Shirocha Latte by Hvala, also known as Shiro Matcha Latte

This drink is touted as Hvala-exclusive. On the menu, they call it "Shirocha Latte", but on their website and social media, they seem to call it "Shiro Matcha Latte". A little confused, I did some digging to understand what this drink was, before reviewing its taste.
Shirocha Latte by Hvala, also known as Shiro Matcha Latte
So what exactly is Shirocha Latte and why is it special and Hvala-exclusive?

What I understand is that the shirocha leaves themselves are not necessarily Hvala-exclusive, but the way the white tea leaves are turned into a drink is the unique part. Unlike how other white teas are brewed, the white tea leaves used in this Hvala-exclusive drink are prepared exactly like how normal green matcha is prepared - ground and whisked instead of brewed, and that is what makes this drink special.

So why do they have the different namings of "Shiro Matcha Latte" versus "Shirocha Latte"? The standard lush green matcha is actually not referring to the tea leaves, but to the preparation method of grinding into a powder then whisking. The kanji in matcha is "matsu", meaning "to rub", and refers to the grinding of the tea leaves, not to the type of leaves used. Actually, the tea leaves used in the standard grass-green matcha are called tencha leaves. "Shirocha Latte" actually just means white tea latte, which makes no reference to the process of turning the tea leaves into the drink. So perhaps they were struggling with how to communicate what their unique and first-to-market product was and vacillating between the two naming conventions. Technically, it might be accurately called a "Shirocha Matcha Latte". 

And so another question would be, what exactly is so different about shirocha compared to tencha? Shirocha literally means white tea, which refers to tea made from leaves that are processed or farmed differently from other types of teas such as tencha or sencha, and usually results in a more delicate, less grassy, less bitter and more floral flavour profile. For example, the tea plants are sometimes not artificially shaded from the sun, whereas in other types of teas they tend to be shaded. Also, the processing may be a lot more minimal than other types of teas - where green teas might be steamed immediately, shirocha leaves might be slowly sundried naturally, like Hvala says its leaves are processed. Some producers also apparently use more specialised strains of tea plants. But regardless of the types of production or farming done, shirocha seems to be similar in its more delicate and more floral flavour profile.

In other words, this drink was designed to combine the intensity of the flavour produced with the matcha process with the floral flavour profile of the white shirocha tea leaves.

Despite the name "white tea" however, the drink was not white at all. As you can see, the foam on top was a tan brown, exactly like a gourmet caffe latte or flat white. And when the foam has parted, as you can see in the image below, the drink is a light brown, also much like a coffee-based latte or perhaps flat white (see the darker parts of the image near the bottom rim). 
Shirocha Latte by Hvala - drink colour
On to the taste review

So after all the effort spent to communicate and understand what is special about it, was the taste experience special? I would say yes overall, but there were some downsides.

First of all, the flavour profile and intensity did live up to the expectations hyped up in its social media and website. I could clearly taste the floral notes frequently described online, and would describe the overall taste as a cross between a very floral oolong tea (from good milk tea stores such as Chicha San Chen or Chagee) and a thick whisked houjicha latte. Like houjicha, it also had roasted, toasty nutty notes.

It tasted nothing like the standard green matcha made from tencha at all. There was no grassiness or bitterness that I noticed. 

I ordered this drink with 0% sugar despite their recommendation of adding some sugar, and I didn't regret the sugarfree choice at all. I think milk has enough sweetness from the lactose, and since shirocha doesn't have the same bitterness of normal matcha tencha, I didn't think more sugar was needed.

The point that I didn't like, which the Hvala website also transparently explains, is that the shirocha leaves are ground to a coarser size then typical matcha, so it felt similar to drinking tea with the tea grounds left in, except that it felt slightly finer than the typical tea grounds. So it felt like there were these coarse and relatively hard powdery bits running all over the drink and my palate, and it was a very unpleasant texture overall that sometimes made me feel like I had tea grounds tickling my throat. You can even see some of the larger pieces as the dark flecks in the milk foam - see the darkest areas in the first image above. Very "gritty" indeed, as their website admits (screenshot below, click to enlarge).
Shirocha Latte by Hvala - official website screenshot
Their website claims that this "gritty" experience is meant to be taken as authentic, but I felt that it really spoils the experience. Who loves grit in their food, much less drink? What they should do, to get the best of both worlds, is to simply strain out the gritty bits from their shirocha first before adding the milk. 

If they would only solve that gritty problem, you would get an amazing drink that is truly artisan, authentic, unique and with a great flavour profile, and then they could add $1-$5 more to their price. It currently costs S$7.50, which is less than their ceremonial matcha lattes. But I feel this unique drink and the lush floral flavour has the potential to rival some of the ceremonial matcha lattes in experience.

Overall, I think it is definitely worth 1 try, just to experience the flavour profile. But I will not be ordering it again until they resolve the gritty problem.

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