I woke up craving something sweet and indulgent today, so I whipped up some matcha pancakes and searched through my tea stash to find something extra special for today’s review. When I spotted a can of Perfect Ted Strawberry Matcha Latte, it was like the stars aligned!
This is the third beverage I’ve reviewed from Perfect Ted and the first from their latte line. I’m pretty good at making a matcha latte at home, and have made a strawberry flavoured one before. Crush up some strawberries, heat the milk and whisk the matcha. That’s really all it takes.
So, can Perfect Ted recreate the delicious flavour of a fresh strawberry matcha latte in a ready-to-drink can format? Let’s find out.
Perfect Ted Strawberry Matcha Latte at a Glance
Izzy’s Rating
- Ingredients: Oat milk, strawberry puree and ceremonial grade Japanese matcha with natural flavourings and colourings
- Flavour: Creamy and light strawberry milkshake with a good balance of fake sweetness and berry flavours
This ready-to-drink tea beverage has the same problem as the other drinks I’ve reviewed from Perfect Ted – the tea element is almost nonexistent. Besides the swampy green matcha colour, this tastes like a delicious strawberry milkshake with no matcha flavours whatsoever.
Full Review – Strawberry Flavour Matcha Latte
- Type: Ready-to-drink canned matcha latte
- Tea: Ceremonial grade matcha
- Other Ingredients: Oat drink (water + gluten-free oats), sunflower oil, strawberry puree, agave nectar, natural flavouring, natural colour (chlorophyll), acidity regulator (potassium carbonate)
- Caffeine Content: 60mg
- Flavour Notes: Milk, single cream, vanilla, strawberry syrup
- Aroma: Berry-rich strawberry milkshake, creamy
- Serve: Over ice or refrigerated
- Where to Buy: Amazon UK
The can rather proudly announces that this beverage is vegan, gluten-free, and contains no refined sugar. That sounds good for my health… but is it good for the flavour? We’ll see.
Opening the can, the matcha latte smells pretty good. Actually, it smells amazing. I feel like I’ve stepped into a milkshake parlour. It smells of strawberry milkshake with that sugary sweet strawberry syrup and creamy notes.
For the purposes of this review, I poured it into a glass mug to better assess the colour. It has that classic swampy green colour you expect from a matcha latte… but that’s probably from the natural colouring. Perfect Ted uses chlorophyll to get that green colour, but they don’t disclose where they get the chlorophyll from. I’d guess it’s not from the matcha tea leaves, but some other verdant green plant. Spinach, maybe?
Regardless, the flavour most definitely does not taste of spinach, matcha or any other green ingredient. It’s pure strawberry milkshake from the first sip to the last. The creaminess is halfway between milk and single cream (no hint of oats) and the strawberry is concentrated and fake but not at all chemical-like or unpleasant. There’s a vanilla sweetness to the drink too.
All in all, the flavours are really well balanced and it’s very easy to forget that each can contains 60mg of caffeine!
How to Serve a Strawberry Matcha Latte
I drank my Perfect Ted Strawberry Matcha Latte at room temperature but if you’re picking it up in the supermarket (I’ve seen them in the meal deal section) then it will be refrigerated for you. Another option is to pour it over ice, though this will water it down somewhat and you may lose the creaminess.
I devoured my matcha pancakes (topped with Greek yoghurt and a strawberry) with this matcha latte, but the incredible syrupy sweetness of the beverage made them taste almost savoury. I wouldn’t recommend having a sweet dessert with this drink.
That being said, the caffeine in this matcha latte might be a tad too strong for an empty stomach. Consider a small sandwich or snack, at the very least.
Why Perfect Ted?
Perfect Ted are a British brand and they tend to use natural ingredients where they can while still giving you a proper energy boost. They have a range of canned, ready-to-drink beverages plus some flavoured matcha powders. I’ve got their vanilla matcha powder in my stash ready to be reviewed in the coming months.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients:
- Ceremonial grade Japanese matcha (0.7% of total ingredients). It doesn’t appear in the flavour at all, I think it’s just here to give the tea its name and provide the caffeine.
- Strawberry puree and natural flavouring (3% of total ingredients). This mix of puree and flavouring gives it that berry flavour while also enhancing the sweetness.
- Oats and water (83% of total ingredients). This is the bulk of the beverage yet it doesn’t taste like oat milk. The addition of sunflower oil and acidity regulators likely play a part in giving it that creamy rich sensation, as the oat milk I’ve tried before has always been far more watery than this matcha latte.
The only other ingredient listed is agave nectar, which is like a natural sweetener and something you can buy to have at home (or replace with honey if you want something that won’t damage your liver). In fact, you could make this matcha latte at home quite easily. It might not have the same dark colour without chlorophyll and you’d need to bump up the strawberry puree to replace the flavouring, but you could skip the sunflower oil and acidity regulator entirely if you’re drinking it fresh.
Summary
Though it really doesn’t taste like matcha, this ready-to-drink latte has a fabulously indulgent strawberry milkshake flavour and a natural source of caffeine to keep you going all day. The ingredients list is quite short for a vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free beverage too.
You can buy it from most supermarkets or find a better price on Amazon if you’re ready to stock up!
Tea Recommendation
If you want more tea-based energy beverages but aren’t keen on the creamy milk flavours, check out my review of Perfect Ted Juicy Peach Healthy Energy Tea next. It contains a bit more caffeine than the strawberry matcha latte and is carbonated for a lighter drinking experience.
