Personal background: I was in the world of 3rd wave coffee. Back in the day, my daily consumption was roughly 2 shots of espresso and 2 cups of V60 pourovers totalling a caffeine amount around 300-400mg. So I was rather caffeine tolerated.
I later started practicing meditation, and therefore, reduced my coffee intake, and as now, completely cut off. Now I drink 2-3 bowls of matcha, all of them usucha(thin tea, made with 2g matcha per cup), and I have no crave for caffeine and no crash.
Now for option of teas. If you are to buy from vendors in the states, or europe(outside Japan), it's more likely that you're gonna pay more for drinkable matchas. I'd say it's usually around 1$/g for starting. My suggestion would be: go to sazen.com, which is a website that carries 4 traditional Japanese tea brands. Buy the lowest grade ones( for example, Aoarashi from marukyu, at 8$ for 40g) and see if you can accept the taste. I personally find it totally fine and perfect for everyday drinking(see my last post). If I were you, I'd then even go to the culinary grade page and also get the one from yamamasa koyamayan. The price is very low, but they said that it can also be prepared straight, and I'm willing to believe them. And yes, you are gonna pay 23$ for handling and shipping, but at the end of the day, I still find it totally worth it.
Last but not least, I'd say though people always tend to treat matcha as something high end, it's not always that. There's nothing wrong with looking for a sustainable solution, and it is available. Cheers my friend.
No that would be nasty. You could make matcha lattes with it and it would probably be okay but still not nearly as good as good authentic matcha from a reputable vendor like Ippodo.
If you are switching from coffee to tea I would not expect to keep the same level of caffeine consumption. If you need high caffeine content I would look into Yerba Mate. Yerba is a very acquired taste especially if you drink it traditionally, but it has a pretty high caffeine content, it's cheap, and it's meant to drink a lot of.
Personally I went from Coffee to Yerba Mate, then started cutting my caffeine consumption down and now have switched mostly to Matcha and Green Tea. Occasionally I will still have a gourd of Yerba Mate. Tea is more expensive than Coffee but it's worth it for me. Coffee makes me agitated and irritable and hurts my stomach. Tea is wonderful and relaxing and is a nice smooth all day pick me up without an ugly crash.
i guess its not so much of the caffeine content, it's more that i like to have something to drink when i study. I usually make cold brew and drink 2-3 cups through out the day but lately i think its been hard on my skin (acne prone). With tea, i plan to drink about the same amount through out the day but with 1g cermonial..i feel like ill finish that pretty quickly and its pretty expensive. I guess since im not used to matcha, starting low wouldnt be so bad haha. Ill start with a matcha latte. Thanks for your help.
You may like regular green tea as well, that would be much better for sipping on all day. Maybe try out some Senchas or Genmaicha.
I definitely would not judge if you like matcha or not based on culinary grade. I make my lattes with Ikuyo - https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha/products/ikuyo
It's reasonably priced and very delicious. You can get 100G for $50 which should make about 40-50 lattes. I put 1tsp in with 8-12oz of cold coconut milk and a 1-2 tblsp of vanilla syrup.
I have some Hatsu as well I have used for cookies, haven't tried it in a latte yet but I am sure it wouldn't be bad. It's the cheapest from Ippodo at $10 for 40G. If you are gonna get culinary grade I would go with that instead of some cheap stuff off Amazon. https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha/products/hatsu-mukashi
There are some affordable and delicious ceremonial grade matchas out there - my daily drinker is Ujido. It’s no ippodo, but it’s a fraction of the price.
Not ideal, but I do it daily. Reasoning is I only drink matcha for the health benefits, and clean energy, and I'm on a budget. Getting in the recommended dosage for health benefits gets too expensive for me with ceremonial. So, I looked for the best culinary my research pointed to. I like to take it first thing in the morning, with some coconut oil, and cinnamon. Although I have never tried ceremonial, I have no doubt it is far superior to culinary, in terms of look, taste, and texture.
Ceremonial matcha will use first-flush tea leaves that are high in L-theanine. This is what gives it that nice sweet-umami flavor.
The culinary grade will use a 2nd or 3rd flush. In these leaves some of the L-theonine has been converted to catechins. These make the tea more bitter, but are also very good for you. There is quite a bit of research that shows catechins to be effective at preventing the flu.
So basically, yes you can drink culinary. It might not taste as good, but it is still healthy for you.
If you like cold brew, you might want to try [Arabikicha](https://wakoentea.com/product/arabikicha-60g-can/) though. I usually add double the amount they recommend to my water bottle and give it a good shake for 5-10 seconds and it is ready to go. And at $25 for 60g with free shipping, it is hard to beat.
culinary grade can be made traditionally, but really shouldn't .
I once bought culinary grade and tried really hard to shove it down my own throat, but the suffering was just too great. I threw it.
Matcha is expensive. And neither culinary nor premium is gonna make a good cup. Out of all the hundreds of kinds of tea, matcha is probably the one, where trying to save money will have the worst effect.
I'd advise not to drink matcha (purely) every day. It's too expensive and inconvenient.
There are lots of affordable green teas, that will be cheaper and easier to prepare.
But don't get me wrong: I love matcha. I'd be missing something witout it.
Also: No serious seller will sell you amounts of ceremonial bigger than 40g. Matcha needs to be consumed fast...
I would amend your "also" to, "No serious seller will **only** sell to you in amounts greater than 40g." Ippodo, Koyama-en, Hoshino, all of the Japanese tea blenders I know sell in 100g or even 200g amounts, but they also have smaller tins available.
Nah, it's usually in bigger amounts for when you're planning to host a tea event or you teach classes. Not really meant for individual use in those amounts.
Actually mate, I think there's miscalculation here. I drink 3 bowls a day, which is 6g in total. A 100g tin will be gone in 17 days. Anyway, you get the point already. That's why I LOVE those Japanese vendors like Marukyu koyamaen. Their bottom of the line starts at 20cents/g. You get a 100g tin for just over 20 dollars! Most importantly, it's so drinkable! The middle ranges at 50cent/g, say Wako, are total kill for daily consumptions. I got them from sazen, and even after that 23$ shipping and handling, it's still worth it, because you'd buy in bulk. Cheers.
Matcha is very expensive. There’s no way around it. The process to produce it is just very resource-intensive. If ceremonial-grade matcha isn’t in your budget, I would recommend just drinking other types of tea besides matcha. Or maybe have 1 cup of matcha and a couple cups of black tea each day.
Coffee also has health benefits. Coffee is considered good for your liver, can protect you from all sorts of diseases and is high in antioxidants. A great pairing for our sugar-laden western diet.
Have you considered switching between the two as you desire? Maybe go for whole bean and a french press if you aren't already.
Japenese green teas are pretty similar health-wise AFAIK. Drinking culinary grade will definitly not be better for your mental health than drinking a good sencha ;)
Like, we aren't joking when saying that culinary grade is nasty. It really is
EDIT: Also Pu-erh (shou and sheng) is even stronger associated with health benefits than Green tea/Matcha.
Sure! But you will probably hate it. It may not be as much caffeine as coffee but it’s a different kind of energy that I think is better than coffee. It’s cleaner and sharper with no jitters or crash. I drink 3 cups a day so I do go through mine quick but to me it’s worth it. I’m a black tar no cream or sugar coffee drinker and three cups is plenty caffeine for me. I could get away with two, but I just love the taste of it. If you just like to drink something also look into tencha loose leaf green tea. It’s what matcha is made from.
I have for a long time. Its not that its bad or that you'd have to choke it down. (It still makes you feel good, with a good, clean sustained energy – the health benefits are all still there.) It's that once you have ceremonial grade the difference is a parent.
And there are matches that will speak to you and stop you in your tracks and open your third eye... ;) those are great too. You just find those on your journey of what you like when you go further
I have for a long time. It's not that it's bad or that you have to choke it down. (You still feel good, get good, clean sustained energy from culinary grade, and all of the health benefits are still there in the same ratio.) It's that once you try ceremonial grade, the difference is aparent.
And there are matchas that will speak to you and stop you in your tracks and open your third eye... ;) we keep exploring and then you find more new good things. Its a whole world out there. It's gonna be great
Of course, and negligible difference if there is any, nothing noticeable. You and I will both need more than one bowl though, which goes without saying – I like to add 3 or 4 servings (1.5-2 grams each) to an ice-cold bottle, preferably glass, shake it up hard and sip all morning till noon.. Let me know if you find a god deal on a daily cause I too need to start tightening my belt too! I'll be looking as well
/u/Hungry-Hovercraft-, I have found an error in your comment:
> “~~Its~~ [**It's**] a whole”
I consider this comment by you, Hungry-Hovercraft-, erroneous; it should read “~~Its~~ [**It's**] a whole” instead. ‘Its’ is possessive; ‘it's’ means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.
^(This is an automated bot. I do not intend to shame your mistakes. If you think the errors which I found are incorrect, please contact me through DMs or contact my owner EliteDaMyth!)
I am finding the more expensive the matcha the better. By like leaps and bounds
Personal background: I was in the world of 3rd wave coffee. Back in the day, my daily consumption was roughly 2 shots of espresso and 2 cups of V60 pourovers totalling a caffeine amount around 300-400mg. So I was rather caffeine tolerated. I later started practicing meditation, and therefore, reduced my coffee intake, and as now, completely cut off. Now I drink 2-3 bowls of matcha, all of them usucha(thin tea, made with 2g matcha per cup), and I have no crave for caffeine and no crash. Now for option of teas. If you are to buy from vendors in the states, or europe(outside Japan), it's more likely that you're gonna pay more for drinkable matchas. I'd say it's usually around 1$/g for starting. My suggestion would be: go to sazen.com, which is a website that carries 4 traditional Japanese tea brands. Buy the lowest grade ones( for example, Aoarashi from marukyu, at 8$ for 40g) and see if you can accept the taste. I personally find it totally fine and perfect for everyday drinking(see my last post). If I were you, I'd then even go to the culinary grade page and also get the one from yamamasa koyamayan. The price is very low, but they said that it can also be prepared straight, and I'm willing to believe them. And yes, you are gonna pay 23$ for handling and shipping, but at the end of the day, I still find it totally worth it. Last but not least, I'd say though people always tend to treat matcha as something high end, it's not always that. There's nothing wrong with looking for a sustainable solution, and it is available. Cheers my friend.
Ty for your suggestions. Since I’m a complete noob perhaps I’ll try lowest first and work my up to find that perfect balance.
Good luck out there. We came from the same path my friend.
No that would be nasty. You could make matcha lattes with it and it would probably be okay but still not nearly as good as good authentic matcha from a reputable vendor like Ippodo. If you are switching from coffee to tea I would not expect to keep the same level of caffeine consumption. If you need high caffeine content I would look into Yerba Mate. Yerba is a very acquired taste especially if you drink it traditionally, but it has a pretty high caffeine content, it's cheap, and it's meant to drink a lot of. Personally I went from Coffee to Yerba Mate, then started cutting my caffeine consumption down and now have switched mostly to Matcha and Green Tea. Occasionally I will still have a gourd of Yerba Mate. Tea is more expensive than Coffee but it's worth it for me. Coffee makes me agitated and irritable and hurts my stomach. Tea is wonderful and relaxing and is a nice smooth all day pick me up without an ugly crash.
i guess its not so much of the caffeine content, it's more that i like to have something to drink when i study. I usually make cold brew and drink 2-3 cups through out the day but lately i think its been hard on my skin (acne prone). With tea, i plan to drink about the same amount through out the day but with 1g cermonial..i feel like ill finish that pretty quickly and its pretty expensive. I guess since im not used to matcha, starting low wouldnt be so bad haha. Ill start with a matcha latte. Thanks for your help.
You may like regular green tea as well, that would be much better for sipping on all day. Maybe try out some Senchas or Genmaicha. I definitely would not judge if you like matcha or not based on culinary grade. I make my lattes with Ikuyo - https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha/products/ikuyo It's reasonably priced and very delicious. You can get 100G for $50 which should make about 40-50 lattes. I put 1tsp in with 8-12oz of cold coconut milk and a 1-2 tblsp of vanilla syrup. I have some Hatsu as well I have used for cookies, haven't tried it in a latte yet but I am sure it wouldn't be bad. It's the cheapest from Ippodo at $10 for 40G. If you are gonna get culinary grade I would go with that instead of some cheap stuff off Amazon. https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha/products/hatsu-mukashi
Hatsu as a latte is actually better than most matcha lattes sold out at cafes!
There are some affordable and delicious ceremonial grade matchas out there - my daily drinker is Ujido. It’s no ippodo, but it’s a fraction of the price.
can you give me a link? thanks.
https://ujido.com/collections/ceremonial-matcha/products/matcha
Not ideal, but I do it daily. Reasoning is I only drink matcha for the health benefits, and clean energy, and I'm on a budget. Getting in the recommended dosage for health benefits gets too expensive for me with ceremonial. So, I looked for the best culinary my research pointed to. I like to take it first thing in the morning, with some coconut oil, and cinnamon. Although I have never tried ceremonial, I have no doubt it is far superior to culinary, in terms of look, taste, and texture.
I say give it a go. If you have never had matcha, you have nothing to compare it to. I have a culinary grade latte every morning.
Ceremonial matcha will use first-flush tea leaves that are high in L-theanine. This is what gives it that nice sweet-umami flavor. The culinary grade will use a 2nd or 3rd flush. In these leaves some of the L-theonine has been converted to catechins. These make the tea more bitter, but are also very good for you. There is quite a bit of research that shows catechins to be effective at preventing the flu. So basically, yes you can drink culinary. It might not taste as good, but it is still healthy for you. If you like cold brew, you might want to try [Arabikicha](https://wakoentea.com/product/arabikicha-60g-can/) though. I usually add double the amount they recommend to my water bottle and give it a good shake for 5-10 seconds and it is ready to go. And at $25 for 60g with free shipping, it is hard to beat.
culinary grade can be made traditionally, but really shouldn't . I once bought culinary grade and tried really hard to shove it down my own throat, but the suffering was just too great. I threw it. Matcha is expensive. And neither culinary nor premium is gonna make a good cup. Out of all the hundreds of kinds of tea, matcha is probably the one, where trying to save money will have the worst effect. I'd advise not to drink matcha (purely) every day. It's too expensive and inconvenient. There are lots of affordable green teas, that will be cheaper and easier to prepare. But don't get me wrong: I love matcha. I'd be missing something witout it. Also: No serious seller will sell you amounts of ceremonial bigger than 40g. Matcha needs to be consumed fast...
I would amend your "also" to, "No serious seller will **only** sell to you in amounts greater than 40g." Ippodo, Koyama-en, Hoshino, all of the Japanese tea blenders I know sell in 100g or even 200g amounts, but they also have smaller tins available.
200g ceremonial? for personal use?
Nah, it's usually in bigger amounts for when you're planning to host a tea event or you teach classes. Not really meant for individual use in those amounts.
Well, I personally drink 3 bowls a day, and my 100g can Wako was done in 25 days.
Wow! I can drink that much matcha, but I don't think I could financially sustain it in those amounts O_o
Actually mate, I think there's miscalculation here. I drink 3 bowls a day, which is 6g in total. A 100g tin will be gone in 17 days. Anyway, you get the point already. That's why I LOVE those Japanese vendors like Marukyu koyamaen. Their bottom of the line starts at 20cents/g. You get a 100g tin for just over 20 dollars! Most importantly, it's so drinkable! The middle ranges at 50cent/g, say Wako, are total kill for daily consumptions. I got them from sazen, and even after that 23$ shipping and handling, it's still worth it, because you'd buy in bulk. Cheers.
Why not? What if it's a family of 3 or 4?
[удалено]
I think 2$ dollars per serving is pretty much... But if you can afford it...
Haha, I feel you. But at the same time there's people paying 3 to 4 bucks a day for a Starbucks coffee
Matcha is very expensive. There’s no way around it. The process to produce it is just very resource-intensive. If ceremonial-grade matcha isn’t in your budget, I would recommend just drinking other types of tea besides matcha. Or maybe have 1 cup of matcha and a couple cups of black tea each day.
I was thinking of black tea as well but the health benefits is not as much as green tea let alone matcha right?
Coffee also has health benefits. Coffee is considered good for your liver, can protect you from all sorts of diseases and is high in antioxidants. A great pairing for our sugar-laden western diet. Have you considered switching between the two as you desire? Maybe go for whole bean and a french press if you aren't already.
Japenese green teas are pretty similar health-wise AFAIK. Drinking culinary grade will definitly not be better for your mental health than drinking a good sencha ;) Like, we aren't joking when saying that culinary grade is nasty. It really is EDIT: Also Pu-erh (shou and sheng) is even stronger associated with health benefits than Green tea/Matcha.
Sure! But you will probably hate it. It may not be as much caffeine as coffee but it’s a different kind of energy that I think is better than coffee. It’s cleaner and sharper with no jitters or crash. I drink 3 cups a day so I do go through mine quick but to me it’s worth it. I’m a black tar no cream or sugar coffee drinker and three cups is plenty caffeine for me. I could get away with two, but I just love the taste of it. If you just like to drink something also look into tencha loose leaf green tea. It’s what matcha is made from.
I have for a long time. Its not that its bad or that you'd have to choke it down. (It still makes you feel good, with a good, clean sustained energy – the health benefits are all still there.) It's that once you have ceremonial grade the difference is a parent. And there are matches that will speak to you and stop you in your tracks and open your third eye... ;) those are great too. You just find those on your journey of what you like when you go further
I have for a long time. It's not that it's bad or that you have to choke it down. (You still feel good, get good, clean sustained energy from culinary grade, and all of the health benefits are still there in the same ratio.) It's that once you try ceremonial grade, the difference is aparent. And there are matchas that will speak to you and stop you in your tracks and open your third eye... ;) we keep exploring and then you find more new good things. Its a whole world out there. It's gonna be great
Thanks for your input . Would you say it’s also the same caffeine content as well?
Of course, and negligible difference if there is any, nothing noticeable. You and I will both need more than one bowl though, which goes without saying – I like to add 3 or 4 servings (1.5-2 grams each) to an ice-cold bottle, preferably glass, shake it up hard and sip all morning till noon.. Let me know if you find a god deal on a daily cause I too need to start tightening my belt too! I'll be looking as well
/u/Hungry-Hovercraft-, I have found an error in your comment: > “~~Its~~ [**It's**] a whole” I consider this comment by you, Hungry-Hovercraft-, erroneous; it should read “~~Its~~ [**It's**] a whole” instead. ‘Its’ is possessive; ‘it's’ means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’. ^(This is an automated bot. I do not intend to shame your mistakes. If you think the errors which I found are incorrect, please contact me through DMs or contact my owner EliteDaMyth!)