Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
The much loved fig fruit can be likened to eating a pear and an apple together. When it is combined with exotic Matcha, the resulting Fig Matcha treat makes a fruity sensation that can send the tastebuds reeling with delight. This delicious fruity treat can be part of the wide selection of treats within the tables of special occasions for young children. Its overall sweet fruity appeal would instantly make it likeable among the very young. It would also be a cool treat in hot weather when a person wants to relax with a trendy treat on hand. Fig Matcha is the perfect snack for all the right reasons.
Learn more about this fig flavored Matcha here.
Taster’s Review:
Have I mentioned how much I love Red Leaf Tea lately? They are definitely my favorite source for Matcha. Now I know that there are those of you that think that flavored Matcha is somehow wrong, perhaps even sacrilegious. And I get that. And believe me when I tell you that I love pure Matcha just as much (if not more) than flavored Matcha, but, I also cannot deny how exciting all these flavors are from Red Leaf Tea, and how my mouth waters when I read some of the flavors that are available! So many flavors and so little time! (By the way, I feel it would be remiss not to mention the fact that Red Leaf Tea also offers pure, unflavored Matcha too – in several different grades, so whether you’re new to Matcha or someone who wants nothing but the best … Red Leaf Tea has got you covered!)
But when I saw this Fig Matcha I simply HAD to try it. I’ve mentioned before my love of fig. I have adored this fruit since I was very small. There are some foods that evoke fond childhood memories for me, and figs are one of them (actually, come to think about it, fruit is probably the main food group that evokes these memories!)
When I was very small, I remember vaguely living on a farm. It was for a short while, and it was never during what I’d call my main memory “patch” – that is, I remember pretty much everything by the time I was six or seven, but not so much before that. I think it’s that way for most people. But there are vague little images, vague little patches of memories that I recall from times before I was six or seven … and figs play a central role in one of those memory patches.
This farm that I lived on, I don’t remember who all lived on that farm. I know I lived there with my mother, but I know that other people lived there too. My mother and I stayed in a guest house that was on the farm, and I also remember sometimes living in the house across the street from the farm. The foods that I remember from my time on this farm include soup made from cactus … and fresh figs eaten right after it’s been picked off the tree, while it was still warm from the summer sun. I’d spend my afternoons wandering through that fig orchard, picking figs and eating them. So delicious.
Now, when I buy fresh figs at the supermarket, they do not taste as good as they did in those memories. And I don’t really care for Fig Newtons. I mean, they’re OK, and there are times when I actually crave Fig Newtons, which is kind of weird too, now that I think about it. But they aren’t on my shopping list regularly, and they aren’t something I usually keep stocked in the house now… and when I do happen to buy a package, they end up stale before the package is finished. I’m better off with one of the small sized packages that I can sometimes find in a convenience store.
But, there is still part of me that wants to recapture those happy memories, so when I see teas that are fig flavored, I usually end up buying them. Which brings me to now, with this Fig Matcha that sits in front of me.
The aroma is very fragrant, very Fig. And the flavor is very fig-like too. It has that sweet, succulent flavor of a fig, along with the slightly perfumed essence that I remember from the figs I ate so long ago. This is much more like the fig I remember from way back when than any fresh fig I’ve purchased in the supermarket or any fig confection for that matter. (Although, there are some pretty amazing fig crackers from O Pair)
The Matcha has much of the qualities you’d expect: it’s creamy and rich and slightly buttery. It’s vegetative. But here’s where it gets interesting. The vegetative taste has a slight … spicy … tone to it that I don’t think I’ve ever noticed from Matcha before. And all I can think is that the flavor of fig somehow brings this quality of the Matcha out, highlights it. It doesn’t taste like fig, but it is a welcome enhancement of the flavor of the fig. It gives the overall cup (bowl) a sort of autumnal feel – warm and comforting. Almost cake-like.
This is yet another stunning addition to the massive line of flavored Matcha that Red Leaf Tea offers … and yet another that I would put on the must try list, especially if you like figs. This is one that I think I’ll keep on hand, even though there are some that I liked better than this that I probably would not keep on hand. Weird, huh? Then again, nothing about my journey with figs seems very normal, if you think about it.
This is just another one of those things that add to it – in a very good, but weird way.
