I actually made this yesterday, but totally forgot about it! I ended up ordering this one because I was so enchanted with the Macadamia Nut Matcha (one of my favorites!) and needed to try out more nutty flavors. Hazelnut isn’t a flavor I have often, but it’s so delicious, especially in tea. I was debating over getting this or Almond, but Hazelnut won out… mostly because of the possibility of making a Nutella Matcha Latte. Mmm! I ordered:
Size: Small
Base: Classic Matcha
Flavor: Distinctive
So, the same as usual! I almost went for a black base on this one, but I was so enchanted with the green macadamia matcha that I decided to just go for it. I’m not sure if I regret that decision or not… this really would be great with a black base, maybe even Nutella-tasting on its own! Since the black matcha has some chocolatey notes.
That’s not to say it’s not good with a green base! The hazelnut flavor is strong and nicely present, with rich nutty, almost buttery tones that do meld really well with the smooth and light green matcha. But it’s kind of… lighter than I was expecting. The Macadamia seemed to combine effortlessly with the matcha flavor, but the same thing isn’t happening here. Not entirely in a negative way: it’s still a perfectly tasty matcha, just not as totally amazing as macadamia nut. I think the green base competes a little bit with the hazelnut flavor, since they don’t exactly have similar profiles.
I may sound a bit negative, BUT I do love this matcha as I almost always do with Red Leaf Tea flavors. It’s just not quite what I was expecting, though I think my expectations were just too high! It’s still scrumptious and I think making it cold was a mistake: this just begs to be a hot, rich latte…. maybe with some actual Nutella mixed in? I think this one will be great for baking to! You can get some here:
