Our Least Favorite Dutch Bros Matcha Green Tea Drink Tastes Way Too Artificial

One of the most popular non-coffee drinks available at U.S. coffee chains is now matcha. And Dutch Bros has embraced the matcha craze as much as its competitors, offering a wide variety of green-hued drinks containing the tea, from lattes to lemonades. We ranked 10 Dutch Bros matcha drinks according to flavor balance, matcha presence, texture, and overall drinkability, and our least favorite was the watermelon matcha lemonade. 

Matcha has a bitter, grassy taste that the bright, tangy, and sweet notes of fruit and lemonade tend to balance beautifully. And a summery sweet watermelon sounds like the perfect complement to both the matcha and the lemon. Unfortunately, the watermelon syrup used in this beverage tasted like artificially flavored cherry cough syrup according to our tester. Furthermore, both the matcha concentrate and watermelon syrups both sunk to the bottom of the lemonade, so our taste-tester's first sip was an intense blend of bitter, artificial, and cloyingly sweet — enough to make them clear their throat. Luckily, after stirring the drink and letting some of the ice melt, the flavors melded and mellowed enough to appreciate both the watermelon flavor and aroma a little more, but they had to wait till nearly the end of the glass to make such a realization. Most people won't have the patience to stick it out, especially after the initial shock of artificial cherry and bitter grass.

Matcha is typically and traditionally produced as a powder, with different types of matcha powders providing an array of flavor profiles. However, the type of matcha Dutch Bros uses might disappoint. According to a review on Facebook, it's very sweet and it's not powder but is in liquid form. We can confirm that Dutch Bros uses a matcha syrup that's more sweet than anything else. Facebook reviews call the matcha at Dutch Bros "horrible," "like Koolaid," and simply not real matcha at all. In fact, another Facebook thread shows a picture of the matcha concentrate in a bottle at Dutch Bros. One Dutch Bros worker commented, "As a Dutch Bros employee and matcha lover, I definitely do not recommend."

Still, if you're looking for a better matcha drink at Dutch Bros, lemonade is still the preferred channel. Watermelon lemonade is clearly a Dutch Bros drink to avoid, but our reviewer's favorite matcha drinks at Dutch Bros are passion fruit matcha lemonade, peach matcha lemonade, and mango matcha lemonade. These unique summer fruit flavors paired much better with the bitterness of the matcha concentrate right off the bat. Of course, if you want a real matcha drink, chains including Starbucks and Peets Coffee use real matcha green tea powder. In fact, we ranked Starbucks iced matcha lemonade as our second favorite of Starbucks tea drinks on the menu.