Toro Matcha

Iced with some almond milk.

I decided yesterday that it would be interesting to do a side by side comparison of five of the different unsweetened/unflavoured hojicha powders that I own – all were made the exact same way. It was frankly A LOT of hojicha to drink throughout the day and, to be honest, that wasn’t even all the hojicha powder I owned.

This was my first time trying Toro Matcha’s hojicha powder. They’re a more local brand, and this is a hojicha powder that is available relatively affordably through grocery stores here in Montreal. I have to admit I was highly skeptical of this one because I’m not really a fan of Toro’s other products (their matcha and matcha based RTDs) and when I opened up the packaging the powder itself looked pretty sad. Very dull green/yellowish tinted powder. Whisked up, it wasn’t much better. The liquor colour was VERY pale and had an unpleasant yellow tint.

However, even though it wasn’t a favourite, this was a lot better than I’d initially assumed it would be. The big thing is that this was definitely the sweetest of the five hojicha powders. Still thin/less roasted tasting overall and a little bit flat, but that sweetness was enough to save it from being in the “bottom slot” during this tasting. Also, it gets some bonus points for (at least relative to me) being the most accessible and affordable option.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-F56YPuEoo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU_5qZIjnws

I wasn’t surprised to see Toro Matcha at the festival with how prevalent they’ve been throughout Montreal over the last few years – it really feels like they’re everywhere now. They weren’t serving anything I hadn’t already tried, but y’all know I fucking love pineapple so I did drink my fair share of Sparkling Pineapple while they were handing out samples.

The person working their booth was quite the character to. It took me a while to place who he reminded me of, but y’know like every movie about a rockstar where their tour manager is this chaotic human being with a mane of long unkempt hair, crazy sunglasses, and who’s maybe just a little bit too old for the rockstar/touring lifestyle to make sense for them!? Yeah. Lots and lots of that energy.

Don’t get me wrong though, he was very nice! Seemed like he was having a fun time overall. Just quite the character.

Stumbled upon this new flavour of Toro Matcha’s Sparkling Matcha line up the last time I went grocery shopping. After how massively unpleasant all the other flavours were the first time around, I almost didn’t want to buy it but I think I would have kicked myself even more if I’d left it behind because I’m the type of person that when I see a tea “RTD” in any capacity I have to buy it because my curiosity peaks and I just need to know…

It’s actually the best of the flavours – though that could absolutely be skewed by my insane love of pineapple flavoured things. It’s a juicy, sweet and a bit candied type of pineapple – and I thought the intensity was really good. What impressed me the most though was just that the slimy/seaweed taste of the matcha that was SO REPULSIVE to me in most of the other RTDs from this company just wasn’t present in the drink. It wasn’t exactly good tasting matcha, but certainly not bad in the same way the others were.

I might buy this again and I definitely can’t say that about the other flavours I reviewed…

Possibly the worst RTD I’ve ever tried.

This is an oat milk based matcha latte, so I definitely didn’t expect it to have the same level of richness/creaminess as a “regular” matcha latte. What I didn’t expect was for it to taste just this level of vile. I took a sip of it from the can, and immediately spat it out on impulse. It tasted like seaweed mixed with lemon juice and starch. The mouthfeel was slimy. It felt unnatural. I tried to give this the benefit of the doubt of potentially “seperating” so I poured the can into a mason jar to give it a stir, and I was shocked that this “latte” was not opaque. Mind you, it was cloudy but the same kind of cloudy as a strongly brewed matcha would be. I would not have been able to tell you based on visual that there was anything in this to make it a latte.

It’s basically just very bad matcha, mixed with citric acid as a preservative. Noooope.

Of the three Sparkling Matcha flavours that I tried from Toro Matcha, this was the worst one. It had the exact same off putting flavour to the matcha that i observed in the Sparkling Ginger, but without as intense of a flavour to mask it. The Lemon was a little too pithy and unrefined, and didn’t lean enough into being either a tart lemon or a sweet one. The mint felt at odds with this type of shrill lemon, and the more menthol quality of it only seems to exaggerate the seaweed-y taste of the matcha.

If you’re going to try one of these Sparkling Matcha drinks, I think Peach is the one I’d recommend. The matcha seems the least off putting in that one.

This is a canned sparkling matcha RTD like the Sparkling Peach from the same company that I’ve already reviewed…

I have a complex relationship with ginger – sometimes I really loathe it but in other specific circumstances (like paired with sweet and tangy fruits) I enjoy it a lot. Ginger Beer and Ginger Ale are both in that weird zone of uses of ginger that I like. This RTD tastes a lot like a Ginger Beer, and so far that reason I enjoyed it.

However, there’s an undertone of something that tastes a bit funky and by the end of the can it was building up and really tainting my impression of this tea. I’m sad to say that that thing was the matcha itself in the beverage – it was just so seaweed-y, while also tasted a little bit like a wheatgrass shot, which isn’t a pleasant flavour either. I think it’s just a not super great quality matcha; which doesn’t really surprise me because you probably wouldn’t use an amazing top notch quality matcha in an RTD in the first place and based on the marketing it seems like this is more promoted as a “natural energy booster” and less towards traditional matcha drinkers in general!? Hard to say.

But it’s sad that the matcha was the least good part of this Sparkling Matcha.

I have seen sooo many “Sparkling Teas” this summer, but I think this is the first Sparkling Matcha!? There are two other in the line up as well as a matcha latte, and I got a can of each one because I just have this compulsive need to try all the things…

I do typically have lower expectations for RTD beverages because I understand that there are limitations in the flavour you can deliver given the format and that convenience/lack of needing to prep the drink is worth some trade off of flavour versus making a fresh version. However, this was very off tasting to me. The matcha was kind of swampy and unappetizing tasting, with a bitter grassy note and almost a slimy quality that left a light film on my tongue. Conversly, the peach was CRAZY sweet and artificial and those two very different profiles were cacophonous with one another.

Holding my breath for the rest of the line up, now…