Matcha Latte @ Chay Vegan Kitchen Erlenstegen
I have been a little busy the past few weeks - I got married! We went to a restaurant after and I wanted to quickly review their matcha.
I didn’t take any pictures because I had left my phone in my bag in a friend’s car, so the text has to suffice ;) it will also be a rather short one!
Color and Smell
Unfortunately, the matcha was dead on arrival. The green was very muted and weak, with a grayish-yellow tint. It looked very old, oxidized and cheap. Maybe the powder is stored improperly or has been bought in bulk ages ago and isn’t being used up quickly enough.
The smell was disappointing too; nothing aromatic, strong, not even a whiff of hay or algae or flowers or pine.
Taste
It tasted very bitter and ashy. The texture was what stuck out to me as the worst though: very coarse, powdery. It really left your tongue covered in this powder, like a protein shake that isn’t well blended. It was not enjoyable to drink. At the same time, it tasted watery.
Conclusion
Various other guests that usually like matcha were also very reluctant to drink. My brother-in-law said he wanted to try out matcha some time and I had to tell him not to do that here because he’d get a bad impression. I made him one at home later (the Kotobuki) and he loved that. I would serve this matcha at Chay to my enemies only. I would suggest the restaurant should buy new powder and store it properly to save it from oxidizing and sunlight, and refine the matcha to milk ratio and work on proper blending.
0 out of 5 matcha bowls.