Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green (Matcha)
Where to Buy: Infussion
Tea Description:
This is the cream of the crop of Japanese teas, imported directly from Uji, Kyoto. Tea leaves used for producing matcha are shaded for 20 days before the harvest. This guarantees low level of tannins and unusually high antioxidant, caffeine and l-theanine levels. Such leaves produce top potency tea devoid of bitterness. This is the only Camellia Sinensis product that has stems and veins of the leaves removed. Slow, cold grinding using granite mills is needed to produce finest Matcha and it can take up to 1h to produce 30g of this unique tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Ceremonial Grade Organic Matcha from Infussion is absolutely magnificent! It is so incredibly smooth and sweet!
The powdered tea whisks up to a beautiful, bright jade green liquid with lots and lots of froth that doesn’t disappear quickly! It stays nice and frothy! The green tea powder also does not separate quickly the way other Matcha can sometimes do. It remained incorporated as I continued to sip.
The aroma of the prepared Matcha is sweet and vegetative … redolent of freshly cut grass in the spring … when the grass buds are still new and fresh. It’s quite lovely.
The flavor is sweet and vegetal, tasting of sweet grass, but also of freshly steamed spinach that has been lightly buttered. There are faint notes of delectable bittersweet chocolate. The texture is creamy and smooth with no grit. The sweetness of this Matcha is really enchanting!
The more teas that I try from Infussion, the more I am impressed with this company! The quality of their teas is outstanding. If you like Matcha, this is one that you should try … it’s an excellent Ceremonial Grade Matcha and I love that it’s Organic too!
Liquid Jade from The Tao of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: The Tao of Tea
Tea Description:
Also known as “powdered green tea” and traditionally used in Chanoyu – the Japanese Tea Ceremony, Matcha has a special spiritual significance in Japan. It is said that a person operating within the rules of Chanoyu finds the five senses working at their fullest. Matcha is essential to Japan’s traditional art of the tea ceremony, bringing about with each cup mental concentration, emotional stability, and composure of the mind. Unlike black tea and green tea whose ingredients are infused in water and discarded, Matcha has ingredients that can be utilized fully to activate the organic functions of the human body. It is a beverage good for both the mind and the body. Matcha contains essential vitamins and minerals and has shown long term health benefits due to its many disease fighting nutrients. Matcha has 9 times the beta carotene of spinach, 4 times that of carrots, and approximately 10 times the polyphenols and antioxidants of regular teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Over the past few years, I’ve consumed quite a bit of Matcha. Some is better than others, of course. This Liquid Jade from The Tao of Tea is a good one – not the best, but certainly better than some others that I’ve tried.
What I like best about this Matcha is the flavor of it: sweet, with very little of the bittersweet flavor that I usually detect with Matcha. This one is sweeter. Very pleasant and not quite as vegetative, although there is some seaweed-ish taste to it that is especially noticeable right at the finish, just before the aftertaste. And that part is weird for me because typically, I am not fond of seaweed. But … this I like! Perhaps it is because the seaweed flavor is a bit sweeter than it is savory.
It coats the palate with the silky mouthfeel, and I like that it doesn’t feel chalky, nor does it taste chalky. Instead, it tastes and feels buttery smooth. It’s really quite delicious.
The Matcha stays suspended in the liquid and doesn’t settle to the bottom, and that’s a big plus in my book. On the downside, there is not as much froth as I would have liked and the color is not quite as bright as I would have liked. I would say that this is a really good, mild-tasting Matcha, and it would be good for those who are new to Matcha as well as for those who typically find Matcha to be a bit too much for them. I find the silky smooth texture and taste of this Matcha to be much more palatable than some of the stronger Matcha teas that I’ve tasted. Overall, it is a very enjoyable Matcha. OH… and another big plus: it’s organic!
Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
Had some extra genmaicha (and a little bit of uji (matcha mixed with-) genmaicha that we blended together to create this awesome blend. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough of anything to make it a tea of the week, so here’s a bonus blend (VERY LIMITED EDITION) for this week.
We’ve blended genmaicha (Japanese sencha (I got it before the earthquake, so no worries) blended with toasted rice) with mini marshmallows and natural flavors. This blend is going to go FAST, and we won’t be able to blend any more for a while, if we ever do, so DO NOT drag your feet about this one.
Taster’s Review:
I want to preface this review by saying that the package of Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha that I ordered was from the original batch, not the re-blend. The re-blended Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha is slightly different in that it was made vegan, using marshmallow root rather than mini marshmallows. In addition, the re-blended batch did not contain the Uji Genmaicha (Genmaicha + Matcha). It is the original batch that I will be reviewing here, and I don’t know how different the flavor will be from the re-blended batch.
Now, with that said, let’s get to the review!
This is AWESOME! I think I have only tried one other flavored Genmaicha from 52Teas (the Malted Genmaicha) and while I did really enjoy that one, this particular blend takes Genmaicha to a whole other level. It is amazing.
The Sencha is light-bodied with faint vegetative notes. It tastes fresh without tasting too grassy. And I really am enjoying the hint of Matcha in there – it lends a creamy, smooth flavor to the cup that melds perfectly with the other flavors. The Matcha contribution is not a strong one, but, it is enough to keep the palate intrigued. And, of course, the toasty, sweet flavor of the popped rice is right on target with the Marshmallow Treat concept.
The mini-marshmallows melt in the hot water, and give just a little bit of creamy texture to the cup, as well as the expected sweetness. (No additional sweetener is needed here!) I really love the addition of the mini-marshmallows, they do really enhance the flavor of the cup. It makes me wonder how the marshmallow root compares.
Yet another example of why 52Teas is my favorite tea company!
