Unflavoured MATCHAccino

I dedicate this note to KS (even though it is not Thursday), because he always posts about his delicious Starbucks green tea frap. Usually on Thursdays.

Usually what happens is KS posts about how delicious his green tea frap is, then I go to Starbucks to get one and end up getting snacks and treats and gums and mints and usually end up getting a drink that is not a green tea frap because I get distracted by shiney things. Then I get home and am like, Gee, I want a green tea frap.

So a while ago, I got a free sample for caramel MATCHAccino from Red Leaf Tea and it was delicious. I thought, why don’t I try a green tea MATCHAccino, then I can have it whenever I want. Because, you know, it is too complicated to get out all the things you need to make your own with just plain green matcha. There wasn’t that flavour on Red Leafs website. So I emailed Robert and he said they didn’t have it but he could certainly make some. So he did and posted it in the website. So yesterday it came! Hooray!

Not only is it in a releasable package, but it came with a scoop, yes a scoop. Whoop! The dry mix smells of strong, sweet and creamy green matcha. It smells very sweet, which is slightly concerning. I used 1 scoop, which I believe to be 1TBSP in 7oz of 2% milk, blendered it with 2 ice cubes. Now my blender isn’t the greatest. I kind of gets the ice chopped up, but not too small and still big enough that it gets stuck in the end of your straw and you can’t get any of the drink out.

It tasted almost spot on to the Starbucks green tea frap. It is strong but sweet matcha, smooth. There is less sweetness than what a Starbucks has, but I am ok with that. It wasn’t as smoothie like with the lack of crushed ice, but I don’t think I am going to get around that, unless I get out the snoopy snow cone maker and shave up some ice. I usually get a powder type taste with the Starbucks frap that I am not getting with this one. However, the MATCHAccino is giving me quite an aftertaste. But this may be due to the 2% milk. I usually drink skim, but didn’t have any in the fridge this morning. The Starbucks is a bit thicker and creamier.

So if I just do a basic comparison, Red Leaf advertises this to have 58 calories, 0g fat, 100% natural, no artificial sweeteners or colouring, no preservatives.
Starbucks for a tall has 320 calories, 12g fat, not sure about the other stuff.

The MATCHAccino is not as sweet, creamy or thick as a Starbucks, but I can also customize it better, and I like it less sweet.

So this doesn’t mean I am never going to Starbucks again (because I am sure I will need mints and gum and shiney things at some point) but I might be playing barista at home a bit more often.

Holy tea! The lovely and incredibly generous Lala sent me a package of teas to try out (mostly straight green and whites, among a few others) and now I just have so much to try out! I wasn’t really sure where exactly to start, so I let my roommate make the first pick…

So, starting out with some unflavoured MATCHAccino. I had to look up how I’m supposed to make this – so fingers crossed I’m doing this the correct way. I guess I have enough that I can try another cup in different proportions if I need to.

I’m making some in “iced cap” format for Tre and I.

On it’s own, the dry MATCHAccino mix doesn’t smell so bad – very sweet, but definitely green tea. I want to like green tea, though! So of course I’m excited to try this.

All mixed/blended up now. It looks… Well, lets just say that typically I’d be pretty cautious about drinking something so green. Unless we’re talking vegetables, there’s some sort of instinct that I feel most people posses that talks them out of eating suspicious green foods.

It smells really, really sweet. Fingers crossed?

First few sips… ICK. YUCK. NOPE. It tastes like horribly sweet grass. NO. NO. NO. I do not want to drink more of this. Seriously, I LOVE the smell of actual sweet grass – you know, the type used in First Nations ceremonies. It smells so good, and that’s why the dry powder form of this smells like. But, ewwww. It’s too sweet and too grassy. I’m sure it’s not the tea or sample’s fault – but I just DON’T like it.

On the plus side? Tre does. He can drink the rest of my cup for me.

Dala also sent some Black Cherry flavoured Matcha for me to try, and it smells REALLY good too. It was going to be the next one I tried, but now I’m not so sure. I want to like it, but I’m not sure. Maybe it’ll be like other green teas – much more palatable flavoured as opposed to straight.

I’m gonna try and use up the last of Lala’s sample of this one though – in a hot format. Maybe it’ll be better that way? She sent lots of green teas, so I’m really hoping I find at least one type that I like. If nothing else, her generosity will lead into a great learning experience & further proof that green tea just isn’t my thing.

I continue my initial exploration of Matcha, courtesy of Lala.

This is a combination I would never have thought to try, but since Lala wanted to expose me to a wide variety of matcha experiences I felt compelled to follow her advice on the preparation, and I’m glad I did. I followed the instructions from the Red Leaf Tea site for preparation.

I cheated a bit and tried the tea before adding milk. I loved the initial aroma, and the flavor was nice, but what jumped out at me was that it was extremely sweet. The sweetener dominated the experience.

After adding the hot milk, I again really loved the aroma. I was surprised by how well the milk and green tea worked together; I didn’t think I would like it. Unfortunately, it was just way too sweet for me (I drink my coffee lattes without sweetener, and normally only sweeten flavored tea – never green tea). Bottom line: I think I would have really enjoyed this if it had about 1/4 as much sweetener as was actually there, but I found it difficult to force myself to drink the whole thing. Instead I found myself just enjoying the fine aroma.

No formal rating since I’m a matcha beginner. I should also add that I’ve only tried black tea with milk a few times and didn’t care for it.

2 hrs later: I put the last two ounces in the refrigerator and tried it cold. I liked it better; didn’t taste excessively sweet. Still, didn’t do it for me.