I gave in to a stupid Groupon for this that I probably shouldn’t have. I got this and their normal matcha, which was kind of the reason I bought it. This is one of those gross pre-sweetened matchas where the first ingredient is a sugar of some sort (in this case coconut nectar) followed by matcha. It is actually lucuma spice, and not pumpkin spice. According to wikipedia, lucumas taste like maple and sweet potato, and so then I’d call this more like sweet potato pie sweetened matcha.
I mixed a tablespoon of this mix with water and coconut milk. I did sift it before preparing, hoping to cut out the chances of grittiness as mentioned by the only other reviewer of this stuff, but the sugar crystals did not go through. The spices are really nice though.
More than anything there’s just a weird aftertaste from some flavor in here. I don’t think it’s the matcha, unless it really can’t even handle the combination of 180 degree water, cooled down with 35 degree coconut milk.
At first I didn’t have any problem with grittiness but now I can feel it, no matter how much I stir it up again and again.
I think I’ll find a way to cook with this instead of drinking it, it would be perfect for baking I think. After about half of it, I just can’t take it anymore because that grittiness is actually getting caught in my throat. Gross.
Why don’t you use it for smoothies or something. I’ve been making mixed hot drinks using bottled ginger chai from 3rd street chai and boxed squash soup for lately that I really like. Just thinking of how to cover the bad taste and use what you’ve got.
Ugh, sorry it didn’t work out for you. I didn’t realize their matcha was already presweetened :(
I thought about smoothies but I think it’d be pretty good in shortbread or maybe if I make pumpkin cheesecake bars, to put it in the crust. I want to make pumpkin black bean soup soon, so I might throw it in there. But I can’t imagine it in a smoothie. Maybe banana and orange, but I prefer berry ones.
The ceremonial matcha that I also got is straight matcha, but their flavored ones are presweetened.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this sounds kind of good… =)
It is good, if they cut out a bit of the sugar so it wouldn’t be gritty it’d be even better!