Matcha Love - 6 Reviews

This is not what I expected. It's less bitter and bold than other matcha I have drink/drank/drunk. You don't get a lot of really anything. It tastes like "tea" and a watered down tea at that. It tastes like a green tea but it's only slightly bitter. I don't know about this, man. It's like they only had a little bit of mix and had to make a lot of drinks and they had to stretch it out. "Hey kids, I've got one pack of single serve Kool-Aid and there are four of us so we have to make due, alright?" While I don't mind, and have been known to water down my own drinks, this seems like a wasted attempt. Also, wut vanilla? It's not bad but it's also not much of anything and certainly nothing to write home about. Do we have to change that phrase? Are enough people writing home that we need to keep it? The alternative, which is unfortunate is something abysmal like, "This drink is nothing to text your daddy about." Begrudging and shuttering.

I love green tea and I love Ito En (aka Matcha Love's parent company). It's hard to mess up green tea because of its wonderful simplicity, yet some “Big Tea” companies do just that and it's nothing but a letdown. This company, whether you think of it as Matcha Love or Ito En, does not mess around with their products. This is simply brewed green tea, with some matcha powder added, for some extra caffeine, and organic vanilla beans. The tea itself is great. It has that weird dryness that comes with green tea, which I find somehow rather delightful, and the flavor of the tea is right up front. I do wish the vanilla was stronger, because who doesn't want a weird vanilla tea? As it stands, it just floats around the background. You know it's there, but it lets the actual tea flavor shine. I suppose it's for the best. They are the professionals and I am but a lowly tea drinker who is sick of oversweetened, non-tea tasting teas.

I'm not sure if this is the same product that comes in the little cans, or if there is something different about it because it says it's organic and over 3x the quantity. What I do know is that this tastes like a wonderfully delicious unsweetened green tea. It's slightly bitter, but in a way that is enjoyable instead of distracting. I didn't know something could be bitter and smooth at the same time, but that's what we have here. This is the baseline from which all unsweetened green tea should be compared.

This is the liquid equivalent of walking up to a roulette table placing down most of your stack on 13 black. You watch that wheel spin and the ball is going around and around. It starts slowing down and you can't believe your eyes it looks like you are going to win and win big. At the last moment it pops out and plops into 36 red. Sure you played a safe bet and also put down a little money on the last row of 2:1 odds, but the big money is gone. It's not a horrible loss, you came out okay, but it had such potential to be life changing.

This is simply brewed green tea with matcha and ginger root in it. No sugar and no other extraneous additives. It should be wonderful in its simplicity. It tastes like tea. It tastes like real ginger. It's good. If you brewed this at home you wouldn't think twice about it, but there's something just a little off that makes you question if it is worth purchasing. That thing is it's a little on the watery side, which leads to it being a bit weak. I like my green tea strong and prominent. This is like beginners green tea. It's as if there is extra water in it to act as training wheels for those not used to the wonderfully strong bitterness that it usually has. Metaphors and similes aside, this is enjoyable, but it could be amazing and it just slightly missed that mark.

Imagine going out into the fields and picking tea leaves, when they are at just their right point in growth to be considered prime green tea. Then you dry the leaves out in the sun for a decent time, so that they are perfect for brewing. Gather up your ancient pot that was created for and has help nothing other than green tea. You steep the tea at the optimal temperature for the precise amount of time, before you chill it. It is at this point that you have a perfect cup of iced green tea. Now you can go through all of this trouble, or you could buy a can of Matcha Love and the results are essentially the same, well at least to my unrefined taste buds.

This is what green tea boils down to if you ask me. If I am offered green tea, this is what I hope I am served. Sure it's made with matcha powder as well as brewed tea, but if the result is the same I have no qualms with that. I believe it's a healthier way to get your green tea anyways. I see no downside to using matcha. Sure it comes in a tony can, but it's got a big flavor that you're not going to beat. It's made by Ito En, when have they put out a tea beverage that wasn't great?

I am a relatively recent convert to the love of matcha. I mean I'm pretty sure I would have always loved it, but I was just unaware. I've been drinking/loving green tea for about two decades now, but I was completely ignorant of its powdered brethren's existence. I feel like I had a sibling who I never knew of because they were given away for adoption, and now they have used the magic of the internet to track me down. Luckily for me they aren't looking for money, just to enrich my life with their wonderful flavor…€¦okay that got creepy.

For those who aren't in the know, matcha (or macca) is high quality green tea that has been finely ground into a powder. It can be used in beverages or in order to flavor food. How do you think they make green tea mocha? I myself have a package of it that I mix in with ice cream to make my own flavored version instead of paying the ridiculous price for store bought green tea ice cream. When you mix it with water or milk and it makes a nice little cup of green tea. I find it to be a bit more bitter and stronger than brewed tea, and I personally love it.

The contents of this can are nice and strong, but it has a bit too much sugar in it for my liking. I prefer my green tea to be unsweetened ( I guess I should have bought that version). Don't get me wrong, it is still wonderful, but I'm just stating my preference. It's not like there is an obscene amount of sugar in here, it's just that I would like it more with none. This is probably perfect for most people.