Red Leaf Tea, Acai Berry Matcha

Red Leaf Tea Description:
Our fabulous Matcha Tea cannot get any better than this! Its high-quality Green Tea leaves are young and processed in a special way that maintains all of their amazing health benefits. Matcha Tea features multiple healthful qualities that keep your body and mind strong and alert. Matcha Tea helps detoxify the blood, has cancer-fighting properties and also kills free radicals.

So, what could we possibly do to make our Matcha Tea any better? We have taken our amazing, healthy Matcha and supplemented it with Raw Organic Freeze-dried Acai Berry powder. If you have followed any health buzz for the past few years, you know about Acai. If you haven't been following it, let's take a look at what Acai can do. Acai has ten times the antioxidants of blueberries or grapes. Antioxidants, like Matcha, help fight free radicals and keep your body healthy and strong all year round.

Ingredients:
Pure Matcha powder from green leaves, Brazilian Acai Natural Flavor

My Review:

A new month. A new opportunity to drink tea and write reviews. My wife and friends are complaining about the cold already. It does make porch setting a little more of a challenge but I am still running the ceiling fan indoors. I love the cool.

Today I am reviewing Acai Berry Matcha from Red Leaf Tea. I debated with myself for quite a while, trying to decide how I would prepare this one. More on that in a moment.

I ordered a sample size to try out something new and different. The sample bags are small and not resealable. Once opened I fold the top over and close it with a paper clip. I usually prepare the rest in a day or two.

A tip from a friend - when opening the vacuum sealed bags, first make a small cut at the notch in the end. This will release the vacuum allowing gravity to do its thing. Since learning this trick, the mess on my table is much smaller. Matcha tends to make a dust cloud when opened otherwise. (Thanks Ashmanra!)

This sample uses the basic level matcha. It is a little darker than most of these blends have been, apparently from the powder acai.

The scent is pretty intensely berry. My first thought was to make a cup with hot water. I normally don't drink my matcha that way. I like a cold milk latte. I really wasn't sure milk and acai would be a good mix, but, I decided I would do it for science! If it turns out badly, you'll never see this and I will be writing about a hot cup today :)

A tsp of powder was added to my mug along with 4 oz of milk. I used my frother to do the mixing. I worked up a nice thick foam that reached almost to the top of the mug.

Next I added an additional 4 oz of cold milk and lightly mixed. As you can see in the picture, the color is kind of light. The foam is a much smaller amount with bigger bubbles than before adding more milk. Normally I use a big tumbler for extra blending room, but it is hard to get a good picture through the graphics.

The taste is very berry! I have never had an actual acai berry. I have had a few flavored acai teas. This one is the most intense - in a good way. It is kind of its own flavor, somewhere between blueberry and blackberry, with floral notes that remind me of a light rose.

I needn't have worried about adding this to milk. It definitely holds its own and with out a taste conflict. I added no sweetener to the mug as I often do with matcha. Seriously, this does not need sweetened. The natural sweetness is more than enough. I kind of expected some tartness. I did not notice any in the cup.

The only downside I can comment on is this did not mix thoroughly. Some sediment remained in the bottom of the cup. It is possible this would not occur in a hot preparation. I was just really in the mood for a refreshing cold mug of joy. Mission accomplished.

You can find Red Leaf Tea Acai Berry Matcha here.