Plunkybug Send Message

SO…I have been wanting to try a Red Leaf Tea matcha for quite some time now(!), and I was fortunate enough to get some at our recent Victoria tea crawl and swap. So many, many, many thanks go out to CrowKettle for bringing some of this tea along for us to try. We all just about died from the smell of this through the foil packet. I added this to my packet of teas from OMGsrsly by accident, and when I came home to sort them and catalogue them, all I could smell from that baggie was this matcha in the foil packet. As we were all warned to be careful opening this, I was very meticulous (and slow!!) about opening the packet, and I had it on a plate in case it spilled or something else happened.

I set my plate, my mug, my mason jar half with milk (for latte), my mini measuring cup (2oz/60ml) and my frothing whisk on the stove. I did rinse and dry out my mug, though as I measured the matcha and put it in the mug, I did notice that I had not dried it out enough, and it had started moistening. I had my water boiling and poured it into the mini measuring cup, and as it cooled some, I screwed on the lid of the mason jar and shook vigourously for 30-45 seconds, took the lid(s) off, and microwaved for about 30 seconds as well. While the milk was in the microwave, I added the now cooled boiling water to my mug and stirred it to dissolve the matcha, and then began sort of an up down pumping motion with the frothing whisk. I tried sort of side by side but that didn’t really work, given the surface area of the mug. I did get a bit of foam…but not as much foam as I had expected, so maybe I did not froth/whisk long enough, or perhaps the problem was the mug not being wide enough. I’ll add that I don’t have a sifter, so that may have affected the whole thing, too.

Here are a few pics from this first matcha attempt…

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/482657_10151346351117374_443711524_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/9603_10151346351202374_984623735_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/72774_10151346351242374_1833469278_n.jpg

Hopefully those worked.

In closing, here are my thoughts.

1) The Caramel Matcha is DELICIOUS!

2) My technique and ratios may need to be adjusted for the next time. I felt like it was a little weak overall, and that may be that the water plus milk diluted it some/too much.

3) Adding a touch of sugar brought out intense caramel.

4) The packet looked like about 2-3 servings, so I did not want to use it all at once, but I wish I had made more. This made half or less of a mug, and I wanted more…it was gone sooo fast.

5) I’m toying with adding this to some Big Apple from DAVIDs. I don’t know if I would just add a small pinch to the steeping tea (like the matcha genmaicha blends), or make the matcha with the tea instead. I really love the caramel apple taste of Big Apple, and think this would be an intense blend.

6) I reaalllly want to try this more. And more RLT matcha. Hoping to do a matcha event with ShayneBear sometime, and maybe to also do a co-op order with them too.

7) I might just get a matcha set if I find one I like, and at a good price. I see more matcha in my future, though I might just use a bowl and a wire whisk in the mean time.

Once again, a very big thanks to CrowKettle for the opportunity to try this!