Matcha time! Zendori Matcha sent me a tin to review and I took forever to find where I put it during my moves around Seattle.
Zendori does sell their matcha on Amazon, yay! Free shipping and Prime for fast matcha hookups. This is the regular matcha. Zendori also sells a cheaper culinary grade, organic culinary grade and organic ceremonial. I tend to favor non-organic matcha as the quality tends to be better. They admit the organic one tastes different: “Conventional matcha has a vibrant green color and has a more full-bodied flavor, while organic is a bit lighter in flavor and color.”
Stats on Zendori Ceremonial Matcha
- From Nishio and Kyoto regions of Japan
- Handpicked leaf
- Traditionally ground with granite wheels
Packaging of Zendori Ceremonial
The outside box has some basic information.
I open the box and whoa, cool packaging! The box folds out into more information.
The tin is checking off many things I like to see in matcha packaging – some sort of date… ehhh whoops guys, I took awhile to review this one. Best used date is something at least, I much prefer a production date.
Sealed tin! When I opened the tin, I got wisps of matcha floating into the air.
Wow, actual instructions with attention to water temperature – look even instructions for both Usucha and Koicha. The language used here is a bit confusing, “boiled water (180F)” one thing is not like the other. Maybe they are trying to say “boil the water and cool it to 180f” but ran out of room? I personally believe in total idiot proofing, someone might just see boil and go to freaking town.
Dry Leaf
Zendori has a decent greenness to it. I’ve seen brighter, but the Zendori Ceremonial is good. Maybe it would of been greener if I drank this a couple months ago?
The scent is quite nice, it is a lovely creamy sweetness that I want to face plant then roll and make snow angels in. Matcha angels? That would be pretty messy. The powder is quite light and fluffy. It weighs less than I expected and compared to other matchas I’ve had. Overall, very promising.
Matcha Instructions
I’m going with Usucha, personally Koicha style never appealed to me and I’ve only done it when I wanted a nasty caffeine sludge bomb. I did go with my usual, 175f, 1/2t (worked out ot 1.5 grams) 3oz, which is pretty close to their instructions. to my surprise, I ended up topping it to 4oz for taste – this matcha is potent.
Tasting of Zendori Ceremonial Matcha
The Zendori matcha looks pretty good – good foam, dark emerald colour.
The taste is unami bombing. It sips in thick, grassy, a touch of marine, with a savory rice finish. The after taste has a bit of bitterness, yet fresh. The strongest and best note is the savory rice. As it cools, the bitterness slips away for a smooth rice note and thick foam texture. Excellent body and taste!
This isn’t a sweet matcha though, Zendori Matcha is the one for people chasing that unami and savory flavor. In past matcha reviews I had a favorite for “Super unami bomb” that I would need to side by side again, but the Zendori one is quite good. I finished the bowl and didn’t regret it.
Comments
Zendori Ceremonial Matcha is a solid choice if you want a great savory unami profile matcha. It has a very classic taste to it and fresh, even though I’m opening my tin close to expiry.
What I admire about this matcha is the information provided on the packaging – I would recommend this to someone new to matcha, you don’t need to look up what to do provided you can follow instructions. The box design is really cool too!
However price wise, this matcha is expensive and maybe not one a new matcha drinker would want to pay. Zendori Ceremonial Matcha is $35, or $38 on amazon right now, no sample options. For the high end price bracket, this matcha is pretty tasty and I found it was quite potent so it’ll stretch more than normal. However, there are plenty of great matchas in the $25 price point if you want something good. The price jump to $35+ is noticeable in taste, but it isn’t world changing. It is really your call on your tea buying budget if you want the high end goodies. If you want to go all out, Zendori Ceremonial Matcha would be a good pick.
