TASTE OF KYOTO Matcha Green Tea Reserve 2 12 Ounce

Fabulous. The beautiful color and fine silkiness of the powder is the first thing I noticed when I opened this package - good color and texture is super important for any tea, but especially so for matcha since you add the powder directly to your drink, rather than brewing. Due to how finely ground matcha is, it can sometimes be a tad bit messy scooping it out of the foil bag, and so I sometimes am bold enough to taste the matcha powder directly when it gets on my fingertips, and I knew right away that it was as good as the color indicated. The smell was perfect, mild and subtle and secretive, and the flavor of the powder was everything I want in matcha. Very intense, but not overwhelmingly bitter - I'm actually a fan of a good bitter tea, but this stuff is so smooth and gentle that even someone who hates bitter flavors would enjoy it. I keep looping back to the color, too - I'm a painter, and so I'm fascinated by quality pigmentation, and this stuff...I'd paint with it in a heartbeat if it wasn't so tasty! The color is that rich. Expensive, yes, but it's worth it. Matcha is, after all, a special tea for special occasions. Might as well save up for the good stuff. Delighted with this first purchase, will definitely purchase from them again! Read more

We ordered this and Aiya, unfortunately we did not like this at all, it is extremely bitter! It is also unfortunate that we had to buy such a large quantity. The Aiya was much better by comparison. But if you like really really bitter, this is the Matcha for you. Read more

I have tried many different ceremonial grade matcha teas and this has been my favorite. I drink a cup every morning so I occasionally try a lower priced tea and I am always disappointed. Taste of Kyoto is bright green, has a wonderful aroma and tastes delicious. I cheat and blend mine in a large mug with an emersion blender - froths up beautifully. Make sure your water is not too hot as that will cause bitterness in the best of matchas. This price initially seems high but if you look at the price per ounce it is very reasonable for such high quality. I don't know why people are complaining about the packaging. I think it is great to have a pouch within the tin. You just need to be gentle when folding the pouch back over or you will dust everything with your precious green powder! This will continue to be my matcha of choice. Read more

The product is good but the packaging is poor. The bag of 60 grams is stuffed inside the can. The manufacturer says that after use squeeze the air out of the bag and stuff it back in the can - like putting toothpaste back in the tube. I gave up and stored the stuff in another container. Read more

good tea, but not worth the price by my standards. i am not a tea aficionado, tea bags are just fine with me. the color is good, but if very much is used, you have to stir often to keep the tea suspended, it tends to settle to the bottom of the cup. Read more

I was not impressed with the color at first, but it has grown on me. Taste is great, like creamy spinach. This is the first Matcha I've tried so I gave it four stars. I'm sure there's one that deserves a higher 5 star rating. Read more

This is so GOOD!! I have bought three different brands of Matcha and this one is the BEST out of the three. It has the best flavor. It was $54.00 for a 2.12 ounce tin and worth EVERY penny! I bought a bag of one pound for pretty cheap, but to ME, it just smells and tastes like ground up plain green tea. This Matcha tastes way different. I don't know that much about it, but I have figured out there is a difference between plain green tea and Matcha tea. It smells and tastes sweeter and not bitter or something. Anyway, all I know is that when I drink a cup of Matcha tea, I like the way it makes me feel. I can't put my finger on what it does, I just know I miss it when I don't have any. It's a luxury for me, but that's OK because everyone needs something that's special! THIS is special! I feel like I am doing something good for myself! Don't hesitate to buy this Taste of Kyoto Matcha Green Tea! You won't be sorry! By the way, You also get this great little tin with a screw on air tight lid that a person can use for home grown herbs and other bulk spices and such. I'm sure I will have enough of them for my basil, parsley, oregano etc. etc. Also, today I made a Matcha frappe. Sort of. I blended ice, milk, vanilla powder, a small amount of brown sugar and matcha and while I put too much milk in it because it wasn't as thick as I wanted, it was delicious! I just LOVE the taste of this. I am totally addicted to it. It was refreshingly cold. Read more

I am in the middle of studying for the CPA Exam, and I was researching supplements that could help improve brain function in order to help me pass the exam. Green tea came up quite often in articles that came up using a search engine. As I was trying to figure out what the best brand for green tea was, I somehow came across matcha. I decided if I wanted quality green tea, I should go with matcha. Naturally, I then began to try to figure out what the best brand for matcha was. I ended up coming across an article by somebody that posted pictures of the different matchas she purchased, and she wrote like mini-reviews on things such as the color and taste. She rated both the color and the taste of Taste of Kyoto Reserve Matcha as 5 out of 5, and it turned out to be one of the "cheaper" ones with a good review. I put that in quotes because it's still expensive. But yeah, I made my purchase based on this one person's opinions. This is gonna sound incredibly lame but I loved the smell of this stuff, the first time I opened it. It's got a bright green color, a nice aroma, and it tastes delicious. I find it better at helping me to focus while studying than coffee in the sense that it's like you're wide awake yet calm at the same time. I am considering buying this matcha again in the bulk version. Read more