Matcha for beginners

[Owlie]

I apologize if someone's asked this before, but I don't know the unofficial policy on resurrecting old threads.

So, matcha. I don't want to spend a ton of money (because I'm a poor student). I also don't want to spend money on a nasty-tasting tea and write the whole thing off. With that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations?
I know to do it properly, you need the whisk (the name escapes me right now) and the bowl, but I don't have any kitchen storage to spare, not do I want to spend money until I decide I like it. Can I wing it with what I have in the kitchen already?

[Noahnoir]

Of course you can, make it with the chasen and sippin out of a chawan its just more traditional.
My unremarkable matcha career began with a cereal bowl and a electrical milk frother.

I have to confess i tried not "sooooo" much different matchas in my time, but i tried all from maiko and i can tell they all are quite good... the matsu no midori was my daily matcha for a while, even after i drank the kotubuki...
at the moment i'm trying all the matchas from o-cha, but i have just open the kiri no mori, rest is waiting in the fridge... i will try them in ascending order from inexpensive to the high end... the kiro no mori is good, but i still prefer the matsu no midori...
but i really looking forward to try the other ones...
hope i was a little helpful...

sorry for bad english...

[OhJungMin]

I have a great interest in this topic as I myself is about to get into Matcha drinking. A lot of people on this forum love Matcha and I finally decided to give it a try.
In addition to great beginner's Matcha selection it would be nice if anyone also let us know where we can get them.

Also, do you have to store your opened Matchas in the fridge???

[entropyembrace]

I have a great interest in this topic as I myself is about to get into Matcha drinking. A lot of people on this forum love Matcha and I finally decided to give it a try.
In addition to great beginner's Matcha selection it would be nice if anyone also let us know where we can get them.

Also, do you have to store your opened Matchas in the fridge???

http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/ or http://www.o-cha.com/home.php

where Noahnoir´s suggestions which I will second

I would not store opened matcha in the fridge...youre running the risk of condensation when you take it out and also that it will absorb yucky odours from your fridge.

Also you can prepare matcha without the specialized tools...I used an egg beater (the hand powered kind not electric) and a cereal bowl for some time before I purchased a chawan and bamboo whisk.

it does make a difference to have the proper tools, but it´s possible to improvise without them if you want to just try matcha without investing a lot of money in the gear

[OhJungMin]

Thank you all!
So I just learned there are two basic types of Matcha - thin (Usucha) and thick (Koicha) with the latter one being sweeter and milder than the former. Also, it looks like thick Matcha is usually more expensive than the thin type.

[jodiklaus]

I just ordered my first Matcha tin and hopefully will have it this week. I did order the bamboo wisk just in case. I'm hoping that I can mix it in my Magic Bullet with my health drink for breakfast.

[skilfautdire]

As my avatar kindof shows, it is possible to have matcha using a plain bowl and a kitchen whisk (being fine helps).

Keyboard optional.

This should give a taste. if you want to get a fine n' creamy fluff then a proper whisk is in order. I'd even boast go for a Japanese made matcha whisk, but you can get Chinese ones at half the price.

'Matcha in a tin' does not make much sense to me. So much air.
I personally find that matcha should be stored in a small, rolled-up and closed, 'aluminium' bag for daily use. Like the ones Hibiki-an has for their house matcha (which is fine).

Yuuki-cha sells affordable matcha by 100g bags. I've tasted all and they're all fine. Of course, the more expensive is finer grinded and tastes a bit sweeter, but that's the trick with matcha: price.

Just got 500g of organic matcha for $25. Will post a review soon. Just want to get a few more sips before doing so, affirming bases in objectivity.

[OhJungMin]

Just got 500g of organic matcha for $25. Will post a review soon. Just want to get a few more sips before doing so, affirming bases in objectivity.

Where did you get organic stuff for so cheap? If it's not a secret of course
We'll be waiting patiently for your review as well

[skilfautdire]

I must stay silent for the moment. I'd like to drop a few words, but in doing so I fear I might not be right. Where I get it from is certainly no secret, though. A Teachat search on 'peeps' will yield as second result, the thread where I mentioned this.

[Chip]

A Teachat search on 'peeps' will yield as second result, the thread where I mentioned this.

Little did I know "peeps" would double as a marker ...

[OhJungMin]

A Teachat search on 'peeps' will yield as second result, the thread where I mentioned this.

Little did I know "peeps" would double as a marker ...

Yep, it does I checked

[OhJungMin]

I must stay silent for the moment. I'd like to drop a few words, but in doing so I fear I might not be right. Where I get it from is certainly no secret, though. A Teachat search on 'peeps' will yield as second result, the thread where I mentioned this.

Still, did you like your first tasting?
I agree, it does look a little on the yellow side judging from the pics...

[Stentor]

I'm new to matcha and I am obviously still experimenting with brewing parameters.

The first and only matcha I have tasted is Kiri no Mori from O-Cha.
I am a sencha drinker so it is a completely different experience for me.
I have done 1.5 g matcha : 3 oz water, 2 g : 4 oz and 2 g : 3 oz. The differences in taste weren't huge. Also, I have tried water temperatures between 74° and 82° C. Not a huge difference in taste here either.

I've enjoyed it whichever way I've prepared it. However, due to my lack of experience with matcha, I don't really know what to expect nor what I am going for

Therefore, I was wondering what matcha powder to water ratios and what temperature you guys use.

I am looking forward to experimenting some more and trying other matchas, so comments would be very appreciated!

[Chip]

1:2 to 1:1 for most matcha. Depends on the matcha usually, but can also depend on mood.

Heh, recommended 1:1 on 1/1/11 @11:11:11.

Then there is koicha ... try an advanced forum search for koicha, author chamekke. Good reads. Chamekke was our resident matcha expert.

[Stentor]

Thanks for the tips, Chip! So I guess I was in the right ballpark. Next, I'm going to make some radical temperature experiments and see what happens

I did the search you suggested and found a very interesting thread I had not found before.

In the thread you said exactly what I was thinking just now:

Great discussion. I learned a lot here. I am a listener on this one.

Back to reading that thread...