Wow! I’m the 1st one to log this! It wasn’t even in the data base. Really didn’t feel like making tea, but I know that drinking tea would make me feel better. Other than Adagio’s flavored senchas, Den’s Tea is all the experience I have w/ Japanese greens so I went thru my sample bag to find something I haven’t opened yet. Although I should really finish the 2 bags I have open so I don’t accidentally spill them and waste them.
Anyway… On to my mecha… (which sounds weird lol). I WAS all set to use one of those open bags until I saw this. I’ve never even heard of mecha before. So I rip open the bag and notice a lot of VERY tiny leaves, but they’re chopped and not rolled like gunpowder. I take a wiff of the raw leaves and INSTANTLY do not regret opening something new. It smells like my best friend matcha! I pour 1tsp of leaves into my 6oz of heated water and notice it looks like a bigger version of matcha! If the matcha wasn’t ground as fine and you poured it into my ingenuiTEA, this is what it would look like. Mecha only calls for a 45sec steep. I’m thinking that the Japanese are even less patient than I am in waiting for their tea.;) The liquor that this short steep produces is a beautiful yellowish one and the aroma is very similar to matcha. When sip this, I’m in love. It tastes more like matcha than it smells. Infact, the only real difference between this and matcha is that it has a slightly thinner texture and I didn’t drink this from my matcha bowl. And I totally would have given it a 100 if I had. If you’re wanting to try matcha, but you can’t afford a matcha set or the matcha itself. Try this! Or better yet, If you do have a matcha (or any bowl for that matter), use that instead of a cup.
Preparation
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Isn’t Japanese tea great? I got Apple Sencha instead. Seems “Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.” Gyokuro! (Highest Japanese grade tea) I have yet to try some of that. It’s on my shopping list.
I have apple sencha too, thanks to Lena. I like preparing it w/ premium sencha parameters. Ever since I got my matcha I’ve been sad I have to limit myself to half a bowl per day due to the cost/caffeine/and tannins. I was so annoyingly happy when I tried this. Gonna make infusion 2 now- IN MY BOWL! hehe. I was looking at their teaware and saw a cute shincha pot… Now gotta find out exactly what shincha is… haven’t heard of that either.
=D Wikipedia became my guide to Japanese Green tea.
Gotcha. So it’s a sencha pot by another name basicially. The names are similar so I thought that might be the case… but I know not to assume much about tea.;)
2nd infusion, 1 min. crap. This may be the end of this serving of Mecha. I poured the heated water into my ingenuiTEA and immediately the filter floats up to the top. GRRR! I just pray it doesn’t turn into a big mess… but oddly enough the water and the tea leaves stay in til I decant. And when I do, almost all of the tiny almost ground, leaves stay in my ingenuiTEA. How do I get all these TINY leaves out to put the filter back in??? I fished out a lot of them (which was kinda gross cuz they are slimy in texture), but what about the rest? sigh… But as for the taste, it’s amazing. The few leaves that did end up in my bowl give it even more of a matcha feel- literally.
You know I’m in love w/ a tea when I fish out tiny bits of slimy leaf that feels like it’s already been chewed and digested to clean it out and resteep them. And boy am I glad I did! 3rd infusion, 1min 20sec. As soon as I pour the hot water in, the liquor immediately becomes opaque like matcha or matcha dusted genmai cha. The liquor is an opaque olive/pea color and the taste is just like matcha. It just doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does. Have I mentioned how great this would be for matcha lovers? This is especially good for wanna be matcha lovers that just can’t get over the texture.
4th infusion, 1min 40sec. Liquor is a little lighter and more translucent and the taste more of your typical steeped green and not matcha.
But… this tea isn’t related at all to matcha. Why the comparison?
Because while it doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does, it tastes just like it.
Oh, I see.
This sounds great! I think I might add some of this onto my order from Den’s.
Isn’t Japanese tea great? I got Apple Sencha instead. Seems “Mecha is green tea derived from a collection of leaf buds and tips of the early crops. Mecha is harvested in spring and made as rolled leaf teas that are graded somewhere between Gyokuro and Sencha in quality.” Gyokuro! (Highest Japanese grade tea) I have yet to try some of that. It’s on my shopping list.
I have apple sencha too, thanks to Lena. I like preparing it w/ premium sencha parameters. Ever since I got my matcha I’ve been sad I have to limit myself to half a bowl per day due to the cost/caffeine/and tannins. I was so annoyingly happy when I tried this. Gonna make infusion 2 now- IN MY BOWL! hehe. I was looking at their teaware and saw a cute shincha pot… Now gotta find out exactly what shincha is… haven’t heard of that either.
=D Wikipedia became my guide to Japanese Green tea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea
Gotcha. So it’s a sencha pot by another name basicially. The names are similar so I thought that might be the case… but I know not to assume much about tea.;)
2nd infusion, 1 min. crap. This may be the end of this serving of Mecha. I poured the heated water into my ingenuiTEA and immediately the filter floats up to the top. GRRR! I just pray it doesn’t turn into a big mess… but oddly enough the water and the tea leaves stay in til I decant. And when I do, almost all of the tiny almost ground, leaves stay in my ingenuiTEA. How do I get all these TINY leaves out to put the filter back in??? I fished out a lot of them (which was kinda gross cuz they are slimy in texture), but what about the rest? sigh… But as for the taste, it’s amazing. The few leaves that did end up in my bowl give it even more of a matcha feel- literally.
You know I’m in love w/ a tea when I fish out tiny bits of slimy leaf that feels like it’s already been chewed and digested to clean it out and resteep them. And boy am I glad I did! 3rd infusion, 1min 20sec. As soon as I pour the hot water in, the liquor immediately becomes opaque like matcha or matcha dusted genmai cha. The liquor is an opaque olive/pea color and the taste is just like matcha. It just doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does. Have I mentioned how great this would be for matcha lovers? This is especially good for wanna be matcha lovers that just can’t get over the texture.
4th infusion, 1min 40sec. Liquor is a little lighter and more translucent and the taste more of your typical steeped green and not matcha.
But… this tea isn’t related at all to matcha. Why the comparison?
Because while it doesn’t have the mouth feel matcha does, it tastes just like it.
Oh, I see.
This sounds great! I think I might add some of this onto my order from Den’s.