Any Matcha recommendations?

[Johnsmyname]

I’m trying to lower my coffee/caffeine intake. Recently tried some teas I really enjoyed. Being summer I’d like to make some iced matcha drinks. Can anyone recommend a particular brand or source fit for this purpose? I did some light research and I’m realizing this could be a deep rabbit hole I don’t want to fully explore currently. Any suggestions to get me on a quick start would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aporigine]

I’m trying to lower my coffee/caffeine intake. Recently tried some teas I really enjoyed. Being summer I’d like to make some iced matcha drinks. Can anyone recommend a particular brand or source fit for this purpose? I did some light research and I’m realizing this could be a deep rabbit hole I don’t want to fully explore currently. Any suggestions to get me on a quick start would be greatly appreciated.

I find Upton Tea has a few varieties, and their product is fresh. A pleasant merchant to deal with, and my morning and day teas are from them.

 

[Ochazuke]

You’re in America?
Sugimoto is a very consistent and available brand that delivers product comparable to its price point. IMO better than the other “big names” like Ito-en or Maeda.

It’s little harder to get, but d:matcha based out of Kyoto is hands down best bang for the buck.

 

[Johnsmyname]

You’re in America?
Sugimoto is a very consistent and available brand that delivers product comparable to its price point. IMO better than the other “big names” like Ito-en or Maeda.

It’s little harder to get, but d:matcha based out of Kyoto is hands down best bang for the buck.

I forgot to mention that, yes I am in the USA. Thank you for these recommendations.

 

[aporigine]

I just tiptoed through the Upton site. Their matcha is not! cheap. It’s more for the ceremonial crowd, I think. But for a Sunday cup, splendid.

 

[Ochazuke]

I find Upton Tea has a few varieties, and their product is fresh. A pleasant merchant to deal with, and my morning and day teas are from them.

I haven’t tried any of Upton’s green teas, but I’ve always enjoyed their black teas! Also a very solid vendor. I’m partial to their East Frisian.

 

[aporigine]

I haven’t tried any of Upton’s green teas, but I’ve always enjoyed their black teas! Also a very solid vendor. I’m partial to their East Frisian.

I’ve found my grail tea there. I mix Golden Kenya and Darjeeling BOP blend, both inexpensive in bulk, in a 5:1 ratio by weight for a wonderful morning cup. Time to reorder soon!

They had a special coupla years back on a Korean Woojeon green tea. It’s the Korean take on shincha — and they had a screaming deal. I’m halfway through a 500-gram bag that cost one 10th of what one must pay for shincha, and it’s just so very good. It’s like getting to have Glenlivet 15 every night for the price of no-name vodka.

 

[kot_blini]

I LOVE tea, you are right it can be a big rabbithole. I would not recommend matcha if you are trying to lower caffeine intake. In fact, it's one of the most highly caffeinated types of tea. Also, "real" matcha is intrinsically expensive due to the way it's grown and processed. You can get very high quality sencha for much less money.

I highly recommend the vendor "Thes du Japon" for japanese teas. One of the proprietors has a blog with a nice archive. Here's an old post discussing iced sencha that you may find interesting: https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/several-preparations-for-iced-teas/

 

[kot_blini]

Caffeine content of tea varies by subtype of plant (assamica has more than sinensis), age of the tea leaves (tippy teas have more caffeine than teas with more stems and older leaves), processing (roasting), and growing conditions (shading, maybe other stuff I'm not aware of). Matcha is shaded, which concentrates caffeine, and it's ground up, so you're consuming 100% of the caffeine within the leaves.

 

[Johnsmyname]

Caffeine content of tea varies by subtype of plant (assamica has more than sinensis), age of the tea leaves (tippy teas have more caffeine than teas with more stems and older leaves), processing (roasting), and growing conditions (shading, maybe other stuff I'm not aware of). Matcha is shaded, which concentrates caffeine, and it's ground up, so you're consuming 100% of the caffeine within the leaves.

Good information, thank you. I find that tea doesn't give me the jitters that coffee does. When I drink coffee it's strong pour over and the caffeine content has got to be up there. Not trying to cut out caffeine entirely, just lessen my consumption.

 

[kot_blini]

Yeah if you're just trying to lessen jitters teas can offer a very different experience than coffee, though I couldn't offer a physiological reason why. But sometimes I've seen people ask about matcha because their doctor said they should reduce their caffeine intake. Not a good choice if you have kidney disease or something.

 

[aporigine]

Good information, thank you. I find that tea doesn't give me the jitters that coffee does. When I drink coffee it's strong pour over and the caffeine content has got to be up there. Not trying to cut out caffeine entirely, just lessen my consumption.

Good green tea contains theanine, which is reported to have a soothing effect. Samurai speedball.

(edit) time for a tall glass of woodson woojeon, methinks.

(!!!!!!!!!!!!)ing spellcheck

 

[Johnsmyname]

Samurai speedball lol

 

[kujaku]

On hot days, barley tea(no sugar) is recommended. It contains no caffeine.
Hojicha and Genmaicha are also recommended. Hojicha tastes delicious even with added milk and sugar.

 

[Johnsmyname]

On hot days, barley tea(no sugar) is recommended. It contains no caffeine.
Hojicha and Genmaicha are also recommended. Hojicha tastes delicious even with added milk and sugar.

Thank you for these recommendations. I will look into them.

 

[sansho]

imo, matcha's best enjoyed the normal way (whisked, hot). have you tried it like that?
also, getting into matcha's a bad way to reduce your caffeine intake...

 

[Beerzebub]

On hot days, barley tea(no sugar) is recommended. It contains no caffeine.
Hojicha and Genmaicha are also recommended. Hojicha tastes delicious even with added milk and sugar.

Yep, in the summer I go through a lot of mugi cha, I don't know of anything more refreshing, works with food, cheap, and kids can drink it too. Can find it in any Japanese or Korean market.

 

[Johnsmyname]

imo, matcha's best enjoyed the normal way (whisked, hot). have you tried it like that?
also, getting into matcha's a bad way to reduce your caffeine intake...

I have had it hot and enjoy it very much, but it's currently 96F outside so I will not be drinking anything hot for sometime. Yeah, reducing caffeine was probably not the best statement. I'm more trying to find alternatives to the hot cup of high test coffee I normally drink while also being interested in learning about new teas.

 

[kot_blini]

I have had it hot and enjoy it very much, but it's currently 96F outside so I will not be drinking anything hot for sometime. Yeah, reducing caffeine was probably not the best statement. I'm more trying to find alternatives to the hot cup of high test coffee I normally drink while also being interested in learning about new teas.

the steeping room is a good US-based generalist vendor if you’d like to try different styles of teas from a variety of regions. not everything they stock is aimed at enthusiasts but for most categories they should have enough to get your foot in the door

Floating Leaves is not a generalist vendor but they are US-based and newbie-friendly! The focus is on Taiwanese oolongs, many of which could work well iced. If you’re not set on matcha specifically they could be a really good option

 

[kujaku]

This might be something to write in an unpopular opinion thread, but fundamentally, matcha is a hobby for those with the time and financial means.
If you want to truly understand the real meaning of "wabi-sabi," you might want to give it a try at least once.
https://matcha-jp.com/en/1384