I recently mentioned my local tea shoppe selling a matcha + genmaicha
blend making some kind of green psychedelic concoction. It was like
one of those lava lamps with the rice and popcorn appearing
disappearing in the suspended matcha particulate. I thought this odd.
So I went to an asian market with a good selection of Japanese teas.
It now seems matcha is added to every Japanese tea. Is this a fad du
jour or has it been going on for awhile? I bought a sencha + matcha
brand. The infusion was a murky hazy green so not a lot of matcha.

Jim

Hi Space Cowboy,

> I recently mentioned my local tea shoppe selling a matcha + genmaicha
> blend

It is very popular,and not recent. Maybe 2/3 of genmaicha I see in Osaka has
macha added to it. In fact, people that don't want the added macha tend to
mix their gemaicha themselves (as you can get the popcorns and stalks or
bancha separately).

> It now seems matcha is added to every Japanese tea. Is this a fad du
> jour or has it been going on for awhile? I bought a sencha + matcha
> brand. The infusion was a murky hazy green so not a lot of matcha.

That's not that systematic to add it to sencha, but it's popular in Summer
as it's great to prepare
cold-brewed iced-tea : you put the sencha-macha in a bag*, place it in the
pot with very cold water, let it 30 minutes in the fridge and serve. Don't
try to keep it many hours. You can do the same with gyokuro...when you can
afford. Sencha + macha tend to cost 1/3 of gyokuro, so it's more an everyday
drink. Maybe that fashion started 5 years ago, before even when it was very
hot outside, I'd see people drinking hot sencha (also they'd put the
air-conditionning much cooler then, not they are more reasonable).

But I don't like much that sencha+macha served hot, even if they write on
packages that you can serve it that way.

*in Japan, we easily find non-weaved fabric bags, they work well for that,
otherwise a paper or fabric pouch could replace them. With a strainer, you
get a "cloudy" color and "powdery" taste.

Kuri

Hi Space Cowboy,

> I recently mentioned my local tea shoppe selling a matcha + genmaicha
> blend

It is very popular,and not recent. Maybe 2/3 of genmaicha I see in Osaka has
macha added to it. In fact, people that don't want the added macha tend to
mix their gemaicha themselves (as you can get the popcorns and stalks or
bancha separately).

> It now seems matcha is added to every Japanese tea. Is this a fad du
> jour or has it been going on for awhile? I bought a sencha + matcha
> brand. The infusion was a murky hazy green so not a lot of matcha.

That's not that systematic to add it to sencha, but it's popular in Summer
as it's great to prepare
cold-brewed iced-tea : you put the sencha-macha in a bag*, place it in the
pot with very cold water, let it 30 minutes in the fridge and serve. Don't
try to keep it many hours. You can do the same with gyokuro...when you can
afford. Sencha + macha tend to cost 1/3 of gyokuro, so it's more an everyday
drink. Maybe that fashion started 5 years ago, before even when it was very
hot outside, I'd see people drinking hot sencha (also they'd put the
air-conditionning much cooler then, not they are more reasonable).

But I don't like much that sencha+macha served hot, even if they write on
packages that you can serve it that way.

*in Japan, we easily find non-weaved fabric bags, they work well for that,
otherwise a paper or fabric pouch could replace them. With a strainer, you
get a "cloudy" color and "powdery" taste.

Kuri

Hi Kuri,

Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
sencha used with matcha? The instructions show cold or hot. I
thought hot was okay but I can see maybe better cold. I could tell
the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.

Thanks,
Jim

"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
snip here trim there
>
> > It now seems matcha is added to every Japanese tea. Is this a fad du
> > jour or has it been going on for awhile? I bought a sencha + matcha
> > brand. The infusion was a murky hazy green so not a lot of matcha.
>
> That's not that systematic to add it to sencha, but it's popular in Summer
> as it's great to prepare
> cold-brewed iced-tea

Hi Kuri,

Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
sencha used with matcha? The instructions show cold or hot. I
thought hot was okay but I can see maybe better cold. I could tell
the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.

Thanks,
Jim

"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
snip here trim there
>
> > It now seems matcha is added to every Japanese tea. Is this a fad du
> > jour or has it been going on for awhile? I bought a sencha + matcha
> > brand. The infusion was a murky hazy green so not a lot of matcha.
>
> That's not that systematic to add it to sencha, but it's popular in Summer
> as it's great to prepare
> cold-brewed iced-tea

Is that the stuff they put roasted rice in?

I don't like Japanese green tea, it always has something extra added into
it. The Chinese green tea is far better.

Is that the stuff they put roasted rice in?

I don't like Japanese green tea, it always has something extra added into
it. The Chinese green tea is far better.

Hi Space Cowboy,

> Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
> noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
> sencha used with matcha?

That means litterally "sencha with macha added". From what I have seen it's
ordinary sencha and ordinary macha, not high grade ones, so they benefit
from being mixed.

>I could tell
> the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.

There is not much in it probably.

Kuri

Thanks Kuri. Another name for my tea dictionary. I've been using my
modified cylindrical French press for about a month so I can become
reacquainted with infusion characteristics of different teas. So far
in all cases the leaf will give up and fall to the bottom or never
bother to even get up and die insitu. Giving the pot a vigorous swish
after the leaves die just produces a swill in the leaves creating a
rotating mat. However this sencha leaf dies on the bottom insitu but
will swill to produce a chimney like structure almost back to the top
of the pot. This is the first leaf to reintroduce itself back to the
pot. I've tried other greens with no similar results. A pleasant
discovery that has some explantion but beyond me.

Jim

"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
>
> > Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
> > noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
> > sencha used with matcha?
>
> That means litterally "sencha with macha added". From what I have seen it's
> ordinary sencha and ordinary macha, not high grade ones, so they benefit
> from being mixed.
>
> >I could tell
> > the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.
>
> There is not much in it probably.
>
> Kuri

Thanks Kuri. Another name for my tea dictionary. I've been using my
modified cylindrical French press for about a month so I can become
reacquainted with infusion characteristics of different teas. So far
in all cases the leaf will give up and fall to the bottom or never
bother to even get up and die insitu. Giving the pot a vigorous swish
after the leaves die just produces a swill in the leaves creating a
rotating mat. However this sencha leaf dies on the bottom insitu but
will swill to produce a chimney like structure almost back to the top
of the pot. This is the first leaf to reintroduce itself back to the
pot. I've tried other greens with no similar results. A pleasant
discovery that has some explantion but beyond me.

Jim

"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
>
> > Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
> > noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
> > sencha used with matcha?
>
> That means litterally "sencha with macha added". From what I have seen it's
> ordinary sencha and ordinary macha, not high grade ones, so they benefit
> from being mixed.
>
> >I could tell
> > the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.
>
> There is not much in it probably.
>
> Kuri

Thanks Kuri. Another name for my tea dictionary. I've been using my
modified cylindrical French press for about a month so I can become
reacquainted with infusion characteristics of different teas. So far
in all cases the leaf will give up and fall to the bottom or never
bother to even get up and die insitu. Giving the pot a vigorous swish
after the leaves die just produces a swill in the leaves creating a
rotating mat. However this sencha leaf dies on the bottom insitu but
will swill to produce a chimney like structure almost back to the top
of the pot. This is the first leaf to reintroduce itself back to the
pot. I've tried other greens with no similar results. A pleasant
discovery that has some explantion but beyond me.

Jim

"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
>
> > Is the combination of sencha + matcha called "machairi sencha". I
> > noticed that name on serveral brands with the matcha or just a special
> > sencha used with matcha?
>
> That means litterally "sencha with macha added". From what I have seen it's
> ordinary sencha and ordinary macha, not high grade ones, so they benefit
> from being mixed.
>
> >I could tell
> > the matcha was weak because it didn't tickle my throat.
>
> There is not much in it probably.
>
> Kuri