Third Culture Bakery
Premium Blend
Tasted August 12th 2020
About Third Culture: Third Culture Bakery specializes in mochi muffins, mochi butter donuts, and matcha lattes. Wow! Take me there already! The bakery was started by a couple, Chef Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu, in Berkeley, CA in 2016. The menu was inspired by their childhoods in Indonesia and Taiwan, respectively. The name Third Culture comes from the term “third culture kids,” referring to individuals who grew up in a culture and experienced living in a different places. Sam and Wenter have worked tirelessly not only to provide delicious goods, but also to create a space that is inclusive and celebratory of the LGBTQIA community. The cafe is now a Bay Area favorite, with multiple wholesale locations and a bakery in Colorado. Third Culture makes donations to different organizations such as the Berkeley Humane Society, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and the Trevor Project.
About Blend: The bakery offers three matcha blends which are Premium, Roasted, and Ceremonial. At the cafe the blends are served as either lattes or fruity sparkling infusions. The matcha is sourced from Uji, Kyoto in Japan. The premium matcha option is the house blend that is designed for lattes. This is an important distinction between premium and ceremonial grade matcha that changes the way a blend is reviewed and scored. More on this below.
Price: $20.00 for a 4oz bag.
Scent: A creamy jade-like tea with cocoa and raspberry notes.
Third Culture Premium Matcha
Color: A green shade that is toward yellow hues with a lower vibrancy. Points 2.75
Foam: When blended with water there are lots of bubbles that vary in size. The texture is thin and smooth. When blended with oat milk and made into a latte, the texture is creamy and the foam is cloud like and perfectly even. Water 2.5 points, Latte 5 points
Taste: When blended with water there is a strong bitterness that is true to the green tea astringency and is reminiscent of dandelion greens. The bitterness is sharp and overpowers other flavors. The blend has slight brothy umami and dry twig flavors. When prepared as a latte the bitterness of the blend is well balanced. Nutty, hazelnut like notes develop and build on the flavor complexity. A pleasant dryness keeps you coming back for more. Water 2.25 points, Latte 4.50 points
Final Score: Water 2.50 points, Latte 4.10 points
Thoughts: Premium blends are very bitter and likely have a higher antioxidant content. The matcha bitterness mixes harmoniously with additives such as milk or sugar and in turn creates a new, pleasant flavor. Unlike premium varieties, truly exceptional ceremonial blends often lose flavor complexity when prepared as a latte because they lack the bitter intensity needed to compete with the creaminess of milk or milk alternatives. Do yourself a favor by reserving expensive ceremonial matcha for plain water preparations. If you love lattes, premium blends are the ultimate way to go.
At the moment there is a growing trend around the term ceremonial matcha. Unfortunately many premium quality blends are often mislabeled as “ceremonial” as a strategy to create higher revenue for the company. Part of the problem is due to the lack of regulations to draw a line between what is a ceremonial or a premium blend. This is why it is important for you as a consumer to taste different blends and compare their flavors as well as quality. The reason I added a water preparation score to this premium blend review is to demonstrate the impact mislabeling can have on reviews, as well as to show you the difference between the two grades.
The final score for Third Culture’s premium blend of 4.10 points is based on a latte preparation. It is truly a delicious latte blend and I’ve been enjoying it daily. The premium blend left me feeling energized and without jitters. It is a great choice for an afternoon caffeine boost and pairs really well with sweet treats. My only complaint is the large sizing of the bag. It is extra tall and requires one to put their hand deep into the packaging in order to scoop out the matcha powder. This results in green residue on the arm and nearby surfaces. Of all the things, this is a pretty small inconvenience.