Matcha and funayaki

Travel Matcha

photo courtesy of Masaye Nakagawa

For those who can't go anywhere without their matcha.

Precious Resources

We are blessed in the Pacific Northwest with abundant, clean and good tasting water. We can drink our fill straight from the tap to quench our thirst without bad smells or off taste.  But recently the city of Portland had an alert that e coli was found in the water system and everyone was advised to boil water before drinking, brushing teeth or cooking. It happened during our 35th anniversary event, but at home as well I was reminded what a convenience good, clean water is straight from the tap.

When I was at Midorikai, our final chaji was at a tea room with no running water.  That meant we had to go the the well in the morning and haul two five gallon containers up the hill to the tea house.  Believe me, hauling 5 gallons in kimono uphill is a lot of work.  These 10 gallons were all we had to pre-wash everything, boil the water for tea, water the garden, and fill the tsukubai.  We were very careful with every bit of water and made sure that nothing was wasted. 

It is the same thing with matcha.  We are fortunate to have the convenience of pre-ground tea leaves sealed in an airtight container.  It takes about an hour to grind enough tea for a chaji, so I am sure that if I had to grind it myself, that I would be very careful about spilling and wasting the matcha when I sifted it or transferred it from one container to the another. 

We forget that these things: water, tea, electricity -- are all convenience factors. Part of living the way of tea is to recognized that most of what we use are precious resources and be very careful not to waste anything.  It is good for the environment, good for the planet, good for each other and good for our souls.

SweetPersimmon.com has new products

I have just updated my store SweetPersimmon.com with Chanoyu utensils and new handbags.  Many old handbags are now on sale.  Natsume, chashakku, chasen, hishaku are now availble at the store.

As promised, Aoi Tea Company matcha is now for sale, too.  This is a quality matcha that is good enough to be used as koicha.  It is smooth, creamy and tasty.  $32 for a 30gr can.  Chamei (poetic name) for this tea is kiri same (misty rain).  Very appropriate for the Pacific Northwest, don't you think?

Matcha Tea Tasting with Aoi Tea Company

Last week I had an opportunity to attend a matcha tea tasting with the Aoi Tea company.

It was educational to see how they taste and grade matcha.   To begin with, we looked at the tencha leaves.  The tea plants for matcha are grown under shade, and the tender leaves are harvested, immediately steamed and dried. Then the leaf part from in between the veins are used.This is tencha, before the leaves are ground.
 

 

I don't know if you can see here, but there is a definite difference in the color of the leaves.  The pile on the left is a darker richer color green and is judged higher quality, the pile on the right is lighter and yellower and js judged lower quality.

The leaves are put into identical brewing vessels and filled with hot water, in this case about 150F.   

The resulting brew is compared in color, aroma and taste.  The brew on the left is the lower quality leaves and the color was weaker, the taste more bitter.  The brew on the right, the higher quality leaves color was slightly darker, the taste much more complex and milder.  There was quite a difference in the fragrance of the leaves after brewing as well.

The tea is stored as tencha and when an order comes in, the tea will be freshly ground.  Matcha comes in 30 or 40 gram cans.  It can take an hour or more to grind enough tea for a can. Please store your matcha in the freezer or refrigerator.  Unopened the matcha will most likely be good up to a year. Once you open the can, it will last up to 30 days if stored in the refrigerator.   Opened cans of matcha will last maybe a week or so before they become oxidized.  If you are buying expensive matcha, store it in the refrigerator or freezer otherwise you are wasting your money.  Oxidized matcha that you don't want to drink can be used for cooking or baking.

Fortunately, I don't have to worry about storage.  At my house, a can of matcha once opened rarely lasts more than two weeks.

The Aoi Tea Company matcha will soon be for sale on the SweetPersimmon.com website.