I’m very happy for receiving this ceremonial matcha from Matcha Zen.
A green tea lover can never have too much matcha at home.
This particular matcha comes from the Uji region, and it has USDA organic certification.
Matcha Zen sells this tea only, and it offers free shipping in the US.
The packaging is beautiful. Besides, it’s 100% recyclable.
After opening the outer package, I could see that the matcha was inside a sealable bag. I cut the top of the bag with scissors and opened it to take a better look.
My first impression was that the aroma is unlike most matcha. Sweet and mellow, but with no vegetal quality.
It’s quite interesting.
The powder’s color looks good, so far so good.
Let’s begin
As always, I took 2 grams of matcha, and whisked it in 60 ml (2 oz) of water at 80ºC (176ºF).
It frothed pretty quickly. Either that or I’m getting better at it 🙂
I find it hard to review matcha in the sense that I have to take a good picture quickly, before the foam dissipates.
And then I still have to take my time and taste it.
But let’s concentrate on the matcha at hand. It’s rich and creamy, with good body.
The taste itself isn’t so sweet as one would think after smelling the powder, but it’s definitely not grassy either. The “green” aspect is very toned down.
Both astringency and bitterness are not so apparent, so it must be a ceremonial grade.
I consider this to be a standard matcha. Nothing outside the norm, and the aroma is pleasant.
Here’s the product page, it’s a good deal if you live in the US.
April 26, 2016
You are getting good at whisking? I am also getting good at it after years! I also find that the bowl makes a difference. Or is that me only?
I always get confused with this “grade” called ceremonial. Is it something that has been created for / by the folks in the west? Whenever I buy matcha in Japan I never have to say “ceremonial”. It is just matcha and every batch that I got was nice. Of course there were some that were really much better than others!
I find that the really good ones have intense aroma as soon as I open the cannister. Or when I pour the hot water into the bowl with matcha. As soon as the water hits the matcha, fantastic aroma is released.
Great reading all your posts even though I have not commented on them recently.
April 27, 2016
Hi Lochan, glad to see you comment again.
I use the same bowl, so I can’t tell if the bowl makes the difference. I must buy a different one and see.
Yeah, usually in Japan you just say “matcha” and the ceremonial use is implied. For lower grades, you can see things like 料理用 or 食用, meaning that it is culinary matcha. But of course, in a formal tea store you won’t find them.
April 28, 2016
As far as matcha is concerned I’m no expert. I do not have any training nor have I studied under a master. I just enjoy the tea and going through the matcha rituals relaxes me. A few days ago I opened a new can but immediately I knew that it was not as good as the previous one from Ippodo. The aroma emitted when the can was opened was rather weak compared to the one before.
April 29, 2016
I love the smell of matcha, probably more so than its taste.
A weak smell could maybe be a freshness issue? However, matcha is often aged, so there’s definitely more to it. Perhaps something happened during processing.