Tia Maria Matcha Cream Liqueur Review

Reviewed by Helen Wyatt

I’m not a big drinker and tend to stick to things I know I like as I’m not very adventurous, so when I was given an opportunity to try the Tia Maria Matcha Cream Liqueur I thought that could be interesting and spice my drinks “cabinet” up a bit. When it arrived, I started to think a bit more about what the drink actually might taste like, and began to get worried that it would taste awful!. I looked up more about Tia Maria and realised it is a coffee based cream liqueur – I really don’t like coffee at all, so I then was dreading it even more! Finally, I was thinking that the fact that it is matcha flavoured made me think it would be like green tea, and I got confused as to how a coffee liqueur could be flavoured with green tea!

My husband and sat down and decided to be brave and try it anyway. On opening it and pouring into a glass, it is a very vivid grass green colour which unfortunately doesn’t add to the appeal. I gave it a sniff, but it didn’t really smell of much so I gave it a sip, despite the strange green colour and was completely taken aback as it tasted really nice, and certainly nothing like coffee or green tea! The more I sipped, the more I liked it, which was momentarily really confusing as I had built it up in my mind to be horrible!

I really can’t quite pin down what I think it tastes like, but one moment it tasted like sweets, the next mildly like parma violets. Having looked up more about the drink, the flavours of matcha green tea are herbal and floral which is probably why I was getting those hints of flavour. There is definitely a note of vanilla too, which all lends itself to a tasty creamy drink that goes down very smoothly.

The bottle is white with the distinctive Tia Maria logo in the usual font however the colours of the label are much more natural, in muted greys and greens. The glass bottle has a tapered design and screw lid, so nice to hold and pour. We drank the match Tia Maria neat but it would probably be even tastier over ice. I’ve also seen that you can mix it with vodka, to take it up a level.

The drink is 17% volume so not strong, and therefore nice to sip slowly without being overpowering. I will definitely be finishing off this bottle and purchasing some more; I’m excited to have expanded my drinking repertoire a little, even though I genuinely thought I was going to hate it initially! I still don’t like the strange green colour, and discovered that it left my tongue green tinted too but I can overlook that for the taste. I’ll be recommending people try it before writing it off due to the name as to be honest, saying it is flavoured with matcha doesn’t suggest it is going to be very tasty. This is however a drink to get to know, and if you like cream liqueurs you won’t be disappointed. It would be a particularly good Mother’s Day gift for any lover of cream liqueur based drinks.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £16

This product can be purchased from Tesco here