Organic Traditions Instant Lattes
Since 2003, family-owned and operated Organic Traditions offers food and drinks supporting health as well as the farmers and environments from which the ingredients are sourced. Their passion for going green means they support farmers who use eco-conscious farming methods, sustainable agriculture techniques. Their drive to ensure their customers live healthy lifestyles means all their products are certified organic, kosher, non-GMO, vegan and gluten free. Organic Traditions product lines include herbs, superfoods, low glycemic healthy sweeteners, loose leaves, specialty teas and, now, instant lattes. Organic Traditions Instant Lattes are all dairy free (use coconut milk), and have a variety of health benefits. You can make them the easy way – pour hot or cold water over the powder – or change things up by heating up your favourite milk-alternative (or just milk), adding the powder to your tea or really doing whatever makes your taste buds (and stomach) happy.
All lattes are available in 150 gram resealable packages. They have five flavours: Matcha, Turmeric, Chocolate, Beet, and Yerba Mate Mint with Matcha. We got our hands on the first three of those and gave them a taste to let you know what to expect.
Matcha Latte
Organic Traditions Matcha Instant Latte contains coconut milk powder, coconut palm sugar, matcha powder, gum acacia, sea salt, vanilla flavour and probiotics. This combination packs a powerful punch in the health department, boasting one billion heat and shelf stable probiotics per serving (roughly one tablespoon per six ounces of liquid). Matcha is also a great source of iron, giving six percent of the suggested daily value. It also has, according to the packaging, 10 times more antioxidants than regular green tea.
To make our latte, we put one and a half tablespoons of powder in a standard mug (roughly eight ounces) and poured in some hot water. A quick stir it and it was ready for our taste test. On the nose, it smells exactly like matcha – that is to say, a very strong green tea. If you’ve never smelled green tea before, think grass clippings and leaves and all things green, muddled in a dish. It has a very smooth, almost creamy texture that makes it pleasant to sip; this would probably be very soothing for a sore throat. The most overwhelming flavour was that of grass/leaves/green tea/matcha. There really wasn’t anything else of note in the flavour profile. If you like matcha or green tea, you’ll like this latte.
Our tasting was done with just water, but you can use the matcha latte powder in other things. The Organic Traditions website suggests making it with ice for an iced latte or adding Ashwagandha or another adaptogen to your mug for added benefits.
Turmeric Latte
Organic Traditions Turmeric Instant Latte contains (all organic) coconut milk powder, coconut palm sugar, whole dried Turmeric root, sea salt, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, vanilla, saffron and probiotics. All of this combines to give one billion bacillus coagulans probiotics per serving, roughly one tablespoon per six ounces. Bacillus coagulans probiotics help with IBS, bloating and other stomach-related ailments. Organic Traditions markets their Turmeric Latte as “Instantly delicious Ayurvedic golden milk” – and it almost lives up to that claim.
We poured around six ounces of hot water over one tablespoon of powder then stirred it. The directions say to whisk the powder in, so keep that in mind when you make yours. It smells like turmeric: warm, rich, herbal with an almost pumpkin-like note. The aromas conjure up flea markets full of antiques in the fall (an oddly specific image, we know). It sips smooth as well, though not as smooth as the matcha. The rich, warm flavours fill the palate; all of those aromas transform into flavours. It’s almost overpowering, and makes us less likely to have more than one mug per sitting.
Like the Matcha, the Organic Traditions Turmeric Latte can be made over ice, and have other adaptogens added. We can also see this powder adding some depth and warmth to smoothies.
Chocolate Latte
Organic Traditions Chocolate Instant Latte contains (all organic) coconut milk powder, cacao powder, coconut palm sugar, gum acacia, sea salt, chocolate flavour, ashwagandha extract, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom and probiotics. Like the Matcha, the chocolate latte has one billion heat and shelf stable probiotics per serving (one and a half tablespoons per six ounces). Don’t let the indulgent chocolate part of the name fool you. This latte also boasts fibre (7% DV), magnesium (6% DV), antioxidants, vitamins B12, A, C and D, iron (2% DV), manganese and potassium (2% DV).
Like the other two lattes, we mixed the powder with water. This is one that we highly suggested be whisked or blended until you’re certain it’s mixed in. Ours still had chunks of clumpy powder in it, though it became smoother as we stirred/sipped and the powder dissolved. On the nose, this has weak chocolate notes with woodsy/nutty notes pulling your attention away from the cacao. This weak chocolate experience carried over on the palate. While the chocolate is there, it’s light and soft on the tongue. Cardamom takes center stage instead. Not unappealing, but not exactly satisfying our chocolate craving either. Perhaps in our next go, we’ll add more powder.
That being said, of the three lattes, the Chocolate is the easiest to drink and begs to be enjoyed mug after mug. It would taste good over ice as well. Organic Traditions suggests blending it with non-dairy milk at a high speed for two minutes; this creates a frothy, sippable beverage you can enjoy with a good book.
[…] Traditions offers a variety of organic herbs, superfoods, teas, lattes and so much more. We reviewed their lattes last week, so now we thought we’d taste test their more crunchy products. As we mentioned in the latte […]