Good morning! Once again, the DAVIDsTEA matcha advent has a matcha-infused product instead of a powder, so I found another single serve stick to sip down instead! :D I believe this one was from a past Sips by box. The instructions call for 8-12 ounces of water, and I stopped at 8 after tasting it.
It’s okay. The matcha is very grassy, like I straight up feel like I’m drinking grass clippings. It’s a very fresh grass flavor at least! I do get a hint of umami as well, though it’s a little more on the marine side than I prefer. There’s also a fairly big hit of bitterness at the end of the sip. I do enjoy the strawberry lemonade flavor, the strawberry tastes very authentic to me. The lemon is also good but perhaps a touch more candylike.
What I really don’t enjoy is the monk fruit sweetener, it tastes artificial and cloying and is a really strange combination with the bitter aftertaste… So that’s kind of a dealbreaker for me.
Anyway, so I have two spreads today. The jam from Bonne Maman is Pineapple-Passion Fruit Spread and it’s really fun. It does taste more like canned pineapple or perhaps pineapple gummy bears to me than fresh, but I suppose that makes sense given the pineapple has to be cooked. The passion fruit is there in earnest as well, adding a delightful luscious and almost floral tropical hit. Yummy, love this one!
The DAVIDsTEA advent selection today is Honey with Matcha. I will say, I am not a fan. I’m not sure whether mine crystallized or if it’s just meant to be this way, but it’s so thick and gloopy. I actually heated it a bit to be able to spread it on toast in a reasonable manner. I think they just put way too much matcha in it, as it has an overpowering vegetal and bitter matcha flavor and then mostly just the sweetness of the honey. I’m thinking it’ll be interesting to use in baking.
(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgMNjsgAZc/)
Flavors: Artificial, Bitter, Candy, Freshly Cut Grass, Grass, Lemon, Marine, Strawberry, Sweet, Umami