Ugh second bowl. After a whiff test with Ito en matcha I have decided Ito en matcha has a strong grassy fishy smell and not sweet note where as toyo smells like veggies and zuchini and a background hint of sweetness. I sifted the matcha this time and I am not sure if I measured 1 tsp or 1tsp and a half. This bowl of toyo hits in stages: bitter→ zuchinni→ slightly sweet. I’m getting some umami but toyo is not as sweet at kiri :(. I might need to knock it down to 1/2 tsp. this is slight better quality than the Ito en but I still prefer my kiri no mori.
If you don’t mid bitter than this one is good for you.
EDIT: I just realized earlier my bowl had a funky hot paper smell so I sprinkled a small amount of Ito en in it to freshen it up…. I never rinsed or dusted that out!!! Oops! Because toyo doesn’t smell nearly as bitter as what I just drank! I just finished washing and rinsing it very well as well as drying it out with more paper towels. I wasn’t paying attention when I was cleaning up and stuck my plastic measuring teaspoon in my mouth to lick te last bits of matcha off before I washed it. It tastes pretty good, a strong flavor somewhat more bitter than kiri but with a soft sweetness. Really thinking that the dusting of the other matcha threw the flavor off (or I am going insane!). I will try this again tomorrow maybe. Maybe I will have a small cube of sugar or some pallate cleaner before I drink this.
