Superbolt

Matcha Latte!

I also got this one from Superbolt because when I actually made it to the physical shop I simply couldn’t pick between this and the raspberry matcha latte. Like the matcha, I got it iced and made with almond milk. This was much, much better IMO that the matcha. The blackberry compote they used was very jammy and sweet but also had a little bit of brightness to it, and it felt so much more integrated with the really dark, roasty and nutty flavours of the hojicha powder – which was very smooth. The whole drink kind of gave off this nostalgic “adult PB&J” profile that I was really into.

Matcha Latte!

So the last time I was in Vancouver this shop didn’t exist, but I have had some of their powder products despite this being my first time going in person. They’re, uhh, interesting. The drink bar feels so different from the type of teas they’re producing in powder form. I’m not sure if that’s in a good or bad way.

This one was a limited edition flavour with a raspberry jam on the bottom, and I figured I’d try it out while I had the chance. I opted for almond milk as my dairy choice. It was stunning looking, but kind of just fine tasting. The raspberry jam?! Delicious. However the matcha itself was a little bitter and the umami forward taste of it almost didn’t click very well with the fresh, sweet raspberry. Not a bad drink by any stretch, but I had a lot stronger during the day from other places. But at least they didn’t skimp on the amount of matcha included!

Iced Latte!

Another powder blend from Superbolt that feels like just a ton of ingredients tossed all together. This one is slightly less busy and more cohesive than the Performance Blend I recently reviewed, though.

It’s advertised as a ginger and grapefruit blend, but to be honest it’s really mostly a turmeric powder. Like a souped up/fancier take on a golden milk powder, I guess. A little goes a long way. Overall I thought it was pretty good! Definitely earthy with an aromatic heat to it. You taste all the named spices (turmeric, ginger, cardamom) even if the turmeric is the strongest one. I like the grapefruit inclusion a lot. It’s subtle in taste, but the bright fruity notes did make this feel different from other golden milk style powders I’ve had and it does make for a more lively cup too.

The worst part about this is the same as the last Superbolt blend I tried: the lingering sweetness after each sip. In this case it’s coming from monk fruit instead of stevia and ginseng, and to be I think that does make a difference. It’s not as intense or offensive even if I do find it strong, and the more naturally “brown” flavour of the monk fruit is more complimentary with the spices anyway.

I think I could see this growing on me…

Iced Latte!

So I saw this brand everywhere on IG leading up to the launch of their store in Vancouver. They’re sort of a matcha bar, but they also had a bunch of other powder based drinks that looked wild. Definitely a bit of a “everything but the kitchen sink” approach in terms of just blasting them full of a ton of buzzword wellness ingredients. I decided to try some of the more interesting ones since the powders were sold online too.

This one includes:

Tart Cherry
Astragalas
Ginger
Yerba Mate
Black Tea
Siberian Ginseng
Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract
Stevia Extract

…you see what I mean about the kitchen sink vibe.

Visually it’s a very unattractive brown coloured powder of a fairly fine grind – though not as fine as something like a matcha. The smell is very cinnamon forward and earthy. I whisked it up as an iced latte and it actually looked okay. A soft, creamy brown with some speckling from some of the more course powder inclusions.

The taste is better than expected, honestly. It’s very cinnamon forward but with undertones of the ginger and a bit of maltiness that I want to attribute to the black tea. With the vanilla, the mix makes me think of either cinnamon rolls or horchata. Were I not drinking this as an iced latte, I don’t know if the horchata vibes would be quite as strong as they are, but I’m certainly not mad about it. A lot of the other ingredients are very much lost in taste – like the tart cherry.

What isn’t lost, however, are both the ginseng and the stevia. Putting both of those in a blend is a choice – and probably not a good one. I understand that ginseng is probably more in here for function – a lot of these ingredient are supposed to be good for focuc/mental clarity, endurance, muscle fatigue and things of that nature. But just because it’s functional certainly does not erase the fact ginseng has a VERY STRONG sweet and licorice-like aftertaste. Add to that the distinct sweet aftertaste of stevia and you have a drink with one hell of a punch of cloying, mouth coating sweetness after each sip. Oof. Like, big oof.

So, it’s not as bad as expected and at times the creamy vanilla and cinnamon profile is pretty nice. It’s not even a terrible mouthfeel, which is so often a concern with powders like this. But damn it’s hard to ignore that aftertaste.