Follow my quest to discover the world of matcha and foods
picture @ JapaneseTeaFarm
In this blog, I’ll be sharing my matcha experience with everyone and give my personal feedback to the matchas as well as foods that I’ve encountered here in Brunei. In the future, I’ll also share my experiences outside of Brunei. So Let’s explore the matchas together! Keep in mind I’m still new to matcha and my first ever blog! But first, what is Matcha you ask?
Matcha, a powdered Japanese green tea which is crafted from dried tea leaves and has served as a fundamental element in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies for centuries. Originating from the camellia sinensis plant, the same source as all true teas, its leaves can be utilized to create green tea. Notably, there are variations within the camellia sinensis species, with certain varieties proving to yield superior matcha. The utmost quality matcha consistently emerges from three Japanese varieties known as samidori, okumidori, and yabukita in Japanese.
The main area of matcha cultivation in Japan is a place called Uji, which sits on the southeast border of the city of Kyoto, the homeland of almost all traditional Japanese arts and aesthetic pursuits. Many of Japan’s most distinguished (and most expensive) matcha come from Uji.
There are 3 known grades of matcha powder. These 3 categories are based on where the green tea plants are grown, how they are cultivated, the tea leaves’ harvest period (or season), and the manufacturing process namely they are:
Ceremonial grade matcha
Daily grade matcha
Culinary grade matcha
How do we grade them u may ask? Well to be frank, I’m also new to this and still learning how to grade and see how a good matcha is! I’ll be following a guide that was done by other website matchawellness.com on how to distinguish a good matcha and a less good matcha.
Characteristics of a good quality
Matcha drinks> it
First things first, is the origin - Where the matcha came from, mostly the good tasting ones are from japan.
Second one would be the colour - whereby a good quality matcha should actually have a bright green colour, the greener the better!
Third would be the smell - A high grade matcha will draw you in with a strong aroma! It has a sweet smell.
Fourth one is the taste - one thing to note that they actually have a sweet earthy flavour produced by the amino acid, L-theanine, which were manufactured from from their growing process.
The fifth one to note is the finish - High grade matchas will have a long smooth and silky finish when compared to low quality matchas!
The last one is the froth - High grade matchas must have a creamy, frothy foamy layer on top and not just thin layer of bubble.
My experience From kyobn.co
One of a very good matcha place I’ve tried was from kyobn.co, I heard that they serve a very good and high grade matcha’s up to the Ceremonial grade matcha!
So far I’ve tried only two flavours from kyo.bn , and I’ve yet to try out the others. Below will be a link where I’ll be talking in detail of both flavours of matcha and what I think about them.