Powdered Sencha and Matcha?
 

How does powdered Sencha compare to Matcha? I have heard that Matcha is
"bitter", although I am very interested in trying it... My idea is to
drink powdered sencha everyday, and drink matcha here and there; due to
cost. Has anyone tried both and can compare and contrast? Thanks

hmm I found this.....
http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/Green...142-c-262.html

maybe a good introduction to powdered green tea for me? .....I dont
know about the quality though, although the website/company looks very
"legitimate".

Help! : )

"powder-man" > wrote in message

> maybe a good introduction to powdered green tea for me? .....I dont
> know about the quality though,

The "kona cha" or powdered sencha is the lowest grade possible, it's what
you get in the cheapest restaurants. The page says their product is done
with "good sencha", but well, if you had good sencha, why would you want it
powdered ? I don't think you're going to drink whisked "powdered sencha" as
a cheaper tea ceremony.
There is not much ressemblance in taste and texture with matcha that is done
with a different type of leaves.
I wouldn't pay the price they ask for that. If you intake powedered tea for
*health reasons* as they suggest, pick up the cheapest green tea available
at your local supermarket and ground it yourself just before using it.

Kuri

Well, I would imagine that the powdered sencha, imported from
Japan....would be of a different quality than the cheap green tea I'm
buying now. I do think that is a good idea though, and I may buy the
powdered sencha from O-Cha (less expensive) or from
JapaneseGreenTeaOnline (more expensive), and compare them with some
$1.50 / 48 teabags of cheap green tea (which I will grind up) from the
supermarket. Im wanting to use "powdered" because right when I wake
up, I hate waiting for the tea to steep in my impatient groggy state,
and I would also like more catcechins/vitamins/polyphenols/HEALTHiness
too.

: )

powder-man wrote:

> Im wanting to use "powdered" because right when I wake up, I
> hate waiting for the tea to steep in my impatient groggy state,
> and I would also like more
> catcechins/vitamins/polyphenols/HEALTHiness too.

If your desire for something immediate comes from
caffeine-deprived impatience, then you might want to try another
route. Because "powdered" green tea is not "instant", no matter
what the website says. It doesn't dissolve easily. You will be
standing there with a mug of microwave-heated hot water, and
stubbornly bobbing on the surface will be a big, dry, green clump,
which you'll desperately try to force into solution by stabbing
with your spoon, your violence checked only out of fear of
spilling even a drop of your rejuvenating caffeine fix.

Regular sencha takes one minute to steep. That's 60 seconds.
Kona-cha takes only 15 seconds. Save yourself the frustration and
make tea the normal way. If later in the day you feel a need for
catcechins/vitamins/polyphenols/HEALTHiness, eat some of that
powdered sencha talc with yogurt or something.

--crymad

crymad > wrote:
>
>Regular sencha takes one minute to steep. That's 60 seconds.
>Kona-cha takes only 15 seconds. Save yourself the frustration and
>make tea the normal way. If later in the day you feel a need for
>catcechins/vitamins/polyphenols/HEALTHiness, eat some of that
>powdered sencha talc with yogurt or something.

I have found the powdered teas really unusable for making a beverage,
at least if you want to drink the beverage.

I suppose if you're taking it intravenously or something it might be
fine.

They ARE excellent for making green tea ice cream, as well as sticky
rice flour balls that are flavoured with green tea. I suppose it
might actually not be bad to make a green tea yoghurt....
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:
>
> I have found the powdered teas really unusable for making a
> beverage, at least if you want to drink the beverage.
>
> I suppose if you're taking it intravenously or something it
> might be fine.
>
> They ARE excellent for making green tea ice cream, as well as
> sticky rice flour balls that are flavoured with green tea. I
> suppose it might actually not be bad to make a green tea
> yoghurt....

We use matcha to make green tea syrup for shaved ice in the
summer. That green tea yogurt idea was just me being flip...but
come to think of it, it might be tasty, but just in something like
vanilla yogurt with too much native sweetness. The sourness of plain
yogurt combined with the bitterness of matcha would make for a
foul concoction.

--crymad

I happened to try this powdered sencha from o-cha.com. It is clearly
not as good as matcha (becomes quite bitter and unpleasant if you put
too much, and has a rougher taste overall), but I found it a very good
(inexpensive) solution to regular drink in the office.

Being inferiour to any matcha I tried (the cheapest of which was twice
as expensive as this powerdered sencha), it still tastes much better
than green teas in bags. It is very easy to prepa it doesn't
dissolve fully, but it make very nice and naturally tasting tea
directly in your cup - not everybody can afford teapots at their
working place.

That's my impression.

I guess I will order some matcha then, and give it a try......and no
crymad, I dont want to "....standing there with a mug of
microwave-heated hot water, and stubbornly bobbing on the surface will
be a big, dry, green clump, which you'll desperately try to force into
solution by stabbing with your spoon, your violence checked only out of
fear of spilling even a drop of your rejuvenating caffeine fix." hahah

I will probably order some looseleaf green tea also from one of the two
sites I listed above, and steep them the usual way. I dont know what
it is exacty in green tea, but Ive been through oolongs, assams,
whites.....and now I can definitely tell there is some ingredient or
compound in green that I like (or my body/mind likes), and not just
caffiene that im used to craving when I wake up. ECGC? ...dunno. I can
say that ive tried mixing my mornings up with other types of tea, and
coffee....and its definitely green for me now. The matcha sounds very
neat, and just for kicks I'll order some. If anyone has any
recommendations or pointers toward the path of good looseleaf or bagged
green tea out on the internet, I definitely welcome them.

Thanks

I like http://www.teaspring.com/ and http://www.holymtn.com/ for my greens
myself. Others also mention Imperial Tea Court
http://www.imperialtea.com/index.asp , jing tea shop
http://www.jingteashop.com/ , and for Japanese I've heard
http://sencha.com/index.html (has anyone yet figured out if they are working
or not?) or an affiliated site to them, Grey and Seddon,
http://www.gray-seddon-tea.com/index.shtml

I've only ordered from the first two and have been happy with them. But
there are a number of good vendors out there. Good luck!

Melinda


If anyone has any
> recommendations or pointers toward the path of good looseleaf or bagged
> green tea out on the internet, I definitely welcome them.
>
> Thanks
>