Matcha, take two.
There is a lot of conflicting information out there about matcha. Bitter matcha? Maybe you didn’t whisk long enough. Or maybe you whisked too long? Maybe you didn’t use enough matcha. Or maybe you used too much? Matcha preparation seems to me to be more an art than a science, and I am a scientist (I am also somewhat of an artist, but that is beside the point). :P
This morning I started out with about 1 tsp of matcha, which I sifted. Last time when I sifted I found little white granules in my matcha because my sieve is so fine, and I tossed them as not something I wanted. But then I read something on there that made me realize that they might actually be “flavor crystals” and maybe that’s why my first matcha wasn’t particularly caramelly. This time I dumped them in after sifting. I added some hot water, a few ounces, and whisked for just about 30 seconds (last time I spent longer whisking, I think). I took a sip, and it was definitely considerably less bitter and more caramelly than my last bowl. There was still an edge of bitterness so I added a couple of ounces of milk. That definitely took away all the bitterness and I was able to focus on the flavor. A little grassy, a little earthy, a decent helping of caramel. I thought I could draw the caramel out a little more even so I added a sprinkling of sugar, which worked pretty well. Yup, I could definitely get used to drinking this stuff! I need to experiment more, but it will be fun figuring all this out.
