Organic Standard Grade Matcha

Grumble…Grumble…Sigh…Grumble…Grumble…Grrr…Grumble…Grumble… OK, let me explain. The theme for this week’s Vegan Dinner Night with my friends was smoothies. I instantly thought to bring matcha (I often do and it goes over very well!), but that required a trip to my local tea store since I was almost out. I arrived fully prepared to buy Rishi’s single serve matcha, but I was pleasantly surprised to see bulk matcha (it’s been almost 2 years since I’ve been there)! I grabbed my matcha (and some Tea on Tap for me and my mom). I arrived at my friends’ Nathan and Ben and smoothies were soon in the works, but… CRAP! The matcha is sitting in my mom’s car. Not a big deal in reality, but I was craving a matcha fruit smoothie so I thru a silent internal temper tantrum and went on with the evening. I’m sure this matcha is good, but it’s SO expensive compared to what I drink on a daily basis ($1.05/g compared to 16 cents/g which is even ceremonial grade), so I called the store and asked about their refund policy because I really can’t afford this when there are better and cheaper alternatives out there. Unfortunately, because I used a gift card, my refund would just be reloaded onto the card vs. a cash refund so I just decided to suck it up and keep it. Oh well.

When I open the tin I notice that, while it’s not nearly as dull in color as some of the flavored matchas I’ve had or even Lupicia’s 100g matcha, it’s not as vibrant (like the smiley on the far right) as I’d like it to be. It’s also quite clumpy. This will definitely need to be sifted. After a sift and a whisk, a substantial froth formed. While the whisked color was again paler than I’d hoped, it actually had a pretty substantial flavor. The flavor was sweet and smooth, just like the mouth feel. It reminded me of my first match experience which was Rishi’s individually packed matcha which makes me think this may be Rishi. Not bad, but way too expensive. For as much of a tea addict (matcha specifically) I am, I really have learned to find great bargains so I don’t have to sacrifice flavor, volume, or frequency. If you’re not on as tight of a budget as I am (which doesn’t take much lol!) definitely give this a try. It’s a good one.