SWALLOW OR SLING? Rebel Kitchen Matcha Green Tea Mylk

TASTE: 9 ​Intriguing. I can’t say it’s like anything else I’ve ever tried, which incidentally is a compliment. Rebel Kitchen sells ‘mylks’ not milks, and in this Matcha Green Tea Mylk flavour a coconut milk base and natural spring water base is fused with natural sugar (date nectar) and matcha green tea powder.

I’m not sure how much matcha powder is in there, but you can certainly taste it, and the rich coconut milk combination is pleasant for someone, like myself, who also enjoys dairy-based drinks. Dare I say, it would make a lovely mixer with a neutral spirit such as vodka, although this is clearly not the brand’s intention!

TEXTURE: 7 ​Date nectar and coconut milk mean a pleasant, rounded mouth feel. I found it a wee bit gritty, but not in a bad way. On the contrary it’s nice to be able to identify the different ingredients, and this aspect of the drink is a result of the fact that it doesn’t use stabilizers, artificial or otherwise.

Interestingly, there’s an on-bottle instruction: ‘No additives or preservatives in this bad boy so if you get separation just shake me!’

PACKAGING: 7 ​I’ve written about this brand before, and I think they should ditch this pack design and use their kids’ characters (pictured) for the adult range too – there’s enough kooky appeal and humor to suck in millennials. That’s why the score here is a little lower. That said, the choice of a Tetra Prisma Aseptic (common among nascent brands) is a good one and the design is attractive enough.

BRANDING: 8 ​‘Nourish your thing’? I guess that doesn’t really make sense, but works in the sense that Rebel Kitchen sets up as a ‘badass’, tongue-in-cheek brand. That said, it’s appealing and homespun – not in the false sense either, since this is a family owned brand with decent values.

On back of pack the brand values are listed: ‘Make Nutritious Delicious’ (i.e. more mainstream and not for an elite), fight refined or added sugar, ‘Get High on Whole Foods!’ That’s fine. We just think the kids’ characters – angry, looking oranges and bananas (for instance) are so much fun – and help the rebellious narrative flow.

PRICE: 8 ​Not bad. £2.85 for a pack of three kids drinks (200ml) on the Rebel Kitchen website, while you can get 12 for £10. The brand told us in early June that it had just won listings with Waitrose and Ocado.

BRAINS BEHIND THE BRAND: ​CEO Tamara Arbib is the energetic mom/entrepreneur.

VERDICT: 39/50 (78%) ​The drink is relatively high in sugar (7.7g/100ml) but if I had kids I’d be happy to buy this or another variety for them as a treat. This is an adult flavour though. I’m 33 years old, and having tried the other flavors (Banana, Orange & Cocoa and Cocoa) at a recent trade show it’s something I would buy.

Why’s that? Somehow it seems indulgent, but it’s affordable, fun, and talks to health and wellness trends – a natural fruit sugar source, coconut goodness, matcha green tea, dairy free. Most importantly, care has been taken to formulate tastes that are distinctive, appealing, and different across the Rebel Kitchen range. N.B. These opinions are my own, not BeverageDaily.com's.