Tag: Whisk Premium Matcha

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Whisk Premium Matcha’s Organic Hojicha Powder

Organic Hojicha Powder by Whisk Premium Matcha
Green Tea / Straight
$29.00 for 100g

First Impressions

Out of the purchases I had shared from the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival in my Instagram stories, the Organic Hojicha Powder that I picked up from Kimmy at Whisk Premium Matcha did garner the most interest. What do you do with it? What does it taste like? Is it better than matcha? Answers: whatever you want (drink, use in baking, smoothies, etc); I’m going to get to that; and no? yes? I guess that really depends on if you like matcha or not.

Organic Hojicha Powder comes in a big shiny black pouch that is sealed and resealable with lovely black printed labels on the front and back. Whisk Premium Matcha describes Organic Hojicha Powder as a roasted and ground Japanese green tea, it’s single-origin and farm direct, USDA organic and from Uji, Kyoto, Japan.The power itself has a warm brown cocoa-like appearance. There is a strong roasted tea aroma that seems much stronger than a typical hojicha that hasn’t been ground into a fine powder (which I also like).

Preparation

Whisk Premium Matcha recommends whisking Organic Hojicha Powder with some warm water. No temperature suggestions were given, so I simply went with the lowest temperature setting on my Breville IQ Kettle (still my best purchase 4 years later and going strong every day!) – which is 175°F (79°C).

I did prepare Organic Hojicha Powder much like I do matcha – I scooped some of the powder up and sifted it into my matcha bowl, added a bit of water, whisked it, and then added further water to thin it out. I went over the basics of preparing matcha a while ago, but linking it here for easy reference!

First Taste

Organic Hojicha Powder easily whisks up to a dark almost chocolate brown. It has a really strong roasted and nutty aroma to it – reminds me of a steeped hojicha tea, but amplified. The flavour is very strong – roasted, toasted nutty flavours, just a soft and mild floral note in the background. I found the strong nutty flavour really lingers on the tongue. Organic Hojicha Powder is intense compared to a regular hojicha in terms of flavour.

A Second Cup?

Like a matcha, Organic Hojicha Powder is a suspension so there are no second steeps with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I loved Whisk Premium Matcha’s Organic Hojicha Powder. There’s just something really great about it that just punches you in the taste buds with all of those intense flavours – roasted and toasted flavours, the nuttiness throughout, the sweet that just peeks through the flavour profile to make itself known. I can definitely see myself utilizing this in a hojicha latte, or using it in baking in place of cocoa or matcha – I think it’d be pretty tasty!

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Whisk Premium Matcha’s Everyday

Everyday by Whisk Premium Matcha
Green Tea (Matcha) / Straight
$25.00 for 30g

First Impressions

Everyday was a purchase from the Vancouver Tea Festival, and I somehow haven’t talked about it yet (!). It was the matcha that was ‘on tap’ at their table for samples, and I loved it so much that I ended up buying a bag to take home. And honestly, at that point the idea of whisking it up at home gave me a sense of anxiety because it’s a) not an inexpensive matcha, and b) what did I know about whisking matcha anyways? Nevertheless, I’ve gained some whisking experience since then and here we are.

Everyday is a first harvest matcha, it comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with some information on the front and the back of the packaging. Everyday is described as being a first harvest matcha that comes from family-run tea farms in Uji, Kyoto, Japan. This is a 100% pure organic matcha. The powder itself is a nice bright, spring green colour. I find it has a bit of a light grassy aroma to it.

Preparation

If you need any matcha preparation tips, Whisk Premium Matcha provides information on their website that I find to be highly informative. (I also go through it a bit on One More Steep as well, but in less technical detail.)

I sifted 2 teaspoons worth of Everyday into my matcha bowl and poured in 175°F (79°C) water. I whisked it using a bamboo whisk, using a W motion back and forth until a thin layer of bubbles frothed up on top.

First Taste

Everyday whisks up to a light green layer of bubbles, followed by a dark, almost hunter-green matcha. I found the aroma to be grassy and floral. The flavour was a pleasant mix of umami, grassy, and vegetal notes that remind me of asparagus. There is a slight bitterness to it, but I don’t find it off-putting because it balances well against the other flavour notes.

A Second Cup?

No second cups because matcha is a suspension.

My Overall Impression

I loved Whisk Premium Matcha’s Everyday. I can definitely see why it’s a fan favourite. Everyday has a lovely flavour profile in an affordable matcha while coming from organic farming practices that Kimmy (the owner of Whisk Premium Matcha) can trace back to specific family-run tea farms. I quite enjoy it, and I’ve also had this matcha both straight and mixed up in a latte (which was also delicious, and a great way to temper down the bitterness if you’re not fond of that aspect of matcha).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Whisk Premium Matcha’s Be My Rose

Be My Rose by Whisk Premium Matcha, in collaboration with The Good Chocolatier
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$10.00 for 1 bar (42g)

Whisk Premium Matcha has provided me with Be My Rose for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Like a lot of other people in the world, I’m a fan of chocolate. I first tried Whisk Premium Matcha’s Matcha Cremsicle chocolate (plant-based matcha white chocolate) when I bought a bar at the 2018 Vancouver Tea Festival. I was absolutely tickled when they very kindly sent me a bar of Be My Rose, which is a very similar chocolate bar – plant-based matcha white chocolate with dried rose petals embedded into the chocolate.

The bar of chocolate itself came in a plastic sleeve that’s resealable. The chocolate is molded into square segments, with a floral and leaf pattern molded onto the front, while dried rose petals are present on the backside of the chocolate. Be My Rose consists of: Ecuadorian raw cacao butter, coconut cream powder, coconut sugar, organic matcha, rose petals, maple syrup, and vanilla. Each bar contains a 1.5 servings of matcha per bar of chocolate. There’s a strong matcha aroma from the chocolate, with a very light, sweet floral fragrance that comes off from the rose petals.

First Taste

I broke off a few squares of the Be My Rose to try. There’s a very strong matcha flavour in this chocolate. I love white chocolate, and often find it sweet compared to milk or dark chocolate. Be My Rose is surprisingly not that sweet. It has a rich matcha flavour, with a floral flavour through each nibble from the rose petals. The chocolate has a nice creaminess to it – I don’t taste coconut in it, in case anyone doesn’t want to taste coconut in their chocolate. The matcha flavour has nice sweet notes to it.

My Overall Impression

I loved Whisk Premium Matcha’s Be My Rose. I really enjoyed eating the chocolate, found it to be delicious. It’s definitely unlike any other chocolate that I’ve had before – a lot of matcha chocolate is often sweet, and the label specifically mentions that it is free of refined sugar – finding the sweetness from coconut sugar and maple syrup. It’s a fun little treat, although I don’t find myself eating more than 1-2 squares at a time, due to the richness in the chocolate itself – so despite the cost for each bar, it goes a long way!

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.