Matcha or no Matcha

[sleepycat]

I'm told that Matcha green tea is much better than green tea. Where do you get the good stuff and how much does it usually run?

[paulj]

Here's a guide to Japanese teas
http://www.teanobi.com/products/all/t...

Matcha is a powdered tea, the type used for formal tea ceremonies. You don't brew it in the same way as loose teas. Japanese loose teas come in a range of qualities and prices.

paulj

[applehome]

Paulj is right - matcha isn't the preferred normal drinking tea for most Japanese. It is a fine powder, and it really needs the special wisk and open bowl treatment that's used in the tea ceremony. It's also good in ice cream. Sencha is the tea that's most often drunk as the quality daily tea. Genmai cha and ku-ki cha are used daily as well, but have rice and twigs, and are considered inferior (but far less expensive) - but they also have other benefits such as lower caffeine.

I would recommend a decent sencha as a good starting point for trying Japanese green teas.

A great source for all teas is Upton Tea:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/cata...

You will find many grades of sencha as well as a couple of matcha. They also sell the wisk and bowl kits for the matcha.

[SonyBob]

Upton Tea Co. is a good source of information. Just stay away from anything with the title of gen-mai or a reference to a "nutty flavor." In my opinion, it's just plain awful! Bob

[paulj]

I have never tried teas from Upton, but I do like gen-mai cha. This is a green tea with roasted (and partially popped) rice. But then I also like hojicha, a roasted green tea.

paulj

[cheapertrick]

I've drinking Maccha from Jagasilk www.jagasilk.com. They only carry Maccha and the Nirvana grade is excellent for the price.

[docciaoiam]

Cool link on Matcha and high-end purveyor of Matcha from Japan.

http://tastingtable.com/ecs/1817.htm?...
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[baisao]

Maccha is amazing, but it does require the right tools for the job. Gyokuro or Sencha are thte way to go for an honest intro to Japanese teas. I get mine from Aaron at http://www.tsusentei.com . He knows everything about tea and doesn't mind sharing. His site doesn't work very well, but you can order from him by emailing him at his name @ the site url. aaron at tsusentei dot com. He carries the best maccha and gyokuro I have found in the States.