Midori Spring Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha - GOLD Class - Green Tea Powder From Japan 30g

This is a nice drinkable matcha tea. I'm not an expert, however, I've been drinking matcha for a bit over 20 years. I'd grade matcha into 5 categories. The lowest is just finely ground green tea from who knows where. It's best used for inclusion in commercial food products and nasty to drink. Next is what's called culinary grade. It's not horrible on its own, but best included in home baked goods or in smoothies. This emerald class matcha is a nice everyday drink. If it were a wine, I'd compare it to two buck Chucks or very ordinary table wine. Then there is the higher priced matcha you can find on Amazon, which is more like fifteen to twenty dollar a bottle wine, which is fancy for most of us. I've been privileged to drink high end matcha on a couple of occasions. Think very expensive French wine. This is a reasonable compromise between reasonable affordability and drinkability. I have it as an after breakfast drink a few times a week.

I drink matcha every single day; both as a morning drink in lieu of coffee and in smoothies. As such, when buying matcha my primary concern is achieving an optimal balance of quality and quantity at a reasonable price. The Midori Spring Emerald Class is almost on par with ceremonial grade in terms of quality. The powder itself is very green and the taste is incredible! Honestly the difference in taste between the Midori Spring Emerald Class and a ceremonial grade matcha (such as the Amazon bestselling Kenko Tea Matcha) is so subtle that only the most serious tea drinkers would even notice the difference. And you're getting three times as much matcha for the same price! Prior to trying the Midori Spring Emerald Class I used the DoMatcha Organic Summer Harvest. In terms of quality both products are incredibly similar. A temporary increase in price on the DoMatcha (which seems to now have dropped back down) led me to search for a new matcha at which point I stumbled upon the Midori Spring Emerald Class. I haven't had a chance to compare these two side by side but it seems to me that the Midori Spring is actually a bit less bitter in taste when prepared traditionally (in a bowl with bamboo whisk). Overall, this is an incredible matcha for the price. While I love ceremonial grade matcha, I do not have the bankroll to afford drinking it every day. This Midori Spring Emerald Class is a fantastic matcha for anyone in search of an affordable matcha for daily use!

Earlier this year I was curious if there was really that much difference between the lower priced Matcha from China I was seeing on Amazon and the higher priced from Japan. From the lower cost Chinese brands to the high end Japanese brands there is an over 13x per gram cost difference. I decided to order 5 different brands ranging in cost and do a comparison between them. I made my purchase in March 2016 so for review purposes I will be using the prices from that order date, though the prices do fluctuate. I also did the comparison & photos at that time though its taken me awhile to post the review For my review I used American Weigh Scales GEMINI-20 Portable MilliGram Scale, 20 by 0.001 G and SEOH Plastic Hexagonal Weigh Boats Micro Dish 100pk to weigh all the samples within .01 grams of one another. I used the same 5 exact cups with water all the same warm temperature for tasting purposes cleansing my palette between each sample and then redoing them again. The following is the brand name, the price for the quantity I purchased, the quantity in grams in that container, the final price per gram (at time of purchase), and the country of origin. These are listed from cheapest to most expensive. The photos are listed in the same order from left to right - cheapest -> most expensive Matcha DNA 19.95 283.45 .0704 p/g China One Organic 19.95 250 .0798 China Use Matcha 25.25 113 .2235 Japan Midori Spring 26.47 30 .8823 Japan Kyoto Ippodo 38.99 40 .9748 Japan First you will notice that the cheapest "Matcha" comes from China with a substantial increase in price for Japanese Matcha. Also in the photos of both the powder and the liquid there is a very clear transition from left to right from a browner darker green to a brighter more vibrant green - One Organic being the outlier which looks the brownest and as if it would belong farthest to the left. What I found a little surprising was that the level of bitterness seemed to almost directly correspond to the color of the matcha which also almost completely corresponded to the price. Again from left to right the cheapest on the left was the most bitter with the least bitter the very expensive Kyoto Ippodo on the right - One Organic being the outlier here again and being the most bitter, and most brown, more so then the Matcha DNA. I also found the ease with which the Matcha mixes follows the same trend - from left to right the powder becomes finer and easier to mix with One Organic the outlier. So which is the best? Well I'm going to give all of them 5 stars. Why? Because a single rating system as we have here on Amazon creates conflicting ratings depended on the reviewers criteria. If you are rating on an absolute scale of Taste Kyoto Ippodo would be the 5 and One Organic a 1. But the Ippodo costed over 12x as much as the One Organic when i purchased it! Personally I'm going to attempt to rate these based on what I paid for them. The One Organic at my time of purchase costed more then the Matcha DNA and was both aesthetically less pleasing, mixed worse, and was more bitter so it deserved a lower rating but if it were to price itself less it would be a better buy. Checking now as of 8/8/2016 the Matcha DNA is now $19.94 (one cent lower then at purchase) but One Organic is now 14.95 making it a substantially better buy depending on your criteria. If you want Matcha for traditional ceremonial Tea you will probably not want to go lower then the Use Matcha and quite likely the Midori Spring or Higher. For making lattes & shakes Use Matcha may be your sweet spot - needs far less sweetener then One Organic but more than 1/3 less the cost of Midori Spring. For baking purposes it depends again on how much your baking, how bright green you want it without food coloring, and how much sweetener you are willing to add. Personally in the future I do not think I will consider anything below the Use Matcha quality. Perhaps China has some good Matcha but the difference in bitterness between these two and the Japanese Matcha in this review was substantial. As for the other health properties of Matcha - anti-oxidants / improving alertness. While anti-oxidants can probably be measured fairly straightforward with the right equipment science seems to be increasingly mixed on whether more is really better since it determines when & where these anti-oxidants are delivered in the body. Increasing alertness & clarity can be difficult to objectively measure since many other factors would skew results. But it does make me wonder if these properties would follow the same trend. I also wanted to note that I purchased all of these myself. I've seen quite a number of reviews where people were being provided these products free - and who knows how many more where they did not disclose it.

I've been trying out different brands of Matcha tea, because of the health benefits. The thing I am trying to get used to the strong flavor of all of them. With Midori Spring's Ceremonial Gold Matcha, it tasted similar to others I've tried. I like it but the prep for this "higher quality, ceremonial" type was more work than I wanted to do. It says to put it in some kind of wide cup (which I didn't have) and use a small whisk (didn't have one small enough to fit in my cup) and whip it up. I did the best I could and maybe if I put it in a bowl and whipped it, but I didn't want to dirty another dish. So in the end I just used a spoonful in my cup and it didn't taste different then the food grade Matcha type. I was hoping this would taste a bit better. Now I know... I'm not a Matcha tea expert so this is just my personal opinion and experience. I would say give it a try and decide for yourself.

This is a very nice product, well packaged and has a nice smooth taste - but be aware it tastes like green vegetables instead of tea. I was impressed that the Midori Spring Ceremonial Match Green Tea contains over 137x the EGCG levels that of regular steeped tea. It is no wonder that organic matcha tea helps increase energy levels, reduce stress, improve mental alertness, cleanse the body, support the immune system and helps to reduce inflammation. I love that this brans if gluten free, GMO free and does not contain pesticides, soy or wheat. The tin can with the pop top is very nice, it is food grade and really does hold in the freshness. The lid itself screws on. Once you open it however do store it in the refrigerator to help maintain freshness. This particular tea is ceremonial grade harvested from the first flush then ground by a Mikage Stone Mill to produce the final product. I like that the tea ceremony is on the can plus there are recipes and tips on their website. It is best to use a whisk to blend the Midori Spring Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea powder into the water because otherwise it may still contain some lumps. For those who are like me and like their tea a little on the sweet side adding some honey or another type of sweetener is necessary. The powder is a nice bright green - the greenest I have seen. This is a higher grade of tea than some of the other types of Matcha Tea so keep that in mind when choosing one especially if you only intend to cook with it.

I'll be honest, this is my first Matcha. I had the manufacturer send me brewing instructions to give me a hand making it. It's a bit of a process but that's part of the fun frankly, YouTube can help if you need a hand. I did a little research and found that Matcha was a versatile and broad drink that was worth looking into. Anyway, this rich and green powder produced a cup of rich but not bitter tea. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I drink my black tea with nothing in it, so I didn't add anything to sweeten it. I still detected a little sweetness in there I wasn't expecting, even in the aftertaste. Anyway, I'm no expert on taste, I can just say that it's interesting enough to try it! Don't be put off by the small size of the tin, it will last a long time. It doesn't take a lot of powder to make a Matcha! Pros: * Organic * Great taste * Helpful manufacturer who will give you a hand if this is your first time making Matcha * A versatile drink that can be used in many things. Cons: * None

I was recently provided the Midori Spring Organic Ceremonial Matcha in exchange for my review and I was very happy with the product. It came in a reusable tin which I appreciate over seal-able bags (less waste and less mess.) Rich in flavor with a smooth and creamy texture, and just a hint of sweetness, I high recommend this matcha powder for it's drink-ability and health benefits. The Midori Spring matcha is a ceremonial grade green tea powder, that is traditionally used for tea ceremonies. In addition to drinking delicious, creamy matcha lattes at home, I also used the Midori Spring in a mint matcha lip balm and a facial oil recipe. I realize this is not traditionally how matcha is used, but it is great for your skin and it's important to use ingredients that are organic and of the highest quality.

I received this product exchange for my unbias and honest opinion and review. Just arrived in mail today and I was surprise at how small it was but no doubt it is the best tasting green tea matcha I've ever had. I was careful with lifting the seal so that the powder doesn’t jump out on me. There was a poof of mystery that came out like steam and the scent was very mild and nice. The color of the powder is earth bright green although may have different shade depending on the lighting. Although there are some clumps but I've got no problem with that. Since I don't have the bamboo stuff I just put a teaspoon of the powder in my cup then add the boiling water. Then I started to mix like crazy o.o The ideal temperature water to use should be around 75 degree Celsius The clumps were kind of annoying since I don't have a whisk but mixing the powder like crazy for two minutes the color was in the water, bubbles were on top and ready for drinking. I took a little sip just to get an idea how it taste like. It does taste very green but it's different from green tea leaves that I drink. I have only tried one other matcha so I can't really compare it to anything except the leaves. The powder is not bitter at all when you make the tea unless you taste the powder raw. The matcha is not sweet so if you want a bit sweetness, add some honey. I drank it all in a range of 10 minutes because I keep trying to come up with some words to describe it but I couldn't. I like this tea and will slowly enjoy it in peace n_n Also keep in mind that this matcha is ceremonial grade so you should drink it as it is (tea). Putting it to food, smoothie or other kind of culinary recipe is a waste. The lower grade matchas for cooking is appropriate for other uses! Also since this matcha is organic, I find it really good for making face mask. It is high in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory!

This was my first time tasting matcha tea, to me it was very exotic and interesting. The flavor was a little overwhelming, it is very rich, but absolutely delicious. This extra green blend was sweet and nutty without being vegetal or bitter." Elements that I tend to appreciate in a 100% Organic and Kosher Certified Matcha Green Tea Powder. Harvested from the finest tea gardens in Japan. Certified, tested, and tasted by 9th Degree Tea Masters to make sure each batch is perfection. And at the same time, the curiously viscous, creaminess of matcha come through as well.