Sometimes you see a good deal and can’t help yourself. Like when I found a 2kg Vanilla casein protein powder on clearance because the bottle was damaged. The problem is that having vanilla protein powder on its own is a little boring. To combat this problem, I have been mixing it with other things (it also tastes sickly sweet). Like coffee for iced coffee, I also tried mixing it with matcha. But the problem is that it doesn’t mix properly if you shake it normally. Since I am gearing up to restart my fitness journey, I got an email that T2 released a new matcha range. The flavours were pretty interesting, but what drew me in was the Brown sugar matcha. So, while in Auckland, I went into T2, bought an electric whisk (it looked fun), and was considering buying the brown sugar matcha, but then I thought, “What happens if I didn’t like it?” I would be stuck with it like the protein powder. But as I was leaving, I saw they had a sampler pack of all the matcha flavours. This seemed perfect; I could try them without committing (which made the whole thing low-stakes). So, I thought it would be fun to review all the flavours.

Yuzu Matcha

When I made this, there was no milk, but I went to grab it. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit. I feel it tastes like grapefruit. So, with the matcha, I found the matcha taste really mild, and the Yuzu overpowered it. It tasted a bit weird with the milk. Not my favourite, but I think I would mix it with just water next time.

Blood Orange Matcha

I made this with milk and water, but less than for the Yuzu matcha. I found the matcha flavour was mild here as well. But the orange didn’t overpower it. I felt you couldn’t taste the orange much. I think the Yuzu matcha has a stronger citrus flavour if you’re into it.

Banana Matcha

I am not a fan of artificial banana flavour, so I was worried about this one. The two flavours, to me, didn’t actually blend together; with one sip, you tasted the matcha more than the banana. The issue, to me, was that the banana flavour tasted like old gum you kept in your mouth too long. It was not a pleasant experience

Raspberry Matcha

I was making this, and as I took my electric whisk out, the cup spilled over, leaving only a tbsp. But for the sake of this article, I drank it. The matcha sachet only had water so far, and it was more concentrated than it should be when consumed. I found the raspberry smell stronger than the actual flavour. It tasted a lot more like matcha with a hint of raspberry than the other flavours, where the flavour has completely overpowered the matcha.

White Choc Matcha

I am not a fan of white chocolate; I find it too sickly sweet, and other than in triple chocolate brownies or cookies, I tend to avoid it. So, imagine my surprise when this is my favourite flavour so far! The white chocolate flavour was subtle and didn’t compete with the matcha. It just made it taste slightly sweeter. The milk just enriched it, and I could imagine enjoying this flavour daily.

Salted Matcha Milkshake

This flavour seemed promising to me, but when I had it, I was immensely disappointed. It didnt taste creamy, and for some reason the saltiness with the bitter flavour of matcha made the whole drink taste savoury, which didn’t go well with the milk. That’s the conclusion I am drawing, because my other thought was that my cup may have been contaminated, but I pulled it out of the dishwasher!

Peach Matcha

Since I haven’t enjoyed the fruit mixes so far, I was hesitant about this one. But then I remembered that I like Peach Green Tea from Gong Cha, so by extension, shouldn’t I like this? Yeah, I didn’t like this. The matcha smelled strongly of the Peach flavour, but when I had it, it just tasted like matcha with an artificial flavour, and it didn’t go well with the milk either. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

Brown Sugar Matcha

The flavour that started it all, and it somehow ended up being the last one. I was trying to save the best for last. I will explain my mood when I tried this flavour. I had finished watching a movie and felt groggy, so I thought this would be the right amount of caffeine at 5pm to get me through to 11pm. I think this matcha was at a disadvantage because I had iced matcha that morning, which was everything it should be. This one didn’t live up to the hype. It wasn’t sweet, and the matcha flavour was quite dull. It also wasn’t as creamy as it ought to be, either. I felt let down.

Conclusion

Well, that was all the flavours. I think my favourite was the white choc matcha. The matcha flavour was a good blend, and it had a creamy mouthfeel; the other ones were lacking. My least favourite one was probably the Banana Matcha Milkshake flavour because it didn’t even taste like banana to me, so it wasn’t right. Like Yuzu and orange, at least tasted citrusy, it just wasn’t pleasant with the matcha. I think they should have included their original matcha blend so I could compare the flavours with a control, as I am unsure whether their blend is the issue. Like, I have matcha at home from Daiso, and it tastes pretty good to me. Mind you, I use like a teaspoon of matcha, and these sachets only had 2.5g. So based on their mixing amounts, it would be really diluted, like the first one was.

But over the whole process of trying these sachets, I actually used up my vanilla protein powder. Which is what I planned to drink with my matcha. I think overall, I am not an everyday matcha person, and matcha just doesn’t contain enough caffeine for me. Coffee and chai are my roots and what I prefer. Although this was a fun experiment, I am glad I didn’t buy the big container of T2 brown sugar matcha powder, especially since I didn’t enjoy that flavour. But I am not anti-matcha; I will still go for an iced one anytime, and I have a craving for the Strawberry matcha from Noah’s Ark from time to time. I truly will write about anything, no.