As part of our Dessert Detectives series, El Estoque’s Arts & Entertainment section takes on a new case at a bakery or café to decipher the quality and cost of its most popular items. Continuing the alphabetical trend, we went to Matcha Love, a Japanese dessert shop in San Jose that sells soft serve, boba and coffee.

Black sesame soft serve with a cone (small): $4.25

8.5/10

The black sesame’s nutty flavor was never overpowering. Not only were the flavors on point, but the soft serve itself was creamy and held its shape very well — neither too soft, nor too firm. We were highly impressed with the amount of flavor this dessert had and the large quantity was also a bonus. 

Matcha boba shake (small): $5.00

6.5/10

Although the matcha boba shake was not too heavy, the flavor from the tapioca balls slightly overpowered the drink. Despite this, we still thought the boba flavor itself had the perfect amount of sweetness and the texture was just right. We appreciated how the matcha shake’s consistency erred on the thinner side, making this drink easy to sip.

Iced hoji latte with oat milk (small): $5.25

9/10

The iced hoji latte is the perfect refreshing drink for a hot day — the more we drank, the more we fell in love with the flavor. Hoji (roasted green tea) is something we’ve never tried before, but it was an unexpected favorite among all the desserts. The flavors were the perfect medium between strong and weak and combined with a subtle sweetness, making this drink difficult to put down. Milk alternatives are also available when ordering the latte’s for an additional charge — we recommend adding the oat milk as it makes the drink a lot more creamy. 

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All three dessert items were made quickly and customers were able to pick them up towards the back side of the store.

Overall: 8/10

$$/$$$

Overall, Matcha Love is a cozy dessert shop that is perfect if you are craving boba, coffee or matcha. Located inside the food court in the Mitsuwa Japanese Market, Matcha Love is there if you need a quick pick-me-up or treat while grocery shopping or are just looking for a refreshing drink. The desserts are made quickly and there is an abundance of seating indoors that is socially distanced. Matcha Love also has a side store beside its cash register that offers a variety of products like matcha powder and whisks to make matcha at home. Taste-wise, if you’re looking for Japanese dessert items with subtle sweetness and impeccable flavors, Matcha Love is the place for you.

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Customers can also buy items if they want to make matcha at home.