Also written by Marisol Gutierrez
This past weekend, we tried five local coffee shop’s matcha tea lattes. The coffee shops that we got them from were Starbucks, Black Rock, Artemis Tea Coffee, Lost Coffee, and Atlas Coffee. Here is our honest review on each of the shops’ matcha:
First place: Artemis Tea Coffee
Artemis does their matcha right. Even though it was the most expensive for a small, it is 100% worth it. The drink was perfectly sweet and bitter. It has a fruiter flavor, especially in the aftertaste, however it works well for the drink. The drink was smooth and was the best looking green overall. This one was both of our favorites because it was the perfect matcha! For those reasons, we gave it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
Second Place: Starbucks
Starbucks’ matcha was strong, but also sweet, making it a good combo. It also had the bitter aftertaste that a matcha should have. The drink was very foamy, which made the texture less smooth. While the taste was good for a matcha, it wasn’t as phenomenal as other coffee shops, so therefore we gave it 3.5 out 5 stars overall.
Third Place: Atlas Coffee
Atlas had a very interesting flavor. It had very little matcha flavor, mostly showing off hints of nutty taste and smell, matcha ice cream, and vanilla. We also noted that it had hints of hot chocolate as well, which is where the matcha taste felt lost. We had split views on this one. We had mixed views on this one, making it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Fourth Place: Black Rock
Black Rock’s brew was not nearly as strong as it should have been. It had the lightest color of them all due to the milk content being high, making it sweet and smooth. Oftentimes, matcha’s aftertaste can be strong, but this one had little after taste. Overall, we got unlucky with the store and placed it fourth with 2 out of 5 stars because it tastes like green milk.
Fifth Place: Lost Coffee
Lost was the worst tasting matcha. It had no notes of matcha whatsoever and honestly tasted like green milk. The color was the most green out of all of the drinks, which is the only upside. Since it tasted like nothing though, we only gave it 0.5 out of 5 stars.
In the end, Artemis has the best matcha tea latte in town with Starbucks coming in second, Atlas coming in third, Black Rock coming in Fourth, and Lost coming in fifth.
