My first café dine-in since Covid-19, traveling down Milwaukee Ave, I noticed Brü Chicago was open for business. So I made a quick stop.
They use Aiya unsweetened matcha powder. It’s more of a culinary grade, but better than most.
Not quite enough powder for my liking, but it was good. They didn’t burn it bitter with boiling water.
Here’s the matcha from Amazon - https://amzn.to/39jBg09
Just a month ago, I had a terribly sweet and pretty disgusting matcha latte from Foxtrot Market. Well, I found myself back at a Foxtrot with a friend and behind the bar I spotted a familiar bag of Spirit Tea's Kodemari matcha.
So, of course, I asked, "Hey did you switch to using Spirit Tea?!"
And the barista said, "Yea just this week we started using this, but it clumps too much."
So I offered, "Well I'll show you how to use it if you give me the drink!"
Their method of making it was definitely terrible. The barista put the matcha in the carafe with the milk, inserted the steam wand and proceeded to burn the shit out of such good matcha. And it was clumpy. We discussed for a few minutes of how they could improve the drink using the tools they currently had (no sieve, no whisk, no just-less-than-boiling water) and it turned out a little better.
So, currently, I would give this drink a C, but I think they'll get there and be offering much better matcha lattes soon enough. I emailed the management and offered to help with training or even hosting a tasting for the staff or the public. No reply.
Overall: Avoid
I've been to several Dollops & have had a wide range of matcha success. It clearly just depends on the care & experience of the barista.
Dollops that usually get it right are the locations at Damen/Augusta and
Definitely looks like matcha. Tastes a tiny bit like matcha. But also tastes like a glass of dirty oat milk. Not good for Oatly. Not good for Spirit Tea. Not good for Dollop. Not good for matcha. Not for me. Several other customers seemed to be fine with it, though.
I'll go back to other Dollops, but this was certainly the worst I've had from Dollop and one of the worst in the city, especially considering the ingredients and equipment were top notch.
Overall: Good Enough
Some Dollops know how to do it.
Some Dollops don't.
The Dollop at Damen & Augusta is okay.
20 ounce iced milk with double Matcha. Good. Matcha not super flavorful. Not well mixed. A little chunky
I think they use Kilogram Tea. And to my knowledge, KT only supplies organic matcha. And in my experience, most organic matcha powders are less flavorful than their (inorganic ?) counterparts. KT matcha tastes like a Kagoshima.
Here's the weblink to Kilogram's Organci Matcha: https://kilogramtea.com/collections/matcha/products/organic-matcha-100-gram-bag (and turns out it is from Kagoshima!)
I've taken to always asking for double the matcha at this Dollop.
Often it's too chunky and not well mixed, which is why I ask for double. If I'm able, I take it home and throw it in the blender and enjoy the real flavor, but usually it's on the go and it's good enough.
Overall: BAD
Foxtrot Market. GT‘s Matcha mix. 7 g of sugar per serving
SOURCE: Matcha GT Premium Green Tea – Add A Scoop
http://bit.ly/2GiCgDd
Matcha GT Premium Green Tea Mix 1 lb | Instawares Restaurant Supply
http://bit.ly/2Gh8sqD