Matcha Love opened a little over a week ago in the Mitsuwa Market off of Balboa Ave. and the 163. The pictures looked great from what people were posting, and what better way to fight off this 90+ degree weather than a nice refreshing scoop of ice cream, or three…
Ito En is Japan’s largest green tea distributor. If you have had Costco’s Kirkland brand green tea, then you have already tried Ito En tea as they source their green tea from them.
Sorry for the reflection on the menu! We were already full from boba from Yes!Pingo so we were only able to fit a Triple Ice Waffle Bowl in our tummies. They do offer samples, so I would try them out first before you make your choice. Even though the menu lists matcha, black sesame, and vanilla as the options for the triple ice waffle bowl, they allow you to choose Hoji-cha as well.
And that is precisely what we did! Starting from the back, the black sesame was fairly strong but not strong enough for it to be off putting. It is slightly more rich than the black sesame shaved snow at Blockheads up in LA if you’ve had that for comparison sake. For me it seemed the sweetest of the bunch after letting it dissolve in your mouth for a few seconds. On the right is obviously the green tea. It had a distinct, flavorful green tea taste. I enjoy black sesame flavor more than green tea in general, and I thought it had a stronger aftertaste than the black sesame. The black sesame to me seemed to finish sweet while the green tea left less of a sweet aftertaste and more of a lingering straight green tea flavor. And finally, the hoji cha on the left had a perfect balance between a subtle roasted tea flavor and gentle sweetness to counterbalance it. It was the most delicate and light of the three, and my favorite. For those that have never tried any of the three, I think it would be easiest to enjoy the hoji cha since it is lighter and more mellow than the other two flavors.
Having said that, all of them were smooth, delicious, and dense. I read about other people getting flavors that melted a lot faster than the others. For us, all of them were firm and seemed to melt at the same rate. Michael loves his rock hard ice cream and for soft serve, I imagine you can’t get it that much harder than this. They have only been open for a short time and are most likely perfecting their ice cream making process along the way. If you are nearby and want to sock this heatwave right smack in the face, head on over to Matcha Love! They will not disappoint.
Matcha Love
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd.
San Diego, CA 92111
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