Matcha

I made my unknown matcha blend as a latte this morning. I added some hot water to the matcha powder and whisked it rather poorly. Then I added cold almond milk, a little sugar syrup, and ice. Yum. I really like matcha this way, especially the ones of unknown quality I pick up randomly at Asian supermarkets. :)

Oh, and weirdly my “Likes” are disappearing. :( I can’t keep track of the ones I’ve read and haven’t read. So sorry to the people who might be getting multiple notifications that I’ve liked their tealogs!

Had a matcha latte at Wegman’s tonight – I’ve had it before but can;t find it on here…not sure who they go thru for their matcha…I’m thinking it might be RIshi. Regardless it was quite FAB…frothy, creamy, with a hint of natural sugary goodness!

Typed in “Matcha Unkown” to see if any entry already existed, and what do you know! One did! So even though this hasn’t been used in a few years I’m going to co-opt it for my tasting note…

A few months back, because Montreal went back into more heavy lockdown, I had the chance to “work from home” at one of my coworker’s houses – not for much of a particular reason, other than it’s nice to spend time with other people and because we’re already “exposed to” each other in our office it wasn’t adding to either of our Covid risk/circles. While I was there, throughout the day, her partner made matcha for us to have a matcha tasting! He’s actually a bigger tea drinker than she is, despite working for a tea company, and he recently had a friend in Japan mail him about a half dozen types of matcha (each from different regions of Japan) to taste through. It was very kind of him to share in his matcha haul, and it was a really nice activity for throughout the day.

We didn’t taste through all six regions that he had matcha from, but we did make it through four of them over the course of the day! I was definitely getting the matcha shakes by the time I went home. I, sadly, don’t remember what the regions were but here are some notes I jotted down for each of the four matchas!

Matcha One:
- Sweet and fresh with floral elderflower/peony notes
- Refreshing garden snap pea finish; vegetal but juicy sweet vegetal
- This was my favourite tasting matcha

Matcha Two:
- The creamiest of the four both in terms of mouthfeel and flavour
- More umami underneath the initial creamy notes

Matcha Three:
- A bit flat in terms of taste with a thinner mouthfeel
- Vegetal

Matcha Four:
- Pleasant taste with umami/bok choy notes
- Courser mouthfeel though; a touch gritty/grainy

Very general tasting notes, as you can see – but I wanted to capture it because it was a really nice experience and a very special moment of friendship and tea community nestled in between the dumpster fire that has been 2020.

I typed in “matcha unknown” into the search box to see if it would get any hits—and what do you know, this is already there!

So anyway, I was walking by Minamoto Kitchoan (a Japanese confectionary shop) and saw that they were offering samples and matcha green tea. The tea was being prepared with a whisk in-store, and I think this is really the first time I’ve tried matcha with the traditional preparation. And it’s really good. It was served in a small cup, very dark green and frothy, and was deliciously creamy and smooth. Umami and sweet, rich…and somehow very different from the flavor of other teas or foods that have had matcha added to them. This was a whole other level, and I would love to get all the utensils and learn to prepare matcha at home now. But maybe that’s a project for another time :)

Hello Steepster! I have been away from you for a few days, with the business of last week’s moving to the new half of the office plus a 2 day conference for work, and yard work on Saturday. But I have returned, and had a wonderful tea experience yesterday!

I found out that the botanical gardens near my city host Japanese tea ceremonies. This year they are only offering them on 4 days, and yesterday was the first 4, and on top of that, the only day that offered ceremonies in the small tea room (Ro ceremony). Only 5 people are allowed to partake in this ceremony due to room size restraints, so me, my boyfriend, and 3 other people partook in this special event. Matcha tea was prepared in the traditional method with a whisk and a unique bowl for each person, and we ate a sweet (wagashi) before drinking the tea to complement the tea. We were also shown the way to drink matcha in a ceremony, with the turning of the bowl so as to not drink from the front of it, and the etiquette of drinking tea before the person to your left. It was a truly beautiful experience, and the room was absolutely lovely and simple, one scroll on the wall with a simple flower arrangement as the only focal points in the room other than the kettle, a large cast iron one that was sunk in the middle of the floor (in the hearth). This room also had authentic Tatami mats, while the larger one for larger ceremonies had synthetic.

Oh, and the matcha was fantastic! Enough for 3.5 gulps, and it went perfectly with the wagashi! I thought about asking where they sourced their matcha, but was enjoying the ceremony too much to want to bother with questions that might infringe on my sense of tranquillity.

Overall, a beautiful, relaxing experience that I highly recommend if you ever get the chance to experience a tea ceremony. I would love to do one again sometime, and feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to partake in such a lovely event! My boyfriend also enjoyed it immensely. I also learned the 4 principles of Japanese tea ceremonies: harmony, respect, purity and tranquillity. I felt all 4 of these principles and it was wonderful! Afterwards we wandered through the botanical gardens, even though it was snowing, and a lovely feeling of peace settled over me. A great way to spend a Sunday morning!

put two heaping into a bottle of water. yumm