04.19.05
Matcha Brewing Tips…
I was fixing myself a bowl of matcha today. Instead of using the matcha I normally use, I instead went for a higher quality one that I keep off to one side. I guess I had forgot it was there, or perhaps I had been waiting for a special occasion or somthing, I don’t know. The problem was, it was kind of old. It didn’t look as green as I thought it should, but I went ahead and used it anyway. Now, I remember when I first opened this can, the wonderful aroma jumped out at me because like I said, it was a higher quality green tea. This time I didn’t get that, and the resulting bowl wasn’t even good. Opened a fresh can of the same stuff, and the difference was incredible. Very neon green, great aroma, and a great resulting bowl of matcha.
No kidding - when you open a can of matcha, you have just a month or two to use it. Once exposed to oxygen, the clock starts clicking. If it’s been four months since you opened it, you might as well toss it. They do store pretty long if they’ve never been opened and you keep them refrigerated however.
Another tip - It really helps to use what’s known as a “matcha furui.” This is a special can with a mesh insert and usually comes with a little paddle that you use to screen the matcha with. My procedure, which by the way most likely breaks 50 rules of the tea ceremony, is as follows:
- Pour hot water into the empty tea bowl, allowing it to heat up.
- While the tea bowl is warming, I put about 2 scoops from my bamboo teaspoon into the matcha furui sifter and sift it through.
- I also pre-wet the tea whisk in the bowl with the hot water in it.
- Dump the water, dry the bowl.
- dump the sifted matcha from the matcha furui into the now warm, dry bowl
- Pour hot water into a teacup, and then from the teacup into the tea bowl
- Whisk briskly
Another thing - you need to add just the right amount of hot water to get a good froth. If you add too much, you’ll not get a good foam on the surface. After you do it a few times, you’ll get the idea.
RSS
Wells said,
August 3, 2005 at 10:17 pm
I have mastered the ability to whisk the matcha without having to use the sifter. I simply warm the bowl; then dry it and add anywhere from the equivalent of 1-3 teaspoons of matcha. I use about 5 ounces of water at 180 degrees F.
I whisk briskly and drink down. And even though I saturate the water with matcha powder, I rarely have anything left but a slight green film at the bottom of the bowel.