Mmmm! Matcha! I’ve been sent home early with a hearty Happy Holidays and orders to take some time to go shopping. I have no holiday shopping to do and so I decided to make myself a wonderful cup of matcha and sit cozily at home and write. I prepared it thick this afternoon and its lovely grassy sweetness is making a good day even better. No bitterness. No astringency. Just sweet, lovely matcha. Mmmmm!
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
CAROLYN! You just had to rub in that you had matcha didn’t you. You’re lucky mine should be here tomorrow. LOL J/K ;) I wonder why companies suggested different amounts of water. Rishi suggests 4-5oz. Isn’t there a standard?
I don’t think there is. It is up to personal preference as to how thick it should be. Also, different kinds of matcha can tolerate different amounts of water. So it is a trial and error sort of process. (A yummy trial and error sort of process.) I use a half teaspoon and then fill the matcha cup half-way up with water before wisking.
Since there’s a matcha tea ceremony I would think there would be standards, there seems to be standards for everything else related to tea:) What’s the difference between this and their matcha kaze?
I just noticed you have a steeping time listed… how does that work when the tea gets whisked in?
I couldn’t really figure out how to do that, so I just estimated my wisking time and listed that as steeping time.
As to tea ceremony standards, I don’t know. I’ve been to exactly two tea ceremonies in my life and those were years ago. My memory of them boils down to “Hurts to kneel” and “Good sweets. Bitter tea.” and “I need a kimono!” Not very sophisticated, I’m afraid.
I do not know the difference between the two matchas. I bought this one because it guaranteed to be free of bitterness and astringency and I wanted my first experience making matcha to be successful. My tea ceremony experiences both featured bitter matcha and little Japanese sweets to make it better. So I wanted to be careful. I’ll probably get the other once I’ve finished the miyabi matcha.
Try Rishi, not bitter at all:)
you obviously like this matcha, but how do you feel about Den’s in general? I’ve been thinking about purchasing some tea from Den’s, but I wanted to see what everyone thinks of that site.
@Cofftea: Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll put it on my list.
@teafreak: I’ve been impressed by them. I loved the matcha supplies I bought from them. I loved the Apple Sencha tea (as did my partner). I loved the genmaicha. I still have more to try, but so far I’m impressed by them. Also, I feel comfortable with them for reasons I cannot explain. It’s kind of a gut feeling of comfort. I grew up in Denver, which has a sizeable Japanese community and it may just be that it reminds me of my early experiences with Japanese shops, but whatever it is, my gut is saying nice things.
@teafreak- I second the apple sencha. That’s the only one I’ve tried so far. I got their $3 sampler so I’ll have lots more to report about soon.
@Carolyn, where were these ceremonies? That sounds fun!
@Cofftea: One was at a special event in Sakura Square in Denver and the other was at the Teahouse in the Japanese Gardens in Denver’s Botanic Gardens. (It was fun and I eventually got my much longed for Japanese kimono. Only later did it occur to me that I had nowhere to wear it.)
Note to self: Go to Denver. Got it:) THANKS!
If you go to Denver and are interested in Japanese culture, the very, very place to go is Domo, which is a restaurant that serves Japanese country food. It is the only restuarant serving this in the United States. Both the restaurant (which has its own museum) and the food are an enlightening and delightful experience.
After that, visit the shops and restaurants in Sakura Square.
also makes notes on her travel list ;)
@Carolyn: Thanks, I’ll give them a shot next time I buy Japanese tea!
@teafreak, I just tried their genmaicha (1st experience w/ it) and it was good. I didn’t care for it (NOT because it was bad, just personal taste), but it was very good in that it tasted EXACTLY how it sounds lol.
CAROLYN! You just had to rub in that you had matcha didn’t you. You’re lucky mine should be here tomorrow. LOL J/K ;) I wonder why companies suggested different amounts of water. Rishi suggests 4-5oz. Isn’t there a standard?
I don’t think there is. It is up to personal preference as to how thick it should be. Also, different kinds of matcha can tolerate different amounts of water. So it is a trial and error sort of process. (A yummy trial and error sort of process.) I use a half teaspoon and then fill the matcha cup half-way up with water before wisking.
Since there’s a matcha tea ceremony I would think there would be standards, there seems to be standards for everything else related to tea:) What’s the difference between this and their matcha kaze?
I just noticed you have a steeping time listed… how does that work when the tea gets whisked in?
I couldn’t really figure out how to do that, so I just estimated my wisking time and listed that as steeping time.
As to tea ceremony standards, I don’t know. I’ve been to exactly two tea ceremonies in my life and those were years ago. My memory of them boils down to “Hurts to kneel” and “Good sweets. Bitter tea.” and “I need a kimono!” Not very sophisticated, I’m afraid.
I do not know the difference between the two matchas. I bought this one because it guaranteed to be free of bitterness and astringency and I wanted my first experience making matcha to be successful. My tea ceremony experiences both featured bitter matcha and little Japanese sweets to make it better. So I wanted to be careful. I’ll probably get the other once I’ve finished the miyabi matcha.
Try Rishi, not bitter at all:)
you obviously like this matcha, but how do you feel about Den’s in general? I’ve been thinking about purchasing some tea from Den’s, but I wanted to see what everyone thinks of that site.
@Cofftea: Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll put it on my list.
@teafreak: I’ve been impressed by them. I loved the matcha supplies I bought from them. I loved the Apple Sencha tea (as did my partner). I loved the genmaicha. I still have more to try, but so far I’m impressed by them. Also, I feel comfortable with them for reasons I cannot explain. It’s kind of a gut feeling of comfort. I grew up in Denver, which has a sizeable Japanese community and it may just be that it reminds me of my early experiences with Japanese shops, but whatever it is, my gut is saying nice things.
@teafreak- I second the apple sencha. That’s the only one I’ve tried so far. I got their $3 sampler so I’ll have lots more to report about soon.
@Carolyn, where were these ceremonies? That sounds fun!
@Cofftea: One was at a special event in Sakura Square in Denver and the other was at the Teahouse in the Japanese Gardens in Denver’s Botanic Gardens. (It was fun and I eventually got my much longed for Japanese kimono. Only later did it occur to me that I had nowhere to wear it.)
Note to self: Go to Denver. Got it:) THANKS!
If you go to Denver and are interested in Japanese culture, the very, very place to go is Domo, which is a restaurant that serves Japanese country food. It is the only restuarant serving this in the United States. Both the restaurant (which has its own museum) and the food are an enlightening and delightful experience.
After that, visit the shops and restaurants in Sakura Square.
also makes notes on her travel list ;)
@Carolyn: Thanks, I’ll give them a shot next time I buy Japanese tea!
@teafreak, I just tried their genmaicha (1st experience w/ it) and it was good. I didn’t care for it (NOT because it was bad, just personal taste), but it was very good in that it tasted EXACTLY how it sounds lol.