Matcha

Please don’t yell at me for starting a new thread! I tried to search for other matcha posts but they were either old or irrelevant so I’m trying a new one!

I am in a tea rut, and am curious to dip my toes into the wonderful world of MATCHA. Anyone have advice, suggestions, or places to start to begin this adventure? I’ll probably go for flavored over plain but I’m down for anything.

Also, do you really NEED a wisk/special bowl??

Thanks in advance! :)

Madi

28 Replies
Raritea said

I recently got my very first matcha set! I wanted to use it for this tin of “matcha” that I got as a gift but it turned out to be a flavoured powder (to be fair to the gifter, neither of us could read the Asian characters on the tin and it really did look like matcha). I’m still waiting to purchase my first real matcha to try it out with my new bowl and whisk.

David’s Tea has a beginner matcha kit that they sell which included the bowl, the whisk and a matcha scoop called “The Matcha Essentials”- http://www.davidstea.com/featured/what-s-new/the-matcha-essentials

I would think that that would probably be a good (and relatively cheap) way to start off. I myself am still a matcha newbie so I am curious to hear what others with more experience have to say!

Thank you! That’s a pretty good deal!

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I would start off by writing to Jason (from Steepster) to find out if they have any more of this past month’s steepster select boxes which includes a whisk and a scoop, plus a bit of matcha in it. This is the one steepster box that I did not receive since the program’s inception because I renewed my subscription a day late, but, I thought it was one that I could do without anyway because I’ve lots of Matcha at my disposal, and I already own a chasen and a chashaku. But, you don’t NEED either one, or even a chawan (bowl) for that matter. You can mix Matcha in any bowl (I do recommend using a bowl rather than a cup because it allows you to stir it so that the dry stuff doesn’t get trapped within the corners of the cup).

And you can use a fork to stir it with (I recommend a fork rather than a spoon because you can kind of get a whisk going with a fork easier than you can a spoon, you know?) although you won’t get as frothy a product with either a fork or a spoon. You could also use a small wire whisk if you have one, I haven’t used these before, but, I suspect they would perform better than a fork or a spoon. Another alternative would be to use a hand frothing tool (like you might use when frothing steamed milk for a chai latte) if you have one.

All that aside, if you were only going to buy one tool, I’d recommend getting the chasen, as it would yield the most favorable results over any of these other options/ideas for whisking the tea, and you can often find them at relatively low prices.

Also, you WILL need something to sift your matcha. I use a very inexpensive strainer that I picked up in the grocery store in the utensils aisle for around 2 bucks. There is absolutely a difference between sifted and unsifted matcha… matcha needs to be aerated, and I would not recommend proceeding without something to sift your matcha. If you have one, you can use a tea strainer, so long as it is completely dry. I’ve used them before and they work just fine.

As far as where to start with Matcha… My favorite unflavored Matcha comes from Aiya. That’s not necessarily saying it is the best, but it is the best that I’ve tried. DoMatcha is also quite good and can be obtained in some Whole Food markets if you don’t wish to order online.

I hope this helps.

That DOES help! Thank you!

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In addition to what everyone else is saying, try this out:

http://www.redleaftea.com/free-matcha/

Good luck!

THANK YOU! I was trying to remember that website, but couldn’t! Has anyone on here tried it to verify it works? I remember that discussion awhile back but don’t remember the outcome…

Yep, I’m on my 3rd order of free matcha :3

AWESOME! I Know where my first matcha is coming from… :) any favorites of yours I should try?

There’s so many to choose from now! hmm in my opinion they’re all good haha – I would start with your favourite fruit or candy flavour and go from there! That would be a good place to start – the caramel is divine and mango is my favourite fruit flavour so far n_n;

Babble said

Thanks for pointing this out. This is awesome!! Do you have to pay for shipping when you get your free matcha, or is that included, too?

If you buy two pouches of Matcha at the time of your initial purchase, you should get free shipping too (at least, US shipping).

Babble said

Could you buy 2 pouches, write 2 reviews, and get 2 more pouches at the same time?

depends on the reviews you write :)
“Write 200 words or more and get $15.99 credit towards your next Matcha, any Matcha.
or
Write 400 words or more and get $23.99 credit towards your next Matcha, any Matcha.”

So if you write a longer review you would get a higher gift certificate towards matcha! So depends on the price of the matchas you are going for

Also, the rewards stack up. You can get credit, wait a few weeks and write another one. And your gift certificate price just gets higher.

yes, and the 400 words is pretty easy for me to achieve. This may surprise some of you, but I can be pretty long-winded and wordy when I want to be. (and sometimes even when I don’t)

Kiaharii said

Where do you guys post these reviews?

I post my reviews here: http://sororiteasisters.com
This particular offer though, requires a post on a social network (I think that Steepster suffices for that) as well as on their website (Red Leaf Tea’s website). I also posted a review on amazon.com.

You can post your longer review on Steepster. Remember to include a link. If you look up one of Red Leaf’s Matchas on Steepster, you’ll see lots of reviews from others complying with the guidelines for free matcha. :)

Kiaharii said

Thanks, wasn’t sure if you could include the links here. Might have to try this out!

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Now the real question… French vanilla or Madagascar vanilla……

I hear they are both great. I haven’t had either though. I do love the caramel one. And I have my eye on the toffee. Yum. And I have had several successful orders of free matcha from them! Great customer service as well. :)

Yay! I’m so excited now! I remember doing matcha shots with my roommate in college to try to get energy to study and we got TOO MUCH energy and ended up never studying until it wore off haha :)

Oh yeah! The caffeine content is up there!

Ninavampi said

Why choose 1 when you can have both! They are delicious! But if you can get only 1, I would go for the French Vanilla. :)

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Epi Tea said

Check out this cool video on how the Japanese Tea ceremony for matcha works: http://steepster.com/discuss/3004-video-japanese-tea-ceremony

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Unfortunately my matcha adventure has to wait til next month :( I overspent on supplies for my classroom this month… But I got a TON of stuff with back to school sales! Like fifty pens for 5 cents!

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noordelijk said

I’d recommend a non-flavoured matcha, actually. If you don’t want to go straight into the straight matcha right away then maybe start off with making a couple lattes, and get used to the flavour of the matcha with the milk (or soy, or almond milk, etc).

Also, I use a metal baking whisk and it seems to work fine. It’s easier to whisk matcha if its in a deeper round bowl, but I usually just do it in a mug (as long as your whisk can fit in there good).

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chaijeeyah said

You can add a spoon of matcha in a blender with a banana and some water. No whisking required. Very delicious way to start with matcha, since it may seem bitter for beginners.

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