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May. 7th, 2010 11:32 amSo the cheap matcha that we had been buying through Amazon became somewhat less cheap. Now, I'd been getting into having it as a weekday first cup of tea - it's not great, but it's quite drinkable, and then when I have the good stuff I enjoy it that much more. But when it starts being not that much more expensive that the cheapest ceremonial grade tea that I buy (which is much better tea)... no.
So I went in search of inexpensive but reasonable organic matcha.
To make a long story short, I ended up at Silk Road Teas. They are primarily a wholesaler, and import tea from China - and spend a lot of time there, wandering about and buying tea from small farms (some of it with meaningful organic certification). So that entirely got my attention.
They also had a Chinese produced fairly inexpensive organic matcha. Which is just weird, but hey, what the heck. So I ordered some of that, and then minimum amounts of a few other teas that looked interesting (which put it nicely over the free shipping point.
It turns out that a quarter pound of loose leaf tea is really a lot.
I am really liking their Bai Mu Dan. I have Fo Cha and Tian Mu Qing Ding yet to try. Okay, I need to get a little teapot for the lab, because I need better control over steeping time.
Their matcha is also quite nice... though a little odd. It's less bitter than the cheap matcha we had been getting (originally I'd picked it up for smoothies.) And fuller bodied, but... after my first sip I thought "This tastes Chinese." And then "What the heck do I mean by that?" I wonder if they use slightly older leaves, or if they cover them less...? Anyhow, it tastes a bit more like a traditional green tea than most matcha. But it's decent. Just different.
And... caffeine? We has it. My current schedule is that I can have matcha before noon, and other green tea until three or so - the health benefits outweigh the not being off caffeine, and this doesn't seem to hit the sleeping. But I'm really feeling the Bai Mu Dan - which is a white tea, and supposed to be particularly low in caffeine. Maybe I made it a bit strong? (Yes.)
So I went in search of inexpensive but reasonable organic matcha.
To make a long story short, I ended up at Silk Road Teas. They are primarily a wholesaler, and import tea from China - and spend a lot of time there, wandering about and buying tea from small farms (some of it with meaningful organic certification). So that entirely got my attention.
They also had a Chinese produced fairly inexpensive organic matcha. Which is just weird, but hey, what the heck. So I ordered some of that, and then minimum amounts of a few other teas that looked interesting (which put it nicely over the free shipping point.
It turns out that a quarter pound of loose leaf tea is really a lot.
I am really liking their Bai Mu Dan. I have Fo Cha and Tian Mu Qing Ding yet to try. Okay, I need to get a little teapot for the lab, because I need better control over steeping time.
Their matcha is also quite nice... though a little odd. It's less bitter than the cheap matcha we had been getting (originally I'd picked it up for smoothies.) And fuller bodied, but... after my first sip I thought "This tastes Chinese." And then "What the heck do I mean by that?" I wonder if they use slightly older leaves, or if they cover them less...? Anyhow, it tastes a bit more like a traditional green tea than most matcha. But it's decent. Just different.
And... caffeine? We has it. My current schedule is that I can have matcha before noon, and other green tea until three or so - the health benefits outweigh the not being off caffeine, and this doesn't seem to hit the sleeping. But I'm really feeling the Bai Mu Dan - which is a white tea, and supposed to be particularly low in caffeine. Maybe I made it a bit strong? (Yes.)
