“Matcha fusion” is the unique trial performed by Starbucks Japan till today. The company pressed its new matcha beverage will be launched from 26th Dec., which is newly developed and further different from the existing matcha recipes. The ingredients using for the new recipe are announced by hint cards for customers who buy matcha beverages in Starbucks shops.
I got a card where “Kabosu citrus” is written to be one of the ingredients.
The hint made me speculate the new products might be a creamy citrus matcha using the matcha phenomenon of acid-enhanced foaming, posted previously.
The matcha foam facilitation under acidic condition is similar to foam creation in beer, I guess. KIRIN depicts the schematic diagram of beer foam formation based on Kosin et al. (2012) [431]. Carbonate gas bubbles are stable due to the coating of hydrophobic compounds, such as proteins derived from wheat and astringent constituents of hop. Besides polysaccharides associate with the hydrophobic agents, resulting in more stable bubbles.
In addition, gelation would happen together under acidic condition like proteins. Acidification can induce gelation of whey proteins[432]. Condensed matcha vigorously mixed with acidic citrus could form stable and viscous foam, keeping its shape for long time, I expected. The shape-keeping property could expected to provide a wide range of application for various cuisines.
I tried making a shake of matcha citrus. Foam was enhanced. But the texture was not so different from general matcha beverages.
In case of whey protein, simultaneous heating can enhance gelation [432]. In the next time, I’d like to try heating matcha foam to make stable gel-like foam.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to trying the new recipe of matcha fusion launched by Starbucks Japan soon.
<References>
[431] Kosin P. et al (2012) : How the Method of Beer Dispense Influence the Served CO2 Content and the Sensory Profile of Beer, Journal of American Society of Brewing Chemst, 70:103-108.
[432] Kawamura F. et al. (1993) : Preparation and Properties of Acid-induced Gel of Whey Protein, Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi, 40:776-782.