They had samples!
I was extremely curious about this one. I used to really like matcha, but moved away from it and towards oolong. When I saw this, I wanted to try it out. Like the company owner describes, it’s got the same mouth feel and flavor profile of a Lishan, but slightly fuller. The only issue I had was the texture, and the tea was significantly earthier as a matcha. I used a proper matcha bowl and whisk, 160 F hot water, and z patterns with the whisk and there were no round clumps leftover, but there was a lot of green sludge left in my bowl after I poured some into my cup. I don’t know if I used to much, but the earth and dirt taste overpowered the Lishan delicate elements making me not enjoy the tea as much. The color was a perfect dark jade green, but I think I need to got lighter with the sample next time as to not remind me of the basic truth that I am literally drinking grinded grassy leaves raw.
I’ll try it another time. Not sure if I recommend it yet or not. It’s got a different kind of umami, and somehow, I’ve had much less earthy matcha. I still prefer whole leaf lishan after my first time, yet I still want to give it another chance. It’s more complex in notes than a regular matcha, though I think I might stick to a regular matcha.
Flavors: Cream, Dirt, Earth, Floral, Grass, Sugarcane
Comments
I’m glad you were able to order this in a sample size! My inner tea nerd really wants to try this, but my inner pragmatist is saying it’s a bad/expensive idea.
I’m glad you were able to order this in a sample size! My inner tea nerd really wants to try this, but my inner pragmatist is saying it’s a bad/expensive idea.
Harney recommends using a tiny amount of cold water added to your matcha bowl to make a paste and then add your hot water and whisk for clump free tea. It works! I wonder if that would be a better method for this tea?