Hi Tea Experts :-)

I recently bought some Matcha Green tea. Here is
the complete
set of instructions:

"Insert tea bag, pour 80 deg C (176 deg F) hot
water, steep 30 seconds,
shake teabag and remove. Empty the remaining
Matcha from the outer
envelope to surface of tea."

The bag that contains the tea is porous, and this
is how some bits of tea get into
the outer envelope that seals each individual
envelope.

Does the paragraph in "............" that sound
like tea-making to anyone?

TIA

JD > writes:

> Hi Tea Experts :-)
>
> I recently bought some Matcha Green tea. Here is the complete
> set of instructions:
>
> "Insert tea bag, pour 80 deg C (176 deg F) hot water, steep 30
> seconds,
> shake teabag and remove. Empty the remaining Matcha from the outer
> envelope to surface of tea."
>
> The bag that contains the tea is porous, and this is how some bits of
> tea get into
> the outer envelope that seals each individual envelope.
>
> Does the paragraph in "............" that sound like tea-making to
> anyone?

Well, maybe, but it sure doesn't sound like making matcha.

Matcha is made by whipping a powdered form of green tea with hot water
into a thick suspension. It sounds as if these teabags are mainly
chopped leaves with a bit of powder to give you the illusion of matcha
due to a powdery texture in the cup.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

Lewis Perin wrote:
> JD > writes:
>
>> Hi Tea Experts :-)
>>
>> I recently bought some Matcha Green tea. Here is the complete
>> set of instructions:
>>
>> "Insert tea bag, pour 80 deg C (176 deg F) hot water, steep 30
>> seconds,
>> shake teabag and remove. Empty the remaining Matcha from the outer
>> envelope to surface of tea."
>>
>> The bag that contains the tea is porous, and this is how some bits of
>> tea get into
>> the outer envelope that seals each individual envelope.
>>
>> Does the paragraph in "............" that sound like tea-making to
>> anyone?

Hi Lew,

Thanks for your comments.

> Well, maybe, but it sure doesn't sound like making matcha.
>
> Matcha is made by whipping a powdered form of green tea with hot water
> into a thick suspension. It sounds as if these teabags are mainly
> chopped leaves with a bit of powder to give you the illusion of matcha
> due to a powdery texture in the cup.

The bag that the tea is in has a very fine mesh
and only a small amount of
leaf bits comes out. One could just cut through
the bag and then mix the
leaves into the tea but most people don't like
loose bits in their mouths.

What really surprises me is the 30 seconds steep
time. I can't imagine even
a fraction of the nutrients in the tea leaves
coming into the water in that time.

Soooo, I am adding them to another dish and eating
them completely. No point in
wasting whatever nutrients are left.

Have a great week :-)
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /
> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

JD > writes:

> [...]
> What really surprises me is the 30 seconds steep time. I can't imagine
> even a fraction of the nutrients in the tea leaves coming into the
> water in that time.

It depends on the water temperature, the amount of leaf relative to the
amount of water, how finely the leaves are chopped (if at all), and
whether you expect to steep the leaves multiple times. For some setups
30 seconds would be rather long, actually.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
recently updated: houfajiao

Ill add to Lew. Look at the Bodum milk frothers. If those are too
expensive just get a cheap tea press and plunge away. I use them to
make chai for tea. If plunging is too much work put some powdered
matcha into a tea press and act like you are serving James Bond,
shaken not stirred.

Jim

On Apr 19, 8:13 am, Lewis Perin > wrote:
> JD > writes:

In article >, JD > wrote:
>Hi Tea Experts :-)
>
>I recently bought some Matcha Green tea. Here is
>the complete
>set of instructions:
>
>"Insert tea bag, pour 80 deg C (176 deg F) hot
>water, steep 30 seconds,
>shake teabag and remove. Empty the remaining
>Matcha from the outer
>envelope to surface of tea."
>
>The bag that contains the tea is porous, and this
>is how some bits of tea get into
>the outer envelope that seals each individual
>envelope.
>
>Does the paragraph in "............" that sound
>like tea-making to anyone?

Matcha... it's not like normal tea. You add the tea powder to the water
and whisk it around and then the powder settles out and you drink the stuff
on top. It's really kind of nasty, actually.

Making matcha with a bag seems to kind of defeat the whole process, but I
could see someone doing this with the bag and the added powder to simulate
the experience of making matcha the regular way. Thing is... it doesn't
seem like it would be any less work than the regular way.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) writes:

> In article >, JD > wrote:
>>Hi Tea Experts :-)
>>
>>I recently bought some Matcha Green tea. Here is
>>the complete
>>set of instructions:
>>
>>"Insert tea bag, pour 80 deg C (176 deg F) hot
>>water, steep 30 seconds,
>>shake teabag and remove. Empty the remaining
>>Matcha from the outer
>>envelope to surface of tea."
>>
>>The bag that contains the tea is porous, and this
>>is how some bits of tea get into
>>the outer envelope that seals each individual
>>envelope.
>>
>>Does the paragraph in "............" that sound
>>like tea-making to anyone?
>
> Matcha... it's not like normal tea. You add the tea powder to the water
> and whisk it around and then the powder settles out and you drink the stuff
> on top.

You drink it all if you like the taste and texture.

> It's really kind of nasty, actually.

Nasty? Only if it isn't good matcha.

Scott, like you I used to think matcha was useless to people with
functioning taste buds. But less than a month ago I tasted *good*
matcha for the first time. The difference amazed me.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On 4/19/2010 2:55 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Thing is... it doesn't
> seem like it would be any less work than the regular way.

And half the fun of tea is in the making. But... with bags, there
emerges the possibility of a second steep. What wonders (or horrors)
might one there find?

-DM