Your day in matcha

Non-oxidized tea
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debunix
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Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:44 pm

Share today's matcha experience: what are you whisking up? In what chawan? and what's your setup for enjoying matcha today?
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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:05 pm

I've posted in the green tea topic about my adventures in matcha, but I'm going to copy those to seed this topic, and then update.
debunix wrote:
Sun Nov 19, 2017 12:31 pm
Matcha! this week has been a revelation, because I finally learned how to make a matcha that I enjoy. My long-neglected chawans have finally found their intended use, and they are working beautifully.

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This was the first matcha I bought at Nijo Castle from a Fukujuen booth.....as close as I got to shopping in their flagship store, sigh.

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All set

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Petr Novak's shino chawan, from the TeaChat special offer firing, with matcha at last:

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If it weren't for a bit of nagging guilt that this glorious bowl had never met it's intended tea, I might not have pursued my matcha adventure. Thank you, Petr, for the gift of matcha enjoyment!

Good to the last drop

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More to come in part II

And even more photos than anyone could want to see in the whole Flickr set here
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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:05 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Nov 19, 2017 12:44 pm
Buckwheat reflections

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The Flower of Forgetfulness, a snowflake glaze chawan from Petr Novak, gets its turn

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Still good to the last drop

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And here is Shawn McGuire's secret shino porcelain chawan being baptized with matcha

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It makes a lovely backdrop to the final drop

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And here is Ericka O'Rourke's chawan getting a turn

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Last edited by debunix on Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:10 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Nov 26, 2017 12:37 pm
Another day, another chawan to introduce to matcha: today, Petr Novak's feldspar-glazed summer chawan.

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A moment before I took this one of the cats came over for a sniff of the matcha. He backed away and then ran off sneezing. Matcha: not snuff!

So green!

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And I love the delicate green shadings at the end.

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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:16 pm

Seigan blue Hagi with matcha

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A tenmoku-oilspot combination glaze chawan by Rokuro Watanabe

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So green against the oilspots

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And good to the last bubbles

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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:19 pm

Shyrabbit tenmoku chawan meets matcha

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Emerald

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This black raku chawan was a gift from a friend when I visited Kyoto recently

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The green on black is a sensational combination

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and here I was so impressed by the delicate traceries of the sifted matcha on the side of the bowl afterwards

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Still having fun with matcha!
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debunix
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Sun Dec 10, 2017 4:27 pm

I've still got two or three more cups/bowls that haven't met matcha yet, but now I need some tips to help keep my matcha going for a good long time.

What is the accepted way to clean the chasen after use? I've been pouring some hotter water into the bowl, and whisking it about, and then setting it on a chasen-rest.

And....how do you clean the tea scoop coated with matcha powder? Rinsing in hot or cold water doesn't seem to remove all the bits of powder from the grooves; and certain creature's appreciate of tea means that a scoop not put away quickly enough may be licked and needs at least a rinse, so just shaking it off doesn't seem like enough.
chofmann
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Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:06 pm

Moderator edit: Vendors (including affiliates) may not post promotional links, testimonials, etc. Chofmann is related to the posted vendor. The link has been broken. Also this is a previous file photo used by Leafy Green Tea dot com and is not representative of "Your day in matcha topic".
Chip
Immoderate tea drinker who happens to Moderate


My matcha from yesterday morning. Ceremonial grade from leafy green tea dot com, best I've ever had!
matcha.PNG
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debunix
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Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:27 pm

Look at all that lovely foam! I can barely get a few bubbles most of the time.
chofmann
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Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:47 pm

The trick is a high quality matcha... and some good whisking helps.
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pedant
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Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:53 pm

i usually get good froth, and i think whisking pretty aggressively is key.

however, i wonder if somehow messing it up at the beginning makes it hard to recover?
i haven't made matcha enough times to really test this out, but the last time i made it, i made it side by side with someone else using identical tea and equipment. i got good foam, but my friend didn't. he was whisking more gently.
i took over and couldn't get it to look like mine.
does anyone have any theories on this?

i don't have a mechanism in mind really, but have you guys ever made mayonnaise? you know how if it doesn't emulsify right away, you're basically out of luck no matter how much you blend it? i wonder if it could be a little like that.
Noonie
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Tue Dec 12, 2017 3:07 pm

Love the photos!

I feel lucky that I chose not to go down the teaware rabbit hole. I buy 1-2 teaware items a year, and focus on the tea instead. But your photos make me reconsider :o
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Chip
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Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:00 pm

chofmann wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:06 pm
My matcha from yesterday morning. Ceremonial grade from leafygreentea.com, best I've ever had!

matcha.PNG
Ceremonial grade matcha? Really? Looks very pale and creamy and not at all like ceremonial grade matcha.

In fact this looks exactly like your wife's coconut matcha latte on your wife's business FB from October 29, leafygreentea.com
chofmann
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Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:28 pm

She added a bit of soy milk to make it a matcha latte, hence the color (yes, I know, sacrilegious.... but I'm more of a chinese green tea fan than Matcha fan, so I like it that way, and it still tastes better with high-grade matcha than low quality matcha). The picture is old (and obviously staged, hence why I used it), but I still drink it often... I just don't have good photography skills myself. I wasn't trying to mislead!

This is what the matcha looks like without any milk added (the dark green on the right... no froth here as it is a staged photo meant to show off colors):
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leth
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Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:15 am

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Table brewing for today, simple and lazyily. Going to drink some more fancy chinese teas later so I'll just start the day with some matcha.
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