Your day in matcha

Non-oxidized tea
faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:24 am

bentz98125 wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:31 am
I agree to the role of personal preference and even mood, in matcha/water ratio. But recently I tried [...]
I would say this is a case of "and" rather than "but". Always fun experimenting to see what comes out of it, and what you can add to your bag of tricks.
bentz98125 wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:31 am
seeing how thick I could make some (really high quality) matchas before they tasted bitter.
That sounds like a delicious but expensive experiment!
bentz98125 wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:31 am
Some I made so thick they weren't even a liquid but rather, a pudding-like consistency that was possible sip
I do not know how thick the thing must become until you cannot call it koicha anymore, but being able to have a high powder-to-water ratio certainly is a selling point of very expensive matchas. What a great business model : pay more per gram, so that you can use more grams in a portion!
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debunix
Posts: 1812
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:56 am

Today I weighed and used 0.7g for 30mL water, with maybe 5 mL of cool water first to dissolve, then 25 mL hot water, whisked and drank, mmmmm.
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TeaTotaling
Posts: 519
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:08 pm
Location: Ohio

Sun Aug 02, 2020 10:19 am

Mmmmm, Koicha! Definitely my preferred Matcha consistency. It's been a while since I have played with powder. Last time I whisked up was with Tsuji-san's Asahi. So buttery and smooth with a mild vegetal note, perfect for Koicha. Potent stuff!!
OhThatNinja
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:25 pm
Location: Ohio

Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:12 am

debunix wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 9:56 am
Today I weighed and used 0.7g for 30mL water, with maybe 5 mL of cool water first to dissolve, then 25 mL hot water, whisked and drank, mmmmm.
OK, so if you used 0.7 g for 30 ml of water, I should be using 5.5 g for my 8 oz (236 ml). I'll try less water next time. My broth did taste a little "weak" but it could also be old matcha powder itself...
polezaivsani
Posts: 191
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2019 4:43 pm
Location: Kaliningrad, RU

Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:23 pm

@bentz98125, i thank you sooo much for a great laughter i had while imagining your trick of transcending matcha liquid into matcha pudding and scooping it in spoonfuls to an astonishing effect :lol:.
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debunix
Posts: 1812
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:56 pm

OhThatNinja wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:12 am
if you used 0.7 g for 30 ml of water, I should be using 5.5 g for my 8 oz (236 ml)
I wouldn't say you "should" because my palate is not necessarily the most typical, or the same as yours, and I was preparing still pretty fast and loose. But I hope that gives you an idea.

I've written about this before in other topics, but I can't find the right posts now to link, so apologies in advance for repeating myself yet again.

I first tried preparing matcha I bought at local markets (nicer supermarkets, but not tea specialists), stuff a step up from the 'cooking' grade, and reading and watching online videos for guides on how to prepare it. I did not like it one bit, and I gave up on it until I went to Japan, and when visiting a famous garden with a teahouse, I tried the 'prepare your own' matcha (they set you up with the matcha already in the bowl, chasen, a small pot of premeasured hot water, and a laminated visual guide to mixing it up. It was a revelation. And during my tour day at Obubu Tea Farm, there was another lesson with a chance to ask a lot of questions, and again, I loved it.

I think the keys were truly fine matcha, seeing the proportions used for preparations, and developing a sense of what it could taste like when well prepared.
OhThatNinja
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:25 pm
Location: Ohio

Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:54 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:56 pm
OhThatNinja wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:12 am
if you used 0.7 g for 30 ml of water, I should be using 5.5 g for my 8 oz (236 ml)
I wouldn't say you "should" because my palate is not necessarily the most typical, or the same as yours, and I was preparing still pretty fast and loose. But I hope that gives you an idea.
Of course. I was just taking it as a guide.
By the way, 30 ml is such a small amount of liquid... If I were to put it in my chawan, I don't think it would even cover the bottom. Are you using a relatively small vessel for your matcha?
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:05 pm

OhThatNinja wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:54 pm
By the way, 30 ml is such a small amount of liquid... If I were to put it in my chawan, I don't think it would even cover the bottom. Are you using a relatively small vessel for your matcha?
Yes, today's matcha was prepared in a smaller chawan or larger yunomi from Yamane Seigan.
OhThatNinja
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:25 pm
Location: Ohio

Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:46 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:05 pm
OhThatNinja wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:54 pm
By the way, 30 ml is such a small amount of liquid... If I were to put it in my chawan, I don't think it would even cover the bottom. Are you using a relatively small vessel for your matcha?
Yes, today's matcha was prepared in a smaller chawan or larger yunomi from Yamane Seigan.
Ah, thank you.
Mine is rather large. Even 8 oz fills about 1/3 of the bowl.
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:55 pm

I use a very small volume of water even in a larger chawan....

Image

As I understand it, the large size of the bowl is to permit splashing as the tea is mixed, and because they have developed from rice bowls rather than drinking cups.
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bentz98125
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:08 pm
Location: Seattle

Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:06 pm

polezaivsani wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 1:23 pm
bentz98125, i thank you sooo much for a great laughter i had while imagining your trick of transcending matcha liquid into matcha pudding and scooping it in spoonfuls to an astonishing effect :lol:.
Glad you took it in the spirit it was given. Hope I didn't distress anyone who has a lot invested in precision and consistency. That's fine too. But since I hear God laugh whenever I make a plan, I love that I can play around with something as tasty as matcha without a disappointing result. So many variables, so little time!
OhThatNinja
Posts: 38
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:25 pm
Location: Ohio

Sun Aug 02, 2020 6:32 pm

debunix wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:55 pm
I use a very small volume of water even in a larger chawan....

Image

As I understand it, the large size of the bowl is to permit splashing as the tea is mixed, and because they have developed from rice bowls rather than drinking cups.
Thank you for the photo. I believe my bowl is roughly the same size as yours.
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debunix
Posts: 1812
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Mon Aug 03, 2020 10:01 am

Another day, another matcha start with scale:

0.7 grams matcha powder
31.7 mL water
in Petr Novak chawan that holds 427 mL
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And I checked the Seigan blue chawan that I used for matcha yesterday

Image

and it holds 320 mL.

Petr's granite dripsicle summer chawan, that I shared this photo of yesterday, holds 477 mL:
debunix wrote:
Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:55 pm
I use a very small volume of water even in a larger chawan....

Image

As I understand it, the large size of the bowl is to permit splashing as the tea is mixed, and because they have developed from rice bowls rather than drinking cups.
but I apparently have a pretty solid pour setting baked into my arm that gives about 30-35 mL for matcha. The gooseneck kettle certainly helps.
bef
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 7:37 pm

Mon Aug 03, 2020 6:20 pm

@debunix
I’ve been looking at Seigan Yamane’s work for a while. His chawans seem to be smaller than most bowls on the market (10 cm vs. 12+ cm).

Are they as convenient as larger bowls?
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Elise
Posts: 235
Joined: Tue Dec 12, 2017 2:22 pm
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:00 pm

Sweet and rich matcha from
Single cultivar Okunoyama, from Tea Repertoire tea shop. I love it.
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