Kimberley's Kyusu

Matcha Monday is here again, I hope you have all had the chance to sip on some fantastic matcha recently. This week I wanted to bring Matcha Monday back onto the blog as it’s been focused primarily on Instagram for a while now and I’ve miss writing long for blog post for it. Recently, The Tea Makers Of London got in touch with me and asked me if I wanted to try out there new Matcha Active Powder and I’m sure you all know me well enough by now to know that I am always on the look out for new matcha products for Matcha Monday, so of course I said yes.

Matcha Active is a 50/50 blend of Ceremonial Grade Matcha and Young Barley Leaf Powder both sourced from Ise Bay, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Each serving of the ceremonial matcha that makes up half of this blend on average contains 70mg of caffeine compared to 100-140mg in a cup of coffee, this little wonder can keep you feeling much more alert for longer than coffee can. Young barley leaves accompany this classic energy booster with rich antioxidants that help to protect the body from free radicals and is an excellent source of Vitamin A, Potassium, Iron and Magnesium.

This 100% natural energy drink has no added sugar, artificial sweeteners or flavours, for clean natural energy. It can be enjoyed both hot or cold, either as a soothing cup to kick start your day, an afternoon pick me up to help you power through the rest of the day or a performance enhancing pre-workout. It can be prepared just like you would prepare your usual bowl of matcha, it can also be prepared on the go due to it being packaged in single serving sachets that can be added to a bottle of water, shaken and enjoyed straight away.

The Tea Makers of London say that the nutrients and antioxidants found in their Ceremonial Grade Matcha and young barley leaves are particularly beneficial to those with an active lifestyle. Not only do they support slower release energy and maintain energy levels, but also promote recovery for post exercise health and oxidative stress associated with physical activity. However, while you may see better results when you combine it with an active lifestyle, I do think that can be enjoyed by all tea lovers and as someone who has a chronic illness that limits how active I can be, I was still able to feel like I was benefiting from the affects of this product.

Since this product arrived at my house I have had the chance to sip on it a number of time, choosing to prepare it as I would my usual bowl of matcha, using freshly filtered water at around 75°, 1 sachet of matcha active and around 65-70ml water. I have found that for me that prepares the perfect bowl and doesn’t overly dilute it.

The dry powder is a dark green tone but does still have some vibrancy to it. It is much more finely ground than I expected it to be and I was surprised to see that the barley leaf had seemingly not affected the overall texture to much. The aroma of the dry powder is vegetal and milky with a slight bite to it. There are notes of white chocolate alongside two different grass tones, one more hay like and one more fresh and super grassy.

Upon the addition of water, the powder transformed into a dark green liquid and had a dark vegetal aroma to it with notes of wet grass, lakeside air and wet lakeside moss covered rocks. I found it very easy to build a fantastic froth with this powder which I really was not expecting to be the case, only due to the fact that matchas with things added into them usually do not froth very well. The froth I managed to build with this matcha was of a medium thickness, a beautifully creamy green colour and had both small and medium sized bubbles.

Let’s get into the most important parts now though and cover taste, texture and finish.

When it comes down to how this matcha tastes, the most predominant note is a mix of two different vegetal tones – one is more of a fresh green hay and the other like a freshly cut, dew covered grass, on a fresh spring morning with the sun shining on it. It’s quite creamy overall which is reminiscent of the way that double pouring cream tastes when it is ice cold. A sweetness is present and does linger, it’s definitely a grassy sweetness as apposed to a candy sweetness but it rounds everything off nicely. There’s a slight bitterness to it but the creaminess and the grassy sweetness stop it from over taking everything. It is fantastically balanced overall.

In terms of texture, it is such an easy drinker because it’s fantastically smooth and has that creamy freshness. There is a vegetal bite in the back of the mouth but it is not strong enough to hinder overall enjoyment, which is something I actually love to taste in matcha. It’s not overly thick but also isn’t watery thin, upon swilling it around the bowl it does leave a trail and takes a few seconds for it all to come back together. It has a mid length finish with lasting grassy sweetness, and lingering creaminess.

 To be honest, aside from the additional separate vegetal tone present, and the viscosity of the liquor overall, you can barely tell that this is anything but matcha and I was presently surprised by how much I enjoyed this, given I don’t usually like matcha to have extra additions. However, this one did not distract from the matcha like the addition of a scent and flavour would. My hesitations lay with how the addition of barley leaf was going to effect texture but I wouldn’t say it makes a notice change at all.

Not long at all after finishing the bowl I was able to feel the affect it was having on my body, it left me feeling energized, but not jittery at all. As someone who does not drink energy drinks and hasn’t done for a number of years now, but often needs that boost due to consistently feeling fatigued due to chronic migraines, I fell like this is the perfect product for me. I also adore that it comes in single serving sachets, making outdoor tea sessions and tea while traveling so much more convenient.

You can find out more about Matcha Active over on The Tea Makers Of London Website here. if you have any questions at all about this product leave them in the comments here on send them to me on Instagram @kimberleyskyusu.

Until next time, Happy Steeping – Kimberley

*PAID PROMOTION – Tea Makers Of London. The product featured in the post was gifted to me in order to create this post and I was paid to promote this product. All opinion provided are my own and this review was conducted in an honest manor.