What *is* Matcha and why is it so popular? And other trends you just don't get?

[SeptemberOctober25]

The only one I've ever had honestly tasted like a odd mix of grass and soya sauce. I'll admit I've only tried it once and it was from a free pret promotion in Leeds but it was absolutely foul and thrown away after a couple of sips. Maybe basing my opinion on this is wrong but I just can't get myself to try it again.
Matcha seems everywhere at the moment and my teenage nieces love it.
I know each to their own and everybody has different tastes but I'd be interested to know why it's so popular?
I follow a dance YouTuber who seems to have about four a day and includes matcha powder in everything.
What other 'trends' confuses people?

What does chai taste like? Always been reluctant to try it, not sure why.

Also lychees seem to be everywhere suddenly. I was given a jar of lychees, not sure what to do with them, haven’t yet looked for ideas.

Camomile tea smells like the handful of weeds you pulled up and chucked on the compost heap two days ago.

I don’t like Labubu and I don’t know why anyone would buy it. It’s a ridiculous trend

Came here to say pistachio bloody everything.

Nope on the pumpkin spice and I’m allergic to cinnamon so get it away from me.

Give me a nice strong standard latte. Yum.

Polenta fries. Shit chips
Bone broth. Tastes of a sad version of nothing.
Chia seeds. Why?
Pumpkin things.

Fresh lychees are lovely. I 've never tried them out of a jar though

I love an iced matcha flavoured with syrup, ie blueberry.

Also love chai, have been drinking that for 20 years and still not forgiven Twinings for changing the recipe of their chai tea. The old recipe was actually pretty close to what my old Kenyan housekeeper used to make!

The sensation of drinking bubble tea reminded me of popping a spot 😳🫣

I really like a matcha latte. No syrup. I like the flavoured ones from Bird and Blend whizzed up in my Velvetiser.

It's definitely not for everyone but I can't stand sweet drinks and sometimes want more of a caffeine hit than my usual cup of tea.

I think I’ve found my people 😂🥰

I had matcha ice cream in a restaurant. It tasted like green tea and was grim

For pumpkin spice you need to go to Starbucks, Costa do maple hazel which is nice in a latte

It's taken me until this year to work out that 'pumpkin spice' means the spices you'd add to a pumpkin pie.

I'm not even 100% sure I'm right on this, but it makes more sense than a pumpkin flavoured latte I suppose.

I spent three weeks in Japan trying to train my palette to like it…but despite liking most anything and being very experimental it only ever tasted like fishy, mossy water to me. I drunk it whilst I was there but only because I felt I should and the humidity was insane and I was constantly thirsty. By the end of my stay I was becoming acclimatised to it and think with another week I could well have been a fan. However, I think in England our matcha isn’t “true” matcha, it’s sugary, sweet and tastes nothing like moss or fish so I think ultimately they’re too different beasts. I don’t like English matcha either, but for different reasons - it just often just tastes like synthetic shit…

Well I have learnt something! I've only ever had a pumpkin spiced latte once and that once was enough because it was just spicy in an odd way.

Everybody is obsessed with pistachio around here too it's like they've found a new nut that nobody has ever heard of.

They need to stop it with biscoff too it's just over done now.

You can get sugary sweet matcha drinks and blends in the UK but pure matcha powder is also widely available and has been for years, I remember first buying a tin about 10 years ago and it lasting ages. I buy sachets of it now. It has the mossy, seaweedy taste.

I’ve never tried matcha and don’t think I will
now! Tween dd was desperate for a pumpkin spiced latte so we got a pumpkin spiced frappacino from Starbucks and honestly, it was vile.

bubble tea- also vile.

im quite boring I think. Regular tea, latte or hot chocolate for me!

also don’t get Dubai chocolate. Just the look of it puts me off

Matcha has been around for like a bazillion years. I was drinking it with the Japanese students at my school in the mid 90s. And drinking bubble tea nearly that far back as well.

Have you ever had black coffee and thought, wowee, this is absolutely delicious, this hot watery bitter drink? Or beer for that matter? Neither traditionally nice tasting, but we drink a lot of them in our culture.

Miso soup. Tastes like it’s been strained through the Devil’s jockstrap

Matcha is green tea. Not sure what else you expected.

Disgusting stuff, but I always assumed I disliked it because my hot drink of choice is a black coffee. Interesting to see that other people really dislike it too.

And whilst we're on the subject, what exactly is a "dirty chai"?

Ah seriously though if you go to a posh tea place and have some Japanese gunpowder matcha tea the caffeine is INSANE. It feels really pure. One of life's joys on the occasional lazy weekend afternoon.

I totally get people who don't like it though.

I tried it in Japan, the proper stuff. It's even more horrible than the kind you get here. I don't get it, I can't see why anyone would like the taste. Maybe it's better mixed with something else.

I’m not massively into bone broth but I am confused by your post saying it tastes of nothing.

The pork bone broth that I’ve had is not subtle. There’s quite a distinctive “funk” to it. The pork bone ramen shops in Hakata have an almost blue-cheese and barnyard smell from the bone broth and it packs quite a punch in terms of flavour. I tend to choose other kinds of broths because I prefer something a bit more subtle. I’d never describe it as nothingy though.

Maybe bone broths from other animals are milder?

It's a type of powdered green tea