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Rie Tulali | Curator
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Today's bowl of matcha is something new: it's a sh

Today's bowl of matcha is something new: it's a shincha matcha from Fukujuen (thanks @steiner5018!) and it's a kicker.

Shincha of any kind tends to be pretty potent and punchy, so it's no surprise that this matcha, made with shincha (first harvest) leaf material, is so lively. ⚡🍃 It has less of the classic umami and sweetness and more full-on fresh, vibrant grassiness.

A great bowl of tea, even with my less than stellar whisking this morning. Life has been a whirlwind lately and it shows in the tea I've been brewing. Tea reflects whoever's making it, so if you wanna make good tea, you gotta make good on yourself first. 🍵

I'm crazy about all sorts of teaware, but I have a

I'm crazy about all sorts of teaware, but I have a special place in my heart for kyusu. 💛

The Japanese-style side handle does make them look pretty funny to a lot of folks, but I just love what it does for performance. You get so much control over the speed, angle, and force behind the pour -- small adjustments that can add up to huge effects if you stack them.

It never gets old seeing what these pots can do. I took these babies for a spin on this week's Weekend Tea Practice (with the replay up on IG Live!), brewing the same Japanese green tea across all 5 pots. So far the Tokoname pot by Umehara Shoji (center) is still my favorite. It handles like a dream all the freaking time.

Do you have a favorite kyusu or teapot in terms of performance/handling? 💡

TEA EXPERIMENT: For Matcha Monday, I'm rolling for

TEA EXPERIMENT: For Matcha Monday, I'm rolling forward with these Matcha + Tea Base tests. 🧪 This time, I'm taking a cue from @slicknebel and using Gyokuro to whisk matcha in, instead of water.

I gotta admit, Matcha + Gyokuro was a little intimidating to test. 🍵 Both teas are kinda finicky, high-end, shade-grown Japanese teas, so I wasn't sure if the combo would turn out too umami or bitter, or just plain boring.

Luckily, it turned out pretty kickass!🤘 It's got the punchy richness of good matcha, but made lovely with this soft, dewy sweetness going on. Luscious af. 🥯 The textural thickness of the Gyokuro really came through here!

One really weird thing happened though: somehow, the matcha just would not foam. (Swipe right for a pic.) You'll see that the matcha almost IMMEDIATELY dissipates after whisking... Like sad bubble bath water. 💦 Idk man, but I think I usually make a pretty mean bowl of matcha... Maybe I was just having a bad night, I thought, but @steven_w52 also gave it a spin and we got the same sad bath water thing going on. 🤔 We replicated the experiment again with a second round of matcha + the same gyokuro and got the same results on the foam.

Is there some weird interaction going on between the matcha foam and the high amino acid content in the Gyokuro or something? Idk man. I wanna find out!

As always, more testing required. All in all though, this was one hell of an entertaining tea sesh. 🍵✨ Weird and wonderful.

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