Vanilla Matcha

Ok. So I’m a matcha fan, and I can’t claim to know everything about it, but I certainly know when my matcha is out of date. At first, I had thought that, maybe, the flavouring in it changes the color a bit. So I was possibly a bit too optimistic while I added a scout into the bowl. I can honestly say I’ve never had my heart broken by tea so compleatly before.
It came out an army green. It wouldn’t froth at all unless I really beat at it ( I’m in no way weak or unhealthy, but my arm had some protests in this pursuit). Once it settled for 3 min the froth or any semblance of bubbles were gone. The tea noticably settled in the bottom of the second bowl while I opened a cupboard to get my favourite matcha cup ( and close said cupboard and turn back to the stove; 3 steps away). I couldn’t have left it in there for more then a few seconds. With all that mayhem out of the way ( and currently drinking the said brew), it smells nice, it’s evidently sweet, and not the delicate matcha kind of sweet. I’m tempted to consider the possibility of the manufacturer using excessive sweetener to mask low grade matcha… This disappointed me on 3 fronts: 1) did not meet the natural matcha color it’s supposed to. 2) did not brew the way matcha normally does. 3) questionable flavour.

Again, I’m no expert, and I have considered the subjectivity to my experience. I may try again though only to prove to myself that it was a one time problem ( though I severely doubt the abilities of general David’s tea employees to produce an accurate brew of matcha; I may need to examine that possibility). Perhaps I was just “that” unlucky.

Essentially; imo, it’s worth “trying” not buying. Get a cup at the store, and if you love it , then cheers to you. If not…well, I can relate.

Btw; reaching the end of my cup now; and it’s frankly gross, and thick, and all other manner of unappealing…

Nope. This is waaaaaay too sweetened. I should have known, as coconut nectar is the main ingredient, but I was kind of hoping it would be good. I really love good, straight matchas and this one really let me down as my first flavoured one. The matcha base is poor quality and yellowish. All in all, it just tastes like overly sweetened poor quality green tea.

I have to admit that I’ve kind of fallen in love with this one. I can’t get over how much I love it. I am so sad about this. haha It’s the only matcha so far that I like. I’m actually thinking about buying the bowl and whisk kit so I can make this at home. I might actually do that this weekend. Or maybe sooner if I can’t wait any longer…
My husband tried it and said that with the milk added it tastes like those cadbury chocolate eggs with the candy shell. YUM!

I actually really enjoyed this matcha compared to their Matcha Matsu (which is still good by itself). I probably like it better because it is a little sweeter than regular matcha and I found myself drinking it more. I have yet to try this cold, but I do enjoy making it warm with steamed milk.

I’ve never had matcha and I’ve never had a latte (Iced or hot), today I had both. I thought vanilla matcha sounded like it would be good but turned out to be fantastic! I ordered this with soy milk and no sweetener (It is sweet enough, creamy too), I would buy this again and again. Now I gotta learn how to make matcha! xD

Matcha and I are not the best of friends. There are a few unsweetened blends from Red Leaf Tea that I’d like to try when pay day rolls around. I’m also intrigued by DT’s new Pumpkin Pie Matcha that’s due out soon. This blend, however, is one that I’m trying to sipdown (quickly). I like it but I don’t love it.

I reorganized my tea collection over the weekend. I really dislike having superfluous boxes lying around the house, and I had two tea hauls that needed to be properly stored. I now have a small bin of opened bags of loose leaf tea that I’m trying to drink before I open (too many) additional bags.

I was clearly not very awake this morning when I made the decision to prepare matcha instead of maté on the first day back after a three-day weekend. I don’t know what I was thinking. Halfway through my morning bus commute, and the iced matcha latte in my matcha maker, I realized how much I’d regret the decision. I’d probably like this matcha blend more if it had more vanilla flavor. The vanilla seems like an afterthought. As of late, every time I prepare this matcha I add vanilla extract. It’s not an awful blend (particularly if you like sweeter teas), but I’m grateful I only have enough to make one more latte.

This matcha is a sellout on the Davids Tea store, the only way you can get it right now is through a sampler pack; so lots of people must be liking it! I tried this both cold with water and cold as an almond milk late. Mixing this cold with just water, was okay; it was sweet green matcha with a hint of vanilla, which did help mellow the grassier parts of the flavor. But made with water, this tea is lacking something, some kind of body or flavor or something. I don’t know that almond milk is the key, though. I also made this as a cold late with vanilla almond milk. In that method, it was hardly green and very mild in taste, the vanilla milk taking most of the flavor. Overall this tea is good, it’s sweet, it’s vanilla, it’s smooth. But it’s sort of just barely matcha. I’ve tried all the teas in the matcha mix pack at Davids and liked the mint the best, as it made the most sense as a partner for the green tea flavor. The mocha matcha was odd and my least favorite of the bunch. So this vanilla matcha is okay, all things considered. If you’re looking for an economical dessert matcha, this is probably a great deal. I think I am going to do some more exploring on non-flavored matchas and see how that goes.

(DavidsTea 2022: already recorded)
2022 Sipdown 95/365! (Final March sipdown)

V is for… Vanilla Matcha!

Back to the alphabet! I skipped “U” (as well as Q, a few days back) as I didn’t have any 52teas or matchas starting with that letter, so V it is.

This packet of matcha was only 9g (from the advent) so the resulting latte was pretty light in flavour, but it served its purpose. I think I prefer more than 9g of matcha in a nordic mug, though.

I picked up a tiny sample of a couple of the new flavoured matchas last time I was in DAVIDs, to see how they compare with Red Leaf.

I knew these were pre-sweetened when I bought them, but had forgotten, so found that fact a wee bit off putting when I went to make it. I put a teaspoon and an half (roughly) into the blender with cold milk and boiling water, and gave it a good froth. While it is quite sweet already, I decided to add a pinch more sugar, since I generally like my matcha lattes sweet.

I find the coconut nectar an odd choice of sweetener, because it doesn’t have a neutral flavour – it tastes like coconut water, and this flavour combines with the vanilla to take centre stage above the grassy flavor of the matcha.

This isn’t bad, but I’m not overly impressed either. I like a bit more of a matcha flavour from my flavoured matchas. So I will enjoy what I have left but I probably won’t buy this again.

The first time I tried this it was made traditionally, which is was certainly not meant for. Today I made it into an iced latte as a pre dinner treat. The resulting tea still tastes mocha like to me, even my husband said “Yum! Chocolate flavour”. So very disappointing! Yet at the same time it is nice. Nice enough that my cat Honey stole some of it from my Chawan. And between you and me she keeps giving it the “get in my belly” look and more than once has she moved in ‘for the kill’.