For those of you who have “known” me for a while, I was quite put off by the idea of peanut butter flavored teas (ie: Frank had a few peanut butter teas that he offered way back when, and those were some of the only teas that I would not, could not order. I could not drink them in a house, I would not drink them with a mouse, I would not drink them here or there, I would not drink them anywhere.)
So, you might be thinking … what has changed that would prompt me to order a peanut flavored Matcha? Well… it wasn’t a tea at all that changed my mind, but a taffy! Yes, a taffy. This taffy, to be exact: http://hungryinportland.com/2012/06/29/salty-peanut-salt-water-taffy-from-the-salty-road/ This taffy that I received in one of my last Foodzie boxes was the best taffy I ever had. And it was a PEANUT taffy (which tasted remarkably like peanut butter). It was amazing. So, I guess … I was just thinking that if I could enjoy a peanut taffy so very much … maybe I AM missing out on something pretty spectacular with the peanut butter flavored teas.
So when I saw that Red Leaf Tea had a peanut flavored Matcha, I decided to try it. (They now have a peanut butter flavored Matcha too: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peanut-butter-matcha.html ) Maybe I might like it, since I did like the peanut taffy so much. And I do actually like peanuts. And peanut butter. But, it just seemed kind of WEIRD to have it in my tea. I don’t know why. Tea + Peanut … just didn’t sound like something good to me.
But, the taffy was a turning point for me, and now, I am courageous enough to try Peanut Matcha!
I prepared it traditionally with water and whisked it (it frothed up beautifully), and then I took a taste. It was good… but all the sudden I wondered how it might be if I were to add a pinch of sea salt into the chawan… so I did. This instantly dissolved my froth. But I whisked again, and the froth came back. I didn’t add a lot of salt, just a little teeny pinch of it, just enough to accent the peanut a bit.
YUM! OK… this is really quite good. Much better than I was prepared for. I thought, maybe I’d like it, but I like this very much. It is sweet and nutty and creamy. The taste of the peanut is balanced well with the flavor of the Matcha, which is smooth and vegetative. I like the way these two flavors work together. Quite yummy.
My specifications for this order were NOT my go-to specs. I went with the delicate peanut flavoring instead of the distinctive, and the basic/classic grade of Matcha. I went with the delicate in case I wasn’t all excited over the peanut flavor, so that I could easily add the peanut Matcha to smoothies to help disguise the peanut flavor if I needed to. But no need to do that, because I’m loving this!
You can order your own Peanut Matcha here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/peanut-matcha.html
