It’s that time once again!
I have taken the (perhaps crazy) task of reviewing even more matcha than I anticipated: Red Leaf Tea has asked me and a handful of skilled bloggers to take on the task of testing and comparing 30 or so different matcha in a large price range. I have been lax on comparing them, with traveling and whatnot, but I need to get cracking. Without further ado, here is the basic criteria in with I will be judging the teas by: Color, Texture, and Sweetness.
Note: All the teas were provided to me for review by Red Leaf Tea. I was not aware of which brands were which beforehand.
- Color: 3
- Sweetness: 5
- Texture: 4
The first sample I had was a light olive drab. The matcha woke up a bit with some hot water, but did not foam very well. Even though this tea was a tad gritty, it was smooth and grassy, in a good way.
- Color: 6
- Sweetness: 5
- Texture: 6
I would recognize RLT’s matcha anywhere, thanks to the last taste test. This floral and sweet matcha this one was an improvement.. A muted grassy color, I got some really nice foam from it, but it may have just been through practice, heh. The mixture was surprisingly tart, but still quite smooth.
JK Tea Shop Ceremony Grade Matcha
- Color: 6
- Sweetness: 5
- Texture: 5
Third one up! This one had a bit of a wet paint smell to it. The powder was a lighter, pastel shade of spring green. Not a favorite.
- Color: 6
- Sweetness: 7
- Texture: 6
Phew. At this time I realized that I had made a grave mistake. I hadn’t eaten before starting testing these, and I sure was feeling the effects. This one was the sweetest so far, with a lemony, acidic finish. It was a happy green color, which was promising.
- Color: 7
- Sweetness: 7
- Texture: 7
This one smelled and tasted just like pistachios! There was some strong marine notes as well, and a smoothness to round it out.
Yunomi Excellent Kitchen Grade Matcha
- Color: 7
- Sweetness: 8
- Texture: 7
A really good one in the bunch. It also has a good color, not as neon as #4, but what this one lacks in color, it makes up in taste.
Thanks for tuning in folks! Will it ever end? Stay tuned next time for another installment of Matcha Madness!
Orchard Peach from Piper & Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Piper & Leaf
Tea Description:
A Juicy Fruit & Herbal Infusion of Pineapples, Papayas, Rosehips, & a Special Herbal Blend (lemon balm & mint).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
In the past, I have tried different Piper & Leaf teas. What I have found is that you have to experiment with their steeping parameters to get the right flavors to really pop.
Orchard Peach is an herbal filled with huge chunks of peaches and a cluster of other ingredients including hibiscus and spearmint. As a dry leaf mixture, I didn’t really get any kind of notable fragrance. More or less just a sweet smell.
I brewed this up like I would any herbal (212F-5 min) and poured the mixture into a cup of ice. Yes, I know that this isn’t the true way to make the iced tea but I’m at work so I figured this was the easiest way to go about it. The mixture produced this beautiful dark red purple liquor. The color was stunning.
Took my first sip and blam- this tea packs some flavor. I was expecting to have to fumble with steeping longer or shorter. Not the case at all. This tea tastes like a fresh peach jam punch. The flavor is a bit hard to explain. I think because it looks more like grape juice, my head is saying this should taste like grape.
The first flavor that hits you is the sweet flavor. The peach notes aren’t like a fresh peach but more like a fresh peach jam that you picked up from a farmer’s market. There is a really slight syrup sweetness that I’m associating with a jam. After the sweetness you get this really nice tart flavor that brings in a beautiful contrast. Here and there I can pick up subtle lemon notes but they are very subtle and are more like a citrus note. The only flavor I didn’t pick up strongly was the spearmint. Being a mint fan that makes me sad but that is probably for the best. Not sure how a minty peach jam tea would taste. Maybe Piper & Leaf are just looking out for my best interest.
Out of all of the Piper & Leaf teas, this one surprised me with not having to try and figure out proper steeping parameters. This one packs a delightful punch and the ingredients that are left over in the tea strainer remind me of cranberry salad. That just makes me smile. I’m really happy with this one and it is hitting the spot on this hot summer day!
Easy Bein’ Green from Paper Box Goodies
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Paper Box Goodies
Tea Description:
This Sencha blend is nice and mild, with that vegetal taste green teas are known for. Lemon balm, lemon peel, and orange peel jazz this green tea up into a great iced or hot tea. Seep for 2 minutes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really like the Paper Box Goodies tea. They are no fuss no nonsense sort of teas. They are all bagged teas but they are done very well.
This particular blend is a green tea. A crisp fresh green tea with a honey and slight citrus twist. I steeped this up like I would any traditional green tea with the help of my Breville One Touch. I love using my Breville to prep the water. that way there is no guessing on the correct temperature.
So with a name like Easy Bein’ Green, I instantly think Kermit. Such fond memories of watching The Muppet’s when I was a kid and still to this day I enjoy them. I’m so excited for the new Muppet’s series to come out. Gonzo and the Swedish Chef were my favorites. I loved how the Swedish Chef mumbled everything and threw everything around. Such great memories. And all from a name of a tea.
Like I noted before, this green tea was fantastic. I drank this iced and hot and I actually think I prefer this hot. The green buttery richness was on target with want I wanted and there was such a nice honey background. The citrus twist would come and go but brought a bit of a different feel to the tea, giving a uniqueness to it. I’m not sure I got orange from the tea like the description would suggest but just an overall citrus note.
I honestly can say that after the cuppa was empty, I promptly refilled with more water and had myself another cuppa. This tea was good. Spot on. And just all around perfect for what I was wanting. Paper Box Goodies excels at providing their customers with no mess teas, something I’m in need of right now.
Grapefruit Grey Black Tea from Acquired Taste Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Acquired Taste Tea
Tea Description:
A new addition to our Earl Grey collection. This black tea combines bergamot, grapefruit and mandarin to create a pleasant variation on an Earl Grey theme.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I like to do what I call the ‘Earl Grey Test’ whenever I encounter any kind of earl grey. First cup is all natural, to see how the base is in comparison with the bergamot. Second cup is with the finest bit of sugar, to wake up the sweetness of the black tea and the flavoring. Third is with a dash of cream. So how did this one hold up?
Grapefruit earl grey is an interesting take on a classic. The dry leaf is quite strong of both bergamot and the tangy grapefruit notes. Too bad that did not translate to the steeped leaf. Now, I love bergamot, but I feel like this was too strong. It overpowered the grapefruit notes. The base was a bit too robust and dusty for my taste, but adding some cream definitely helped.
Too bad! I had such high hopes for this tea. I really want to like it, but the blerghamot is simply too strong for my taste. I think I like smelling this tea than drinking it. If a strong bergamot is your scene, then go for it! Or, know, go for Republic of Tea’s Earl Greyer… Like the company name suggests, I think this tea is just an ‘Acquired Taste.’
Thailand Sticky Rice ‘Khao Hom’ Oolong from What-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Tea Description:
Has a creamy texture and sticky rice aroma, imparted unto the tea during processing by heating the sticky rice plant’s leaves along with the tea leaves.
Sticky rice scented tea is a specialty of northern Thailand, although traditionally green tea is used, Jin Xuan Oolong produces just as good if not better results.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve been wanting to try a sticky rice scented tea for a while now; and when I made my most recent What-Cha order I noticed this one offered on their site so I ordered a sample size to satisfy that deep curiosity. What I didn’t expect was just how accurate or obvious the flavour of the sticky rice would be.
Even from the moment I cracked open the sample packet, the smell of fresh sticky rice was filling up my kitchen and getting me excited with how potent and dead on it was. In fact, my first few sips were so overwhelmingly close to real life sticky rice it was hard to taste or notice anything else. I ended up doing three very strong Western Style infusions before the flavour of the sticky rice started to deteriorate. 2 1/2 tsp. of leaf for a 16 oz. mug, with 85C water steeped for two minutes initially with an extra 30 seconds tacked on with each infusion after the first.
The mouthfeel of the liquor was very soft and creamy and it managed to find a way to creep into every crevice of my mouth. Even though I only needed small sips to get a good sense of the strong flavour with each infusion I found myself taking big hearty swigs just because I loved the feel and taste of the tea so much. But it wasn’t just the mouthfeel that was creamy; in addition to the super accurate flavour of good sticky rice this tastes rich and creamy with a lovely buttery quality as well! Some of the greener vegetal notes from the oolong base cut through as well, particular in the finish which provided some subtle contrast of flavour. One of my favourites about this tea, as well, is that it had a delicate taste but not a subtle flavour; and ever though it’s not particularly complex or nuanced it’s scary accurate and really tasty if sticky rice is your thing.
I actually can’t believe I haven’t heard more people talking about sticky rice scented teas; I feel like I just gained access to some sort of exclusive club! I like jasmine scented oolongs as much as the next tea drinker, but this is ten times as good as that – it’s only been a few hours since I finished that last infusion and I’m already salivating at the thought of another. My 10g sample will be gone before I know it, and I definitely intended to buy more of this once that happens.
