Free The Tea, Sweet Matcha Vitality

Picture Credit: Freethetea.com

Free The Tea Description:
Sweet Matcha Vitality combines the super-food of wheatgrass with the delicious taste of sweet matcha to provide a perfect wellness combination! Matcha can also be added to smoothies, baked goods and many other recipes.  This superfood will give any recipe a boost!

Ingredients:
Organic Cane Sugar, Premium Matcha Green Tea, Wheatgrass

Sample provided by Free The Tea

My Review:
Leap Day! So I get one last chance to review a tea this February. I am introducing yet another new to me company, Free The Tea. Reading through their About Us page, I don't learn a lot about the company, instead I get a grasp of their mission:

FreeTheTea concentrates its efforts on more than just providing great tea from all over the world at affordable prices.  FreeTheTea is deeply committed to spreading knowledge of the tea market and introducing the wonderful tastes and health benefits of tea into our customers everyday lives. 

I received the Revitalizer Teaser Box for review. Inside were four sample sized tins and an easy to use tea infuser. The tins are neat little things. They hold enough for 5-7 servings. The top of the lid is clear so you can see what is inside. For storage keep them out of the sunlight.

The ingredients are clearly listed on the bottom of the tin. The label gives basic instructions of add 1 tsp and whisk. Looking at the website it states to use 4 oz of just off boiling water.

Removing a tsp for examination, I notice two things. First the color is a nice spring green. The second is the sparkles that had me checking the ingredient list. This is pre-sweetened with organic cane sugar. The matcha experts might complain about the added sugar. I will not.

For most people their only exposure to matcha is probably limited to the Green Tea Frappuccino at Starbucks. I love those things but they are heavily loaded with calories from the excessive amount of sugar. This matcha by Free The Tea is listed as having only 15 calories.

While reading the ingredient list, I notice the matcha is from Japan (not China), I also noticed wheatgrass. I had to look this up as I am not a health food type. If I were I wouldn't know about the green tea frap, now would I? Wheatgrass is apparently chock full of vitamins and is often added to heath drinks including tea.

My thought on this was with the sugar and the wheatgrass, is there going to be enough matcha flavor in the cup for me to enjoy? Let's find out.

I used 175 F water and 4 oz of water with 1 tsp of matcha. I then whisked it with my handheld frother. While it mixed well enough it would not foam (I later mixed a tsp with milk and it frothed very well). The color however is nicely green.

Tasting this I wasn't sure what to expect. Would it be a really sweet drink? Would it be flavorless, or really bitter? For those new to matcha, it can be a bit of an off putting taste. Traditionally it is made unsweetened and strong. It is often rather bitter. Amazingly this is none of those things.

Yes it has sugar, so yes it is on the sweet side. It is not overly candy level of sweet. It is actually near the same level as I would use when I make a cup. The main flavor is a really nice grassiness. The sweet grass lingers long into the after taste. I am noticing zero bitterness and no puckery astringency. I cannot taste anything that makes me think wheatgrass. Maybe it just adds nutrition or possibly it tastes grassy as well.

I look forward to trying the other teas in my review box as I am pleased with the taste of this matcha.

You can find Free The Tea Sweet Matcha Vitality here.