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I found a huge difference in matcha from different sources, and I'm a bitterphobe too. I can't speak to many different varieties--I bought 3 samples from Whole Foods once upon a time and did not record their names, but when I went to Japan and tried matcha at a temple and at the tea farm, I loved it. I'm still using up the matcha I bought then (some was sealed in the fridge so long-stored and held up well), and now am enjoying a mid-priced matcha from Tsuen tea shop (bought at the original store in Uji by the famous bridge).

I stick to morning sencha most days, but love matcha now as a change of pace. I'm a little nervous about the next steps--I can't easily order directly from Tsuen and didn't get enough details from the other one, bought at a market stall, to begin to try to figure out which one it is--and how easy will it be to find one I like as much as these? But I'm confident I will find it.

O-cha carries 2 Tsuen matchas, actually the 2 most expensive ones on their page. I wonder if one of those is what you brought back from Japan.

If you're sensitive to bitterness, sadly you won't find any matcha under $1/g that isn't bitter when prepared as Usucha (or Koicha). Interestingly, some people are more sensitive to bitterness than others. My wife and I recently did 23andMe, and it turns out that I am not sensitive to bitterness, but she is.

For those who are sensitive and still want to enjoy matcha in a relatively pure form on a budget, I recommend diluting it a bit more with water, going the matcha latte route, or even combining it with seltzer (the bubbles help to hide the bitterness, but it is still just water).

Unfortunately many cafes (such as Starbucks) use pre-mixed blends for their matcha lattes, which are mostly sugar, perhaps some powdered milk, and a bit of matcha powder. I've seen one from a vendor who sells it that was ~70%-80% sugar by weight, if memory serves correctly.

$1 per gram of matcha is still less than $2 per serving. I’m working my way up the matcha chain and maybe someday I’ll be ready for your Asahi Honzu Matcha.

@Janice

Take this with a grain of salt since I'm a matcha newbie, but Hibiki-an's 'Matcha Super Premium' is the least bitter matcha I've tried for under $1 per gram. I wouldn't classify it as bitter at all, but my taster may be different than yours. If you purchase 40g it works out to 0.85/g and if you buy 120g it's 0.71/g.

https://www.hibiki-an.com/index.php/cPath/26

Soon I'll be blind tasting 19 different matchas between a price point of $0.34-1.05/g. If I run into any other matchas on the low bitter side, I'll let you know.

t-curious wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:07 pm

Janice

Take this with a grain of salt since I'm a matcha newbie, but Hibiki-an's 'Matcha Super Premium' is the least bitter matcha I've tried for under $1 per gram. I wouldn't classify it as bitter at all, but my taster may be different than yours. If you purchase 40g it works out to 0.85/g and if you buy 120g it's 0.71/g.

https://www.hibiki-an.com/index.php/cPath/26

Soon I'll be blind tasting 19 different matchas between a price point of $0.34-1.05/g. If I run into any other matchas on the low bitter side, I'll let you know.

I’ll be following your taste testing reports. The Hibiki-an refills are interesting. I have several good containers to use so I can decant the whole bag and store most of it in the fridge.

My last matcha session, ryakubon simple setup.

Some more matcha
In a raku chawan with a chashaku made by a friend of mine with bamboo from our family garden.

Elise wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:07 am

My last matcha session, ryakubon simple setup.

That bowl is stunning. Who's the author?

.m. wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 4:05 pm

That bowl is stunning. Who's the author?

This one is a homemade one. I was trained as a potter, and have been practicing more or less randomly for a long time. Since I started practicing sadō for some time now, I recently tried to reproduce some of the effects seen in Japanese tea ceremony ceramics.

Elise wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 4:29 pm

.m. wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 4:05 pm

That bowl is stunning. Who's the author?

This one is a homemade one. I was trained as a potter, and have been practicing more or less randomly for a long time. Since I started practicing sadō for some time now, I recently tried to reproduce some of the effects seen in Japanese tea ceremony ceramics.

Wow, that's awesome. Bravo!!!

@Elise You must show us more of your work.

Such a beautiful bowl - please post side views when you have the chance.

Thank you
Here are some more pictures.

Elise wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:06 am

Thank you
Here are some more pictures.
9CF9EC2D-F3F7-45E2-A590-CB12419876E9.jpeg5824D99C-4280-45DF-B2B5-7DAB0626DD82.jpeg

Wow, @Elise a stunning chawan and beautifully photographed as well. What can you tell us about it, maker, period...?