KaiMatcha Premium

Today on Facebook, Kai Matcha suggested making an iced matcha latte with this. I was feeling a little sluggish this afternoon so I did it! I have made matcha lattes before but they were usually flavored matcha, all milk, and raw cane sugar. I didn’t follow their recipe exactly but made a few changes.

I sifted one teaspoon of matcha into my Starbucks cup that is like a Tervis tumbler. I added a little water, put the lid on, and shook like mad to mix it. I added the rest of the water for a total of one cup water, then added skim milk to the top of the glass, a little over a cup I suppose. It said four teaspoons honey, so I drizzled some in until I thought it was the right amount. I whooshed it a sec with my aerolatte to mix in the honey. I added a half cup of crushed ice from my fridge door. And then I slurped the whole thing down faster than I can believe. It was total deliciousness. I am going to be doing this a lot more often.

I must admit to being seriously tea drunk right now, though. I am not used to so much caffeine in so little time!

Green as spring itself
Most beautiful cup of Jade
There is only one

Perfect top of foam
Sometimes it works out that way
Glad it did today

Random snowflakes fall
Sitting by my kumquat tree
Sipping dreams of spring

I have been sipping on this for DAYS! This is truly incredible! I LOVE THIS!!!! It’s wonderful! Most notably…this matcha is among the frothiest I have seen! MARVY! More detailed review upon next sip! Stay Tuned!

A review of KaiMatcha Premium by KaiMatcha

Date: 11/18/2012
Company: KaiMatcha
Tea Name: KaiMatcha Premium
Tea Type/Varietal: Green tea powder
Region: Japan
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ 1 tea spoon
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: bright green
Leaf Characteristics: When I open the tin I met with the brightest of green in color and the tea powder smelling strongly of fresh grass. A cleanly, astringent and milky aroma is what I am met with as I hold the can to inhale the powder’s aroma. It is a most pleasant smell.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 165 Fahrenheit
Time: 1 minute

I am fixing for myself a cup of this KaiMatcha. I try not to have it every day so that it lasts longer. I know it is something I will purchase again and again, when I can afford it. I let the tap water run a bit longer while I take 1 spoonful of the tea powder and add this to my cup. I fill the kettle with water and let it boil, just short of coming to steam. I pour some of the water into my cup and stir gently. I stir with my small wooden spoon forward and back and across and I am pleased to see some foam forming as I do this. I do this until powder is mixed completely with the water and now I have lovely foam of green and smell both clean and brightly smooth. I take sip after sip since I am having this tea for strength, courage, for gratitude that the folks at KaiMatcha allowed me to have this tin of powder. They took a chance on me and sent it along for me to sample and I am gratefully enjoying each and every precious drop of this most wonderful of teas.

I think it is a great way to start one’s day if looking for clarity of mind and thought; as this tea can accomplish this and lots more.

I won this matcha as part of a drawing here at Steepster and I was like “Ho hum, plain matcha” since I’ve been drinking flavored matcha these days. I was totally wrong. This matcha blew me out of the water and into space! With enough energy to swim back!

The tin is sealed and when I cracked it open it was a blast of sweet smelling matcha! It is obviously high quality and very fresh! I tried it and went crazy and needed to blog about it on my jitz blog.

http://bunnyjiujitsu.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/matcha-a-bjj-endurance-blaster/

The matcha taste pure and natural, not grassy or bitter. It has a light and crisp green tea flavor, but yet full of flavor and not watery (if that makes sense). The sweetness is like a mix of sugar snap peas in it with the green tea! I’m almost reminded of the sweetness in iceburg lettuce as well.

Oh man, I needed another cup of this so I made one iced. The matcha powder is very light and I didn’t have to sift it really. I just dumped it over some water and ice and stirred it for a bit and it was good to go! It’s got a great natural sweetness that I don’t need to sweeten it or add milk.

If this matcha becomes a regular drink in my routine, I’m bumping this to 100 rating. Pretty good stuff!

Oh. So THIS is what ceremonial grade matcha is like.
WOW.

If I had the money, I would seriously buy a tin of this for each member of my family and force them to become matcha fanatics.

This is intense. Buttery! It reminds me of my aunt who is no longer my aunt (divorce stuff). She was a huge health nut with dreadlocks and a lifestyle I WISH I could emulate! I remember once of the most delicious dishes she made for me was plain white rice with what I think was dried broccoli bits on top. The broccoli was toasted or something and then the little nibs were what we sprinkled on the rice. I think? I have been craving this flavour since I had that dish – ohh I wish I could find out what it really was!

Well, until then, I have this matcha. The depth is amazing, the taste pure and not a bit astringent (I used 175 water). The froth was incredible! The colour bright green, like emerald jewels.

Unlike many of the flavoured matchas I’ve had (which I love as well!), this one does need to be sifted. The other ones you can get away with not sifting, but this one it is important. That’s just my experience so far! (Although once whisked, it remains whisked! Maybe I just drank it way too fast haha, but there was no matcha clumps at all at the bottom of my cup!)

The tin is amazing! I love the pop top technology when you first open it, but that it also has a screw on lid. That way you know it is going to be pure and FRESH.

Thank you KaiMatcha for this amazing experience! I WILL be back to purchase.

Whoaaaaaaa. Is this matcha? or some other godly substance?
Seriously, it’s GOOD. Like buttered spinach! Mmmmmm.
And the depth! Oh yeah, this has some serious heft. Just a little goes a long way. In fact, I think I may have added a hair too much here.
Except… I was hoping it’d be more creamy, like creamed spinach. Hey I am not complaining. Different than what I expected is all.
I need to try it again when I know how the story goes and can review my cuppa without any bias. Oh man am I ever looking forward to that :)

This is seriously one of the BEST Matcha I’ve tried. Since I’m not drinking it side-by-side with another high quality Matcha, I can’t say it’s the absolute best, but, it definitely ranks right up there in the top three, if not #1. Yes, it’s that good.

First of all, after having consumed so many flavored Matcha (and yes, I love those too), I’ve kind of forgotten what REAL Matcha froth is like. This is thick and foamy and lush! The color is vivid, bright green. And the flavor is superb. Sweet, vegetative, of course, but, not like some other Matcha … this is buttery and more like mild steamed vegetables with a hint of grass rather than grassy and/or vegetative. It’s milder, mellower, and the strong buttery tones mellow it out further. This doesn’t have the bittersweet taste that I often talk about with Matcha, this has no bitterness whatsoever. It’s just sweet. Sweet and lush and green and DELICIOUS! Thick and creamy. And there is some pleasing complexity to this too, every once in a while I could swear that I taste a note of cocoa in the background. Or sometimes a hint of flower … or a fruitier tone that I didn’t notice previously. It plays games with the palate, but in the very best way possible – it keeps the palate interested and keeps me sipping.

An excellent Matcha. TRY this Matcha!

I’m pretty sure my post office is trying to drive me insane. I was lucky enough to win a whole tin of this in KaiMatcha’s contest, and I noticed about a week later everyone was posting tasting notes, but mine hadn’t arrived. I assumed it would come soon… but nothing, for one whole week! I checked the tracking info on October 10th and lo and behold it got to my local post office on the 1st. Which means it was just sitting there for 9 days! What the heck! I went there to pick it up and they told me it wasn’t there and they couldn’t fully check without the tracking info (which I didn’t have on hand). Furious, I filed a complaint and the next day a slip to pick it up arrived in my box (though no delivery attempt…). Seriously, I am so fed up with them! They mark boxes by what day they arrive and you could clearly see it originally said 1st but they crossed it out to say it got there the 10th. Aargh.

Anyway, of course right after I got it NYCC started up and I was too busy to do a tasting note, and then I got consars and my tastebuds went all wonky. Judging from the other reviews I knew this was going to be good, so I didn’t want to waste it on my flu-y tasting abilities. But the time had finally come to dive right in! Well, I planned on savoring it and taking time to taste it, but mysteriously my first mug vanished rather quickly…

As others have said, this is what matcha is all about. It’s true ceremonial grade, better than any other pure matcha I’ve had! I was actually quite surprised when I took my first sip. It’s not that grassy at all, with a full, buttery almost umami-like mouthfeel. It’s mellow and vegetal, with just a hint of delicious sweetness.

The foam is amazing too! So frothy and delicious, and it sifts like a dream. No clumps, no lumps, just smooth amazing matcha-ness. I’ve had this 3 times since I first opened it (straight, iced latte, hot latte) and it’s just amazing no matter what you do to it. Matcha at its purest!

When KaiMatcha first appeared on Steepster with a win-free-matcha promotion, I was quite harsh on them. Not because I am out to be a mean person, but because I prefer to give criticism to any tea companies that may be genuinely trying rather than simply let them do something I do not like – I want as many tea companies to be successful as possible. I think that helps the tea-drinking community.

I did not like their website. I still don’t. In fact, I hate their website. I do not object to a focus on health benefits so much – I think tea should sell itself on taste alone, but I also really believe in the health value of tea, and I know some people have been put off by bad experiences with tea – but I do not get a welcoming feel from the site. When I look at it, I feel like I ought to be ordering a StairMaster and getting some free knock-off Tupperware because I ordered NOW!

Am I wrong about that? Am I wrong to think the general public will feel the same way? Perhaps. Maybe they will look at it differently. I don’t know. I did not offer criticism to KaiMatcha on the basis of, “you suck,” but on the basis of, “I am suspicious that you might suck; this looks sketchy to me.”

But I did see KaiMatcha say in the tea vendor’s thread that they felt they have a very quality product and were disappointed no one was interested in trying it yet. Their confidence in their product was interesting. I ultimately felt that I would wait to see what Steepster said about this company and its product. I kept the review page for KaiMatcha Premium open in a saved tab, and refreshed it every day to be there for the first reviews.

When they rolled in and were highly positive, I immediately ordered a can to see for myself. (The one good thing about their website: they take Paypal, hah.)

It arrived today. I shouldn’t drink any THIS late, but I am really upset about some drama at work I will have to deal with, and I having been wanting to know for myself what it is like. So I decided to whisk up a quarter-teaspoon to try it straight and then just dump half of it.

The can is nice. It is sealed much like the Teavana matcha I’m already used to, with a pop top and a screw cap. When I opened it, wow! What a fantastic, fresh, sweet smell. I mean, really sweet.

It didn’t foam up that great, but I’m 100% sure that this is because I’m not whisking it in wide enough bowls. I really want a good stoneware matcha bowl! With a spout, preferably. I can’t seem to get a darn thing to foam at home, even when I get beautiful foam at work (so it’s not my technique). So “low foam covering 70% of the surface” is actually doing better than all the other matcha I’ve tried so far.

I had this straight, no sweetener at all, and…

It’s totally drinkable. Now I finally understand what people mean when they say that good matcha should not be bitter. This must be good matcha, because it’s not bitter in the slightest and it’s very smooth. A bit sweet, a bit creamy. It tastes like green veggies and not like bitter grass drenched in dog urine. It’s not my thing in the sense that I will never be a big green drinker; but I can tell that it is a very good green even though it does not personally excite me. The very fact that I can drink it straight immediately pushes it above a 90. That it is this good at its price point puts it at least on par with Jade Dragon (one of my few actual green tea loves). This is only a few sips worth, so I will give it some more experimental time and report back if I am adjusting the rating or have more to say about it.

…Oh wait. It’s gone stone cold now (haha, so much typing) and I managed to slurp it (which you can’t do when it’s hot) and discovered an intense creamy sweetness at the back. I’m tired, so I just realized that I was not trying to really aerate my sips for the best taste. Of course, I never remember to do that 100% of the time; but if I drank it more thoughtfully, this would be a very rich and drinkable green. Also, this tells me that this matcha would also be good iced.

I think that’s enough for 100.