Encha Matcha - Ceremonial Grade Matcha Powder, Organic First Harvest Japanese Green Tea Powder, From Uji, Japan (60g/2.12oz)

(WARNING- This is an in depth review of Encha matcha tea. I am writing this for those who like me are researching and wanting to buy the best matcha as an investment. I am purposely going into detail to provide information to help with buying decisions. If you prefer a short summary, see section marked THE BOTTOM LINE) THIS REVIEW WAS DONE ON PRODUCT PURCHASED AT FULL PRICE BY ME AS REGULAR CUSTOMER -------------- I have to be honest with you, I really am not a green tea fan. I just don't like it. Flavored, unflavored, it did not seem to matter. I tried everything to make green tea just right and most of the time, I am just not a fan. There is a blend of green and white jasmine tea I do like, but that is not pure green, so probably does not count. So what am I doing trying matcha? Let me tell you. MATCHA EXPERIENCE Some time ago I came upon a tea company who has teas I love. So, they had matcha on sale and it was STILL expensive. I decided to look into matcha. I researched and studied what to look for and made only trying Japanese matcha my goal. I tried a few here and there, but they were bitter, icky tasting, and made me wonder why anyone would bother spending money on that stuff- let alone a LOT of money. I found a little tin of PREMIUM organic GO MATCHA at a store on clearance, so I bought it. It was only $5 and the date was very fresh, and it was from Japan. No one in our area has a clue about stuff like this, so they did not buy it. Is that what matcha is supposed to taste like? Blech. WHAT IS ENCHA MATCHA LIKE? I am not one to let things lie until I have explored them to my satisfaction, so I continued to try matcha and more and more I was becoming turned off. I put the temperature between 170 and 160 and was careful to measure, and then I would froth it just right and drink it- blech. I only tried premium or ceremonial quality - if that was high end, I would hate to see low end. I decided to give matcha one last try and purchased the Encha. When I opened the package, I was greeted by what I had thought was a myth. This stuff is a beautiful spring green powder that borders on neon in color. Now THAT is what I heard matcha was supposed to look like! The powder is fine and the fragrance is actually wonderful. It is reminiscent of Japanese Green Magma and some other green drink supplement powders I used to buy from Swanson Vitamins over the years. HOW DOES THIS MATCHA PREPARE? First let me tell you how I prepared this matcha. - I heated water to 160 degrees -I put 1/4 tsp in a cup (I like matcha a bit weaker at this point than the usual 1/2 tsp) -I poured about 4 oz of water over the top of the matcha (no, I did not sift) -I used the Cafe Casa Milk Frother 2 Speed Handheld Drink Mixer - Stainless Steel - With 2 AA Batteries Included (Silver) -I sipped the tea rather quickly Sometimes I pour a bit more water over top, sometimes not. It depends on my preference for weaker tea that day. This matcha is delightful. Because I tend to use a bit less powder than recommended, the foam on top is less, but still very nice. The tea itself is delightful. No lumps, no problems at all mixing with the water, and the flavor- WOW. I have to say that this matcha blows all of the others I have tried out of the water. It is amazing. WHAT DOES THIS MATCHA TASTE LIKE? This matcha has a flavor that is most reminiscent of Japanese Green Magma made from young barley leaves- the original Japanese powder in the glass jar. It has a beautiful balance between sweetness and green, but it is a good green, not bitter. In fact, there was absolutely NO bitterness at all in this tea. The balance of astringency and green is perfect. Absolutely PERFECT. When I was done, my mouth was not feeling like someone sucked the water out of it, and it did not linger in a bad way like so many matchas tend to do to me. It was more of a pleasant memory that brings a smile to my face. HOW DOES THIS TEA AFFECT ME? I have a problem with caffeine, which includes in tea as well as coffee. I tend to avoid it. It makes me hurt and sometimes buzzes me so badly that I just have to avoid it and only have it once in a while. This tea, however, has an interesting effect on me. It brings about an ability to focus all day and adds an extra boost of peace and grounding that is elusive much of the time. I know that it is the L-theanine, but this is the first tea that I have experience this level of balance with. I might not end up having it daily over time, but I sure am enjoying it now! The results are really nice. THE BOTTOM LINE I have to say that NOW I understand the reason why people go nuts over matcha tea. This tea is top of the line, there is no doubt about that. It turned me from a green tea resister to a green tea lover and that is HARD to do. The color is brilliant bright green, the aroma and flavor are perfect balance of sweet greens and astringency, and the powder blends into water perfectly. I have to say that the focus and grounding I get from this is amazing and I will probably keep buying this regularly. It is really amazing stuff. RATING I would give this ten stars if I could. I will update if anything changes or I have any more to add about this amazing tea.

Encha Matcha is by far the most superior matcha I have tried. I am a loyal purchaser from their website, but am thrilled to see it now on Amazon for the times I NEED it delivered a little bit faster :) However, their shipping is still very fast. I will say that the company has the most gracious, generous owner. If you join the Encha Facebook page, or subscribe to their e-mails (encha.com) you will be kept apprised of their occasional sales and specials. When he runs a special, it is beyond worth it! It is very rare these days to come across an honest business owner, who also cares so much about his customers, and I feel like he gets great enjoyment sharing his wealth with the customers by offering such amazing offers during certain times of the year. You will also get questions answered very quickly and they never make you feel like you are bothering them. First I will start out about the quality. You know exactly where this matcha is coming from, straight from the farm in Japan. This company actually has reports you can access showing the testing done on his products to ensure they are not only all ORGANIC (very important), but also safe from any dangerous contaminants that so many people need to be concerned about from products overseas. Next, the product is in a BPA-free package. I saw a review someone posted about wanting them to put the product in a tin. No thank you! Last place I want my organic, healthy matcha stored is in an aluminum tin. The QUALITY of this matcha is first rate. You will notice immediately by the color that it is far superior to other brands. And another thing that is rare with this brand is that there is very little difference between the Ceremonial grade and the Latte grade as far as quality, color and taste, in my opinion. I could easily drink the Latte grade just with water. With most matcha brands there is a huge difference between the grades. I think most other brands labeled as ceremonial aren't even of equal quality to Encha's Latte grade. The difference with Encha is both Ceremonial AND Latte are first harvest! Find that in another brand. If you're concerned about price, go with the Latte grade. I use 1 teaspoon a day and I think the 60-gram container lasts me a full month. You can certainly use less. A lot of people say they don't like green tea, so they won't like matcha. Try it! It does not taste like the brewed green tea you are used to. Cost -- everyone seems to be up in arms about the cost of matcha, in general. Yes, it is expensive, but you WILL get what you pay for with matcha. If it's cheap, it's going to be a horrible grade and it's also going to taste horrible. With that said, Encha is no more expensive than any other top brand, and I guarantee you're going to find the quality is way better than a similarly-priced brand. Another thing I have found comical in some reviews is people complaining about there being matcha powder left in the bottom of the cup/bowl. Matcha is not a powder that dissolves! It's as simple as that. Afterall, one of the reasons it is so healthy is you are ingesting the actual ground-up leaf. I personally place my powder in a small sifter and then whisk it in some water before I fill the bowl with more water. If you prefer, you can use a latte frother to make it easy. I used to use one but I don't like the foam. A matcha whisk works quite well if used properly. Also, swirl your cup or bowl between sips to remix the powder at the bottom. Then you won't have much accumulated when you get to the bottom :) No big deal. I actually like that last swallow with the powder in it because I feel like I'm getting an extra burst of healthy goodness. Finally, I want to share a personal health benefit I have had since I started drinking matcha. I am a small, nowhere close to overweight woman. For quite a few years my bloodwork at my physicals has come back as having extremely high triglyceride levels, with sometimes high cholesterol. There is no physical reason for this. I eat quite healthy, don't eat a lot of meat or sugar, and am a healthy weight. For the first time in years last year my bloodwork came back at normal levels! Honestly, the only thing I had been doing differently is I started drinking a cup of match every day. There are MANY health benefits to drinking matcha, from weight loss to improved skin, and from my experience, now healthy blood values :) The main reason I started drinking matcha is for all the anti-oxidants and other good stuff in it to hopefully avoid cancer, and I got the nice surprise of the normal bloodwork. So bottom line is try Encha Organic Matcha. You're going to wonder why you ever drank low-quality matcha. If you don't like it, you don't like it, but I would be surprised. You've got nothing to lose by trying one package. If someone doesn't like it, they probably just don't like matcha in general. If anything, get Encha brand for the superior increased health benefits. You will easily be able to convert yourself from coffee to matcha. Make lattes or other yummy drinks with it if you don't like the taste of matcha, to at least help yourself become more healthy :)

I did not expect the size of the product compare to the price, I was disappointed

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