Tag: Green Tea

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Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix

Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix by Trader Joe’s
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$3.99USD for 8oz (227g)

First Impressions

Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix was one of those things that I spotted on the shelf at the Trader Joe’s in Bellingham, WA and just had to try it. I do know how to make a matcha latte at home (and have even shared a recipe here before for my Rose Matcha Latte!), but the idea of an easy way to make it at home (albeit not entirely from scratch) was appealing. Which is exactly how the tin ended up in my shopping cart.

Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix comes in a carton with a plastic lid, and a silver foil seal underneath for the freshness. There’s a light green powder inside, and no scoop (unlike the Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix that I shared last week!). There’s no strong smells from this mix, it smells like a very light green tea. Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix consists of: cane sugar, coconut oil, maltodextrin, matcha green tea, whole milk powder, non fat milk powder, malted milk powder, natural flavours, sodium caseinate, tricalcium phosphate, guar gum, mono and diglycerides, silicon dioxide, and salt.

Just for your information, each serving consists of 13g of sugar, and there’s 8 servings per carton.

Preparation

Trader Joe’s recommends preparing Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix with 3 tablespoons of mix with 6oz of hot water, and to stir to dissolve.

If you want to have a cold Matcha Green Tea Latte, they recommend 3 tablespoons of mix with 3oz of hot water, stir to dissolve, and pour over 1 cup of ice.

I opted to do my initial taste of Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix as a hot matcha latte, mixing it with 100°C (212°F) water.

First Taste

Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix dissolves completely in hot water and quite easily after stirring it with a spoon directly in my teacup. The colour is very similar to the powder, a light pistachio green. There’s a very mild aroma to the Matcha Green Tea Latte, it’s a very light green tea aroma and I can smell the milk as well. The flavour is very milky, with a nice sweetness to it. I do taste the matcha, I do wish it was a bit stronger (although I don’t know how much of the matcha flavour is being masked by the dairy in the ingredients list). This does remind me a lot of a matcha latte that I might be able to find at a cafe, and it’s not overwhelmingly sweet, which is greatly appreciated by me.

A Second Cup?

No second cups here, since the Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix completely dissolves in the water.

My Overall Impression

I loved Trader Joe’s Matcha Green Tea Latte Mix. This was a very easy product to use at home – no sifting or whisking required for a morning cup of matcha latte. I do wish that the matcha flavour was a bit heavier, but I also understand that for the demographic this is probably targeted at, the flavour is probably pretty much on point. The dairy content has a nice creaminess to it, which lends itself well to the latte aspect. For the cost of what ends up being $0.50USD/serving, it’s really not that bad – especially when comparing to a $6 cup at the local coffee shop. It’s not as sweet as I was expecting it to be, given that it is a latte mix, so that was a nice and pleasant surprise.

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Tea Side’s Wild Jungle Green, Grade A

Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A by Tea Side
Green Tea / Straight
$12.00USD for 50g

Tea Side has provided me with Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A came to me in a shiny green packet. Inside the tea leaves are long, wiry – in varying shades of brown from a light green to a dark, almost black brown. I learned from the Tea Side website that there are three grades of this Wild Jungle Green Tea – from A to C where A is the most expensive. The grades are decided on based on which tea has the tips (A) and which tea is made up of the second or third leaves on the plant (C). Grade A is considered to be premium grade because it has the two leaves and a bud leaf selection present.

Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A, is a straight green tea from the forests of Thailand, where the tea grow wild there (unlike from a tea plantation or farm). Tea Side describes this forest has having trees between 200 and 500 years old. This tea was harvested in August 2017 at 1300m above sea level. The aroma from the dry leaf reminds me of the fragrance of plums and berries.

Preparation

I couldn’t find steeping recommendations for Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A. My initial steep was at 175°F (80°C) for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A steeps to a lovely light yellow. There’s a sweet, fruity aroma from the steeped tea. The tea itself has a sweetness to it, some plum notes, and a slight grassy flavour throughout the whole sip. I found at the tail end of each sip, I noted a little bit of saltiness – just a little bit of umami throughout.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Wild Jungle Green, Grade A a total of three times, adding an extra 30 seconds for each steep. I found with each steep, the saltiness grew while the sweet fruity flavours faded.

My Overall Impression

I liked Tea Side’s Wild Jungle Green Tea, Grade A. I really enjoyed the initial steep, and think it would be fun to get the other two teas to compare the different grades in terms of being able to compare and contrast the differences in flavour and quality. I found the initial steep to be the best, as I really enjoyed the sweet, fruity notes that were primarily present in the initial steep. If you’re a fan of the saltiness that umami flavours bring, you might be a fan of the subsequent steeps (more so than me, at least!).

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Yunomi’s Hojicha Gold Roast

Hojicha Gold Roast by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$13.00USD for 50g

Yunomi has provided me with Hojicha Gold Roast for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Hojicha Gold Roast from Yunomi is from the Obubu Tea Farms in Kyoto. I’ve mentioned it before on One More Steep, but I really do like the packaging and labeling that Yunomi uses for their packaging – it’s resealable and the label has all the information that one could ever want about the tea. Hojicha Gold Roast is a Japanese green tea that was harvested in the spring time.

Hojicha Gold Roast is a straight green tea. The leaves are dark brown with many short pieces throughout. This hojicha has some nice deep roasted/toasted notes ot it. It has a slightly smokey and nutty aroma to it.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Hojicha Gold Roast in 90C (195F) water for 60 seconds. My initial steep followed the steeping recommendations.

First Taste

Hojicha Gold Roast steeps to a light golden yellow. I noted that a lot of the fine particles of tea weren’t contained by with stainless steel infuser that I used in my tea pot, so if that bothers you, I would recommend using a filter bag instead. The tea itself has a nice toasted aroma to it. I found the tea to be very smooth when steeped for 60 seconds, with a nice strong nutty flavour. I found some sweetness to the tail end of each steep that reminded me a lot of caramel.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Hojicha Gold Roast a total of four times, because that’s what Yunomi suggested it could do. I added an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavours deepened in the first resteep, and became a deeper golden yellow colour. After that, the flavours got a bit weaker with each steep, I found that the nutty flavour gave way to the sweet caramel flavours that I got.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Hojicha Gold Roast. I really enjoyed this tea, because it’s not like other green teas out there. If you’re not a fan of the salty flavours or vegetal notes in most green teas, hojicha is a nice change of pace because it’s been roasted and it just has a different type of flavour profile to it. I really enjoyed the sweet caramel notes in this tea, along with the nutty flavours – which makes this tea quite savoury. I would easily pair this with a meal as it’ll be more sweet by the time you get to dessert.

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