Dhamma said

Best Matcha?

I have not yet tried Matcha and I’m trying to decide which website to order it from. What is your favorite Matcha?

33 Replies

My favorite, without a doubt is DoMatcha.

Edited to add a link to their website: http://shop.domatcha.com/

I agree Domatcha has to be my favorite as well. I just ordered some from Obubu Teas and once I try it I will let you know if I change my mind. However, at this point it is DoMatcha all the way.

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Cofftea said

DoMatcha is very good, but unfortunately I find it no better (or worse though) than Den’s Tea’s matcha. It can’t be compared to regular matcha because it’s flavored, but I absolutely suggest 52teas’ flavored matchas. Every single one of them is wonderful.

Having tried both DoMatcha and Den’s – I can taste a difference. Den’s is really good… DoMatcha is definitely better.

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Dhamma said

With the DoMatcha ceremonial singles do you need to have a whisk or can you put it directly into the water?

Cofftea said

You put it in the water then whisk- or if you want it cold you can put it in a bottle and shake. If you don’t have a whisk (bamboo or metal) , some people have luck w/ a spoon or fork.

The nice thing about the ceremonial singles is that you don’t have to measure. I do recommend sifting though, just because it will make for a smoother matcha experience. I just use a tea strainer to sift my matcha, and run it through with the back of my chashaku (bamboo scoop), but you can use a spoon in absence of the chashaku.

But you do need to whisk any matcha. A fork will work – you won’t get as much froth as you would if you used a bamboo whisk (chasen), but it will still work to incorporate the water and matcha. If you have a small wire whisk, this could work also, or if you have a hand frother (that you might use to froth steamed milk), this also will work.

Cofftea said

Oh yes, sifting. Or prepare to just whisk like heck using a tiny bit of water to make a paste (I make it thinner than a paste, but still REALLY THICK) then add more water. Unfortunately w/ the matcha being premeasured, you’re stuck w/ a certain volume. But if that’s the volume you normally drink, then that’s no problem:) And any volume of matcha is better than none at all:)

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Lori said

So even if you whisk w a battery operated hand frothier (which is what I use) I still need to sift? I have been skipping that step!

Cofftea said

If you’re happy w/ the results and don’t sift, then no. Like I said, I’ve personally been getting good results just whisking like heck… and hand frother would wisk it even more so.

Lori: No you don’t have to sift, but I always recommend it (except for with the flavored matcha teas). The sifting aerates the matcha much the same way that sifting the dry ingredients when baking aerates them. It does make a difference in the finished product… though not a huge difference … it is one that I notice. I used to skip the sifting too, and then when I started sifting, I noticed a difference not just in how well it whisks, but a lighter texture to the tea as well.

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Dhamma said

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. I ordered some DoMatcha and it is quite good, nice and creamy tasting. I can’t quite seem to get that nice jade color though, perhaps I’m not whisking fast enough.

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Machiventa said

I recently discovered DoMatcha, and so far out of the 4 brands I’ve tried (can’t remember their names though), I’ve found DoMatcha to taste the best to me. I own a tea shop and recently started carrying their ceremonial grade matcha. I only wish DoMatcha offered the bamboo spoon and sifter.

Highly recommended!

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Cofftea said

Upton Tea Imports offers samples of their matcha- I haven’t tried any of them, but that would be a low investment way of trying several.

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Cofftea said

While not all the factors I use to make it such are related to taste (i.e. price), I’ve finally found one I can almost certainly declare as “best” in my book- Urbana Teas & Tonics’ organic ceremonial grade matcha.

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The best matcha that I have tried is DOCTOR KING Finest Ceremonial Organic Japanese Matcha Green Tea. It is the highest grade matcha (GRADE A) and the price was LOW. I bought it from Amazon. Postage was free! It is delicious tea. You will not be disappointed.

What others have you tried?

yssah said

yeah, for comparison :)

Seems more like a distributor posting his own stuffs on here. lame.

Lynxiebrat said

Well maybe not…least I hope not.

Rachel J said

TeaExpertUSA dredging up an old thread to advertise his own tea. LOL

Dustin said

At least this one forms understandable sentences and is not in Engrish.

Rachel J said

True, Dustin!

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At the risk of being another TeaExpertUSA and hawking my own product:

I lived in Japan for 16 years and drank a lot of very good matcha during that time. When I moved back to the bay area, all I could find, both in stores and online, was what I call “culinary” matcha, of which there was plenty. But it’s easy to tell good matcha from bad matcha. Here’s how:

Color is key: it should be bright, bright, BRIGHT green, almost fake-looking. Any bit of yellow tone or army-green tone tells you that it’s culinary matcha, at best.

Aroma: it should smell sweet, often chocolatey, and totally inviting. No hay.

But the ultimate test is to make it “thick” style: roughly 4x the normal quantity with less than half the usual water quantity. Typically serving size is 1g of matcha per 3 ounces of hot water. So you’d use 4g of matcha about 1.5 (or less) ounces of hot water. If it tastes dreamy, you’ve found some good matcha. If it tastes disgusting, you haven’t.

Questions are most welcome — I’ll do my best to give informative replies!

Cheers, Eric

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