Tag: DavidsTea

Matcha Matsu by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Straight
$17.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Another Monday, another matcha! It’s been making for a great regular cup of matcha at home, and this was a matcha from the Matcha Discovery Kit previously mentioned. The matcha comes in a coloured foil pouch that’s sealed, and resealable. Surprisingly, this isn’t a matcha I haven’t tried yet from DavidsTea because I feel like I’ve needed to try them all.

Matcha Matsu has a pistachio green colour, with a light grassy aroma. The matcha comes from Nishio, Japan. I do like the colour, and think it’s a lovely shade.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Matcha Matsu in 75°C (170°F) water. I opted to have this drink hot, and used my variable temperature kettle to heat the water to 175°F and allowing the water to cool for a few minutes prior to whisking (and the matcha was sifted prior to whisking!).

First Taste

Matcha Matsu whisks easily and is a bright green colour. The matcha whisks up an easy layer of bubbles on top of the matcha. There’s some grassy and umami notes, with bitter undertones with each sip that lingers. The salty-umami flavour is stronger than the grassy notes, but the bitterness can be a bit overwhelming compared to the rest of the flavour profile.

A Second Cup?

No second steepings with matcha!

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Matcha Matsu was just okay. I just found it to be more bitter than I had hoped. It might be a good matcha option if you’re looking to make up a cup of matcha latte because some sweetener and frothed milk would help temper and cover up those bitter notes from the straight matcha (this is likely how I’ll use up the rest of the matcha!). But for those who enjoy the bitter qualities of matcha, you might like this one. The grassy notes are pleasant, but the bitter notes need to be toned down for me.

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

Vanilla Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

What’s this? Another matcha post on a Monday? I’m impressing even myself! This week’s #matchamonday review is DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha, which is a flavoured matcha drink mix that came in the Matcha Discovery Kit (first discussed in my review of Pumpkin Pie Matcha). In a familiar green-tone foil pouch (it comes sealed, and is resealable!) with the information about the ingredients and steeping instructions on the back.

Vanilla Matcha has a bit of a dull olive-ish sheen to it. The aroma is primarily that of vanilla. The packaging mentions that there is coconut in it somewhere, but I don’t smell anything that reminds me of coconut. Vanilla Matcha consists of: coconut nectar, matcha green tea, and natural vanilla flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Vanilla Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water. I opted to follow the preparation instructions.

First Taste

Vanilla Matcha whisks to a bit of a dark green. It’s not as bright as I’m used to when it comes to matcha, but nonetheless it has a strong vanilla aroma to it. The taste of the matcha is primarily vanilla and sweet. I don’t really taste coconut still, and the flavour has a bit of grassy quality to it. The tea is was smooth, and the flavour is pleasant. I find that the vanilla and sweetness overpowers the grassy notes from the matcha base.

A Second Cup?

As matcha is a suspension and all of it is drunk on the first go-around, there are no second cups.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Vanilla Matcha was just okay. There was just something about it that didn’t speak to me as a personal preference. While I found the sweetness and the vanilla flavour was good, I wasn’t that fond of the grassy qualities in the blend because the vanilla flavour overwhelms the matcha base and it wasn’t the most enjoyable. I can see this blending easily as an iced matcha latte and it did whisk easily, so using a blender bottle would be easy if you were making matcha on the go.

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

Peach Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Peach Matcha was one of the flavoured matchas that came in the Matcha Discovery Kit that I mentioned last week (when I shared my review of Pumpkin Pie Matcha). It came in a coloured foil pouch (sealed, and resealable). I like the fact that the text is readable on the background of the pale green of the Peach Matcha pouch. The powder is bright green, with visible sugar granules, and a strong peach aroma.

The ingredients of Peach Matcha are: cane sugar, matcha green tea, and natural peach flavouring. Surprisingly not a lot of ingredients, but sugar is still listed as number one which isn’t that surprising for a drink mix.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Peach Matcha in 85C (185F) water. I followed the instructions and whisked it in my matcha bowl.

First Taste

Peach Matcha whisked easily, with a thin layer of froth on top. I found the aroma to be very peachy, and the flavour is spot on. There’s a strong sweetness to it, peachy flavour, and a light grassy note throughout. I found that the peach is much stronger than the matcha base. The overall sugar level is strong, and it reminds me a lot of fuzzy peaches.

A Second Cup?

As Peach Matcha is a suspension, there was no second ‘steep’.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Peach Matcha. I liked the aroma and flavour of the blend, the peachy quality is nice. I find that Peach Matcha is on the sweet side, almost too sweet, but it reminds me a lot of fuzzy peaches (the candy) which I love. The peach covers up most of the matcha, and I find it to be quite tasty. I think it’s great both hot or iced (as a latte?) and making it up as a latte would help temper the sweetness if you find it too sweet.

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