Cold Water Matcha

After having the Lupicia Okabe matcha the traditional way I decided to try this one with a bit of a twist to it. I tried making it using cold water rather than hot.

Infusion: The flavor of this matcha was very creamy and had just a bit of bitterness to it. The flavor was sweeter than the traditional matcha. Interestingly it had a very strong and intense flavor on the center of my tongue. It was very refreshing and enjoyable.

Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: This was a very untraditional way to prepare matcha, but it was an enjoyable bowl. I'm not sure that this would become my preferred method of making it, but I suppose it would be more enjoyable during the summer when the weather is hot.

Matcha Latte Iced

So having had a matcha latte, the next step in the progression was to try icing it. Using the same recipe as the regular matcha latte, I tried pouring that over a bowlful of ice. The latte pictured is made with the Tao of Tea matcha, Lupicia recipe, and then poured over ice.

Infusion: The taste of the latte was very refreshing. It was cool and clean. The sweetness was a bit more hidden having this beverage cold as opposed to warm, although it does bring out the tea flavor a good deal more. There is a very creamy texture to it and the actual matcha flavor is a bit more subdued. There is no bitterness to it, just a creamy milky tea.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: While the hot version of this was a bit better than the traditional matcha infusion made with the Tao of Tea matcha, this version was in it's own right very enjoyable. It is a bit of a stretch from a traditional tea, and is more akin to a starbucks beverage than something a tea purist would look at. But I believe that it has it's place, it is enjoyable for what it is. I will probably be enjoying beverages such as this a fair amount when summer rolls around again.

Matcha Latte

Tea: Matcha Latte

About this Latte: After opening and trying the Liquid Jade matcha from Tao of Tea, I decided to try using it as an ingredient grade matcha for a matcha latte. I tried using the Lupicia recipe for a matcha latte which can be found here.

Latte: The latte itself had a very sweet aroma to it, most likely due to the added sugar. The color was a very light shade of green, which masked the dull color of the matcha used. There is a very sweet and light matcha flavor to this drink and no bitterness at all. The flavor is very milky and smooth with a thick feeling to it. However there is a very noticeable gritty texture to the drink.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: The matcha latte was a much better way to drink the matcha used. It masked some of the downsides of the matcha and brought out a very nice enjoyable beverage. However the gritty texture was a bit of a turnoff. If it wern't for the amount of effort required to make this I would consider making these more often.

Tencha - Round 3

So having gone on the high end for temperature brewing Tencha, I decided to try brewing it on the cold side.

Brewing Parameters: 5 g leaf, 5 oz water, 37F water, 3 pulls per infusion 90 second separation.

1st Infusion, 1:30: This infusion has a very light and pale green color to it. The aroma is cool, rich, and calming. The flavor is very cool and creamy. It leaves a very clean feeling to the mouth. It has a bit of a smooth feeling coating the throat on the way down. The actual tea flavor is very light and barely noticeable. The creaminess of the flavor is definitely noticeable.

1st Infusion, 3:00: This time the color was light and pale green. The flavor is stronger than the first pull, but it is still very creamy and smooth. The taste is very crisp and cool. There is a light bit of tea flavored tanginess detectable in this infusion, but the main feeling I get from this is a very smooth, cool, and refreshing feeling.

1st Infusion, 4:30: This infusion started to develop a lightly opaque green color. It is strating to show it's gyokuro type flavor as a gyokuro umami creaminess is definitely showing through. The flavor feels like a regular infusion of a gyokuro.

2nd Infusion, 1:30: This infusion has a slightly hazy/milky appearance to it, the infusion is more of a pale yellow color this time. The taste is clear yet creamy at the same time. It feels thick, and has still a light tea flavor to it.

2nd Infusion, 3:00: The tea took on a pale yellow green color, and it feels very similar to the 1:30 pull from the second infusion.

2nd Infusion, 4:30: This infusion has more flavor to it, the flavor is thicker and creamier and has some tangs of flavor on the edges of the flavor. There isn't much in the regular center of the flavor though. The color is a lighter green color and has an aftertaste more akin to regular gyokuro.

3rd Infusion, 2:00: This infusion was light and almost a clear green color. The flavor was still creamy, but it feels as though it is hinting of letting up. There are definite tones of gyokuro grassiness. The tea is still very cool, crisp, and refreshing.

3rd Infusion, 4:00: This infusion was not quite as creamy, but it was still more refreshing and cleaner than chilled water alone. There is not much actual tea flavor to be found though.

3rd Infusion, 6:00: At this point the flavor is all but gone. It is right on the border of regular water with a light pale green color. There are traces of the sweet flavor still, but it reminds me of the flavor of just adding a bit of regular gyokuro to a glass of water.

All in all I would say that I a lot of flavor came out of one batch of leaf for a lot of different experiences.

Tencha - Round 2

So to further my adventures with Tencha, I decided to try steeping it as a sencha (against my better judgment)

Brewing Parameters: 5g Leaf, 5oz water, 185F, 3 pulls 1 minute separation from each.

1st Infusion, 1 minute: This infusion had a light pale yellow color to it with a light murkiness. The aroma is the same very sweet enjoyable one that accompanied the previous attempts. The flavor has the same thickness as the colder steeped tencha. The flavor though had a sharper feel to it. This flavor was still paired with the rich and thick flavor, but also had a long lingering aftertaste to it. There was a definite grassiness to the flavor.

1st Infusion, 2 minute: This infusion was more yellow in color and had the same initial strengh of flavor, but not the same on the back end. The flavor was strong to the point of bordering on bitter in the mid section of the flavor. The hints of bitter linger on the tongue on the back. At the same time though there is still a strong gyokuro like flavor in the middle section of the flavor.

1st Infusion, 3 minute: This infusion had a much more definite yellow hue to it. The flavor is strong and more lingering. It had a sharp tangy bitterness to it, but this tang was more noticeable than anything else, It felt like the tang was masking everything else of the flavor.

After the first infusion I didn't think it was worth it to continue for a second. The flavor seemed far enough off of the typical flavor reservation that it seemed a bit odd to continue further.

Tencha

I recently got some Tencha, but did not really know how to brew it so I decided to experiment with it somewhat. Tencha for those who don't know is the unground tea leaves used for matcha. So in theory if you were to grind these leaves up you would make your own matcha.

The method I used for brewing my experiment consisted of 3 minute infusions with decanting at 1 minute intervals. This resulted in three different cups of tea for each infusion. This was repeated for a first and second infusion at 140F and a third infusion on the same batch at 185 F and one infusion on fresh leaf at 185 F. Eatch batch used 5g of Tencha leaf for a total of 5 oz of water

1st Infusion (Batch 1): 1 minute
The tea has a very sweet aroma from the dry leaf all the way through infusion and the first cup. The sweetness reminds me a little of a yutaka midori. The infusion has a light pale green color to it with lots of small flecks of tea leaf floating around in it. The flavor is incredibly thick umami flavor to it. It very much reminds me of a gyokuro. It feels as though the tea is actually much thicker than it actually is. There is a very strong and intense flavor at initial onset, which then tapers into a rich full bodied thick flavor. There is a very strong lingering aftertaste.

2minute:
This infusion was thicker and stronger than the 1 minute infusion. There was a grassy flavor, but not as apparent and noticeable as the thick rich flavor. The infusion was darker green in color with the same small flecks present. The flavor was strong and tapered on the back to a strong aftertaste that lingers at the back of the tongue.

3 minute:
Again the flavor is best described in one word as thick. The middle flavor had a tinge of bitterness to it and there is a barely detectable hint of astringency here.

2nd Infusion (1st Batch): 1 minute
The flavor this time around was lighter, and the tea had a pale yellow-green color to it. There was not nearly as much of an umami flavor as the first time around. It almost felt like there was just a light residual thickness at this point.

2 minute: The flavor was thicker than the 2nd infusion, 1 minute cup, and had a bit more of a light and grassy flavor. The flavor was still very light.

3 minute: This cup had a light sense of astringency to it. The flavor was light and grassy. The infusion had a darker yellow green color than the 2nd Infusion 2 minute cup.

3rd Infusion (1st Batch) (185F): 1 minute
There was a light and crisp warm water taste to this infusion. There was a light flavor to the tea, but therew as not much left here.

2 minute: There were hints of a grassy flavor and a light tinge of astringency, but it had the same light flavor as the 1 minute infusion.

3 minute: There was a stronger flavor this time around, it was a light gyokuro like flavor, but it was apparent that by this point the tea had lost most of it's flavor.

1st Infusion (2nd Batch) (185F): 1 minute
This infusion had a pale light yellow color to it, the infusion was slightly murky and had a sweet aroma. It had the same thickness as the 140F infusion, but the flavor felt sharper. While sharp, it still had a very thick and rich flavor which tapered into a long lingering aftertaste. There was a light grassiness, but the flavor was much sharper than the 140F infusion.

2 minute:
This infusion was more yellow in color. It has that initial strength of flavor as the other infusions, but not the same flavor on the back end. There was a strong almost bitter flavor in the middle that lingers on the tongue. It still reminds me greatly of a gyokuro in flavor.

3 minute:
At this point the flavor was a definite yellow color infusion. It was back to a strong lingering flavor, but this time with a sharp tangy bitterness. The tang of the flavor masked most other flaovrs that were noticeable.

Conclusion so far: So far it looks like this tea acts just like a gyokruo does in flavor. Infuse with cooler water (140F), and go for a number of short steeps. I will probably try brewing this like it were a gyokuro next to verify that it will behave in a similar manner. This is definitely an interesting tea though.

Orange Matcha

Today for something a bit different. A bit ago I was organizing my tea stash and found a container of matcha that I had opened but neglected to finish. Matcha has a tendency to lose some of its flavor quickly after being opened, so I figured this was a perfect subject on which to experiment, the result: Orange Matcha.

To start with I pulled out my matcha equipment, I chose one of my smaller chawans because I didn't want to make too much of anything when I was experimenting with this. The equipment I used was fairly standard; chasen (wisk), chawan(bowl), and chashaku (bamboo scoop). Along with this I had a small pitcher of cold orange juice.

To start with I placed 3 scoops of sifted matcha into the chawan. I then poured in a small amount of orange juice and proceeded to wisk the orange juice and matcha. I only used a small amount of the orange juice to help work the matcha. As I continued to wisk the matcha I added more and more orange juice. I have been experimenting with the ratios, but it varies incredibly by the orange juice you use. For instance a nice freshly squeezed orange juice is much sweeter than the orange juice from the grocery store in a jug. I tried using more and less with this variation, and found that the sweeter and bolder the orange juice the less matcha to use. For a weaker more dilute orange juice more matcha provided a good flavor. The two difference though produce very different beverages. It becomes a bowl of matcha with a hint of orange or a bowl of orange juice that is flavored with matcha. Both proved to be quite good, but it seemed odd to produce something in the middle.

This was more of an experiment with something unusual, but proved to be quite good. If you wish to try this I would suggest starting with about 3 scoops of matcha per 200 mL of orange juice. From there you should vary your proportions to your taste or whatever you may think is interesting. There is no right or wrong here, only interesting experimentation. I will continue to experiment with this and find something that I enjoy even more perhaps.