Naoki Matcha

Sipdown! (18 | 365)

My last unflavored matcha! \o/ So glad to have finished off all of my poor, neglected matcha as tasty lattes.

This one felt a little sacrilegious to drink as a latte, but oh well. It’s an extra fancy matcha in an extra elegant black tin with gold accents. This was actually gifted to me by Naoki in return for a review, which I did on Instagram at some point. I should really be better about making sure I post on Steepster as well when I do that…

Anyway, obviously it makes a scrumptious iced latte as well. Super duper nutty, creamy, and smooth with a concentrated vegetal-umami flavor. I probably won’t purchase it again, but that’s just because I’ve only been making lattes and it feels like a waste to use this matcha for that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPl-W-2heVd/

I got a few packets of this in a Tea Thoughts countdown box and haven’t gotten around to trying them until now. For a fun summer vibe, I decided to make one of the packets in watermelon juice. I took a few pieces of watermelon, blended them on the lowest setting, and filtered the result through a sieve to get the watermelon juice. Then I added a packet of this matcha powder, which was bright green and smelled pleasantly grassy and vegetal. I was worried about being able to adequately get the sugary watermelon juice off my bamboo whisk so I opted for a modern preparation using my milk frother. I was able to get lots of froth this way. The liquid itself was a dark moss green but the foam was pink, which was fun. Unfortunately, I used way too much matcha for the liquid! I had maybe 4 oz or so of juice and should probably have used about half the packet. It wasn’t really drinkable until I let it sit for a while so some of the matcha could settle to the bottom. Eventually I ended up with a good drink but I definitely took the long way to get there! No grittiness, no bitterness, overall a really good option for mixed beverages assuming you get the ratios right. Looking forward to trying it plain.

This was a free sample that was sent to me by the company.
I prepared this using a bamboo matcha whisk but forgot to sift the matcha before adding it to the bowl. The matcha was still easy to whisk and my cup was clump free. The matcha didn’t froth up at all with this prep method. The aftertaste was a tad chalky. Some matches I enjoy drinking without milk but this particular one was a bit too strong for me just on it’s own. I enjoyed it with the almond milk and still have another sample packet to prepare a different way and try.

Sipdown! (56 | 330)

Oops, apparently I never wrote a real note for this one. I have a few tins of matcha that I bought in early 2021, and this is one of them. So since they’re getting quite old (for matcha) at this point, I’ve been having an iced matcha latte every morning to work through some of them.

I used two teaspoons of matcha, sifted it into about 2 ounces or so of cold water and shook it up, then added a drizzle of maple syrup and topped it with oat milk to reach 16 ounces before pouring over ice.

It’s super delicious, even with the matcha being about 18 months old. Super smooth with delicious nutty notes from the matcha dominating, and just a touch of grassiness adding a fresh counterpoint. Just the tiniest amount of bitterness adds a nice depth of flavor as well. Yummy!

Hmm…

So generally in the mornings I drink matcha in cold oat milk, and I’m lazy so I usually just use the cold stir function on my milk frother, and sift the matcha in once the milk is whizzing.

I tried that method yesterday with this matcha and it felt very slightly gritty to me. So today I actually prepared the matcha shot with warm water and a chasen, and then poured it into the milk. Still very slightly grainy-tasting. I don’t get it.

I’ve had this matcha straight before and I don’t remember having this issue. :(

I live at a high altitude, and one of the matcha samples exploded from the pressure changes, completely covering the package in matcha. The samples were free, so I’m not at all upset, and basically, I had an excuse to brew up what was left right away! I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a matcha person, but I’m happy to say that I’m enjoying this! I used a fork and a cheap plastic cup because I’m not fancy, and I didn’t have any clumping problems or anything. I added some warm milk and sugar, and the flavor ended up really nice and smooth. No negative or weird flavors. I added a little bit of spray cream during the last sips for an extra treat. I’m looking forward to the other sample!

Happy Matcha Monday! ❤

For some reason, the descriptors for this particular blend just caught my eye when I was perusing Naoki’s website, so a tin of it came to live with me!

I admit, I don’t drink usucha very often, so I really need to practice making it more. I’m sure a lot of the subtleties of this matcha are lost on me, but I still found it delicious. Very light and fresh-tasting, with notes of vibrant green grass, garden peas, green apples, and meadow flowers. There’s very little bitterness here as well, just enough to offer a pleasant contrast to the other flavors. The umami is quite light, more of a supporting element to the main bright notes, though it does come forward a bit more at the end of the sip.

Someday I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison of this with their Superior Ceremonial blend just to see how they taste together and what other subtleties I can pick out. So far I’m quite impressed with Naoki Matcha, and to me their prices seem quite reasonable for 40g of high quality ceremonial grade matcha with a tin included. Would definitely recommend!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNA6raxBo9U/

Sipdown! I enjoy matcha when I am in the mood for it, but that is so infrequently, and the powder expires so quickly, that it really doesn’t make sense for me to keep it on my shelf. Overall, though, I am still very satisfied with this one! I’d buy it again if I ever get into a matcha kick. Making no changes to my original review and rating.

I am not a huge matcha drinker; most of the time when I have had it, I haven’t enjoyed it all that much. That said, I love this one! It is made like it should be: an extremely fine powder that doesn’t clump when the water is poured on it, and it whips well into a frothy liquor. I don’t really know what “mouthfeel” is supposed to mean when it comes to tea, but the tea is very pleasant as I swirl it around for taste and texture, so I assume that it has good “mouthfeel”. :) Flavors of seaweed and spinach which work very well together. I’ll definitely order more of this one!