Coffee Matcha from Red Leaf Tea

Coffee-matchaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green/Matcha

Where to Buy:  Red Leaf Tea

Tea Description:

When the easily recognizable and well loved taste of deliciously aromatic coffee is combined with the wildly popular regal Matcha, the resulting Coffee Matcha treat leaves its many takers delightfully breathless with pure palate sensations. This all-day treat provides the best companion for many days when work becomes too heavy or too boring and a person needs a delectable snack to carry them through the tedium. Coffee Matcha’s unforgettable taste and delicious aroma is irresistible to many coffee lovers.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The second matcha sample from Red Leaf Tea’s new “Choose Your Own” sampler!

I’m not a coffee person so on the rare occasion that I do decide I want to partake in some java I usually go for actual coffee, not coffee flavored tea. To me those two things are separate, and for a reason. However, I still couldn’t resist trying this flavour – I had this gut feeling that it was going to be done well.

Like the previous matcha from this sampler, I made this in cashew milk. It mixed up such a bright, cheery green too and the smell was definitely freshly brewed coffee; quite roasty.

I was surprised by just how strong and sweet this one is; and I know that sweet kick isn’t from the cashew milk either since it’s unsweetened – but with the level of rich sugaryness it made me think I was drinking more of a Iced Coffee/ Iced Cappuccino type drink like you can get from  Starbucks or Tim Hortons or whatever your coffee shop of choice is. At the same time, though it was quite sweet, it maintained a nice level of roast in the flavor and had some surprising caramel notes. And of course, from the milk, there was a faint nuttyness that worked really well with the coffee flavor. It probably only made the idea of drinking some sort of fancy sweet coffee drink stronger, if I’m being honest.

I wouldn’t buy this one again if I’m being honest; I just don’t do coffee – but it was surprisingly more nuanced than anticipated and like my gut told me it was in fact well done. So I do recommend trying it if coffee and sweet coffee drinks are your thing.

Cranberry Matcha from Red Leaf Tea

Cranberry-MatchaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green/Matcha

Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea

Tea Description:

Cranberry matcha is an excellent drink for those who need a splash of brilliant flavor in the even-toned drink. The bitter aftertaste of the cranberry is toned down by matcha’s velvety goodness to bring about a tea that has a hint of excitement and exquisite flavor. Cranberry matcha is ideal for any official or social gathering where people appreciate nature’s abundant choices and varied charms. This is the tea that cannot go wrong as far as savvy crowds are concerned.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Recently, Red Leaf Tea has started to offer a sampler of their flavored matcha. You can chose from a selection of preselected flavors,  This is definitely a very cool way to let new and returning customers try different flavours before purchasing a larger 30 gram amount and, with my latest order, I included the smaller size of this sampler in my order. I will be reviewing each of the samples I received.

This is the first of five flavors, all with the default basic grade of matcha and flavouring.

I’ve never really thought of cranberry as a flavour that I needed to experience as matcha; however when I saw it as one of the options for the sampler I knew I had to try it out. Cranberry is a consistent favourite flavour of mine in teas. Opening up the sample packet, it definitely smells pretty strongly of cranberry – like an unsweetened cranberry juice.

I prepared 1/2 tsp. of the matcha in my chawan, but with cold cashew milk instead of regular milk or water. The cashew milk doesn’t froth very well, but it gets very thick and it takes a long time for the matcha to resettle and separate.

This definitely nails cranberry right on the head, but with a very floral and perfume like component. I think this is in part from the matcha itself, but also from the flavoring used. Sometimes Red Leaf Tea’s fruit blends have a tendency to taste somewhat chemical or artificial and I think that’s happening a little bit here. While I don’t mind the floral notes, the “perfume” is very fake tasting and detracts just a little from the overall flavor. I would absolutely be nervous trying this one as a flavor level like “Robust”. I can’t even imagine what it would be like at the “There’s matcha in there!?” level – probably bad.

It is weird experiencing the flavor cold and paired with the light flavor of cashew (from the milk) but in a pleasant way. Harney & Sons has a blend called Boston which is the pairing of cranberry and almond, and the pairing of flavors here reminds me of that tea. This aspect of the matcha works well for me; though obviously not everyone is going to have access to cashew milk to try it this way.

I think I’ll have fun tinkering around with this blend; there’s room for improvement for sure, but if you like the taste of cranberry it’s absolutely worth giving this one a shot!

Yunomi Tea Discoveries Club, January Review (Part 2)

yunomi2As promised, this is part 2 of my review of January’s Tea Discoveries Club package from Yunomi.

OnochaBanchaWe’re going to start off where we left off last night, moving on to the third tea I tried from January’s collection of teas:  Bancha Green Tea from Onocha Tea Factory & Shop.  Similarly to the other teas in this collection, this tea is not available for purchase from Yunomi.  That’s part of what makes the Discovery Club a MUST for tea lovers.  It will expose you to teas that you might never have tried!  What a unique and wonderful opportunity!

OnochaBancha1
Bancha Green Tea

This is a really pleasant Bancha.  It has a crisp, uplifting flavor:  fresh, vegetative and clean.  There is a nice contrast between sweet and savory.  It has a nice, brothy sort of texture and taste.  Nutty, sweet, hints of bitter to offset the sweetness.  Nicely smooth.

It’s a soothing tea that reminds me a bit of sipping broth.  That warm, nourishing sort of feeling that I get when I sip broth, that’s what I get when I sip this Bancha.  It’s not too sweet, not too bitter – just really pleasant.

This is the kind of green tea that I like to have on hand for “every day” sort of drinking.  It is a great tea to drink with meals because it’s not an aggressive tasting tea – it’s really smooth and satisfying.SenchaSuiho

The next tea that I tried was the Sencha Suiho.  Immediately, I found myself curious as to how it would differ from the other Sencha I enjoyed from this month’s Discovery Club package:  Sencha Suiren.

Upon first sip, I got my answer!  These are really two very different Sencha teas!  This Sencha Suiho is sweet, buttery and smooth.  Very little bitterness.  Very little astringency.  I noticed more bitterness and astringency with the Suiren – and that wasn’t even a really strongly bitter or aggressively astringent tea!

SenchaSuiho1
Sencha Suiho

This is beautifully buttery and pleasantly mellow.  Nice!  The resteep is almost as nice as the first cup – still really beautifully creamy and sweet!

I saved the Hojicha for last as Hojicha is one of my favorite types of Japanese green teas!  Hojicha Soybean Blend to be exact.  I think of all the teas that I received this month, this was the one I was the most excited about, mostly because I found myself curious about the ‘soybean.’

Unfortunately, I’m not able to provide a picture of the tea itself because the battery in my camera thought it was the right time to die.  So, I just have a picture of the package.  HojichaSoybean

The dry leaf looks a lot like … well, it looks like dried, chopped up leaves and stems.  The first thought that went through my head when I saw it was “mulch.”  I’m hoping it tastes better than I can only imagine mulch tasting.  Since I’m not planning on brewing mulch and drinking it any time soon, I’ll have to imagine what it would taste like.

Ah … yeah!  Yum!  There’s that lovely sweet, nutty flavor that I’ve come to love when it comes to Hojicha.  That delicious roasty-toasty flavor that evokes thoughts of autumn.

It has a smooth texture to it and it’s not an astringent tea.  It’s not bitter.  It’s sweet and a very soothing, calming sort of drink.  Really lovely.  However, I don’t know that I taste any ‘soybean’ in this tea, I just taste sweet, nutty flavor, very much like I’d experience with a top-quality Hojicha.

Overall, I found this adventure with the Discoveries Club from Yunomi to be really enjoyable.  Spectacular teas – I love that these teas are exclusive to the Discovery Club.  It’s certainly well worth it to take part in this adventure and discover some amazing Japanese Teas!

24 Days of Tea Holiday Countdown – Day 22 from Teanzo 1856

The big day is almost here.  Just two days left to shop for it!

Day8Today’s artistic inspiration comes from another 12 Days of Christmas swap.  This ornament was created by Autumn.  (Sorry, Autumn, I didn’t take note of your last name!)  This is really a cool ornament.  It’s difficult to tell from the photo (and the photo isn’t the greatest anyway!) but the base of the ornament is a juice concentrate lid.  You know, the stuff you get in the freezer section of the grocery store in the cardboard cylinders with metal ends?  Autumn took the metal ends and made ornaments!  Really cool!

It’s not only a beautiful ornament that adds a lot of sparkle to my tree, but I love that it was made out of something upcycled – something that was otherwise destined for the landfill!  Day8-1

Here is an up close view of the ornament…

Like I said, very cool.

I love doing the 12 days of Christmas mail art swaps for things like this – I find it very inspiring to see what other artists are doing with everyday “throwaway” items like juice can lids!  Pieces like this really get the creative juices flowing!

Today’s teas is one of my favorites thus far.  This is one tea I’m likely to buy again from Teanzo, because I suspect I’ll be wanting more of it soon!

Earl Grey Green Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teanzo 1856

Tea Description:

If you love Earl Grey Tea, then try our Earl Grey Green Tea.  You get all the health benefits of green tea, with that familiar Earl Grey flavor that you already love.  A perfect gift for Earl Grey lovers!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve reviewed quite a few Earl Grey black teas (an understatement!) but significantly less Earl Grey green teas.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  the first is that there are far fewer Earl Grey green teas available out there.  With just about any tea company out there, you’re likely to find an Earl Grey black.  Most tea companies has at least one black variety of Earl Grey.  But, only a fraction of those actually carry an Earl Grey green tea.

Earl-Grey-GreenThe second reason is that as much as I love an Earl Grey black tea, I’ve not found a lot of Earl Grey green teas that I’ve enjoyed as much.  I’ve enjoyed a few, but if it came down to a choice between an Earl Grey black and an Earl Grey green, I’d choose the black version every time.  Bergamot just seems to meld better with the flavor of black tea better than the green tea.

BUT!

I think I may have found an Earl Grey green tea that I enjoy as much as I enjoy some of my favorite Earl Grey blacks.  Maybe not as much as those Earl Grey black teas that are at the very top of my list, but, this Earl Grey green even when placed among the black teas would be somewhere in the top ten.  Yep.  I said it.  This is a GOOD Earl Grey green.  Really good!

I’m not sure what makes this one so much better than the other Earl Grey green teas that I’ve tried.  The bergamot?  Perhaps.  This is a flavorful bergamot, tangy with just a little contrasting sweetness, it’s bright and invigorating.  A nice, sunny citrus note that isn’t overly floral or perfume-y, but still very distinctly bergamot.

Perhaps it’s the tea itself?  The green tea here looks like large gunpowder pellets and it has a pleasantly sweet flavor.  It’s not overly vegetative.  It’s a little earthy, it has hints of buttery notes.  It’s a mild tasting green tea and it blends in a very agreeable way with the notes of bergamot.  It has a slight creaminess to it that softens some of the sharper notes of the bergamot.

Together, this is a delightful match.  The tea resteeps nicely too, I find that the bergamot notes soften somewhat in the second infusion but the softer notes are quite pleasant too.

This tea was one of the most pleasant of surprises discovered in this Advent Calender from Teanzo!

24 Days of Tea Holiday Countdown – Day 8 from Teanzo 1856

Hello, tea lovers!  Today is day eight of this holiday countdown, which means there are seventeen days until the big day, sixteen days to shop before the big day gets here and there have been eight wonderful days of tea!

Day5Today’s artwork was created by artist Liane Ceglar for one of the 12 Days of Christmas swaps that I was involved in.

I’m quite proud of my Christmas tree.  Well, not the tree itself (I’m actually in need of a new artificial tree as the one we have now is quite old and has had better days), but what I’m proud of is that every single ornament is different, and I’d estimate that 85 – 90% of the ornaments on the tree are handmade and of those handmade ornaments.  I grew up in a household that had a very boring tree with boring round, glass bulb type ornaments.  You know, the kind that you buy in the store and they all look the same?

One thing about my tree – it’s not boring!  I love that every year when it comes time to put up the tree, that I’m not only putting up decorations but little works of art.  Like this piece from Liane.  This is one of my favorite ornaments because I love how the crystal bead reflects the light.

Let’s find out what tea Teanzo sent me on this, the eighth day of our holiday countdown!

Acai Berry Green Tea

Acai-Berry-GreenTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teanzo 1856

Tea Description:

Reminiscent of juicy berries, this healthy loose leaf green tea is full of antioxidants.  Acai Berry Green Tea has a sweet finish without using any added sweeteners, so you can drink this luscious green tea guilt-free.  Acai berry is also known as the youth berry.  You will love this berry tea!  Drink it as a hot tea or serve this berrylicious tea over ice.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:  

Acai berry tends to be a tart berry, so I usually am just a bit apprehensive when it comes to trying an acai berry tea.  I’m not big on tarty flavors in tea, however, I do appreciate a tart taste when the overall tea offers a balance of both sweet and tart notes.  I like there to be a contrast.

And with this tea, there is a nice contrast between sweet and tart.  The sweet, fresh flavors of the green tea offer a pleasing counter note to the tart berry.

The sip starts out sweet with light grassy notes and a buttery taste and texture from the green tea.  The description of the tea does not indicate the type of green tea used in this blend but based on the taste and appearance of the tea, I would guess that it’s a Chinese Sencha.  It has that smooth, buttery flavor of a Chinese Sencha, and I like the way these flavors mingle with the tart of the Acai.

By mid-sip, my palate is introduced to the notes of berry.  These notes start out gentle and sweet and as the sip approaches the finish, the tart notes begin to develop.  And then there is that berry, tarty tingle at the finish.

To brew this tea, I used my Kati Tumbler again and poured the fragrant sample into the basket, and added 12 ounces of water heated to 175°F.  I let the tea steep for 2 minutes.  The brewed liquid is a golden green color and has a delicate berry aroma.

I enjoyed the tea served hot, but I stopped drinking it hot after I had finished about half the cup so that I could try it cold.  I think this is even better as it cools!  The flavors become smoother and more unified.  This would make a very refreshing iced tea when the weather is warm!

It’s good hot, even better iced!