Mighty Leaf – Matcha

Snapshot: 7/10
Smooth and creamy froth with an intense vegetal flavor and no astringency
Brewing Method – usacha (thin) using traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony goods

• Chawan: a medium sized bowl used to froth and drink matcha. Small enough to comfortably drink out of, but large enough to easily whip up a foamy tea. (A medium size bowl works fine if you don’t have a chawan)
• Chasen: a whisk created from a single section of bamboo used to froth matcha. (If you don’t have a chasen, use a fork, it works much better than a kitchen whisk.)
• Chashaku: a bamboo “spoon” used to measure matcha (If you don’t have a chashaku, just use a small spoon.)

Aroma: 9/10 – thick vegetal aroma, similar to a quality sencha, much like asparagus.

Sweetness: 3.5/10 – hardly sweet at all, unimpressive.

Astringency: 10/10 – no astringency!

Flavor: 8/10 – addicting flavor, tastes just the same as it smells, but with a smooth and creamy feel.

Overall Impressions:
An extremely addicting flavor, but I would recommend any matcha from o-cha.com much more. This matcha isn’t the sweetest, but it’s superb vegetal flavor makes up for what it lacks in the sweetness department. The aroma is so strong, that I almost coughed when I smelled the dry powder. If you enjoyed matcha prepared with normal kitchen utensils, I would highly recommend purchasing a chasen to froth your tea. With a chasen, the matcha transforms from a dark green liquid into a creamy, radioactive green froth.

~ by trentknebel on April 4, 2008.