Matcha

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks for pointing to You Tube, WmC. This clip is not great, but there may be a better example available. He does not fill the bowl with warm water and add the chasen to pre-heat the bowl while moistening the whisk - then drying the bowl before adding the matcha; nor does he move back and forth in a M or W very much, staying more in the center. His idea of filling it up a third of the way is less than helpful, since chawan vary significantly in size. He ends up with very, very large bubbles. I'll look through them to see if there is anything better.

My foam bubbles in post #12 above are too large. The ones in #7 are better, but I am now getting much smaller bubbles and the flavor does seem to have improved. A Japanese tea-friend told me to whisk furiously for at least a minute until the bowl is fully covered with foam. The whisk should be just off the bottom of the bowl. Then keep whisking, but very gradually slow down the whisking to get smaller and smaller bubbles. This works - you may want to give it a try.

Since this is a Den's matcha, I would be inclined to follow their directions to a T for four or five attempts and then vary parameters in small increments if that does not suit you. Experience is probably the key, but certainly people prefer one matcha over another.

Hope this addressed most of your questions, if in a round about way. If not, let me know.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Thanks. I may not have done enough whisking first time around. I did soak the chasen in the pitcher I poured the boiling water into; otherwise it was per the Dens web site.

[Richard Kilgore]

You also may want to try pouring the hot water at the recommended temperature. While the temp will probably drop 10 degrees in a minute or so, that still has hotter water hitting the matcha powder initially, which is likely to effect the outcome. Just like pouring 180 F water onto sencha leaves would effect it.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Actually, the temperature was the 180 degrees recommended in their chart halfway down this page on the web site.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks. I see what you mean now. They don't pre-heat the bowl, but use a higher temp than I am used to.

[Richard Kilgore]

In looking through my notes, it's a shorter initial whisking my Japanese Tea Friend recommended, 10 - 20 seconds. Hmmm. I am sure I have sometimes had longer whisking do better than shorter, but the critical factor may have been the gradual slowing down, or it could have been which one of several tea bowls I was using. I am going to have to keep notes on all aspects, including my timing, to get a better picture of what is happening.

[Richard Kilgore]

The weight of "two" scoops of matcha varied a bit today. First set of two scoops = 1.1 g; second scoop = 2.0 g. I did not try to make them visually look the same, each time just dipped in the tin twice, grabbed two unsifted scoops and weighed them. Next time I'll see if I can shoot for some consistency.

[Richard Kilgore]

The weight of "two" scoops of matcha varied a bit today. First set of two scoops = 1.1 g; second scoop = 2.0 g. I did not try to make them visually look the same, each time just dipped in the tin twice, grabbed two unsifted scoops and weighed them. Next time I'll see if I can shoot for some consistency.

Today I also noticed that with at least one chawan I have been using a little more water than intended. This time I measured and both batches were 2.4 - 2.5 ounces.

The first set of two scoops weighed in at 1.1 g and the second at 1.4. Both brewed at 160 F in a prewarmed Shigaraki chawan, the second one produced more foam and had a more satisfying, sweeter, richer mouth feel and flavor. The rapid whisking was about 40 seconds each time. Even with the larger amount of matcha, I could not get enough bubbles in the 20 second target I was hoping for.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Tried again with the Dens organic matcha today.

Prewarmed the bowl, 1 gram of matcha, sifted into the bowl, 3 ounces of 160° water, whisked as vigorously as I could, not sure for how long--did not set a timer.

Still was very umami, not at all bitter, but a bit more like drinking nutritional yeast than like the gorgeous sweetness of the sencha I made afterwards.

I was surprised and a bit frustrated by all those big bubbles that popped up as the tea settled while I was grabbing the camera.

[Wholemeal Crank]

First matcha in the pretty new cup. It is just big enough to accomodate the chasen. I spun the chasen between my palms and got a very nice foam, quick & easy:

But the tea, while not bitter or astringent or in any way unpleasant, was not particularly tasty either.

[Richard Kilgore]

If enough people (3) have a real (tea bowl) and a real chasen (bamboo whisk) I may be able to do either a single or comparative matcha Tea Tasting & Discussion.

[Wholemeal Crank]

Another day, another unsatisfying attempt at matcha. This was a bit more ambitious than usual, because I foolishly bought some Korean Gamnong powdered tea from Hankook at my first visit there and also bought a small package of Beeline organic Japanese matcha from the Korean market.

All were 1 gram tea sifted into a preheated bowl, but the two shallow rice bowls I used for the first two teas were so messy with the chasen that I slacked off on the whisking, and stopped before there was much foam. The water was cool enough, nothing was especially bitter, but not really working for me.

I suspect the problem fundamentally is not that there is any particular problem with the teas I've chosen, but rather that those elements I'm so carefully trying NOT to extract when I brew up my green teas cooler and more dilute than average are all right out there when you're drinking the entire leaf. I think it's time to put matchas aside for a while, and wait a few years to try again, and see if my tastes change.

[Richard Kilgore]

In the long run you may be right. But - while I'm not familiar with that Korean tea or that market, powdered teas in Asian markets are as bad as most teas in most Asian markets. And not much foam will have a more than significant effect on the result.

If you decide to try matcha again, my suggestion would be to get a smooth one such as the Organic Yame Matcha from yuuki-cha.com. It's inexpensive, not challenging and very easy to like. I went through a tin of it a few months ago and plan on getting more. Also get a proper chawan, a tall winter chawan rather than a shallow summer one. You should be able to find one from any number of tea merchants for $20 - $30.

[Wholemeal Crank]

If and when I do try another matcha, I can make it in my pretty celadon mug, because the shape is very nice for containing the splashes as I whisk away, and the size is good.

And when might be sooner than I thought because since I posted the above, I learned that my niece is going to take Japanese in school next year, and wants to visit Japantown during our upcoming weekend in San Francisco. Maybe I can have some professionally prepared matcha to see if it converts me. And I can check out the available sencha offerings too.

[Richard Kilgore]

Yes, that would be cool if you can go to a Japanese tea house...or a Japanese tea ceremony. I'll be interested to read about it.

[Richard Kilgore]

I have a new organic matcha coming soon from yuuki-cha.com. More on this after I have had time to play with it a bit.

[Richard Kilgore]

An Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka was part of my recent order from yuuki-cha.com. Interestingly, it came in a 50 g stand up zip pouch, which is much better than the tins for keeping the air out. This is a usucha (thin matcha) stone ground from Saemidori tea bushes in Shizuoka, Japan.

I have made this a number of times in four different chawan and find it to be very forgiving. Using two rather heaping, sifted (but not weighed) scoops and approximately 2.5 ounces of water, it froths up beautifully...and much faster than the others I have tried. I like it a lot and it is one I would re-order.

[Richard Kilgore]

I used the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka mentioned in the above post for about two months. The zip bags really do seem to be superior for preserving the flavor compared to the traditional tins that matcha usually comes in. Very little decay of the flavor.

For the past week I have been preparing another matcha in a zip pouch from yuuki-cha, the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Sakuraka. Also very good. Both of these come in a 50 g zip bag and the price point is hard to beat. For my taste buds, these two are better than the Organic Yame Matcha, which I also liked, but I can't compare them to the higher priced matchas from this or other tea merchants, for lack of experience. I think I like the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka a little better than the Sakuraka.

[Richard Kilgore]

At one point I was weighing the matcha because my some scoops of the green tea powder were larger than others. I let that go a few months ago. I don't know if the two matchas from yuuki-cha I mentioned above are just easy to brew and easy to like, or if I have simply improved my skill at making matcha. Today I even had to guestimate the water temp because my thermometer needs a new battery, and it still came out fine.

[Foodietopo]

Very interesting topic.

I had the chance to visit Uji near Kyoto and my wife took me to a matcha making work shop.

We grinded our own matcha with a stone.

I drink matcha almost every week, but I haven't mastered the art of the whisk yet. My wife served tea for almost 10 years and my mother-in-law goes to ceremony almost every week.

I really enjoy tea ceremony, might actually start learning to prepare tea after reading this topic.

Cheers from Japan

[Wholemeal Crank]

Just looking at and touching that beautiful stone must have made light of the work. Might almost convert me into a matcha fan!

[Richard Kilgore]

What an interesting experience. Thanks for sharing, Foodietopo. Did you get to drink your own matcha?

[Foodietopo]

We each made enough matcha powder for about 3 bowls, I made the first one and I let my wife prepare the two other one. It was delicious.

My only problem with tea ceremony is the fact that I cannot sit in seiza for a very long time, my legs would probably not let me survive a whole tea ceremony serving.

One of the great thing about tea ceremony is the amazing Japanese sweets served with the tea. In my mind the sweet and the tea are very closely associated.

Tea ceremonies are simply amazing and I am lucky to have a chance to see the behind the scene. The women and men serving tea are so serious, but in the kitchen they just have so much fun.

What an interesting experience. Thanks for sharing, Foodietopo. Did you get to drink your own matcha?

Edited December 31, 2010 by Foodietopo (log)

[Ian McCarthy]

Richard,

I was thinking of diving in to matcha through yuuki-cha. Having tasted at least a few, do you you have any particular recommendations?

[Richard Kilgore]

Yes, I do have one to recommend, the Organic Shizuoka Matcha Iroka 50g. I have not tried all of them yet, but this one is excellent for the price and it comes in the new sealable pouches. While the tins are traditional and look cool, the new zip pouches keep the matcha fresher longer. The Organic Shizuoka Matcha Sakuraka 50g is also good.

While you can skimp at first and make it in any bowl of the right size, a chasen (bamboo matcha whisk) is essential and a matcha scoop very helpful. But I do think that a proper matcha bowl does make a difference.

Let us know what you end up doing, and if you have any questions, someone here should be able to help.