Kimberley's Kyusu

Hey there Teacups.. Happy Matcha Monday! Before I get into this post I just want to apologise for being MIA in terms of Matcha Monday for the past few weeks migraines have just clouded my last few Mondays and I’ve not been able to work on matcha tasting sessions or post. But I’m finally back this week with a Matcha Monday post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Kanes Tea Factory’s Sweet Sakura Matcha , which was very kindly sent to me by Yunomi Tea to try and and review for you all for this series.

Those of you who know me well will know that I am a huge lover of anything and everything sakura so I couldn’t have been happier when Yunomi tea said they were sending me some of this matcha to try. I’ve never had a sakura matcha before but I’ve loved everything Yunomi have ever sent me to try so I knew I was definitely in for a treat going into this tasting session.

Here’s what Yunomi have to say about this matcha over on their website : “A sweet matcha flavoured with the sakura blossoms of the Japanese spring (actual flavour comes from the sakura leaves though, so powdered Sakura leaves from a Shizuoka farm growing organically was used). Add hot milk to transform this into a delicious latte!”

Ingredients: Sugar, Matcha, Powdered Sakura Leaves

Tea Tasting Notes

For this tasting session I tried this matcha two ways : on it’s own (hot) and on it’s own (iced). both were prepare using the same amount of filtered water in my Chawan & Chasen. The iced version was prepare hot and then I added in a few filtered water ice cubes. I have found so far that my favourite way to drink this is definitely prepared hot and it’s own. It’s sweet, unmistakably sakura, floral, and slightly vegetal, though it is mostly sweet sakura notes rather than the green tea. The sakura notes are soft and almost creamy which I didn’t expect and reminded me a lot of a sakura mochi I once tried many moons ago (I definitely need to have those again soon). I have been disappointed by so many sakura products in the past so it’s nice to have finally found one that does my favourite flower justice.

I’ve found I have to use a little bit more matcha to get the vegetal green tea notes to come through at a desired strength for me, but once I find that balance it’s really enjoyable. I have found that rather than using double of this to get a good green tea strength if I add in a matcha spoon of a non flavoured high quality matcha it not only stops it from being overly sweet but balances everything out. The sakura notes are prominent but in no way artificial and pair nicely with the green tea notes. Sadly on it’s own because of the addition of the sugar I wasn’t able to build much of a froth with this but it didn’t really effect my overall enjoyment at all. I honestly expected it not to be able to froth because of that reason so I wasn’t overly disappointed at all. I’m trying to move away from the mind-set of a good froth means a good matcha and learn that matcha is just as enjoyable little to no froth as it is with lots.

I definitely would have liked it not to have sugar in as I like to add in my own sweetener if I want my matcha sweet. I definitely think the sweetness works with the sakura but might be too sweet for those who don’t have a sweet tooth. It’s very smooth though and incredibly easy to drink and I love that the sakura elements are natural and don’t leave a horrible artificial taste in your mouth. Its nice to see sakura used in a sakura tea for once; as silly as that might sound most don’t actually use sakura when they try and replicate the flavour and instead use rose and cherry flavours, so it was a breath of fresh air to see it used properly.

On their website Yunomi do say that this makes for a delicious latte but I haven’t quite got round to trying that yet and honestly I don’t know if I will. I enjoy this so much on it’s own and I do think the addition of milk may down out those sakura notes which I wouldn’t want to lose. I can image it does make for a delicious latte but for me I just don’t want to risk using this matcha to then not be able to pick out what I enjoy the most about it. For your first time trying this I suggest using 2-3 matcha scoops of this on it’s own in your chawan so you can experience what it’s like on it’s before adding in any additional things, but personally going forward I will prepare this in my chawan using to scoops of this and one scoop of a high quality non flavoured matcha to balance everything out.

Overall I really did enjoy this and it made my sakura loving heart very happy so it is definitely one I would repurchase time and time again the the future. Despite the added sweetener I would say it’s one of the top 5 flavoured matchas I’ve tired this year and it will take something pretty special to top it before the year is over.

Overall Teacup Rating: 4.85/5

If you want to find out more about Yunomi and purchase some of this matcha to try yourself, you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either leave them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.

Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley

*the tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and have not been paid for – the links in this post are affiliate links so I will earn a small amount of money should you purchase through them*