in some way. So far it’s just making me vaguely headachey.

I just licked the spoon I was using to stir the little bit of sweetener I put in and mmm this is going to taste so good. And it totally does. The caramel flavour comes across really well (although I DID use the robust flavour setting so it might be that too, this is from my first order at Red Leaf Tea and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so that seemed a safe way to try out matcha for the first time. Playing it safe with both the black matcha base and the robust flavouring level.

This one for some reason doesn’t have that little bit of bite that I’ve started to associate with black matcha, it’s much smoother and nicer. This is really really tasty. I haven’t tried it with regular matcha yet, but I think that might be on my list for my next order (I have 2 orders not even unpacked and I’m planning my 4th order already, I think I may have a problem).

At any rate, this is wicked tasty and I recommend it to anyone who wants to try out flavoured black matcha because it’s just about perfect.

You can find it at:
http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html