Mizuba Tea Co: Daily Matcha, A Tea Review by Alexsia Wilson

Now that it is getting warmer I have been feeling the almost inescapable draw of having tea outside. Sure it is really easy to take a mug out with me, or grandpa style, or even Matcha, but with my current tools it is a pain to gongfu outdoors, which is what I really want to do. My next tea purchase has to be a thermos so I can take hot water outside with me. This train of thought actually led me to today's blog...I wanted to do it yesterday but it was storming or raining almost all day, and I am sure while the photos would have been hilarious they probably would have been awful! I am sad I don't get to have the alliteration of Matcha Monday though.

The Lazy Literatus of Steep Stories fame (if you are not reading his blog, go do it, you are seriously missing out) recently send me some tea goodies, one of which was Mizuba Tea Co's Daily Matcha, promised as the good stuff! If you are a long time fan of this blog you will probably know I have had a LOT of Matcha, and a good portion of it was most definitely not the good stuff, so it is safe to say I frequently crave the good stuff and tend to get the bleh stuff. Usually I have found Matcha labeled as Daily is barely about culinary grade, stuff made for people who want to make a latte or smoothie, but not this stuff, this is Matcha for people who want to sit down and whisk themselves up a bowl everyday without making themselves poor in the process, keep the really high end ceremonial stuff for special occasions. The aroma of the powdered leaves is yummy, notes of sweet butter, almost tropical fruit (it comes of as a combo of vanilla, papaya, and bananas to me) and of course green cut grass, chlorophyll heavy algae, and moss. Ok specifically I am thinking of a moss ball from my fish tank, a marimo  which is actually algae but never smells like it, they smell more green and less like lake. And yes I have stuck my nose in a marimo, I was curious! This is a sweet Matcha, one that smells less like a lawnmower and more like growing things and fruit.

Whisking this tea up while sitting outside was awesome, definitely need to do more of that before the chiggers really start ruining all my fun. The aroma wafting out of the foamy storm I am whisking up is lovely, very fresh and green, like broken leaves, grass, hay, and of course buttery sweet tropical fruit. Once the tea is whisked the sweetness is diminished some, taken over by the green, but it is still strong.

The taste is lovely, nature is reflected in my bowl of Matcha, I can taste the green growing things, the slightly mineral algae notes, and the slightly bitter broken vegetation notes upon first sip. This then moves to the gently growing sweetness of papaya and vanilla with an astoundingly buttery mouthfeel. I think this might be the smoothest Matcha I have had. It can take a bit of warmth too, using slightly hotter than usual water will bring out stronger vegetal notes and touches of fresh sea air, however, it does not ramp up the bitterness like happens with a lot of Japanese greens exposed to hot water. If you want an everyday Matcha that can actually be drunk in a chawan and is delicious then I seriously recommend this one. I really want to try some of their other Matcha now, especially their Kichoen since it is suitable for Kokoro and the description looks drool-worthy!

This tea was a true gift.