Reviews, Chews & How-Tos: Review: Stout Spice Co. Matcha

What is Matcha? Why is it so green? Does it taste like grass?

There are many questions that come up when people take the leap into drinking Matcha tea. For me it was a leap of faith. I was big on loose leaf teas, but after hearing about the health benefits of Matcha, I decided to give it a try. I started with a basic plain Matcha and went on from there.

Matcha is a ground Japanese tea made from green tea leaves. Unlike regular green tea, the ground tea itself is consumed, rather than infused and strained. The tea is full of antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, and chlorophyll. Matcha isn't caffeine free, but is has less caffeine than coffee, clocking in around 70-80mg per 8oz serving. The benefit of Matcha over coffee is the sustained energy release and the lack of a crash after drinking.

For some folks it is love at first taste, but for others there can be a period of getting used to Matcha's distinctive taste. Depending on the brand and the process of making the tea, some teas can be strong and taste "earthy" while others have a lighter flavor. You can make lattes from Matcha, which do ease up on the heavy flavor of a stronger tea.

If you are just starting out, a sweet Matcha might be just what you need to enter the world of this healthful tea.

Enter Stout Spice Company!

Stout Spice Co. has been around since 2014 and specializes in Spices, Spice Blends, and Teas. They bring their raw products in during the natural harvest cycle to ensure the quality of each spice and tea.

They have many flavors/types of Matcha ranging from Culinary Matcha (which works well in smoothies) to the sweeter Matchas like Pumpkin Spice and Cinnamon.

For this review Stout Spice Co. sent me a sample size of their Pumpkin Spice Matcha.

The tea comes packaged in really cool little containers and are labeled with the ingredients on the bottom. The Matcha I was sent was Pumpkin Spice and the ingredients are Organic Cane Sugar, Premium Matcha Green Tea, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Ginger, Organic Nutmeg, and Organic All-Spice. Nothing fake in there!

Directions call for 1/2 tsp per 2oz water and that the water should be less than boiling. I was able to get about 3 - 8oz servings out of the sample, though I like to mix my Matcha a bit lighter.

Stout's Matcha is smooth and dissolves pretty well, leaving only a small grainy texture behind. Some Matcha's I have had are very grainy, but this one was pretty good. You can tell this is a sweetened Matcha but it isn't overpowering sweet - just sweet enough that you don't have that initial ZING of the green tea taste.

This Matcha isn't very strong, and I didn't get as much of an energy pick up than I have in the past with other brands, but the taste and texture certainly made up for it.

The Pumpkin Spice flavor would lend really well to a nice fall Latte with the addition of steamed milk.

How do you like your Matcha? Click over to Stout Spice Company's website and see all they have to offer!

Stout Spice has been generous enough to offer a coupon code for any of their loose teas (including their Matchas!)

To get 15% off any Stout Loose Leaf Teas, use the code RCHReview15 on check out - there's no expiration date on this discount!