Alternative matcha recipe 2

I have tried series of tests on preparing matcha since the taste of the tea prepared using the alternative way was not as good as the tea prepared in the traditional method.  The main reason is the temperature.  The alternative tea was lukewarm.  I simply found the hotter tea a lot tastier than the other one.  

According to the tea-workshop instructor. one of the advantages of the alternative recipe was supposed to be lump-free.  However, I didn’t find any lumps in the tea prepared with the traditional recipe, either.  You are not able to see the advantage much with the fluffy brand new tea.  So, as for me, the absence of lump formation is not considerable advantage.

This time I was more careful about pre-heating the tea bowls, and made sure not to drop the temperature of the tea.  I stored the matcha for two weeks and made the tea less fluffy.  After words, I tried the same test again.

What do you think the result is? … It turned out awful!  The tea got much bitterer than the first time.  Moreover it was watery and less flavorful.  I didn’t like it at all.  One of the reasons of the failure is probably the pre-heating of the tea bowl.  Even though I used cold water for the first step, the small amount of water was heated up by the hot bowl.  The warmed water helped in extracting the bitter taste from the tea.   What made it worse is that I took a lot of time preparing this tea.  I was supposed to mix it for 40sec at the first step and 10sec at the second, but I actually took 70sec and 15sec respectively because I got busy taking some pictures for this blog.  So that gave the tea an additional time to infuse more bitterness.  

 

 

So, I had another try.  This time, I didn’t warm up the bowl at all.  Instead, I used a boiling water for the second step.  As in the previous tests, there wasn’t much difference in appearance.  The temperature for both tea were about the same, so I could simply compare the flavor this time.  The tea with ordinary method was as good as always; it has a round and rich flavor even though I noticed some lumps upon drinking.  On the other hand, the tea using the alternative method produced light foam and mild flavor.  It didn’t have bitterness at all.  Now I can say that this test is finally successful!  I didn’t find any lumpy stuff either while the traditional tea was a little rough.  It was smooth and easy to drink.  Therefore, I conclude that it is great for matcha beginners.  

The tastes of the ordinary and alternative tea were slightly different, but both were good.  It depends on your preference.  If I have to choose, I would prefer the ordinary way of preparing.  

Even though I didn’t find any dramatic advantage when it comes to flavor with the alternative tea, I found a big advantage in preparation.  That is pre-sift the matcha is not needed.  I have been always thinking that sifting matcha is quite troublesome.  Moreover, you don’t have to pre-heat the tea bowl nor have to cool down the boiling water.  You just put matcha powder and a little bit of cold water and mix well.  Then add boiling water and whisk it quickly.  How easy is that!  I’ll definitely use this method when I’m preparing matcha for myself.  For your casual daily matcha, this alternative recipe will work.

Let me review the recipe.

No sifting matcha, No pre-heating of tea bowl, No cool down of hot water.
First step
- Matcha (1.8g) and cold water (10ml) in a tea bowl.
- Mix them gently until it gets smooth without any lumps.
Second step
- Add 50ml boiling water and whisk it using fast strokes to create foam on the surface.
- Don’t take a lot of time on this step.  10sec will do.

I hope you try comparing both the traditional and this new recipe and see it for yourself.