Starbucks Has Us Seeing Green
“Your taste buds will bloom”…
That’s what the Starbucks pitch is for their two new green tea beverages being introduced this spring. The Blackberry Green Tea Frappacino creme and the Tazo Green Tea Latte are both made with premium matcha green tea and packed full of flavor.
I haven’t had the pleasure of trying either drink yet, but I can’t wait. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews for both. The frappacino of course boasts a bit of a blackberry flavor, while the green tea latte is said to have a hint of sweet melon flavor. Melon and green tea? Sounds like a good combo to me! An added bonus to trying what is surely to more delicious beverages from Starbucks is that the matcha green tea used to make a single Starbucks green tea beverage contains more antioxidants than one glass of orange juice.
According to the Starbucks website, this spring you can stop by your neighborhood Starbucks for Tea Tuesdays. Each Tuesday your local Starbucks will be offering samples of both of their new green tea beverages. So stop in this coming Tuesday and sample one - or better yet, both!
See you at Starbucks.
My boss bought a green tea latte from Starbucks for me about a week ago. It was made from tea concentrate, very similar to the stuff used to make Starbucks chai lattes. I’m not a fan of that method in the slightest.
I greatly prefer real marsala chai. Have you ever ground your own spices, used condensed milk or fresh cream, and had a decent chai? Order one from a restaurant serving Indian cuisine sometime. You’ll see what I mean.
As for green tea lattes, check out the Affinitea machine. It steams whole leaf teas as gently as possible while keeping to sixty second time-frame. Add steamed milk and voila. Extremely tasty tea lattes that preserve the natural oils and texture of the tea. What’s more, you can use any type of tea leaf you like. Earl Gray lattes… green tea lattes with a sprig of mint added at the last minute… iced Darjeeling lattes… the list goes on.
That’s the way I’d like to see tea lattes made. The results are soooooo tasty.
And now, a really shameless pimping: A coffee shop near me in Seattle’s West side has an Affinitea machine. The place is called Coffee to a Tea with Sugar. I give them my business quite often.