Tag: Trader Joe’s

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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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Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix

Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix by Trader Joe’s
Black Tea / Flavoured
$3.99USD for 10oz (284g)

First Impressions

Big ol’ tin of chai latte mix for $4USD? Don’t mind if it I do! It work out to be about $5.25CAD, which isn’t terrible, especially when I consider how much a comparable product might cost me in Canada! I picked up this tin of Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix during my cross-border (mostly tea) shopping trip back in September. The tin has a plastic lid and a foil seal that I had to peel open to get to the powder inside. The powder itself is a light brown with a very mild chai spice aroma to it.

FUN FACT! Chai is another word for tea, so when someone says “chai tea”, they’re really saying “tea tea”! However, we’ve come to expect “chai” to describe spiced teas, usually like a masala chai.

There is a scoop inside of the tin! I found it when I was using a tablespoon to scoop out the powder for my first drink. Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix consists of: sugar, non-fat milk, non-dairy creamer, tea powder blend (with black tea), honey granules, spice blend (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, anise, ginger), silicon dioxide, natural flavours, carrageenan and guar gum, and bourbon vanilla extract. Silicon dioxide is used to prevent clumping, carragenan is a thickening additive (from seaweed), and guar gum is another thickening agent (from beans).

Preparation

Trader Joe’s provides instructions for both making a hot or cold chai latte with the Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix. For hot, it’s 1 scoop (3 tablespoons) with 6oz hot water. For cold, it’s 1 scoop (3 tablespoons) with 2 oz hot water, poured over 8oz of ice and topped with 2oz of cold water or milk. I followed the directions for a cup of hot chai latte.

Since each serving consists of 3 tablespoons (40g) of latte mix, it results in 27g of sugar per serving (if you’re mixing with water). On a side note, you do get 15% of your daily intake of calcium, 2% of vitamin C and 2% of iron per serving. Given that it’s 40g per serving, it is approximately 7 servings per tin.

First Taste

The aroma of the Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix when made hot is really quite fragrant – I can smell the spicy mix, but it also does smell sweet. The colour is darker than the pale brown powder that I started off with. The flavour is primarily sweet, although I can also taste the blend of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and anise. It’s not as spicy as I was expecting, considering the name, but it isn’t bad either. I do think it is quite sweet (after all, it has sugar and honey granules in it!).

A Second Cup?

Since it is a drink mix, all of the powder dissolved with the initial drink so there were no resteeps!

My Overall Impression

I liked Trader Joe’s Spicy Chai Tea Latte Mix. I did find it really sweet for me, which was a bit of a surprise since I’m usually quite fond of sweets. I think a full scoop is a bit much, considering how sugary the powdery mix is. I did try it again with double the recommended volume, but in milk (so 12oz milk plus the 1 scoop of powder) and it was quite delicious – a lot creamier, just a tad less sweet – it’ll also help make the tin last a lot longer.

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

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Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Herbal Tea

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea by Trader Joe’s
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$1.99USD for 48g (20 sachets)

First Impressions

Another one of my cross-border tea haul items! I actually went to Trader Joe’s for the first thing in September and basically was in awe of All The Things – I definitely need to make another trip now that I won’t be (as) overwhelmed by the selection of items. First of my Trader Joe’s tea finds is their Harvest Blend Herbal Tea. It was only $1.99USD, which pretty much sold me on getting it since it was cheap for 20 sachets.

Under the cellophane, there’s the cardboard box – and inside of that is a clever resealable wax paper bag with the tea bags inside. The tea bags are square, no string or tag, not really worthy of a photo. However, the aroma from the sachet is very strongly of cinnamon. It reminds me a lot of cinnamon heart candies that are so popular around Valentine’s Day. I can just make out the aroma of orange peel and ginger.

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea consists of: cinnamon, ginger, hibiscus, natural cinnamon and apple flavours with other natural flavours, chamomile, roasted chicory, and orange peel.

Preparation

Trader Joe’s recommendations for Harvest Blend Herbal Tea are to steep in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 4 to 6 minutes with optional sweetener. My initial steep of Harvest Blend Herbal Tea was for 5 minutes.

Fun fact, the steeping instructions are on the inside of the box on the flap.

First Taste

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea steeps to a reddish brown that’s a bit murky in colour. The flavour of the herbal infusion has a nice sweetness to it – I can make out the apple, cinnamon, and ginger flavours. It has a nice balance – there’s a gentle heat from the ginger, but it’s not too much that it’s spicy. I really like the sweetness because I wasn’t really expecting it, and there’s a light tartness from the hibiscus that helps keep it interesting.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Harvest Blend Herbal Tea and found it to be a weak ghost-like version of the initial steep. I would say that Harvest Blend Herbal Tea is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Herbal Tea. I really enjoyed the flavours in this herbal infusion – it’s really nice to find a seasonal tea that isn’t full of pumpkin or spice (sorry to all the PSL lovers out there…!). I found that the apple flavour was perfect and well-balanced with the ginger and cinnamon. It really made me to think of autumn without being hit in the fact with a pumpkin pie. While I wish that the tea could be resteeped, I’m not to fussed about it since it was such a great price for what will amount to twenty cups of tea. I do think this packaging could do with a little bit of a work, although I do understand that the cellophane is for freshness (and to also prevent product tampering). The resealable wax paper bag is nothing short of genius and I love that the box itself is created with recycled material – almost makes up for the cellophane!

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