So you are looking for a great matcha and you are willing to spend more for it? This Matcha Brand Comparison will be looking at the $17 to $48 per ounce Matcha range!
Amazon Matcha Comparison
Round 1 – Matcha Brand Comparison under $9.99 an ounce
Round 2 – Matcha Brand Comparison $9.99 to $16.99 an ounce
I’ll admit, this set up isn’t that great. There is 24 matchas in this Round and simply TOO MANY matchas for me to deal with at once and keep my own review standards intact. I’m sure as readers it would be hard to believe my ratings of 24 matchas at once, if I read it myself I’d think it was bunk. I could of just drank them all in more than one sitting and rate them, but I felt my ratings would fail at comparing them as a group and full of crap. However, I was told to rate these all together, so meh. #teabloggerproblems.
I broke the tastings in half, so I drank half one day, the other half a week later. I’d like for you to consider each group separately as I drank them, which would be best representation of my ratings. With that said, some in the first part would rate high but not as good as in group 2.
Testing Procedure
Every matcha is labelled by number or letter. I do not know what brands I was drinking at the time. After I wrote out my results, I edited in the brands, price and further thoughts.
Despite the numbering system, I drank each matcha in random order within their group.
For all matches I used 160F and started with a 1/3 cup water. I opted to weigh out the matcha – 1 gram of matcha each, rather than volume measurement. For equipment I sifted the matcha and whisked it with an electric frother.
Note: these matchas are being compared to each other vs. overall from previous matcha comparison posts. Some matchas may be repeated but have a different score.
Rating Scale Breakdown (out of 10)
Matcha Powder Colour – Colour of the unprepared matcha powder. This is important as matcha can range in colour as well as colour is usually an important factor of the quality of the matcha. Generally we are looking for a vibrant green matcha.
1 = there is no color. 10 = the green is bleeding my eyes.
Matcha Powder Scent – Scent of the matcha powder. Hey, I like smelling things!
1 = smells awful. 10 = I might be caught looking suspicious with green powder under my nose from smelling the matcha too much.
Prepared Appearance – Color mostly considered here as well as foam. Photos were taken right after whisking.
1 = I want to pour it out it’s so ugly. 10 = The tea should be considered art.
Bitter Sweet Scale – How bitter or sweet it is. I was told to rate bitter/sweet this way but it was awkward for me as something can be both bitter and sweet, as well a high sweetness may not equal good.
1 = Bitter! Someone sandpaper my face off. 5 = Neither bitter or sweet middle ground. 10 = Really sweet that I call shenanigans that this has been laced with sugar.
Flavor – This is a personal rating here, I’d take this with a grain of salt. A little tough to determine as well since if it is quite bitter I will rate the matcha lower.
1 = I regret drinking that. 10 = Nope, 10 was a slip of a keystroke. It’s truly a 1 not a 10 (as I run off to buy it all).
Price – This time around it appears the ranking is done for me. The matchas are numbered and ordered by price point. Prices pulled July 2015 so price may vary.
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Matcha Brand Comparison GROUP 1 – $16.99 to $20.75 per ounce
BLARG!! I’m annoyed. I found out after the fact that Matcha 10 – 14 were in Round 2 after I drank them and wrote reviews. I’m moreso annoyed as some of these matchas were terrible and I had to drink them again. WHYYYY! I did include a picture of Matcha 12 above.
I’ll post Matcha 14 in this group to give a bit of overlap to compare with the others.
MATCHA 14 – Red Leaf Tea Kennin Matcha
Matcha Powder Colour 6/10 – Very fluffy, but not as green as the other matchas.
Matcha Powder Scent 7/10 – Fresh scent but quite light.
Prepared Appearance 8/10 Good looking appearance, though not as good as other matchas in this group.
Bitter Sweet Scale 6/10 Again, savory, but with a bit of sweetness which is natural tasting.
Flavor 6/10 The notes here are toasty sweet brown rice, wheatgrass, chestnuts, fresh spinach and umami savory. Despite being a top pick last round, this matcha wasn’t as fresh and complex as others.
Price – $16.99 per ounce, sold in 30 gram packages. With volume discount, Red Leaf Tea Kennin Matcha is as low as $8.49 an ounce.
MATCHA 15 – Ito En Teas’ Tea Matcha
Oh yay, Ito En (aka Teas Tea). I’ve had a number of their products, mostly their premade teas which are the absolute best.
Looking at their website under the “origin”, where this matcha is from doesn’t get any more specific than this:
Matcha Powder Colour 8/10 – Pretty nice coloured matcha!
Matcha Powder Scent 6/10 – Barely any scent, but what I can smell is floral and sweet.
Prepared Appearance 6/10 – The foam didn’t stick around that long, but the colour of the matcha is quite lovely.
Bitter Sweet Scale 5/10 – In the middle. This matcha has both bitter and sweet notes.
Flavor 7/10 – Flavor notes of rice, spinach and lots of freshness, but with a buttery almost floral finish. The flavor is on the lighter side. A pretty good matcha that’s easy to drink.
Price – $17.14 per ounce. Ito En Teas’ Tea Matcha is sold in a 20 grams tin with no sample sizes.
MATCHA 16 – Ito En Matcha LOVE Usucha
We have another Ito En Matcha! The origin of this matcha also is simply a map in Uji, Japan.
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 – Very fluffly matcha with a great vibrant colour. Top of the class!
Matcha Powder Scent 4/10 – I couldn’t smell much on this one, despite the great colour. All I could smell was a little rice.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 Whisking this matcha was like whisking a bowl of melted ice cream – it foamed quickly and had a thick appearance. Really nice colour on this one.
Bitter Sweet Scale 7/10 This matcha has a pleasing amount of sweetness that is natural tasting.
Flavor 9/10 – I quite liked this one. The flavor is very fresh, nutty, white bread toast, buttery and fresh spinach. It’s like I’m eating fresh out of the oven bread with butter and spinach. Very good and energizing cup of matcha.
Price $17.14 per ounce. Ito En Matcha LOVE Usucha is sold in a 20 gram tin with no sample or bulk sizes.
MATCHA 17 – Red Leaf Tea’s Emperor Matcha
Red Leaf tea is back with another Chinese matcha. A high roller one too with “Emperor”. I wonder if the next level is “God Matcha”. Like other Red Leaf Tea Matchas, no information on where in China it’s from and when it was harvested.
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 Another very fluffy matcha. This one fell out of the sifter. The colour is pretty!
Matcha Powder Scent 5/10 This one has a bit more scent than Matcha 16, sporting a bit of toasty rice.
Prepared Appearance 8/10 A good looking matcha – the foam was tight, goregous dark jade colour, but not as thick as other matchas here.
Bitter Sweet Scale 4/10 – Not that sweet at all, mostly savory in flavor.
Flavor 4/10 – This matcha started tasting good with creamy savory chestnut, but had a weird sour finish. I recleansed my pallet and tried again and it still tasted like sour cabbage.
Price $17.99 per ounce. Red Leaf Tea’s Emperor Matcha is sold in 30 gram bags with the option of purchasing more for a cheaper price, down to $8.99 per ounce.
MATCHA 18 – Red Leaf Tea’s Tofuku Matcha
This Japanese Red Leaf Tea matcha is from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. I love tofu and I looked up “Tofuku” and it’s a temple in Kyoto.
Matcha Powder Colour 5/10 – This matcha is slightly grey but not too bad.
Matcha Powder Scent 7/10 – A strong sweet floral scent, I like it!
Prepared Appearance 5/10 – This matcha foamed nicely, but the colour was a murky jade.
Bitter Sweet Scale 7/10 – Pretty sweet in flavor with an absence of bitterness.
Flavor 7/10 – Tofuku Matcha is sweet and fruity, like the juice that is packed with peaches. The finish is vegetal like celery and green peppers. I didn’t mind this one, I would drink this again as the fruity notes were interesting. If you like a fruity matcha this one would be for you.
Price $17.99 per ounce. Red Leaf Tea’s Tofuku Matcha is sold in a 30 grams bag, with the option of purchasing multiple bags for a cheaper price, down to $12.79 per ounce.
MATCHA 19 – Red Leaf Tea’s Manju Matcha
Another Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Apparently there and Uji is loaded in matcha.
Matcha Powder Colour 7/10 – The colour is pretty comparable to the others, but a touch lighter.
Matcha Powder Scent 9/10 – Very nice scent with a creamy freshness to it.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – Hello good looking! This matcha is light foamed, thich and attractive coloured.
Bitter Sweet Scale 5/10 – In the middle ground, kinda sweet but also savory.
Flavor 8/10 – This matcha was quite creamy with notes of white rice, white toasted bread, and chestnuts – a pretty solid workhorse matcha!
Price $19.99 per ounce. Red Leaf Tea’s Manju Matcha is sold in a 30 grams bag, with the option of purchasing multiple bags for a cheaper price, down to $14.29 per ounce.
MATCHA 20 – Red Leaf Tea’s Matsuri Matcha
Another Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. More evidence it rains matcha there.
Matcha Powder Colour 8/10 Nice gorgeous colour of green.
Matcha Powder Scent 4/10 Unfortunately this one smells kind of plastic and kale.
Prepared Appearance 8/10 A solid, good looking matcha – but we’ve seen better.
Bitter Sweet Scale 7/10 – This matcha has a good amount of sweetness.
Flavor 8/10 – This one has an odd flavor and unlike the rest. I’m picking up grassy, raspberries, and floral. It is odd as it really doesn’t match the scent of the matcha powder. This one is a tough call as some wouldn’t like that berry taste, but it is pretty neat to me.
Price $19.99 per ounce. Red Leaf Tea’s Matsuri Matcha is sold in a 30 grams bag. There is no bulk discount for this matcha.
MATCHA 21 – Pure Matcha’s Premium Ceremonial Grade
An Amazon matcha! Oh my, I am in shock!
This matcha does NOT USE CAPS AT ALL IN THEIR LISTING. No “WEIGHT LOSS WIZARDRY!!!!!” Unfortunately it does include mostly health claims but they aren’t obnoxious as other matchas on Amazon have been. Bonus points!
This matcha is from Nishio, Japan but no harvest date is listed.
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 – That’s a good looking matcha powder!
Matcha Powder Scent 9/10 – This matcha is quite aromatic, like sweet fields of grass.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – Another good looking matcha. For this price point we are in, it better look good.
Bitter Sweet Scale 6/10 – Lightly sweet, but with a bit of vegetal bitterness.
Flavor 9/10 – Pure Matcha is quite nutty with chestnuts and walnuts notes, along with a bit of grassy. There is a light smooth sweetness that reminds me of honey. The flavor is quite nice in this one, I like it!
Price $20.75 per ounce. Pure Matcha’s Premium Ceremonial Grade is sold in a 30 gram tin. Prime Shipping!
As a side note, Pure Matcha also sells Black and Rooibos matcha!
GROUP 1 COMMENTS and RANKINGS
Oolong Owl Favorites:
MATCHA 16 – Ito En Matcha LOVE Usucha
MATCHA 21 – Pure Matcha’s Premium Ceremonial Grade
Both matchas are really good and come in a tin. Matcha 16 being the cheaper price of the two and the one I like better out of the two due to fresh taste.
You can’t go wrong with:
MATCHA 19 – Red Leaf Tea’s Manju Matcha
MATCHA 20 – Red Leaf Tea’s Matsuri Matcha
Matcha 19 being the noteable one as you can get it cheap in volume.
There is an obvious jump in flavor comparing this price bracket with the last. The winner from the last, cheaper round was Matcha 14, and I think it’s worth jumping to the ones I mentioned above if you want to spend a bit more.
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Matcha Brand Comparison GROUP 2 – $23.50 to $48.00 per ounce
Hello high rollers – these are your matchas! To be honest, this tasting was tricky. The matcha were really close in colour as with the prepared appearance. Most of them are really good, you honestly can’t go wrong and just snag one that sounds good to you and ignore my hootings.
MATCHA 22 – Misake Tea Company’s Meditation Ceremonial Organic Matcha (Amazon)
This is an Amazon matcha, and another health claim loaded one. “THE SECRET OF THE ZEN MONK’S FOCUSED CALM ALERTNESS” and “HOURS OF JITTER-FREE ENERGY WITH NO CRASH”. LIES. ALL LIES. I know this. I know they don’t think you drink 12 matchas at once like I did for this review, but I’m so jittery a walk down my hall will give me multiple butt bruises. I’ve done these matcha tasting 4 times now and each time I crash so hard I fall asleep at like 9pm.
Wait, this matcha seriously says “MAKES YOU EVEN SEXIER! …With over 137 times the EGCG of standard green tea, it aids in Weight Loss and Fat-Burning. EGCG has been shown to suppress the appetite and help turn carbohydrates into energy instead of fat. Remember that part about increased stamina? Make sure your partner drinks some too!”
O_O What the @*&#$%^()
Matcha Powder Colour 5/10 – The matcha powder is nice and fluffy, but the colour does not belong with the others.
Matcha Powder Scent 4/10 – The scent of this one is squeaky, like cheese. Does that make any sense?
Prepared Appearance 8/10 – This matcha has a nice foam with a lovely colour.
Bitter Sweet Scale 3/10 – Bitter Sour!
Flavor 2/10 – I didn’t know a matcha could taste sour. The flavor was quite strong, so I watered it down and it still tasted sour. Past the sour the flavor is of artichokes and wheat grass. I question if this tea has been stored poorly or has gone off.
Price $23.54 per ounce. Misake Matcha Meditation is sold in a 30 gram tin. There are some coupon codes in the listing to make buying multiple tins cheaper.
In case if you were wondering, no I did not become sexy after drinking this. I made such a sour ugly face while drinking this one that I’m sure would of ruined my chances of becoming Miss Universe. I slid some to my husband aka “Tea Hating Husband” – he spat it out saying it was disgusting, he hates me and wants to return me back to Canada. Moving on.
MATCHA 23 – Midori Spring’s Organic Ceremonial Matcha Gold Class (Amazon)
Another health claims Amazon matcha with CAPS lock in effect. Oh look, a new claim, “(5) Help the body cleanse of harmful elements.” Hmmm, what harmful element do I need to be cleansed of? It’s certainly not Oxygen. Since it’s “Gold Class” does it kill off all the other elements and leaves the gold behind? So this matcha makes me a Alchemy god? Ooooooh!
The origin of this matcha is stated as “tea gardens mostly from Aichi and Kagoshima in Japan”. Mostly? Okay then.
Matcha Powder Colour 6/10 – Wow, this matcha is quite fluffy and very heavy. If you can see in the photos, this one has the least amount of matcha. The colour is pretty middle of the pack.
Matcha Powder Scent 5/10 – This one smells like an empty cardboard Sun Maid raisin box. I’m not sure how I feel about that, have a 5/10.
Prepared Appearance 7/10 – This one foamed up so tightly it doesn’t even look like foam. However, the foam layer is thin.
Bitter Sweet Scale 6/10 – This matcha is lightly sweet.
Flavor 6/10 – This matcha is really neutral and weak in flavor. It’s not very umami, grassy or vegetal. It has a leafy taste. If this had no foam, I would think I was drinking regular ol’ green tea. The flavor is pretty friendly to non-tea drinkers due to the neutral qualities.
Price $23.54 per ounce. Midori Spring’s Organic Ceremonial Matcha Gold Class is sold in 30 gram tins. Prime Shipping! However, I’m thinking since this matcha was quite weak, this matcha needs more per serving, thus much more expensive than listed.
No I didn’t find any gold, though admittedly it didn’t cross my mind to check my stool.
MATCHA 24 – DoMatcha’s Green Tea Ceremonial Matcha (Amazon)
DoMatcha is back and it’s none of that 2nd grade stuff like we had in Round 2.
Matcha Powder Colour 7/10 – A pretty nice green. Man, these practically look the same.
Matcha Powder Scent 7/10 – The scent is light, with a toasty rice essence to it.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – It’s a cloud of fluff! Very lovely appearance!
Bitter Sweet Scale 8/10 – The sweetest of the matchas, without tasting freaky.
Flavor 10/10 – Oh that’s good. I had to stop myself from inhaling the entire cup. I’d just make a bucket of this matcha and submerge my face and drink it like some kind of animal. The matcha is really creamy with notes of custard, sweet grass with a light soy bean taste.
Price $23.58 per ounce. DoMatcha’s Green Tea Ceremonial Matcha is sold in a 30 gram tin. I’m not paying attention to that price. This stuff is good! Take a bow DoMatcha, you did good!
MATCHA 25 – Ito En Matcha LOVE™ Classic (Ito En / Amazon)
Another Ito En Matcha. Sorry readers. As I’m looking up this matcha it appears to be sold out on the Ito En site. However, I see it for sale on Amazon… for $205.95. WUT THE LIVING F!
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 – Gorgeous colour, such a vibrant green!
Matcha Powder Scent 6/10 – The scent is on the weak side, what I do smell is a little toasty.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – So much foam that I think I can use it as spackle. I was tempted to throw a scoop of foam against the wall to check, but I would of gotten in trouble. Great colour on this matcha too.
Bitter Sweet Scale 5/10 – This one is nor sweet or bitter.
Flavor 9/10 – SUPER UMAMI. So much umami! The most umami tea I’ve had so far! Dang! The matcha is thick, creamy, toasted rice and nutty. It doesn’t have much in grassy or vegetal taste, nor is it sweet. I can see many loving this matcha!
Price $24.29 per ounce. Or $205.95 per ounce if you are desperate. Ito En Matcha LOVE™ Classic is sold in a 0.7 oz/ 20 gram tin.
Good job, Ito En! Fingers crossed this is back in stock soon!
MATCHA B – Yunomi Obubu #21: Gokou Matcha
Yay, it’s a Yunomi Matcha! This is the stuff! So much information on this matcha – it’s a Spring Harvest, minimal pesticide use, shaded for 3 to 4 weeks. Hey, we know the tea farmer’s name too! Be sure to check it out!
Matcha Powder Colour 8/10 – This matcha is heavy and fluffy with a pretty green. This one is also pretty heavy, not as heavy as 23.
Matcha Powder Scent 5/10 – I’m not digging this scent. This matcha smells like a cut dandelion weed.
Prepared Appearance 6/10 – Interestingly, this one required little sifting as it just fell out of the sifter. The matcha whisked up thin (to my disappointment) with a good colour.
Bitter Sweet Scale 6/10 – The matcha is both sweet and bitter, more on the sweet.
Flavor 5/10 – Whoa, that’s grassy! The flavor tastes just like those big and fat dark green blades of grass I chewed on as a 8 year old. This matcha also has a spearminty essence to it. There’s not much else to this matcha, to my dismay. If you love wheatgrass, you’ll enjoy this matcha.
Price $24.43 per ounce. Yunomi Obubu #21: Gokou Matcha is sold in a 25 gram bag.
MATCHA 26 – Ito En Koto No Tsuki Matcha
It seems Ito En has a lot of expensive matcha. Not that I’m complaining, so far they have had some good ones! I love the tin design on this one, however with all the tea drinking I do I have no fear of a lack of English on packaging.
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 – Another pretty matcha powder!
Matcha Powder Scent 9/10 – As I scooped this one the scent was quite appealing. Under close sniffing, it has a strong umami and brown rice scent.
Prepared Appearance 6/10 – This one has nuclear green foam! Thin layer of foam, but a nice colour.
Bitter Sweet Scale 4/10 – Bitter matcha!
Flavor 7/10 – The texture is grainy despite the sifting. The taste is quite vegetal with lots of kale, spinach and asparagus tang. The background is creamy too. It’s not bad, but too vegetal for me – but if you love vegetal you’ll give this matcha a 10!
Price $27.86 per ounce. Ito En Koto No Tsuki Matcha is sold in a 20 gram tin.
MATCHA 27 – EPIC Matcha Organic Ceremonial Grade (Amazon)
An Amazon matcha! HAHAHA The name of this matcha – EPIC MATCHA. MATCHA FOR DAYS MF! Oh snap, “ROCK SOLID MONEY BACK GUARANTEE” ROCK SOLID YO! Hahaha, I’m in tears, this matcha is hilarious!
I love the tin design, washi pattern and colour – the teal is a nice change of pace since everyone does green.
Bonus points for this Amazon matcha not being full of buzz words.
Matcha Powder Colour 6/10 – A weaker colour out of the group.
Matcha Powder Scent 6/10 – The scent of the matcha is weak and what I can smell is of plastic, boo.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – Whoa, this foamed like mad. Another matcha I can use to patch holes in the dry wall!
Bitter Sweet Scale 2/10 – Well that’s bitter.
Flavor 4/10 – EPIC FAIL! This matcha sips in bitter with vegetal extreme taste. It also has a marine salty vibe to it. What does taste good is the creamy notes, but it doesn’t save it. I watered it down to tame the epic but it was still too bitter to enjoy the epic. Just too Epic guys.
Price $28.27 per ounce. EPIC Matcha Organic Ceremonial Grade is sold in a 30 gram tin. EPIC PRIME SHIPPING!
MATCHA C – Yunomi Obubu #22: Uji Hikari Matcha
It appears Yunomi is guilty of using the same stock matcha pictures in their listings. Come on, you can do better!
Like the other matchas, there’s plenty of information on this matcha and how its made. The difference for this one compared to Matcha B? The cultivar is different! (I’m not well versed in Japanese Greens, since I’m more of a weird tea blends/oolong/pu’er head. Go hit up My Japanese Green Tea blog.)
Matcha Powder Colour 9/10 – I originally gave this a 10, this matcha looks great. It’s pure green but I think it’s a touch light.
Matcha Powder Scent 9/10 – This one smells good, I want to lick the straight matcha. I resisted as I would of regretted eating straight matcha.
Prepared Appearance 6/10 – UGGG, it’s bald! Did I mess this one up? It’s pretty as powder but this isn’t good at all.
Bitter Sweet Scale 7/10 – Nicely sweet without being artificial. Very good!
Flavor 9/10 – A very easy to drink matcha! The matcha is creamy smooth and balanced with a good amount of sweet, fresh green and light savory. The sweetness has almost a coconut note to it. I like it! As I drink this matcha it’s like I’m in a luxury tropical get away!
Price $28.30 per ounce. Yunomi Obubu #22: Uji Hikari Matcha is sold in a 25 gram bag.
MATCHA 28 – Aiya Organic Ceremonial Matcha (Aiya / Amazon)
It’s Aiya Matcha! I was hoping I would be seeing their teas! This matcha is available off Aiya’s site (with a loyalty point program) or off Amazon.
Matcha Powder Colour 6/10 – This matcha was clumpy and a little annoying to deal with. The colour was bottom of the pack, but still not bad.
Matcha Powder Scent 5/10 – The scent was light and somewhat plastic.
Prepared Appearance 6/10 – This one looks very nice – I like the foam and colour. I’m docking marks as it smells like plastic as I was whisking it.
Bitter Sweet Scale 3/10 – Vegetable bitterness!
Flavor 4/10 – This one was tough. As I drank this I wanted to like it, which is weird as I had no idea what brand I was drinking. The notes are lettuce, grass, wonderbread toast with a light citrus pineapple lime taste. This one certainly bites back with bitterness at the end. If it weren’t for the bitterness I would love this one – I don’t mind bitterness with all the sheng pu’er I’ve been drinking lately, but this one doesn’t hit me right. I saw after the fact this is Aiya matcha and I’m sad. All the Aiya matcha people I met were very cool and knowledgeable. Sorry Aiya, I still love you guys!
Price $29.60 per ounce, however it’s $23.96 on Amazon for some reason. Aiya Organic Ceremonial Matcha is sold in a 30 gram tin.
MATCHA 29 – KENKO Matcha Green Tea Organic Ceremonial Grade (Amazon)
Another Amazon matcha seller loaded in health claims. The usual stuff HOWEVER I FOUND SOMETHING SCARY. I had to screen cap it just in case.
Dammit, nothing like copy and pasting health claims and recipes from another amazon listing. #headdesk
Matcha Powder Colour 8/10 – This matcha was also another heavy weight one, but not as bad as Matcha 23. Gosh, the colour is also nice!
Matcha Powder Scent 6/10 – The scent here is weak, but lightly fruity.
Prepared Appearance 8/10 – This matcha, like the others, has nice colour and foam. Not wall spackle though.
Bitter Sweet Scale 6/10 – This one is on the sweet side, but also savory.
Flavor 8/10 – Lovely flavor! There are lovely rice notes with zips of blade grass and spinach. This one is quite close in flavor to Matcha 31.
Price $30.16 per ounce. KENKO Matcha Green Tea Organic Ceremonial Grade is sold in a 30 gram tin.
MATCHA 30 – Red Leaf Teas’ Tanabata Matcha
This is it, the most expensive matcha on Red Leaf Tea. Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Matcha Powder Colour 7/10 – Gosh, these are just blurring in colour. The green looks nice but not as vivid as some of the other matchas.
Matcha Powder Scent 6/10 – This one smelled very marine like to me. I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Prepared Appearance 7/10 – The appearance is great but not as pretty as others.
Bitter Sweet Scale 2/10 – OMG so bitter and sour!
Flavor 3/10 – The flavor is pretty umami, not as umami-tactular as Matcha 25. This one is also pretty marine, strong cabbage and sour rice milk. For this price, this matcha had to of gone off or stored badly. In defense, I did not open my matchas until right before I went to photograph and drink them so I don’t know what’s up.
Price $34.99 per ounce. Red Leaf Teas’ Tanabata Matcha is sold in a 30 gram bag. No volume discounts.
MATCHA 31 – Aiya Premium Matcha (Aiya / Amazon)
“Of the over 200 farmers in Nishio city that are contracted by Aiya, only a select few have the experience and knowledge necessary to produce Matcha high enough in quality to be called “Premium Grade.” The result of their efforts is a rare treat.” Well that’s pretty spiffy!
Matcha Powder Colour 7/10 – I can’t tell the difference between this matcha and Matcha 30 in colour.
Matcha Powder Scent 9/10 – Ooh, nice smell – it’s fruity and plummy.
Prepared Appearance 9/10 – Lovely appearance! Gorgeous green out of the others as it’s a perfect jade!
Bitter Sweet Scale 5/10 – This matcha is both sweet and bitter.
Flavor 8/10 – This matcha starts off bitter, but ends with a sweet finish. The notes are grassy, creamy with a spinach concentrate. As I drink it, I’m thinking this is just too potent and I watered it down, which calmed things down. The matcha also has a nice creamy background and a fresh spinach taste. A very good matcha
Price $48.00 per ounce off Aiya’s site. Aiya Premium Matcha is sold in a 30 gram tin. However Aiya Premium Matcha is $37.99 on Amazon. This one is expensive but you need less matcha per serving. Aiya also has a point loyalty program.
Side note – I was told by the Matcha review organizer that Matcha 30 is sourced from Aiya, so is the same matcha, though potentially different batches.
GROUP 2 COMMENTS and RANKINGS
Oolong Owl Favorites:
MATCHA 24 – DoMatcha’s Green Tea Ceremonial Matcha
MATCHA 25 – Ito En Matcha LOVE™ Classic
MATCHA C – Yunomi Obubu #22: Uji Hikari Matcha
These three matchas were my favorite, with DoMatcha’s being the all time good one. I made it again iced and it was really good too! As always with Yunomi teas, you got the most transparency in knowing where your tea is from down to processing details.
You can’t go wrong with:
MATCHA 29 – KENKO Matcha Green Tea Organic Ceremonial Grade
MATCHA 31 – Aiya Premium Matcha (high roll’n!)
If you go with the KENKO (or any other matcha going on about magic health claims) tell them all you care about is the taste. There’s no miracle tea cure.
It appeared many of the matchas had storage issues (suspect for the sour matchas) and it sounded like other bloggers who were participating also ran into a few that didn’t taste right. I think this stresses you want a tea seller that can back where their tea is from and when it was made. You also don’t want to buy a whole bunch of matcha that you cannot finish within a short time frame.
There are also a couple matcha sellers that weren’t in these reviews – O-cha and AOI come to mind – maybe a future matcha review? Until then, I need a break from all this green powdery stuff. I’m still trying to clean up all the matcha powder from the last round.
(Tea provided for review. Amazon links are affiliate)
