85

All-around excellent matcha! I’ve been drinking this usucha style, heated chawan, two almond-sized chashaku mounds of matcha finely sifted, bamboo chasen pre-moistened, 175F water around 75-85ml I’m guessing, added about 10ml first to mix up the paste then added the rest of the water to froth. Creamy, frothy, that perfect deep jade color underneath the foam, and very easy to form that smooth froth of uniformly small bubbles.

The aroma first hits you a bit like the first infusion of a gyokuro — that warm briny ocean smell, but nowhere as strong and quickly joined by a lot of deep vegetal aromas… it’s that special note my favorite matchas have in the aroma, and lets me know the leaves would have made a fine gyokuro if processed differently. But also like I enjoy my matcha, it doesn’t translate into the flavor — this tastes very vegetal with a sweet finish, and I find myself going through the whole process 2-3 times a day now just to enjoy a good bowl of this stuff more than once. I know it is a bit blasphemous, but some cream & stevia (not enough to make it a real latte, maybe a tsp of each) makes it oh-so-rich and oh-so-enjoyable.

Good quality for the price point.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 3 OZ / 75 ML

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Musician, pilot, philanthropist, tea lover. Nothing beats a spiced oolong at 10,000 feet. Except maybe a cuppa dian hong with my feet next to the fireplace. Or some fresh bai hao yin zhen before bedtime. My rating system is pretty much like this:

1-20 : ‘Blech’ cuppa. Didn’t even finish the one I brewed, rest went in trash. That bad, at least for me.

21-40: ‘Meh’ cuppa. Finished it but threw away the rest of the tea or used it for other purposes like baking, gifts for in-laws, or serve to unwanted houseguests. Kinda like Twinnings or Lipton bag tea.

41-60: ‘Standard’ cuppa. Won’t buy any more, but will certainly brew all that I have left. Probably will use it to blend with other teas or as a base, or large quantities of iced tea for parties and such.

61-80: Good cuppa. Now we’re talking. Worth buying more if at the right price, love blending some of these too. Sometimes a few oddballs will find their way into this score just because I liked the fruity flavor or having it as an iced tea. Also my starting score range for new kinds of tea until I develop a good feel for my preferences or learn to better distinguish quality characteristics.

81-99: Awesome cuppa. You’ll probably find this in my pantry pretty regularly, unless it has been discontinued or I’m waiting for my next trip to Asia or Europe to pick up some more. Holds up well to multiple infusions (unless black/herbal), and will typically drink it unadulterated/straight. I’ll gladly pay premium prices and chances are I’ll be ordering and tasting a bunch of other teas this producer/company offers.

100: Cuppa bliss, oh where have you been all my life???! I will burn frequent flier miles and journey to the ends of the earth while paying nearly any price to make sure I have this stocked at all times. Over time as I discover some magical new teas, a few may fall off this list. Try to keep it max 1 per type of tea.

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