Day: December 1, 2019

How to solve the problem of matcha clumps that don’t dissolve

One common problem that many tea drinkers complain about is the undissolved clumps of matcha powder that they encounter when drinking.

The problem lies entirely with the person making the tea. First, we need to understand that matcha is not like powdered milk or cocoa. In fact, it is not water-soluble. It is made from ground tea leaves, and the leaves are absolutely insoluble in water.

I believe many of you already have a solution, but this time I would like to share my solution with everyone.

  1. Take it and sift it.

This is arguably the best method. Matcha, which normally clumps together, becomes finer when sifted like flour, making it easier to mix with water. Furthermore, the texture of the tea is incredibly smooth and soft when you drink it. The only downside is that this method can be time-consuming and too meticulous when you’re in a rush.

Matcha

  1. Mix a little bit of water together first.

If you’re too lazy to sift the matcha, you can fix this by adding water little by little. Add the matcha little at a time. Think of making pancakes. If you add everything at once and mix, the batter will be lumpy and it will take a lot of effort to mix it together. Matcha is the same. If you know how to make thick matcha (okoicha), you can use the same method. Scoop the tea powder into a cup, add a little hot water first, and use a brush to sweep left and right, knead it together. You will get a bright green mud-like substance like the one in the picture. After that, gradually add the remaining water.

Making Matcha Usucha and Koicha

  1. Use a matcha jar with a sifting lid.

This device is designed to solve this problem quickly and conveniently. It’s like a salt and pepper shaker on a table. However, there’s another problem: Matcha that has been exposed to moisture for a while and has formed clumps is very difficult to shake. Freshly unwrapped matcha will eventually have to resort to either method 1 or 2.

  1. Shake with a shaker

This is probably the easiest way to make matcha, especially when shaken with milk, which creates a lot of foam and is incredibly fine. The downside is that it can be difficult to shake to get any matcha lumps out, but at least the matcha lumps won’t be too big, they’ll be small and evenly distributed, so you can drink it without any problems. However, shaking with hot water or hot milk will cause steam to compress inside the bottle, making it splatter and making a mess when you open the lid. Also, be careful not to burn your hands.

  1. Mix with a milk frother

A foamer is a convenient tool for mixing matcha, but as mentioned in point 2, it’s still more effective to start mixing matcha with a small amount of liquid first.

  1. Mix matcha powder with sugar first.

If you want to add sugar to your recipe, mix the sugar with the matcha powder first. The easily dissolved sugar creates spaces for the matcha powder to separate easily without clumping.

  1. Use a matcha whisk to mix at high speed.

This last method is a method that relies on speed. In the case of using a matcha brush, your hands must be very steady. Use your wrist to move the brush up and down in a number 1 motion with the speed of a skilled guitarist plucking the strings. This technique requires experience, unless you are using a power-saving device like a milk frother or blender. In that case, I would recommend mixing with a small amount of liquid first, as it will be more finely ground.

In short, if you think of matcha as a flour, everything becomes much easier. You can use the same flour mixture you use when making desserts to mix matcha, and everything becomes much easier.

Article from: Vachi

Speaking of matcha, why does it have to be Uji matcha?

In Japan, products lined up in supermarkets and sweets in sweet shops that use matcha as an ingredient are advertised everywhere as using Uji matcha. Recently, people in Thailand have probably become more familiar with the name “Uji”. Have you ever wondered why it has to be Uji matcha and not other kinds of matcha?

  1. Definition of Uji Matcha

“Uji” is the name of a city in Kyoto Prefecture. The roots of Japanese culture have been here for over a thousand years, as evidenced by the World Heritage Site Byodoin Temple, but it is also the source of tea production in Japan. In the 12th century during the Song Dynasty of China, when the monk Eisai first brought tea and a millstone from China to Japan, it was brought to Kyoto. It can be said that the first tea drunk in Japanese history was matcha. As China abandoned this ancient drinking method and adopted the current hot extraction method, extracting the tea leaves.

But in fact, Uji tea today is not only grown in Uji City.

The Kyoto Prefectural Tea Bureau defines Uji tea as tea grown in four prefectures that have developed, taking into account their history, culture, geography, and climate: Kyoto, Nara, Shiga, and Mie. Tea is processed by the Kyoto Prefectural Tea Bureau in Kyoto.

In addition, the Uji Matcha registration defines matcha as the final processed tea from tea produced in the four prefectures in Kyoto Prefecture using methods originating from Uji. Therefore, Uji tea that is considered to be of excellent quality may actually consist of tea from the four neighboring prefectures mentioned above, but still retains the Uji character through the production method.

  1. The number one matcha production volume in Japan

In 2018, Japan produced 3,660 tons of Tencha (the term for the tea leaves used to make Matcha), of which one-third (1,200 tons) were produced in Kyoto. In addition, Nara Prefecture produced 250 tons, Shiga Prefecture 50 tons, and Mie Prefecture 150 tons. Based on the definition above, about half of Japan’s Matcha could come from “Uji tea”, showing that Uji matcha is produced from the largest source of Matcha in Japan.

  1. Won the competition by a landslide

The All-Japan Tea Festival (全国お茶まつり) is an event where people in the tea industry gather together once a year. There are various events and a national tea quality competition (全国茶品評会). The 73rd edition was held in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, from August 27 to 30, 2019.

For Matcha, the evaluation will be done in the form of leaves (Tencha). It will be considered from 5 aspects: 1. External appearance, such as color or shape, 40 points; smell, 65 points; color of tea water, 20 points; taste, 65 points; color of water from tea waste (this is only done for Tencha) 10 points; total 200 points.

Uji Matcha

The 73rd National Tea Quality Competition has only special award results, not tea grade scores. In the Tencha branch, tea produced in Kyoto won 5 out of 6 awards. In addition, for the Excellent Production Area Award, Uji City in Kyoto Prefecture came first, and Joyo City in Kyoto Prefecture came second. Last year, in the 72nd National Tea Quality Competition held in Shizuoka Prefecture, the tencha that received the highest score, with a full score of 200 points, came from Uji. Of the 34 teas evaluated as grades 1 through 3 (the rest were not awarded), 31 were from Kyoto, and 22 were from Uji. In the special award results, Kyoto Tencha took home all 6 awards.

  1. What about the taste?

Some people wonder, so how does Uji Matcha taste better than anywhere else? In fact, this is a difficult question because in Uji itself, there are many types of Matcha, each type has a different character depending on the strain or the manufacturer. The taste is naturally different. But one thing that indicates the greatness of Matcha is the umami taste (well-roundedness). It is a unique taste that is separate from the sweetness. The better the Matcha, the more the astringent and bitter taste that makes you frown will disappear into the umami taste. There are many Uji Matcha that achieve this level of quality.

The deliciousness of Uji Matcha does not end with the umami taste, the more the better, but also the balance of various elements such as aroma, bitterness, sweetness, and the feeling when drinking. This makes some people satisfied with Matcha with not much umami but the right amount of bitterness, are addicted to Matcha of lower grades (Matchazuki Classic does not give as much umami as the Excellent version, but the aroma is just as fragrant), or find that Matcha of lower grades is more suitable for making a certain type of dessert.

However, making matcha like this does not depend solely on the place where it is grown, but also on the skill of the person who blends tea from various places to perfection. However, if the raw materials such as the tea planted are not good, no matter how you blend it, you will not get excellent tea, right?

Now can you see how good Uji Matcha has a good profile? If you see anywhere that says they use matcha from Uji, you can be certain that the aroma and flavor are better and more expensive than regular matcha.

Article from: Vachi