Touch Organic Matcha
I only mention this because it’s an example of a cheap Chinese knockoff of a Japanese tea.
The tea was an off colour, like yellow brown grey. The finished product smelled like a box of tea bags. There was a metallic taste as well.
The Chinese make a lot of low grade matcha. It is sold all over EBay. Amazon, etc. It’s always cheap. I’ve never actually bought it but the price has always been too low to be even culinary grade. If you want cheaper Matcha made in Japan you can buy culinary grade which is probably ok for lattes etc.
I agree with that statement. I picked it up to see how bad it was compared to my matcha. Actually, this was the first time that I have spotted it in a discount retail location. $13 / 150g lol.
I got a new matcha sifter / tea cup infuser that is awesome today.
I suppose there could be some good matcha made in China but everything I have seen has been really low priced so you know it’s cheap. If you want a good place to buy real Japanese Matcha try Yunnomi.
http://www.yunomi.life/
I think there is a trend of products being sold with their original names in retail locations, only to be from China. Last time it was a Sencha, that was actually from China. I would double check products
As the only retail location I have bought Matcha at is my local tea shop and I trust them I can be certain it is from Japan. In fact I don’t know of any other retail location selling matcha other than my local tea shop, David’s Tea, or Teavana. I don’t know for sure where David’s Tea and Teavana get their matcha from but I think it is Japan. If you check out the website above, Yunomi, all their products are from Japan, Matcha, green tea, black tea, all Japanese at Yunomi. Also, if you choose EMS shipping from Yunomi you will get your order in around 48 to 72 hours. Japanese EMS shipping is that fast. You can be drinking real matcha from Yunomi 48 hours after ordering it. I have bought their Matcha, both ceremonial grade and lower grade for lattes and it is good. They sell a lot a varieties.
Also, just because you have gotten a couple of bad Chinese imitations of Japanese tea don’t assume all tea from China is bad. There is an awful lot of good tea from China out there. If you stick to good companies like Yunnan Sourcing, Berylleb King Tea on EBay, and a few others you will get good tea from China. I have also gotten good tea from Streetshop88 on EBay as well as White2Tea and Chawangshop. Yunnan Sourcing in particular has two websites, one that ships from Yunnan China and another www.yunnansourcing.us that ships from Oregon. You just missed a really good sale from Yunnan Sourcing US.
Getting to the point here. It’s more like a form of economic warfare, when a country like China copies the names of another countries products, and then sells garbage.
You can only hope that the consumer is smart enough to spot this deception. I would hate for someone to think this was a real Japanese product, and not like it because of this.
It also lends support to the EU argument for regional rights for food labels. Like using the word feta or parmesan.
China sells a lot of cheap knock offs of many products. With tea they also make some good stuff. Don’t buy the cheap knock offs. But buy the good stuff and support the hard working tea farmers who produce it. You will find that good Chinese tea is worth your time and effort. So is good Taiwanese tea for that matter. I am guessing you do not purchase much online. The best Chinese teas are usually not available locally. You have to go online. And then you have to buy from a reputable source such as Yunnan Sourcing or White2Tea. You will not go wrong with either of those vendors. If you want to buy from a US vendor try Mandala Tea at www.shopmandalatea.com. They sell excellent tea and if the origin is not listed just ask them and they will tell you.
I can personally attest to how terrible Touch Organic Matcha is. I picked up a huge tin for $5 back in the day when I didn’t know any better and thought I had scored the deal of the century. That was until I opened it and saw the yellow-ish/brown-ish color and how foul it tasted. Chucked the entire tin after a couple of sips.
Their Organic Oolong though is pretty decent for a teabag.
Is this Touch Organic Matcha a brand sold in Asian Markets or did you buy it online. I have always been wary of the cheap matcha sold by Chinese sellers on EBay, very cheap but I’m sure of questionable quality. On the other hand there is an EBay seller from Japan I have bought from with good Matcha. But his is much more expensive.
Marshalls/TJ Maxx carry a lot of Touch Organic teas. That’s where I got mine from.
Although a lot of the cheap matcha on the market comes from China, not all Chinese matcha is crap. One of my favorites is Red Leaf Tea’s Deluxe matcha which is very floral like a jade oolong and runs only $20/lb.
Yah, Marshall’s or TJ Max would be the kind of place to find it. (I am guessing). Retailers offering things at a discount.
Anyways, regardless of whether it is good or not, it still doesn’t come from Japan and is not real matcha.
I came across a 1 KG bag of Sencha today. $65 bucks. Made in China.
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