Monday, February 22, 2010

2009 DoMatcha Master's Choice (Produced By Marukyu Koyamaen)

This matcha is the highest grade sold by Vancouver matcha company, DoMatcha. It is a unique colaboration between DoMatcha and famous matcha producer Marukyu Koyamaen.

The water is taken off boil, it is time to prepare tea. It is prepared in ceremony- slowly, empty, mindful.


One uses hot water to heat the bowl and whisk. After the water spans the inside of the bowl it is disposed of. One reaches for the simple black and white design on the tea can, twists off the lid, peels back the chopped label, and opens the rice paper bag.

Some vibrant green powder is fished from the bag with a delicate bambo scoop. It looks more vibrant in the white of the tea bowl. After placing down the chesaku (bambo scoop) one takes this time to sniff the delicate smell of the powder before the bag is resealed and the lid put back. The smell is very light, flowery, and sweet. There is very little raw vegital scent here.


Just a touch of room temperature water is added first and the whisk's slow motions create a thick green paste. Then the hot water follows. Very deliberate whisking motions- first slow then faster- then finishing slow once more- bring this thick green paste to frothy life.


One drinks this matcha in three full sips.

The taste is sweet, light, airy. Nice floral notes, the taste of cherry blossoms is in the air outside and is now on the tongue. There is a very subtle plum finish. This tea is quite smooth and carries almost no astringency or bitterness. A very light chalkiness coats the mouth. The light coat is mainly in the front and is a bit lacking in the back.


The chaqi that results is light- mildly focusing and subtey calming the mind. There is no strong edge here just a very mellow ambiance.


This tea is light and sweet enough to be prepaired thick but is lacking a full, complete, long lasting mouthfeel when thick same as it does when it is prepared thin.


In meditation one relaxes with this tea.

Peace

5 comments:

Evan Meagher said...

Great photos. Matcha (both the powder and the finished product) is such a beautiful shade of green. I recently had it for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the ceremony behind preparing it. A very different experience from the Gong Fu Cha sessions that I'm used to.

Petr Novák said...

Hi Matt,

I am only hoping that you are going to enjoy this macha time without camera in your hands- such sacrifice for us, readers of your blog. Thank you.

Matt said...

Evan,

Thanks for your kind words.

The ceremony for matcha is quite intricate indeed. The Korean ceremony (the one which is outlined in this post) is much more simple than the Japanese schools.

Petr,

One always sacrifices a session for the pictures and notes. The sessions that follow are almost always more deep.

Peace

David said...

Your photos are breath taking.

Thank you.

Matt said...

David,

Thank you for your kind words. It means so much coming from you. The photos on your blog are much more beautiful. One really enjoys your posts.

Thanks again David.

Peace