[Limited] Shincha Matcha (30g/1.06oz) Reviews

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Author	Sarah Longo (United States)
Review	I must admit that Matcha is definitely my most favorite of all Japanese Green Tea! It is simply a perfect food! Not only do I love the flavor of Hibiki-an's quality Matcha but seriously enjoy the multiple excellent health benefits. I usually drink Matcha daily, at least once and enjoy using different sized, designed cups for my Matcha, such as the new Moonflower designed to choreograph coolness since Summer is heating up or a smaller cup, the "flowers in the snow" clay glazed cup is perfect if I want to enjoy my personal cup of Matcha in the morning and make my tin of Matcha last. Ok, well, on to my review of this year's Shincha Matcha! As I said before, I enjoy Matcha daily, not just drinking it, but I'm also very enthusiastic about including it in many different recipes (so I'm very greatful to have found even more recipes on this site, thank you, AGAIN, Hibiki-an!) so I am used to a lovely good cup of Matcha, etc. but I had never heard of or tried Shincha Matcha ever before. Thanks to Hibiki-an, this year I had the chance to order a 30g canister and see what it was all about:) I placed my order a couple weeks ago and it arrived in record Time, as usual, but I wanted to wait a bit to open my Shincha Matcha tin. I had also ordered 40g of the Matcha Super Premium and had immediately opened that to drink so I did not want my Shincha to be opened just yet. Well, last night, I saw a great friend who I had not seen in over a year and finally felt the Time was right to crack open my Shincha Matcha for us both to enjoy! My friend had never, ever drank Matcha, or ANY Japanese Green Tea for that matter so I was a tad concerned he would not enjoy it and also because it was Shincha and I had never tasted the special flavor I was wondering how things would go. I started out by reading some reviews and telling him about regular Matcha, how I love it, and about some of the reviews about the Shincha Matcha. I have a few Matcha bowls which were handmade that I ordered from Hibiki-an. They are so beautiful and add to the entire Tea experience immensely. I showed him the Moonflower flat style, Summer bowl that was designed to convey coolness, along with the Matcha bowl sold here that is decorated with Chrysthanthamum. He was pleased to see these lovely pieces of art and definitely had respect for the work put into the bowls, since he is an artist himself, but was genuinely interested in the entire Matcha preparations. Although I had not yet used the more traditionally shaped Chrysthanthamum bowl and had kinda wanted to use it for the first Time with my friend, I told him to choose which bowl we would use and he decided on the Summer Moonflower design, which was fine with me, either way. I carefully pulled back the lid of the freshly opened Shincha Matcha tin and was greeted with the wonderful fresh smell of Matcha that I love and a super vivid green. Hibiki-an's description for the Shincha Matcha is right on! It is a bit lighter green color but still just as bright and full of life as it should be. The poder also looked INCREDIBLY fresh, soft, and silky. The aroma was the delicious freshness that all Mtcha should be but I could detect a certain type of "extra freshness" that I feel came from the fact that this tin was incredibly freshly born Shincha! We were both very excited just to see the beautiful shade of green as it gently fell into the bowl as I strained the powder to ensure a smooth and silky Matcha experience. I made the Shincha Matcha on the thicker side so he could experience the True flavor and also because I felt it was an appropriate way to prepare that special bowl of Matcha for my friend and I since it was a happy celebration to have him visit. Plus, I just LOVE Matcha!! I used the lower, regular water temp, around 176F/80C because I enjoy the more mellow and sweet flavors of Matcha as opposed to the more sharpness that I had read Shincha could have. Well, I must say that this Shincha Matcha is a TRUE GEM! I am certainly glad I had the oppertunity to try Shincha Matcha! I really liked the flavor, aroma, color, everything! I feel it was slightly not as complex as a flavor as the regularly aged Matcha but it was still sweet, smooth, silky, wonderfully delicious and an experience just beyond words. I am thinking about maybe ordering another tin with my next order because I just really love Matcha that much and it is definitely awesome to have different options. I will DEFINITELY ALWAYS have some Hibiki-an Matcha in my kitchen, either way, though! Thank you again, Hibiki-an, for giving me and everyone yet another way to enjoy your Teas and Matcha in particular!!!
Rating	Very bad... Bad... Very bad... Ordinary... Good... 5 of 5 Stars!
Date	June 30, 2012

Reviews Posted by this Author: 132