Review: Matcha Chai
Hey everyone! Time for another review.
I never thought I’d admit this on here, but I love matcha. I drink it almost every morning with some oat milk and collagen creamer (yum!) . Now as probably the world’s number one chai fan, why would I make such a statement on my blog dedicated to chai?
Well, a little while back I heard about matcha chai and thought— would it work? I mean, these are two teas I absolutely love, but they seem polar opposites.
Chai is spicy and sweet, it’s a wake up call. Drinking a cup of chai is a kick, with the mix of the spices, milk, and black tea making it a bold choice. Chai is pretty customizable, and because so many different ingredients there are so many variations you can create using different ratios.
Matcha on the other hand, is a smooth and gentle tea. It’s a rich flavor, and as far as caffeine goes, it wakes you up slowly (opposed to an immediate buzz you would get from coffee or chai). Matcha doesn’t require straining, and there’s definitely a correct way of making it.
Matcha is a Japanese style green tea, so what better place to get matcha chai from than Japan!
My friend Amanda had brought me back some from her last trip to Japan (this was a little while ago, don’t worry). Thank you for bringing this back for me to try, I’m super excited!!!!
The package, as you can see, is mostly in Japanese. I had a friend translate the instructions, but unfortunately I’m still not too sure about the ingredients so I’ll do my best to figure that out as I write this review. This is the Premium Uji Matcha Chai.
When you open up the bag, this matcha chai is a loose powder mix, and you can see small sugar crystals in it (meaning I don’t have to worry about adding sweetener).
The aroma is nice, you can identify chai spices in there which is good because the powder is green.
The instructions are quite simple, just add 3.5 teaspoons of mix to half a cup of hot water.
As I stir the mix in, I can see it getting creamy almost instantly. I love matcha that doesn’t clump up, and this is a very fine powder meaning it will dissolve easily without having to whisk it.
The creaminess leads me to believe there is powdered milk in the mix, but I can’t confirm.
Now it’s time for the taste test.
The first time I tasted this, I was surprised. I was understandably confused as to how these two flavors would mix, but I was pleasantly surprised!
The matcha definitely is the dominant flavor with the spices more subtle. The chai spices give dimension to this cup of tea.
As far as the matcha goes, it’s buttery, smooth, and earthy. The chai spices I’m tasting are mainly clove and cinnamon, which doesn’t make it super spicy but rather gives that classic chai flavor in the background. The chai backs up the matcha in areas that would’ve gone empty making it rounded out.
Since the sugar is in the mix, it is a bit on the sweeter side.
After tasting this particular mix, I’m intrigued by the concept of matcha chai and now open to trying other renditions to see the different aspects of both teas that people mesh together.
If you like matcha and chai you should try out matcha chai and let me know how you like it!