

Even just a year ago I would never have imagined that I would enjoy matcha, and certainly not to the degree that I do! Good teas and good technique makes all the difference. I was using “ceremonial grade” blended matcha from a Japanese department store: a gift from a Japanese friend. I had a few bowls about 20 years ago and thought it was beautiful but otherwise unimpressive. Because it’s a powder it can compress significantly in a teaspoon resulting in more tea than you thought. If I didn’t have one, I would skip using a teaspoon and use a gram scale instead. Artisanal matcha is a very special green tea thatâ s been appreciated and practiced as an art form in Japan for nearly 850 years. We also design and create custom ceramics that are ideally suited for artisanal matcha.

We source and sell the worlds highest-quality matcha (special Japanese green tea).
#Breakaway matcha how to
Here is a good video on how to make it at home:Ĭhashaku can be very inexpensive and they do help when measuring how much matcha to use. Breakaway Matcha 71 followers on LinkedIn. I personally like a lot of foam for usucha. I’ve had equally good results using expensive handmade Japanese chasen and inexpensive Korean ones. Breakaway Matcha Direct Farm Sourced From Japan - Breakaway Matcha Coldbrew Original Iced Green Tea Powder - Highest Grade - Beyond Ceremonial (3 39.04. The chasen (whisk) doesn’t have to be expensive. Something a little sweet before drinking matcha seems to tame bitterness and enhance the flavor. I am also sensitive to bitterness (though I like it in some things) and have found that I no longer taste the bitterness I tasted in my first few bowls of high quality matcha, perhaps because of familiarity with matcha but I also wonder if it wasn’t bitterness at all but a powerful, unfamiliar flavor.Īs with a lot of teas, as you go down in price you’re more likely to encounter genuinely bitter teas and other faults. I won’t eat or drink for 10-15 minutes after having matcha just so I can enjoy those flavors. The teas above have various qualities to them, especially in the finish, of lemon drops or lingonberry or dark chocolate. Expertly blended teas are sophisticated yet lack, well, character. The think I like about single cultivar, single estate teas is that you can taste the character of the tea, it’s not so blended that it has become boring. The Samidori is still exceptional despite being more affordable.

I like the Uji-Hikari cultivar quite a bit. The Asahi is expensive but it is like dark chocolate, and it’s thick and so yummy that I splurge. I’ve been impressed with the single cultivar matcha from Thes du Japon. Want to know what else you can do with matcha 29. This matcha is also one of Kavaliunas favorites. The stoneground leaves are sourced from Kyoto, Japan. I will definitely be exploring matcha further and making it part of my tea rotation.Hi Janice! It sounds like you had a wonderful time breaking in your chawan. Breakaway Matcha You could make a warm matcha latte, but Breakaway Matcha is best enjoyed chilled. In any case, Breakaway Matcha has piqued my interest. I don’t get that kind of complexity out of 97. I remember tasting an usu-cha on my last trip to Tokyo, prepared in the traditional method, that had wonderful hints of umami, nuttiness, and a tad of astringency in addition to the grassy green baseline. Perhaps this is due to the whisking technique. Is this what coffee addiction is like?ĭespite the nice aroma, the taste is fairly flat. The aroma paired with the pick-me-up is the hallmark of this tea. My biggest surprise was the caffeine kick: it is pleasant, gentle high that is quite noticeable. This is not traditional, but the results were good.ĩ7 has the strong grassy aroma I associate with matcha, but with none of the bitterness. I used the recommended Breakaway technique to make a thin (usu-cha) cup:ĭilute with more 165☏ water, to taste (about 3 ounces) The difference was stark: the grocery matcha was a dull green powder that makes a harsh and bitter cup, whereas 97 was vibrant, nearly neon green, smooth, and sweet. Since I’m not normally a matcha drinker, I compared 97 with a mid-grade drinking matcha from the local Japanese grocery in order to calibrate my taste buds. This tasting is for Breakaway Matcha Blend 97, which is at the higher-end of the Breakaway spectrum (Blend 100 is their most premium).ĩ7 was my first experience making matcha at home.
