Matcha is a highly contested beverage. Some people love it and others love to hate it. The earthy tones often throw people off, and, if I'm being honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of it when I first tried it. It was beyond anything that had come across my palette before, so my brain deemed it as immediately questionable. It's not.
While I did get over my aversion to matcha, I will acknowledge that some places don't do it justice. I want you to have the full matcha experience. And in Gainesville, we had some options to see which place you should get your matcha fix from.
The Plan
In this first installment of "The Gainesville Matcha Battle" (because we all need some more drama, right?) I visited four establishments that have matcha: TeaMoment, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, and my home.
Tea Moment
This local establishment nestled in the back corner of University Ave is a personal favorite of mine. Selling boba, mochi, smoothies, matcha and more, Tea Moment is a local shop that is sure to hit the spot.
Their matcha is the pinnacle of the type of matcha I enjoy; the right balance of matcha tea to milk, just enough ice to where it's cold but not watery, and not too, too sweet. Being a fan of sweet drinks myself, you would think that I would want my matcha to have a lot of extra sweetener in it. I don't. I think the combination of the milk and matcha allow the drink to have a perfect balance. If you're a fan of sweeter matcha, then scroll to the next place we visited.
Starbucks
If you can't find a solid local place to get your matcha latte from, Starbucks is a suitable substitute. Though it's not the best matcha I've ever had, I would definitely buy it again over a lot of other matcha. If you prefer super sweet drinks, I would recommend adding sweetener to this one, but if you like the natural taste of matcha, I would ask for this drink to be half sweet.
Dunkin' Donuts
If you take anything from this article, I beg you please do not get Dunkin' Donuts's matcha. Though they tried their best, as you can see from the photo they don't mix the matcha powder well enough with the other ingredients. On top of that, this drink is just liquid sugar and you can barely taste any matcha at all. I love Dunkin' in general, I just would not spend money on their matcha. If you're craving matcha and you're only around chains, get Starbucks's matcha instead.
Homemade
Now is when the creativity comes in. Homemade matcha can be made a lot of different ways. You can purchase matcha powder online or at your local grocery store, and from there, making it is simple. You take the matcha powder (I usually do one teaspoon) and put it in an empty cup. Then add some water (about the same amount as the powder) and mix it together. Some people mix it with an electric whisk, others a matcha whisk, and others a fork. You just want to blend it together to the point where there are no matcha chunks left. After that, get a large glass, fill it with ice, add your milk of choice and then pour the matcha mixture overtop.
The good thing about homemade matcha is that you can practice the recipe until it's to your liking. You can mess with the amount of sugar, sweeteners, and type of milk until you love it. The homemade way is also cheaper than buying matcha anywhere.
Results
Best Taste: Tea Moment
Best Aesthetic: Tea Moment
Best Price: Homemade
Distance from Campus: Starbucks (on campus)
Overall Winner: Tea Moment
Overall Loser: Dunkin' Donuts