Tag: Lipton

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Lipton’s Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea by Lipton
Green Tea & Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.99 for 285g (15 sachets)

First Impressions

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea was an impulse purchase of mine at my favourite Asian grocery store. Since it’s opened a location in my area, I’ve had a fun time just going down the tea aisle and picking up something new-to-me to try every time I go grocery shopping.

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea intrigued me because I often see a jasmine milk tea as an option on boba tea menus, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get it yet because I often prefer any milky teas that I drink to be of the black tea variety, so why not try it?

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea comes in 19g sachets (15 in the package). The powder of Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea consists of: sugar, creamer, whole milk powder, green tea powder, maltodextrin, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and black tea powder. There’s not much of an aroma to the dry powder.

Being a fan of the little details, I like that it forms a picture when you put two of the sachets side by side.

Preparation

Lipton recommends preparing it hold or iced – using 85°C (185°F) water and 180mL water for a hot preparation, and 50mL water for an iced preparation (just load up the glass with ice).

I opted to try it as a hot preparation.

First Taste

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea mixes up quite easily with hot water, dissolving easily with a quick stir. The aroma is very strongly sweet floral – very over the top, with a very strong jasmine aroma. The flavour isn’t as perfumey as I had expected, based on the aroma of the tea. The flavour is lightly floral, creamy, and very sweet. I find it a bit much (on the sweetener level).

A Second Cup?

As the powder is part of a drink mix, there are no second preparations with the same mix.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Lipton’s Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea. While I can appreciate a nice jasmine tea from time to time (it’s one of my favourites!), I found this tea drink powder mix to be very sweet and very floral in aroma that it was hard to get around that to enjoy the drink itself. I might be persuaded to enjoy it more if it wasn’t as sweet. I will try it again with a more diluted preparation, or more heavily iced – and hopefully enjoy the rest of the sachets.

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

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Lipton’s British Style Royal Milk Tea

British Style Royal Milk Tea by Lipton
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.68 for 262.5g (15 x 17.5g sachets)

First Impressions

I dived into the depths of the internet to figure out what was the major differences between a British style milk tea and a Hong Kong style milk tea. The biggest difference that I could find? It all comes down to the type of milk being used in the preparation.

For a Hong Kong style milk tea, a condensed or evaporated milk is typically used. I grew up preparing Hong Kong style milk tea with an unsweetened evaporated milk. While in the preparation of a British style milk tea, one will used milk – the same type of milk that you’d typically find in a grocery store carton or jug or bag – if you happen to be in select parts of Canada.

Fun fact, I grew up drinking milk purchased at the grocery store in bags, and remember carefully cutting the corner off when it came time to opening a new bag of milk. I’m not sure when it was phased out in my province, but I haven’t seen bagged milk in forever. Last I heard, it’s still available in parts of eastern Canada.

British Style Royal Milk Tea comes in individually portioned sachets, with each one containing 17.5g of powder. British Style Royal Milk Tea consists of: sugar, creamer, whole milk powder, black tea powder, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, maltodextrin, and artificial flavour. The powder isn’t particularly fragrant and is a kind of boring shade of beige with speckles of darker brown throughout.

Preparation

Lipton recommends preparing British Style Royal Milk Tea in 85°C (185°F) water, using 180mL if drinking it hot and 50mL if you intend to pour it over iced. I opted to try British Style Royal Milk Tea as a cup of hot tea, but there is an image on the bag of the packaging to use British Style Royal Milk Tea as a base for what appears to be bubble tea (and I fully support this as an option).

First Taste

British Style Royal Milk Tea mixes up quite easily into what looks like milk tea. It fully dissolves well with a quick stir of a spoon and I’m left with a cup of milky looking tea. The aroma reminds me of a milk tea, with obvious notes of dairy. The flavour of British Style Royal Milk Tea is interesting. While there is the sweetness from the sugar, I wouldn’t call it overwhelmingly sweet. The black tea base is a touch astringent and even almost bitter. The dairy carries it through with a bit of a creamy aspect to it, but it’s not as rich as I’m used to with a milk tea. British Style Royal Milk Tea almost seems like it’s trying to be like a Hong Kong style milk tea, but missing the marks on smoothness when it comes to the black tea base.

A Second Cup?

As British Style Royal Milk Tea is a powder/drink mix, there are no second steeps with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Lipton’s British Style Royal Milk Tea was just okay. There’s something about British Style Royal Milk Tea that I liked when drinking it, but the astringency and bitterness that exist in the cup due to the black tea powder that was used in the creation of this drink mix lends itself to being a bit meh. I think coffee drinkers/lovers might appreciate British Style Royal Milk Tea more than I do because of that bitterness that might remind them of coffee. But for me, I lean towards more traditional teas, and also sweeter options when it comes to my milk tea. So while I will drink it (and finish the contents of the big package), I’m unlikely to reach for it again when I’m at the store. It’s not undrinkable, but it’s not a favourite.

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

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Lipton’s Japanese Matcha Milk Tea

Japanese Matcha Milk Tea by Lipton
Matcha (Green Tea) / Flavoured
$9.99 for 285g (15 x 19g sachets)

First Impressions

At eye-level in the tea aisle of a popular Asian grocery store, I turned and found this – it was the cup of matcha that intrigued me. While I’m sure that the amount of matcha to sugar ratio is probably not what one would want from a superfood, it’s a nice alternative for a matcha lover on the go! This Lipton package comes with fifteen sachets, each one with the best by date stamped across the top.

Japanese Matcha Milk Tea doesn’t have much of an aroma to it, with a bit of a glimmer to it from the sugar. It’s a pale light green powder, but I do get a whiff of milk or cream from the matcha mix. Japanese Matcha Milk Tea consists of: sugar, creamer, whole milk powder, matcha powder, green tea powder, maltodextrin, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose.

Preparation

Lipton recommends preparing Japanese Matcha Milk in 85°C (185°F) water and 180mL for a hot preparation or 50mL for an iced preparation. I opted to have Japanese Matcha Milk Tea as a hot drink because… winter.

First Taste

Japanese Matcha Milk Tea mixes easily with water, and I found it easily suspended in the water. It does have the milky appearance of a matcha latte, with a pale green that matches what the powder looked like straight out of the packaging. I will say, that if I had whisked up a matcha latte from scratch, I would expect a much deeper shade of green based on using a high quality matcha. That said, Japanese Matcha Milk Tea has grassy notes, milky cream notes, and a strong level of sweetness. It hits the flavours that I would expect out of a matcha latte, but lacks the strong vegetal and umami notes that I like from a nice matcha.

A Second Cup?

As a suspension/drink mix, there are no second cups of Japanese Matcha Milk Tea.

My Overall Impression

I liked Lipton’s Japanese Matcha Milk Tea. As far as cost per matcha latte, you can’t really get it cheaper for less work than $0.67 a drink. The joy of Japanese Matcha Milk Tea is how easy it to prepare and the ease of making matcha on the go (a.k.a. at work) and it already having dairy in it to add that level of creaminess that I know and love. I’d probably rank it higher if it was a bit less sweet, and if the matcha flavour was stronger – I would have appreciate a bit more.

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