Getting started with matcha--pointers please?

[debunix]

Tried my first matcha this morning. Reviewed instructions on Dens and Yukki-Cha sites, watched a youtube video* to prepare.

Used 1 gram sifted Dens organic matcha in a plain porcelain bowl, 3 oz water, water started at about 180 degrees in the first bowl before adding to the matcha in the mixing bowl, whisked well with the chasen, got to a nice foam. I did not preheat the pseudo-chawan, per dens direction, so the water hitting the tea was starting at about 180 but should have cooled to about 160 pretty quickly, although I didn't remeasure the temp as I whisked it.

The foam was thick and probably the best part of the whole thing. Just didn't care so much for the overall flavor. It was not particularly bitter, but very strongly umami and not very sweet.

So....a few questions: the youtube video suggests more whisking will sweeten the tea. But whisking should be oxidizing things, and extra rest time does not seem to sweeten my senchas or dragon wells. Is whisking sweetening or just for foam/texturizing? And what should I try first to maximize the sweetness--change temps, proportions, whisk more/less?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV1PBBlOj-8

[AdamMY]

I do not know anything involving the chemical reactions taking place, but I think the whisking is to insure proper colloidal suspension of the powder, and the good foam is rather a nice byproduct, and possibly chasens developed to their current form to promote the foam.

But I think whisking is just mixing, and as Tealeaves do not dissolve readily into water a whisk is needed to break up little pockets of powder.

[Seeker]

Hi d,
Hmmm.
I would strongly suggest warming your "chawan" with the hot water, then drying it, then sifting the matcha into the bowl, then add 180* water directly to the matcha and whisk. In that order. (and remember to warm & moisten your whisk with your bowl - wouldn't do to have bits of whisk snapping off in the matcha now would it - and a moistened, warmed whisk is a happy and more resilient whisk ).
I found 180* to be about right with Den's organic.
I also want to say tho, that Den's organic is not my fav - it's okay - but I thought it lacked a level of sweetness, nuttiness, and also the chocolaty hints I find in my favorite matchas (more in the aromas than the taste, although sometimes...).
A thought about foam - I agree with everything common-sensicle Adam said, and something else - the foam holds pockets of tea aroma in suspension - so this then heightens the experience of the tea as the mini bubbles burst and release their treasure.
For sweetness I have to say my fav matchas are Ippodo's Wakamatsu-no-mukashi, and Wako (avail from In Pursuit of Tea and Teance).
Try experimenting with your water temp.
I get really great results every morning and I follow what I recommended above to the letter every time. Occasionally, depending on the tea, I'll adjust temp - sometimes up, other times down.
Good luck - and I'd love to hear how you fair.
Maybe you'll even post a pic of your matcha in "Today's MatchaWan"?
I think it'd be very normalizing and nice to see the various "chawan" that are used, regardless of their origins or original intent.
Cheers!

[edkrueger]

BTW you can get Wako a lot cheaper from the source, but, then, there is shipping.

[debunix]

thank you for the tips. I'll try to set up my camera for the next round.

[Oni]

That video you viewed on youtube was competely wrong, the didn`t preheat, used too little matcha, and in two cycles, cold water and a totally wrong whisking, with a chinese whisk. You all who watched the video must have noticed that after he finished whisking the water had a circular motion, that is wrong, you should use linear motion while whisking, like writing BIG "W W W" letters fast, circular motion doesn`t bring you uniform bubbles, the bubbles should be small, and the same size, like a fine foam, like cappucino foam, there should be no big bubbles in the tea, and if you use 120 pong whisk it is easier to make uniform small bubbles, those make the tea better tasting because the air that is suspended in the bubbles accentuates the taste of the tea, when I make usucha I have very nice uniform and thick foam, so that it lasts until I finish drinking the tea.
Preheat the bowl, put in 2 chasaku worth (decent not small), of presifted matcha, and pour boiling water from your kettle to a cold porcelain cup, pour about 80 ml to 100 ml, the cold cup should almost instantly cool the water to 80 - 85C, and pour the whole content to the chawan, and start whisking writing W letter, until the surface of the tea is uniformly smooth with equal sized dine green foam.
Watch this video, it is better>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVdIFZIVMqs

[ryan]

I am not familiar with that particular matcha but have found with others 180 is much too hot. Try the suggestions the other posters have made and once you are satisfied experiment with lower temperatures.

[Oni]

P.S. With koicha you pour around 50 - 60 ml of boiling hot water to your cold porcelain cup, you pour only a little amount around 20 ml on the huge amount of powder, you mix it to a thick paste, and after that you pour the rest of the water and mix it up, so this way the water cools even more the brewing temperature is lower that usucha, but you should use boiling water because while transfering such a small amount of water the heat loss is much greater than with larger amounts of water, with usucha use around 80 ml, with koicha use around 60 ml with 4 chasaku worth of matcha.
Remember the higher the quality of matcha, the sweeter it is, make koicha only from those matcha that the seller recomends for this pourpouse.

[debunix]

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.

[AdamMY]

Whisking may inprove sweetness, but it looks like you have the right amount of foam. But matcha is just as varied as sencha or gyokuro, there are many qualities and grades, and flavors imparted. The first matcha-s I had were much like you describe sorta umami lots of semisweet chocolate, and only slightly sweet and creamy. Then I had a matcha the other day and I feel in love it it is above the price range I normally want to spend on tea, but it was incredibly creamy and sweet, with practically no sign of bitterness.

[debunix]

Can you share which matcha was so special?

Perhaps I should be starting with a different matcha....

[AdamMY]

It was a Matcha recommended by Seeker, Ippodo's Wakamatsu-no-mukashi. At least I think thats the right spelling. So far I have tried 3 of Ippodo's matcha's and I have one more to try, all of them have been good but this one was the first one that was very creamy and sweet.

[debunix]

Thanks, will check that out.

[Oni]

Your matcha was way better than the one on the video, keep up the good work, the bubbles were fine, the more pongs the chasen has the more frothy the matcha becomes, practice makes perfect, I remember that many sites recomend 2 grams of matcha to 80 - 100 ml water when making usucha, and 4 grams to 60 ml when preparing koicha.

[debunix]

Another couple of weeks, another attempt at matcha:



Still not excited by it. Water was 160 degrees, cup was preheated, spun the chasen between my palms to get a nice foam, and the broth was not in the slightest bitter, just not very sweet or interesting. It may be getting a little too long past opening now too.