The following review is by my good furend Jeremy Bear. I know you will enjoy his raw, honest review and his sharp, clever humor as he tells us about his experience with….
“Teapigs Organic Matcha
Never one to ignore a trendy new fad, I have decided to try organic Matcha, which is finely ground green tea leaves. I purchased a 30g tin from the UK online tea retailer Teapigs, which they import from Japan. It was quite expensive at £25, but included a free sample of Darjeeling Earl Grey (which was delicious), Liquorice & Peppermint (revolting), and Manuka honey (they clearly knew they were shipping to a bear).
Apparently Matcha contains 137 times the antioxidants of standard green tea, although i’m not sure why we’re so anti oxygen- surely we need it to breathe? *Grabs Jennifer Aniston wig* here comes the science bit, concentrate…..
Matcha tea leaves are grown under cover and the shade causes the chlorophyll levels to increase. The leaves are dried and ground into a fine powder and sealed, locking in the nutrients. Once opened, the tin must be refrigerated and consumed within 30 days.
Well that’s all well and good, but how does it taste? In time honoured tradition, I shall provide a short and long version of my findings.
Short version: vomit.
Long version:
- First I put half a tea spoon full in my evening hot milk. The powder isn’t very soluble, so you need a good whisk to get it fully dissolved. Daddy said the flavour was reminiscent of a green tea latte he once had in Singapore. I say it tasted like vomit.
- Next we put half a tea spoon full in hot water. We both agreed on this one. Vomit.
- Then we tried a quarter of a tea spoon full in a coconut and pineapple smoothie. The strong exotic flavour of our smoothie drowned out the Matcha. Diluted vomit.
- Finally we put a tiny sprinkle in our caffeine free Diet Coke. Never again.
On a final note, one of the health benefits of Matcha is supposedly its calming effect. Certainly, when I’ve had normal Green Tea, I have indeed felt zen like calm for a couple of hours afterwards. However, I suspect the caffeine content of Matcha is quite high as all I felt after drinking it was minor palpitations and a touch of anxiety. Maybe that was a result of checking my bank balance after spending £25 on a small tin of powdered green puke? Only Jennifer Aniston can answer this.”
Fank you Jeremy for that fun, funny and informative review!
Read more by Jeremy on his blog Jezzer Checks Chocs.
Goldie Bruin 