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I have made matcha (bubble tea powder + cream) in bulk and mixed with water and sugar, stored it in a large container and put it in the refrigerator. In couple of days the content become jelly-like, and had green deposit at the bottom.

Is there any way to prevent gelatination?

I'm not really bothered by the green deposit at the bottom.

I have tried adding some preservative (potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, citric acid) but with no luck.

Andikac
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  • Hi, I am not sure I understand the question. Did you buy straight matcha powder from a shop and store it in the fridge, or did you create some other powder with matcha taste and store that, as a intermediate step in making bubble tea? If it is the second, you would have to add the recipe. – rumtscho Jun 06 '21 at 15:56
  • Per Rumtscho, "matcha" is powdered green tea, and has no gelatinizing agents in in. So what was it that you actually made? – FuzzyChef Jun 06 '21 at 18:53
  • Hopefully not slime mould :\ – Tetsujin Jun 08 '21 at 08:49
  • Voting to close because the question does not supply enough information to be answered. – FuzzyChef Jun 08 '21 at 23:47
  • @rumtscho it is ready made powder matcha + cream, what i add just sugar & water – Andikac Jun 09 '21 at 13:32
  • @FuzzyChef it happen when I mixed with water & sugar – Andikac Jun 09 '21 at 13:33
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    I'm afraid this is becoming even more confusing. Currently, it seems that you either used matcha, or you used bubble tea powder. We still cannot tell what it was - to me, it seems more likely that you used bubble tea powder, but we already got an answer assuming that you used matcha. You also said it was "a couple of days" but you don't say if it was below or above 5 days (the safety cutoff for food in the refrigerator). It's not clear if you used bubble tea powder that contains powdered cream from the manufacturer, if you added cream to bubble tea powder, or if you added cream to matcha. – rumtscho Jun 09 '21 at 14:11
  • @rumtscho sorry for confusion, it is boba mixes / bubble tea powder (contain powdered cream) / , I'm also confused with terminology and names, not an expert in this field. it is about week. – Andikac Jun 09 '21 at 18:19

1 Answers1

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If you mix matcha powder with cream, sugar and water, you have created a substance that will make some microbes very happy. For that mix, the same rule as for other "prepared foods" apply: No longer safe after two or three days in the refrigerator.

What you are seeing is one or multiple of the following:

  • Green Deposit: Powder sinking to the bottom - when you mix, it's not dissolved, but just particles suspended in the remaining liquid.
  • Gelatinization caused by:
    • Milk/cream curdling (if you added citric or another acid, that will promote curdling)
    • Microbiological growth

In short, I would not recommend this kind of shortcut for more than two days. You have seen already that it doesn't work the way you planned. Freezing would at least stop bacterial growth, but depending on the ingredients (e.g. sugar content) the mix may not freeze too well and remain slushy.

Stephie
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  • Kudos on taking a stab at a very confusing question – FuzzyChef Jun 09 '21 at 16:29
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    @FuzzyChef the kind of powder is secondary - just water, cream and sugar in the fridge is good for a very limited time only. The mysterious powder (which I kind of read as matcha = ground up green tea) will not make it better. – Stephie Jun 09 '21 at 16:31
  • yeah, and presumably if it's some kind of matcha + tapioca, that would be even worse. – FuzzyChef Jun 09 '21 at 16:33
  • A quick web search shows “boba mixes” containing matcha, creamer and sugar. Instructions are to mix that up with water and ice cubes. Seems quite similar to the OP’s description. – Stephie Jun 09 '21 at 16:40
  • @Stephie yeah that's one of name, so many names & terms – Andikac Jun 09 '21 at 18:19
  • I'm too naive to think I can replicate bottled beverage, by just throwing random preservative :D – Andikac Jun 09 '21 at 18:25