Cocoa Matcha

Adventageddon Day 7 – Tea 1/4(ish)

Latte!

Honestly can’t remember if I’ve tried this matcha before, but I thought it was pretty enjoyable! I made it as a latte to drink while reading a new issue of a graphic novel that I like this morning and it was smooth, a little indulgent but ultimately not too sweet/rich. Like a matcha and hot chocolate hybrid sans the sugar.

Also went really well the the raspberry and chocolate jam of the day.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0kaEKuO5Du/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnxM7weSeWs

Today was full of chocolate and disappointing fruit. What a weird pairing.

It’s fun to sift it and watch some of the green clumps give way to cocoa. The color is entirely unappetizing, with or without milk. I drank about a third of this on its own, but when I did add milk, it really mellowed out the bitter grassiness and became a warm and oddly refreshing hot chocolate (without quite the intensity of a true hot cocoa).

Not a buy for me, but I’m pickier about matcha than many other teas.

Bird & Blend Matcha Advent, Day 2

Mmm, I really like this. It’s like drinking a warm hot chocolate milk. It feels too light for hot cocoa, so I would compare it more to chocolate milk. I woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat, maybe because I was sleeping under the AC vent in the hospital room. My dad was able to go home last night, so I’m hoping some good sleep in an actual bed will help me start to feel better. Until then, this feels soothing on my throat. I’m hoping the caffeine boost will help too because I am so sleepy.

Oh, I almost forgot, this is my late entry for Mother’s Day. My mom loves chocolate more than anyone I know. She usually has empty Sixlets wrappers scattered across her computer desk, or a bag of trail mix filled mostly with M&Ms. My favorite story about her chocolate cravings is when she realized that she was out of chocolate in the house, so she ate a spoonful of dry Nesquik powder. Didn’t try mixing it with anything, nope. Just ate it dry right out of the tin. So here’s to my mom and her love of chocolate. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there. <3

Matcha Smoothie Sipdown (262)

Dumped the rest of the sample into today’s strawberry banana smoothie. It adds a nice chocolate note to the flavor, albeit a subtle one.

Sipdown! (15)

Prepared this one with 4 ounces of warm water and 4 ounces of warm milk.

Yum, this is tasty. It reminds me of the Teapigs version, in that the somewhat toasty flavor of the cocoa flavor brings out the roasted seaweed umami notes in the matcha. Other than that I’m not tasting a lot of matcha here, no grassy or vegetal notes to speak of. The cocoa is delicious though, it’s like a less sweet, more dark chocolaty chocolate milk!

It seems these cocoa matcha are always just matcha mixed with cocoa powder. I’ll have to try that myself one of these days! :D

Okay so the water may look brown and muddy but it smells like hot chocolate heaven. No foam but it has been mixed very well I can assure you.

Flavour wise this is a lot more subtle than it’s dreamy chocolate scent. It’s light and easy to drink with a hint of hot chocolate in the somewhat dry after taste. No real tea taste to speak of.

Sort of like you’ve run out of milk and cocoa powder and you make yourself a very weak hot chocolate with just water.

It tasted fine it was just too subtle in comparison to the wonderful scent. I will be trying the rest of this as a latte tonight.

Pictures on the blog.
http://kittylovestea.com/2018/12/07/day-7-birdblend-matcha-advent/

355/365

This one’s been in my cupboard for a while, largely because I don’t tend to gravitate towards chocolate tea in general. Like a few of B & B’s other flavoured matchas, this one brews up a particularly unattractive shade of brown. At first I wondered whether it was actually a green tea base; turns out it is, but blended with white matcha also. That might go some way towards explaining it. There’s also, obviously, cocoa powder. Not a lot, though, if the powder itself if anything to go by.

The chocolate flavour is actually really clear, which is a pleasant surprise. There’s also a roasty undertone, that reminds me a bit of genmaicha. It doesn’t taste particularly of green tea, so it would be a good choice for anyone a little nervous of matcha.

As a matcha, which is how I prepared today’s cup, it’s pleasantly creamy and pretty delicious. Not exactly reminiscent of hot chocolate but close – although definitely more savoury. I’ll happily drink this one again – as chocolate tea goes, it’s one of the better ones I’ve tried.

Trick or Treat! I made a big mug of this, latte-style, because I just find matcha too bitter for my tastes to take plain. This is really nice though, like a combination of hot chocolate and a matcha latte, and since there is a bitter cold wind blowing tonight, this and my fuzzy slipper socks is just what I needed to warm back up.

I used a teaspoon of matcha whisked in 200ml 175F water, mixed with 200ml warm and slightly frothed vanilla almond milk. The matcha still has a nice, pronounced grassy flavor, but there is a noticable slightly bittersweet, dark chocolate note. Mixed with the vanilla almond milk, which adds a nice off-setting sweetness and creaminess, it really does taste like a perfect fusion of hot cocoa and matcha latte. So if you’ve ever wanted a cup of cocoa with enough caffeine to keep you up for a marathon of The Great British Bake-off (now you know what I’m doing with my Saturday night, go me!) this is the drink for you!