Final Thoughts: 1.40/5.0
New matcha place in Cupertino area. My friend and I are out to try all of them, so here we are. Highly unlikely we will be coming here again...During the entire time that we were standing outside, I observed a lot of people's drinks that came out. I was nervous as to how ours would turn out given the drink's color that I saw. Unfortunately, I was just so underwhelmed by the drinks and it will have to be a 1 star for me today.
Food:
Matcha Strawberry Basque: 2.5/5
This slice is tiny. I measured the slice and it has a diameter of 2.5 inches, meaning their full pan is around 5 inches in diameter. That is truly a tiny slice that they're selling. Thoughts on the price of this cake below. Flavor wise, the strawberry tastes like the cream from those Yan Yan snacks. The matcha is also really not to my liking for this cake. It's quite earthy and has an undesirable bitterness to it. Texture wise, it is smooth and has that creaminess/lava like to it in the center, which was nice to see.
Drinks:
Classic Matcha Latte: 1.0/5
Friend's drink; not pictured, but I tried it for my review. I was honestly worried about how all of the drinks were going to turn out because the color from everyone else's drink around me had such a light color. The color is truly my initial impression of how the matcha would turn out. The color of the matcha looks fine when it's not mixed. When it's mixed, you can really see how diluted it is. Matcha to milk balance is really off for me. The drink really just tastes like milk. We got less sweet for this drink and it was honestly not sweet at all. I would associate this with being more like 10% sweet. It's not often I say that a drink isn't sweet enough because I always get less sweet, but this one really was not sweet at all.
Banana Cream Matcha Latte: 1.0/5
Lowkey thinking this drink was just milk. When this drink came out, I almost knew that I wasn't going to like it because of how light that matcha color was. I had to give it the benefit of the doubt, but ultimately, it is was it is. The cream had no banana flavor to it. Quite comparable to my friend's classic matcha latte drink actually, but slightly higher in calories given the cream on top. There is some richness from the cream, but it doesn't really contribute anything to the drink overall. Matcha was the same as the Classic Matcha Latte with that bitterness and earthiness to it.
Matcha Americano: 1.5/5
"Better" ish, but not really. I can taste the matcha more because it's just water and matcha, so there's no milk to mask any of the flavor. Regular sweetness, but it was still not sweet at all. This is just slightly sweetened water with a little bit of matcha in it though. Will definitely be re-mixing my drinks at home to add more matcha and sweetness.
Notes:
Instead of making and leaving nice layers, I saw them mixing in the fruit puree layer into the drink...Not sure why??? Personally, I would prefer to mix it all myself after a picture. The layers would be better for the gram too.
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Quality: Batched and Bitter Matcha
Their matcha is batched and not made to order. I saw they have large jugs of matcha made ready to go. Honestly, really don't like the taste of this matcha at all. The faint taste that I got from the matchas were bitter and almost this burnt matcha taste.
Price: Expensive for what you get
Average price at other locations because their matcha is perhaps more desirable and worth it. This matcha really didn't cut it. For the basque cheesecake, also not worth it. If I'm calculating this correctly, each slice is around $13.75. For a full cake, it would be around $55...I'm comparing this to Matcha Town's 4-inch Gelato Cakes (~$33) and unfortunately, they aren't quite as impressive as those gelato cakes are.
Service: Fast Service
Quick service with taking our orders and getting our drinks. Of note, there are two kisoks on the side that will probably help with the flow a bit more. Not the biggest concern right now. They're very quick to make their drinks, which is interesting to see given that they're doing a BOGO promotion right now. Our drinks came out in less than 7 minutes. Their matcha is batched though, so they just have all of their matcha premixed and then will measure each drink to have a few ounces of it.
Ambiance: Hole in the wall
Interior is quite small and really just looks like a hole in the wall kind of shop. The counter is right in front of the door and there are a few tables on the side. Definitely more of a grab and go kind of shop. There is no tasting for their ice cream, but honestly, I think it really is quite small. They could have people snake in that way for the tasting if they wanted before reaching the cashier, perhaps.
Location/Parking: Parking Garage Available
There is a parking lot that is right on the left side of this shop. The shop is facing Vallco Pkwy so you'll see it if you drive by. Given that there's a parking garage, parking's not really a concern. read more