I’ve never been a huge coffee drinker. Maybe it has something to do with cocoa – I don’t like chocolate either. The taste of it is too bitter to me and no amount of sweetener nor milk can make it taste appealing to me. If I desperately needed the energy and were forced to drink it, then I would drink it for the energy only – not the taste. Some people drink coffee solely for the taste, which is a little baffling to me.
I recently tried to give coffee another chance during winter break, when I visited a cute cafe in Old City called Eggcellent (which serves a variety of egg dishes in accordance with their name). I ordered the Maple S’mores Latte, a seasonal drink, because the picture looked pretty and I thought I could give lattes another shot. Turned out, I still did not like the taste of coffee. I had a stomach ache for the rest of that day.
However, I love matcha! The color is pretty and pastel when milk is added, the taste is a little herbal, and the amount of caffeine in it is not too bad. I prefer this method as it is less likely to alter the melatonin levels in my body and make my sleep cycle different. Not only that, but matcha is high in antioxidants and provides many health benefits. While I do not really drink matcha for its benefits, I do think it’s an added bonus. Not only this, but my matcha fixation grew when I received an electric whisk/immersion blender, which prevented all those clumps from forming at the bottom of my drink. With this, the ease and speed of making my matcha makes it such a go-to option whenever I need something fun to drink. I recommend anyone trying to get into matcha invest in either an electrical whisk or a bamboo whisk.
It is funny that many people describe matcha as grassy flavored. While I do agree with the bitter and floral notes some describe, grassy is not what I would land on. And if it actually is grassy, I find it funny since I also enjoy a lot of other “grassy” aromatics, such as chives and green onions. This taste of “green” as many would call it is definitely different from other greens like kale or even spinach.
Now, what I have asked before and am still asking for is for Thomas Jefferson to offer matcha as a drink option or flavoring. They offer syrups such as vanilla or caramel, so I don’t get why they don’t offer matcha. The only matcha option on Campus is at Ted’s, where the drink of the week is matcha lemonade. This drink is still good, but the lemonade flavoring overpowers the matcha, making the matcha not nearly as earthy as I would like. I see many students around campus with green drinks in their hands with cups from places off campus, like Wawa or even Dunkin’ Donuts. While this does satiate any matcha cravings, this is definitely an inconvenient option, which is why I dream of the day in which Ted’s makes matcha an option.
Matcha is also a way to make the school more inclusive. Originating in Japan, matcha would be a great way for this cafe to expand the diversity of its options.Common Thread and Ravenhill have options like Korean beef or even dumplings, which show off their options of East Asian foods, so it would be natural for matcha to also be incorporated. The matcha does not even have to appear in drinks! Matcha desserts would also be phenomenal – matcha cookies, cakes, or even french toast! Having a pop-up dedicated to matcha would be such a fun way to test out the students’ response to matcha. If there were matcha, I would be spending a lot of money!