Kokeicha

Tea: Kokeicha
Vendor: Dragonwater Tea Company
Price: $7.50 / 4 oz.
Source: Japan
Vendor Description: A Japanese green tea based from Matcha powder.

I had seen this form of tea show up on a few different vendor sites, and it had peaked my curiosity. I decided to get some, although at the prices I didn't have very high expectations. This is a relatively inexpensive tea and considering the description says it is "based" on Matcha powder it doesn't look much like actual Matcha.

The "leaves" themselves were much darker in color than I expected. I refer to them as "leaves" because they are far from that. They are hard little noodle like bits because the paste these were created from was squeezed out like a pasta maker. Once you've used them you can smear them with your finger into a paste.

The tea itself was very mild in flavor. It hinted at sweetness, but also had no bitterness and no astringency. The flavor hinted at the taste of matcha, but didn't follow through. This is a very unusual tea.

Rating: 8/10

Conlcusion: While this tea is very hard to describe, at it's price it is worth picking some up. It is a very mild and delicate flavor, but if you're expecting something very similar to matcha go get some real matcha.