Samurai Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea, 200g (7 oz)

I hesitate to write this, because once a matcha becomes well-regarded, it can become harder to either maintain quality, or maintain stock. Matcha has become so popular, that there is a shortage of the best Japanese matcha in Japan, and they are having to ration supplies to tourist restaurants...I was trained years ago in Urasenke- style tea ceremony, 1996, back when there were only 1 or 2 organic brands, with msg added to others.. I am very pleased that Tealyra makes such a very good matcha powder (Imperial and Samurai) at such a very good price, and that they even ended up being organic. They use the same plastic envelope for all their matcha, but add a paper label. Even though nothing in the product description on Amazon claims the tea is organic, this printed label says it is!The Imperial grade is indeed better than their Samurai grade. While both lack some of the complexity of top grade very expensive Uji "ceremonial" matchas, the Imperial has strong notes of chocolate, and a pleasant bitterness, and the Samurai is almost equally as good, without the endearing chocolate notes. Both have a bright green color. Both far outshines in quality and price the highly -rated -in -expert -outside -reviews Rishi Everyday Matcha that used to be a go-to. Much better than declining- in- quality Ujido ceremonial blend.Some folks downgrade matcha for clumping, but that is an indication of being finely ground. The best matchas with the finest grind are time-consumingly stone -ground, greatly contributing to the expense. Mechanical grinding can add heat and destroy quality. One of the steps in preparing tea for tea ceremony is putting the tea through a sieve to remove clumps, used even with the very best matchas, just as one does with flour before making a cake.Because matcha quality is greatly affected by air and humidity, I put about 1 1/2 ounces at a time in the small foil pouch that usually comes in 1 oz matcha in a can, and tightly roll that up with no air with rubber bands around it, and put it in the can, and use that, then refill. I squeeze the air out of the large envelope it comes in, and fold it over and tightly seal the ziplock. Envelopes that come with some foil make it easier to keep air out. Keep it all in the fridge if you can, or if you order the 7 or 8 oz envelopes, you may wish to store it in the freezer.If you are in someplace hot like Arizona, Florida, or Texas, try to order it so it arrives on a relatively cool day, fall through spring, and not in summer, to preserve the quality of the tea. Snatch it up quickly if left on a hot porch! For many brands, last years matcha tends to go on sale in winter or early spring to prepare for new spring stock. We can expect a rise in prices with the tariffs and matcha shortages, as I've seen with this still wonderfully -priced brand.

Wow. All I can say is wow. I have been drinking matcha for 5 years now. I’ve tried countless brands, a bunch on Amazon, to gifts of Alfred matcha from LA. Usually, the best deal you can get is 100g for around $40. Better quality matchas are usually $1/g. I was super skeptical about ordering this matcha. There aren’t a lot of pictures, and although reviews are great, sometimes they’re paid. I am a matcha snob. I’ll say it. It needs to be vibrant. It needs to be creamy. It needs to froth well. I drink it with just ice water, no sweetener, so it needs to shine through on its own. Plenty of matchas are “fine” when in a latte, sure. Same as using bad coffee for a latte. With enough sugar and milk, people will drink it. But, when you drink matcha “americanos,” the matcha has to be good. I gasped when I opened this package. The vibrancy. The AMOUNT. 200g of matcha for $40 is insane. It’s perfect. It tastes delicious, it froths well, it’s green as green can be, and it is creamy and tastes divine. I will be repurchasing time and time again, as well as sharing with every single one of my friends who like matcha. Thank you. Buy this matcha. Please. It will change. the. game.

The matcha is decent but they jacked their prices up $5 (pre- tariffs). Can't say I notice that much difference between this one and the slightly cheaper variety of their matcha. Getting a little tired seeing big price increases every time I go to restock a product. Again, this price increase had nothing to do with the tariffs.

After researching more than a month to replace the matcha I’m drinking, I chanced upon the samurai ceremonial matcha by Tealyra. I’ve bought teas from them before and was happy with the quality of teas they carry. At less than $10/oz for “ceremonial” matcha? I was sceptical but decided to give it a try since I trusted the brand. The 3.5 oz bag arrived as shown on Amazon, with words indicating “ceremonial “ and “organic” on the sticker, as advertised. The expiration date is “02-2022”, which gives me about 18 months to enjoy. The tea powder is a clean but not vibrant green, definitely much better than the muddy or yellow/brownish green colours of many of the “premium culinary grade” matcha. That’s definitely a good sign. I put a little water into the one teaspoon of powder and whisked it in the matcha bowl without sifting the powder first. Then I added a little more water to the paste, and the powder turned into a vibrant green with very fine foams. There were no lumps even without sifting. This green colour is almost as vibrant as the Yamamasa Koyamaen ceremonial matcha I bought in Tokyo. Adding more water up to the instructed amount and whisked again, the foams became bigger but still covered the surface. The taste was mellow, without the overwhelming grassy flavour that some lower grades have. There was a hint of umami aftertaste which was pleasant but weaker than the premium ceremonial grade, but you pay premium price for that. The entire bowl was very pleasant to drink, leaving a very nice fragrance in the mouth even after more than 30 minutes. There was only a hint of grainy texture at the last sip, but not so much that it bothered me. Overall, this is an entry-level ceremonial matcha, with good colour, flavour, texture, foam and aftertaste. For the price, this is great value. If you want to upgrade after trying this entry-level, the same company sells higher grade ceremonial matcha at higher prices. For now, my search is over and I hope they keep up with the quality so I can explore more.

I drink a ton of matcha. I’ve been searching high and low for a matcha w the same brilliant color and umami of the $40/ounce kind. One that I can drink every day and not feel badly about how much money I’m dropping on tea. This is the one. Buying the bigger bag immediately.