I’ve had this random single-serving packet of matcha that I got in some trade or other kicking around in my cupboard for awhile. I eventually figured out, based on the pictures, that this came from Rishi so I followed their hot matcha preparation recipe on their website which called for using 4-5 oz of 75°C water per packet of tea.
Let me say right away that this makes for a very concentrated cup of matcha. It was so bitter and grassy that I added a bunch of water after the fact. So in the end it was probably more like 6+ oz of water. Even with the extra water the tea in my bowl still looked murky and thick – I did manage to get it to froth up nicely even with my dinky little metal wisk, which thrilled me. But it kept its harsh, grassy flavour which made drinking it feel more like eating broccoli or something else that you know is ‘good for you’ but that you’re not really thrilled to be eating. Despite all my wisking it also left quite a lot of gritty residue at the bottom of the bowl which made the last few sips kind of nasty.
I find I’m not really impressed with Rishi’s take on this classic Japanese tea – I’ve cerainly had much better plain matcha prepared for me when I was in Vancouver. This matcha is better off used to make lattes or mixed into smoothies, in my opinion, rather than prepared the traditional way.
Maccha? This matcha is amazing- it was my 1st. But, except for purchasing it maybe once to prepare myself since I’ve had it prepared by someone else, I’m not gonna bother buying it because A.) I prefer to prepare my matcha authentically and the packaging isn’t in line w/ that mindset B.) For the 90 miles it needs to travel to get to me, the shipping is too expensive and it takes too long buying it online- although my local tea shop has it for only $1 more (plus tax) than the website charges so I can avoid shipping. and C.) It’s pretty expensive for the amount even before factoring in shipping. But if you don’t care about the packaging and don’t need to be concerned w/ economical value (darn my limited income), it’s AMAZING.
YES, I do agree on the pricing point, in-fact, I e-mailed Rishi telling them my concerns about price but they only had a typical generic answer…nothing really to change it any; now about the packaging, again, yes, scooping it out with a chasaku, then whisking it with a chasen in a matchawan is the most pleasurable tasks of preparing matcha, however, if you can get past the packaging, it is THE BEST TASTING matcha I have ever had to date…I LOVE IT! I did splurge and bought a case so that I didn’t run out too quickly; I drink it quite often, 2-3 times a day.
lol… see… I can’t get past the packaging. I’m even going to take my tin w/ me when I go on vacations. But that’s just me though and I’m glad you can get past it. I’ve loved every single one of the matchas I’ve tried so I’m ok w/ passing on this one.
lol, that’s perfectly ok, but to pass on Rishi, OMG!…LOL…sorry, I love the stuff if you can’t tell by now…
So much matcha, so little time:) Maybe I’ll come back to it once I’ve tried every single matcha possible=D
That’s my goal as well…I have a box/chest full of 30g tins of matcha that I want to get to…my recent is from Takashimya/Irokuen and DoMatcha. But I love matcha and powdered Sencha since you ingest the whole leaf rather than just the runoff. You get all the benefits of the whole leaf if you drink matcha and powdered Sencha…but I like matcha way better.
Drink up! Matcha doesn’t stay fresh nearly as long as whole leaf. I tried powdered sencha from Den’s Tea because it was 15% off last month. Pretty good. I negate their preparation suggestions and prepare it just as I would matcha.
I swear we are on the same wavelength because I got in on the deal at Den’s Tea as well, I bought four pouches. It’s funny, I prepare some then use that as my water for preparing matcha. BOY, DO I WAKE UP AFTER DRINKING THAT!…lol
So you combine matcha and powdered sencha…? And 1 serving of each, not half?
pretty much!…actually, I don’t combine the two powders, I prepare the sencha first then I scoop in the matcha and whisk…VOILA! Super matcha-sencha bowl of tea…lol
Oooh you mean steeped and decanted sencha… Gotcha. We were talking about powdered sencha so I got confused.
that’s ok, haven’t had your matcha yet?…I tend to get that way too…lol
Actually I had mine about 2 hrs ago. I was talking about powdered sencha and then you said “I got in on the deal at Den’s Tea as well, I bought four pouches. It’s funny, I prepare some then use that as my water for preparing matcha.” Since the Den’s Tea deal was powdered sencha, I naturally thought that’s what you meant since you said no different.
yes, I would make the powdered sencha, then the mixed green tea [which is the powdered sencha] I use that tea/water mixture as the water for my matcha preparation.
So they’d end up combined…
yes, but the sencha is already made, just add the matcha to the green sencha tea water
But the flavor is no different than if you’d put them both in at the same time.
I guess not, it’s just the way I make it sometimes…but rare because I get a little too hyper with my “super” concoction, I usually just make matcha “regular”