I think I'm in love...MATCHA oh MATCHA...

[Salsero]

Good matcha costs around 0.8$ to 1.5$ per g, which means for one bowl of usacha 1.5 to 3$. For koicha you have to double or triple the amount of tea and the prices goes up accordingly.

...Starbucks...

You have Starbucks in France now?

My matcha experience has been less than Olivierco's but cheaper. Maiko's Maccha "Kyo Mukashi" cost me $10 for 40 gr (it's gone up since then) and gave me at least 28 half-cup (120 ml) sessions coming out to 35¢ per session (of course you would have to add shipping to get the true cost). It was an inexpensive matcha, but I found it very delicious. Their Maccha "Matsu no Midori" cost me $15 for 40 gr and I suppose I will get the same 28 sessions, coming out to 54¢ per session (+shipping). Ippodo's Kimmo-no-mukashi that came with my starter set costs somewhere between the two and was also very good. So it is possible to have usacha or thin matcha at a pretty modest cost.

I haven't yet made koicha or thick matcha nor have I bought any of the really first class matcha. Mmmm, maybe it's time.

[olivierco]

You have Starbucks in France now?

There are Starbucks everywhere. (Stephen Colbert had two under his desk ). They are some in Paris but I never went there. And never will I guess.

[Salsero]

There are Starbucks everywhere. (Stephen Colbert had two under his desk ).

... and you have Stephen Colbert!


"...reducing their locations to merely everywhere."

[Geekgirl]

If you are mostly drinking usucha, the Ippodo Horai-no-mukashi is excellent and a very good price, even factoring in shipping, as long as you are ordering a couple tins at a time.

I also second the Koto-no-tsuki from Ito-en as a great choice for usucha (and koicha), especially for the price.

Uwajimaya has a surprisingly good offering in their Matcha Kin for about $11/30g. It seems to be seasonal though.

I also liked the Ippuku organic matcha, also available at Uwajimaya and several places online. $27-$30/40g, not suitable for koicha, IMO.

Currently I'm using an organic matcha from a euro distributor. I got in trade for usage rights on a couple of my photos. The "ceremonial" grade is quite good as usucha, but a bit throat-locking as koicha. When this tin is finished, I'm back to my Horai from Ippodo, and I also ordered a tin of waka in my last order. yum.

For my money, it's Ippodo all the way, with the one from Ito-en as a close(ish) second.

[tenuki]

Uwajimaya has a surprisingly good offering in their Matcha Kin for about $11/30g. It seems to be seasonal though.

I also liked the Ippuku organic matcha, also available at Uwajimaya and several places online. $27-$30/40g, not suitable for koicha, IMO.

+1 for both of these recommends. The uwajimaya generic is my daily drinker, great for the price. I also like DoMatcha, also available off the shelf at Uwajimaya.

[Geekgirl]

I also like DoMatcha, also available off the shelf at Uwajimaya.

I've not yet tried the DoMatcha. Red can or green? I see that Whole Foods stocks this one.

[tenuki]

I also like DoMatcha, also available off the shelf at Uwajimaya.

I've not yet tried the DoMatcha. Red can or green? I see that Whole Foods stocks this one.

small red can, the green can is good too, but it's a bit more expensive for being JONA organic certified. there is a big red can too that is second harvest, so has a bit more bitterness and astringency which I don't like, but it is 80g/$32.

[Geekgirl]

kthx! I'll try it after the current batch.

[tealing]

Just getting back - good to know I'm not alone in this newfound matcha obsession

Now to order my first batch of sencha & gyokuro...

[Psyc.rose]

I ordered Matcha from Teavana.com once. I can honestly say that the best way i could describe the taste is by the following statement.......

"If a Tree had Urine......that would result in the taste of Matcha"

It had an awful flavor. Is it cause I ordered from Teavana? Is it just a acquired taste in general? Any suggestions, Id like to enjoy it.....especially for health benefits

[tealing]

I've only ordered from a seller called ryu mei so far - though others here might have really good suggestions as well.

If you never before tried green tea in any way, it might be an acquired taste for you. For my part, I had green tea ice cream at Japanese restaurants, and over time I really started to like the flavor - so it was really easy for me to just love Japanese greens, full stop - though yeah, they are more veggie like.

There are lots of things you can do to help yourself get to like the flavor, like making matcha latte, etc... and after a while, you end up liking the tea just plain by itself.

I don't know if it's that teavana.com's is just bad or not, as I haven't had tea from there, though...

Maybe someone else here might know?

[Geekgirl]

teavana's matcha is a VERY BAD example. I wouldn't even cook with it. blech.