It’s ‘Matcha’ time, baby!!

 

I’ve never been a coffee or tea girly - quite opposite of my dad. So colour me surprise, when me and coffee tried to be in a committed relationship but never surpassed the talking stage. I’d always felt the odd one among people talking about their americano to flat white lattes and green tea with a pinch of existential caffeine addiction.

Then came the matcha! Actually, then came the YouTube girlies with their matchas, clean sneakers and I don’t know, ‘That Girl’ morning routines! I will say I got influenced - only because it sounded fancy.

It was just another Wednesday. Just me, and my walk to University at 9 in the morning. And without any ceremony or overthinking (for once), I went to Black Sheep Coffee and ordered one Strawberry Matcha - green with pink swirls. A drink that looked like it belonged to a Pinterest post. 

I wasn’t expecting it to like it! But as I walked towards the uni, with a pretty looking drink in hand, something clicked. It was sweet, cold and then - BOOM - fruity and earthy. The strawberry said ‘hi’ first, then came the gentle, grassy whisper of the matcha saying ‘I’m healthy, but in a fun way’.

Okay - I know it’s not the ‘authentic’ matcha, I didn’t whisked it with the bamboo in a fancy bowl. But cut me some slack, I’m new and strawberries does make everything better.

Fast forward to a few weeks later, I was in London. My friend dragged me to her favourite café: BLANK STREET. And again, matcha made my day! Their version was a bit more extravagant. Grassy - yes, but not like a freshly mowed lawn but in a I-am-healthy-but-in-a-cool-dessert-type of way. It felt like a grown-up but in a pretty comforting way!

So when BLANK STREET opened in Glasgow, guess who ran to relive that comfort again?

Spoiler: ME!!!

My friend just finished her exam, and the café - fatefully - was tucked behind our University. I said, ‘Let’s go after the dreadful exam season. We deserve some overpriced celebratory drinks’. I went for strawberry shortcake matcha ( by this time, I am fully into strawberry matcha phase), and she ordered white chocolate matcha, which something a marshmallow would love to have. We topped it up with ‘Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Cookie’, because sea salt and milk chocolate - match made in heaven!

The flavour? 

OMG-i-don’t-know-how-to-explain-this-out-of-the-world-thing!

The strawberry kick was sweet enough to make my inner child jump with happiness, but not too sweet to give me a sugar rush! The taste of the matcha balanced the sweetness and gave it a proper earthly feel. People said it was too sweet. But, I never claimed to be a not sweet person. 

Now, I kinda plan my breaks around it. I still am not a caffeine person, but I found something better! A mixture of green, sweet, swirls, sugary feels - a chaos in a drink form - but a happy one (just like me)!! So here’s to more matchas, more swirly ways to discover new nooks and cafés, and happy souls!