Country of Origin: Japan
Leaf Appearance: vibrant green, very fine powder
Ingredients: matcha green tea
Water Temperature: 175 degrees
Preparation Method: traditional whisking
Liquor: deep green
It’s been a while since I posted about a Tandem Tea Tasting. Part of the reason for that is that we aren’t holding them as frequently. Life also seems to have gotten exponentially busier with each passing month. I first made the acquaintance of Lauren, the maven behind Mizuba Tea Co., at World Tea Expo 2014. We had been following each other on Instagram and we agreed to meet up at the Teas Etc booth. The moment I found out that she was moving to Portland, I told her “You have to meet my friend, +Geoffrey Norman!”. Since then I’ve kept tabs on all of the amazing things she is doing with her matcha company. Lauren was even kind enough to contribute a guest post to the blog and an article for the matcha issue of Tea for Me Please Quarterly. Our group could hardly contain our excitement when Geoff told us that he had samples of Lauren’s Daily Matcha for a Tandem Tasting.
I was stuck at work when our tasting started, though I popped into the Google+ Hangout here and there thanks to the wifi at certain MTA stations along the way home. I’m not super sensitive to caffeine so I was able to have a bowl when I got in the door without suffering any ill effects. Not many tea drinkers can take the green stuff at 10:30 pm. I came in after everyone had already finished their bowls of matcha but they patiently waited for me drink mine before voicing their opinions. Two words were frequently repeated, velvet blanket.
Even before whisking my tea I was struck by the extremely vibrant color and enticing aroma. I definitely have to agree with their description. The matcha was unbelievably smooth and creamy. Vanilla is not something I would ever expect to see in a Japanese green tea but it was the most prominent flavor note in my mind. There was a lot of natural sweetness but it was also well balanced. After each sip I savored the incredibly fresh aftertaste. In case you haven’t already gotten the picture, it was so good! At $20 for 40g this tea is even cheaper than most of the major chain stores. I love knowing that there is a person behind the brand and that she has a close relationship with her farmer in Uji.
The usual catching up with a smattering of industry gossip carried on for several hours afterwards. It’s a good thing that I was off of work the next day! You can read everyone else’s blog post about our group tasting here:
Several Moments of Matcha Madness – +Geoffrey Norman
Velvet Matcha Blanket – Mizuba Tea Co. – +Rachana Rachel Carter
Review: Mizuba Tea Company Daily Matcha – +sara shacket
+Jo J of Scandalous Tea and +Chris Giddings of Tea-Guy were also in attendance. I’ll be sure to add links to their posts once they are available.
Daily Matcha provided for review by Mizuba Matcha.
