Encha Matcha - Latte Grade Matcha Powder - Unsweetened, First Harvest, Organic Green Tea Powder From Uji, Japan (500g / 1lb) Premium for Latte, Smoothie - Caffeine, L-Theanine

(WARNING- This is an in depth review of Encha matcha tea. I am writing this for those who like me are researching and wanting to buy the best matcha as an investment. I am purposely going into detail to provide information to help with buying decisions. If you prefer a short summary, see section marked THE BOTTOM LINE) THIS REVIEW WAS DONE ON PRODUCT PURCHASED AT FULL PRICE BY ME AS REGULAR CUSTOMER -------------- I have to be honest with you, I really am not a green tea fan. I just don't like it. Flavored, unflavored, it did not seem to matter. I tried everything to make green tea just right and most of the time, I am just not a fan. There is a blend of green and white jasmine tea I do like, but that is not pure green, so probably does not count. So what am I doing trying matcha? Let me tell you. MATCHA EXPERIENCE Some time ago I came upon a tea company who has teas I love. So, they had matcha on sale and it was STILL expensive. I decided to look into matcha. I researched and studied what to look for and made only trying Japanese matcha my goal. I tried a few here and there, but they were bitter, icky tasting, and made me wonder why anyone would bother spending money on that stuff- let alone a LOT of money. I found a little tin of PREMIUM organic GO MATCHA at a store on clearance, so I bought it. It was only $5 and the date was very fresh, and it was from Japan. No one in our area has a clue about stuff like this, so they did not buy it. Is that what matcha is supposed to taste like? Blech. WHAT IS ENCHA MATCHA LIKE? I am not one to let things lie until I have explored them to my satisfaction, so I continued to try matcha and more and more I was becoming turned off. I put the temperature between 170 and 160 and was careful to measure, and then I would froth it just right and drink it- blech. I only tried premium or ceremonial quality - if that was high end, I would hate to see low end. I decided to give matcha one last try and purchased the Encha. When I opened the package, I was greeted by what I had thought was a myth. This stuff is a beautiful spring green powder that borders on neon in color. Now THAT is what I heard matcha was supposed to look like! The powder is fine and the fragrance is actually wonderful. It is reminiscent of Japanese Green Magma and some other green drink supplement powders I used to buy from Swanson Vitamins over the years. HOW DOES THIS MATCHA PREPARE? First let me tell you how I prepared this matcha. - I heated water to 160 degrees -I put 1/4 tsp in a cup (I like matcha a bit weaker at this point than the usual 1/2 tsp) -I poured about 4 oz of water over the top of the matcha (no, I did not sift) -I used the Cafe Casa Milk Frother 2 Speed Handheld Drink Mixer - Stainless Steel - With 2 AA Batteries Included (Silver) -I sipped the tea rather quickly Sometimes I pour a bit more water over top, sometimes not. It depends on my preference for weaker tea that day. This matcha is delightful. Because I tend to use a bit less powder than recommended, the foam on top is less, but still very nice. The tea itself is delightful. No lumps, no problems at all mixing with the water, and the flavor- WOW. I have to say that this matcha blows all of the others I have tried out of the water. It is amazing. WHAT DOES THIS MATCHA TASTE LIKE? This matcha has a flavor that is most reminiscent of Japanese Green Magma made from young barley leaves- the original Japanese powder in the glass jar. It has a beautiful balance between sweetness and green, but it is a good green, not bitter. In fact, there was absolutely NO bitterness at all in this tea. The balance of astringency and green is perfect. Absolutely PERFECT. When I was done, my mouth was not feeling like someone sucked the water out of it, and it did not linger in a bad way like so many matchas tend to do to me. It was more of a pleasant memory that brings a smile to my face. HOW DOES THIS TEA AFFECT ME? I have a problem with caffeine, which includes in tea as well as coffee. I tend to avoid it. It makes me hurt and sometimes buzzes me so badly that I just have to avoid it and only have it once in a while. This tea, however, has an interesting effect on me. It brings about an ability to focus all day and adds an extra boost of peace and grounding that is elusive much of the time. I know that it is the L-theanine, but this is the first tea that I have experience this level of balance with. I might not end up having it daily over time, but I sure am enjoying it now! The results are really nice. THE BOTTOM LINE I have to say that NOW I understand the reason why people go nuts over matcha tea. This tea is top of the line, there is no doubt about that. It turned me from a green tea resister to a green tea lover and that is HARD to do. The color is brilliant bright green, the aroma and flavor are perfect balance of sweet greens and astringency, and the powder blends into water perfectly. I have to say that the focus and grounding I get from this is amazing and I will probably keep buying this regularly. It is really amazing stuff. RATING I would give this ten stars if I could. I will update if anything changes or I have any more to add about this amazing tea.

Encha Matcha is by far the most superior matcha I have tried. I am a loyal purchaser from their website, but am thrilled to see it now on Amazon for the times I NEED it delivered a little bit faster :) However, their shipping is still very fast. I will say that the company has the most gracious, generous owner. If you join the Encha Facebook page, or subscribe to their e-mails (encha.com) you will be kept apprised of their occasional sales and specials. When he runs a special, it is beyond worth it! It is very rare these days to come across an honest business owner, who also cares so much about his customers, and I feel like he gets great enjoyment sharing his wealth with the customers by offering such amazing offers during certain times of the year. You will also get questions answered very quickly and they never make you feel like you are bothering them. First I will start out about the quality. You know exactly where this matcha is coming from, straight from the farm in Japan. This company actually has reports you can access showing the testing done on his products to ensure they are not only all ORGANIC (very important), but also safe from any dangerous contaminants that so many people need to be concerned about from products overseas. Next, the product is in a BPA-free package. I saw a review someone posted about wanting them to put the product in a tin. No thank you! Last place I want my organic, healthy matcha stored is in an aluminum tin. The QUALITY of this matcha is first rate. You will notice immediately by the color that it is far superior to other brands. And another thing that is rare with this brand is that there is very little difference between the Ceremonial grade and the Latte grade as far as quality, color and taste, in my opinion. I could easily drink the Latte grade just with water. With most matcha brands there is a huge difference between the grades. I think most other brands labeled as ceremonial aren't even of equal quality to Encha's Latte grade. The difference with Encha is both Ceremonial AND Latte are first harvest! Find that in another brand. If you're concerned about price, go with the Latte grade. I use 1 teaspoon a day and I think the 60-gram container lasts me a full month. You can certainly use less. A lot of people say they don't like green tea, so they won't like matcha. Try it! It does not taste like the brewed green tea you are used to. Cost -- everyone seems to be up in arms about the cost of matcha, in general. Yes, it is expensive, but you WILL get what you pay for with matcha. If it's cheap, it's going to be a horrible grade and it's also going to taste horrible. With that said, Encha is no more expensive than any other top brand, and I guarantee you're going to find the quality is way better than a similarly-priced brand. Another thing I have found comical in some reviews is people complaining about there being matcha powder left in the bottom of the cup/bowl. Matcha is not a powder that dissolves! It's as simple as that. Afterall, one of the reasons it is so healthy is you are ingesting the actual ground-up leaf. I personally place my powder in a small sifter and then whisk it in some water before I fill the bowl with more water. If you prefer, you can use a latte frother to make it easy. I used to use one but I don't like the foam. A matcha whisk works quite well if used properly. Also, swirl your cup or bowl between sips to remix the powder at the bottom. Then you won't have much accumulated when you get to the bottom :) No big deal. I actually like that last swallow with the powder in it because I feel like I'm getting an extra burst of healthy goodness. Finally, I want to share a personal health benefit I have had since I started drinking matcha. I am a small, nowhere close to overweight woman. For quite a few years my bloodwork at my physicals has come back as having extremely high triglyceride levels, with sometimes high cholesterol. There is no physical reason for this. I eat quite healthy, don't eat a lot of meat or sugar, and am a healthy weight. For the first time in years last year my bloodwork came back at normal levels! Honestly, the only thing I had been doing differently is I started drinking a cup of match every day. There are MANY health benefits to drinking matcha, from weight loss to improved skin, and from my experience, now healthy blood values :) The main reason I started drinking matcha is for all the anti-oxidants and other good stuff in it to hopefully avoid cancer, and I got the nice surprise of the normal bloodwork. So bottom line is try Encha Organic Matcha. You're going to wonder why you ever drank low-quality matcha. If you don't like it, you don't like it, but I would be surprised. You've got nothing to lose by trying one package. If someone doesn't like it, they probably just don't like matcha in general. If anything, get Encha brand for the superior increased health benefits. You will easily be able to convert yourself from coffee to matcha. Make lattes or other yummy drinks with it if you don't like the taste of matcha, to at least help yourself become more healthy :)

I'm just so blown away by this tea!! Probably the best name for it is an antioxidant powerhouse!! I purchased this for it's detox and anti aging benefits. It's very popular in model circles for these reasons, as well as a way to prevent cellulite and treat existing cellulite. However, I wasn't expecting all of the added benefits that come with this powerful tea! For the longest time my mum's been drinking green tea (tea bags), which I avoided because of the bitter taste. I started with regular tea bags, but after some research I discovered that the tea bags only contain 26mg of antioxidants (egcg, catechins) and the leaves are lower grade/cheap, hence why buying tea bags is so much cheaper. Also some tea bags have been found to contain metals from the soils. The loose leaf green tea is a bit higher in antioxidants, but the most superior one I found was Teavana Green Tea Gyokuro, which contains 86mg of antioxidants, so that one is the highest you'll find of a loose leaf green tea. Well, guess what?!! This matcha powder contains 240mg of antioxidants!!! This is superior to all green teas you'll find, because the leaves have been ground into a powder, so you're actually eating them! This is like drinking 9 cups of green tea (bags)!! My mum has truly been wasting her time with the tea bags! I really can't say enough great things about this tea. This is the only Matcha powder I've tried, so I don't have anything to compare this to, but it works for me, so I don't need to try anything else. This truly is a miracle tea. It's a powerhouse of antioxidants, and I just don't know how I've lived so long without this. The first two days I was going to the bathroom a lot. I figured this tea was helping me to flush out toxins. Just letting you know that you may experience this, but it's normal, as you're feeding your body with a large dose of antioxidants which it's not used to. You will settle down and this will keep you regular. I'm on a high protein and low carb diet, so this has really helped me to stay regular because of my diet. You might want to consider starting this on the weekend to see how you react to it, so you're not rushing to the bathroom constantly at work. One instantly noticeable benefit from this tea is how much energy it gives me, and how calming it is. I suffer from anxiety, and this tea calms me and has such a big effect on my mood for the day. I wasn't expecting this at all. Very healing! But then this is a ceremonial tea, meaning that Buddhist monks (who only pick the best teas) use it in their ceremonies. They go for long periods fasting and meditating, so they need the best teas to energize and calm them, and this is one of those teas! I've noticed my skin is a lot clearer and healthy looking. Since I was about 15 I had some small bumps on the backs of my arms (not noticeable, but could be felt if you ran your fingers over them). After day 1 of taking this the bumps have gone!!! Whatever inflammation was causing the bumps, this tea took care of that inflammation! It's left my skin glowing and soft, truly the benefits can be seen from the inside-out. There are numerous articles that claim matcha can help in preventing dementia and Alzheimer's, as it's great for the brain. It helps protect you against cancer and other diseases, and the list is endless. It also suppresses your appetite a bit, meaning you eat less calories, so it aids in weight loss. Just like you clean the outside of your body when you take a shower, this tea is like taking a clorox wipe to your insides. Whenever you are exposed to the elements you're taking in harmful free radicals and toxins into your body. These build up in your body and attack your cells, one of the effects is that you age quicker too. I love the taste and don't find it too bitter at all! I try to drink every last drop in my mug to get the full benefits of it! I would recommend drinking as is, rather than adding honey or something else to it. Why "contaminate" it with anything. I love this tea so much I've subscribed for a monthly order!! SOME TIPS: *Don't drink this after 5pm! I made this mistake the first day, since I couldn't wait to try it, and it kept me up that night, since it does contain caffeine. (I'm sensitive to caffeine as I don't drink coffee) *Don't drink it at the same time you eat food. Matcha tea is a nutrient blocker, so make sure you digest everything first so your body gets its nutrients without interference from the tea. *Drink one of your servings before you work out. The Matcha increases your metabolism and burns even more fat if you take just before a workout. *Don't exceed 3 servings per day, because of the caffeine content. They recommend 4 servings for cancer patients but 2-3 servings for everyone else. I usually do the first serving when I wake up, and the 2nd serving just before i workout (so spread out throughout the day) *Pay attention to your body. If you start getting headaches then decrease your servings. They say that headaches can be the result of iron deficiency, which can occur through an excessive intake of green tea. *When adding the hot water to the powder it gets a bit lumpy at the bottom. Best way to avoid this is to pour a tiny amount of cold water into your mug first to mix the powder into a slight paste, before then adding the hot water. Make sure you start whisking the powder as you're pouring the hot water in. So much easier than dealing with leftover bits at the bottom of your mug that get wasted!

The Matcha was good. It wasn’t bitter and it had a good green color.

I've been trying different Ceremonial grade matcha's and I've really enjoyed this one: Encha Matcha. As with many others, it provides instructions which are helpful. What I particularly like about this one is that on the back/package, it includes the amount of Catechins, EGCG, Caffeine, Theanine. As for the taste and mixing, it's about the same as the other two Ceremonial grade powders I've found. I find that this one seems to be a bit more affordable without sacrificing anything really. It's definitely not too bitter and gives a nice earthy flavor. Personally, I mix it with a little bit of honey. Highlights: - Packages states ingredients and contents - Good price point - Great tasting (though not much different than other high quality ceremonial grade matches) - Bag functions as a zipper as well Overall, I think I like this one the best and will probably stick with this for a while unless I find a better priced one.

I grew up in Japan, and have drunk green tea and/or matcha all my life. I've tried several brands of Matcha, but have been far-and-away happiest with Encha Latte Grade and Encha Ceremonial Grade — which tastes great, and is the best value I've found so far. Every month, I order three Encha Ceremonial-grade packets (@ 60g / 2.12oz) through Subscribe and Save. I've been astounded at the health benefits. It apparently helps fight cancer, helps your immune system, helps heart health, helps kidneys, helps against type 2 diabetes, helps cardiovascular health, helps cognition, helps against infections, helps gastrointestinal function, helps weight loss, helps energy without jitters, helps with calming moods. ==================================================== This is how I make my Ceremonial Grade MATCHA: ==================================================== Now, having grown up in Japan, you're probably thinking I'm a purist, whisking away interminably with my little bamboo whisk. Nope. I drink at least two or three 2-cup size mugs a day (equal to 4-6 cup measures), so I've found a much faster way. Here's what I do: • I boil water. • I get my blender and pour in two cups of boiling water. • I hit the manual spurt button a couple quick times to get the water swirling a bit (that way it reduces splashing in the start-up). • Then I hit the lowest blending button. • Once it's swirling safely without splashing everywhere, I get a dry spoon (if it is damp at all, the tea powder will stick to it like glue). • I dip out between ½ to 1 tsp of ceremonial grade tea powder, and dump it in from the top of the blender. (If you rinse the spoon in the swirling water-becoming-tea, be careful not to let the spoon touch the spinning tines. Once, the spoon fell from my fingers, and the spoon instantly catapulted to the ceiling, with tea all over the counter (yes, and the ceiling). I'm more careful now. Just beware, if you do that.) • It only takes 2-3 seconds to have it completely mixed. A NOTE ABOUT CUPS: I have a CONTIGO autoseal vaccuum-insulated stainless steel travel mug (no, I don’t get a commission for this!) that I like to use so it stays hot for a longer time. I have the 16oz size, though with all the tea I’ve been drinking, my next one will be the 24oz size. But I also have a STARBUCKS $1 reusable cup I like to use. The STARBUCKS one I use for my lattés, because I can microwave the cream in it, and because I tend to drink the lattés down much faster. Okay, so this bring up the question about lattés. Starbucks makes tremendous Mattcha lattés. And I've found that the "breve" (cream) version tastes even better. So to make a far less expensive but still great tasting version at home, here's what I'd recommend. ==================================================== This is how I make my Matcha Grade LATTÉ: ==================================================== • Boil the water • Put about ½ cup whipping cream (or half-and-half) in a Starbucks mug, and microwave it for ½ minute • Put 1½ cups boiling water in the blender (or less, if you used more cream) • Swirl boiling water in blender • into the swirling boiling water, pour honey (or xylitol, or other sweetener you like) to taste (BUT: now that I'm on a KETO diet, I stopped sweetening it at all) • Put a teaspoon of Encha Latté Grade Matcha in the swirling water (2-3 seconds is enough) • Pour this into the Starbucks mug (which has the heated cream in it) • Stir it if you like; but I found I don't need to BTW: I don't add the cream into the blender because then it froths, which takes up more room — but if you like frothy matcha, then by all means go for it!

This review will be for both the Ceremonial and Latte grade matcha from Encha. I have tried a decently wide range of matcha in the past from packets found at Costco, to the sickly sweet Americanized Dunkin Doughnut version, to cups provided at high end restaurants and ryokan in Japan. This matcha is easily among the best that I have had, and is by far the best bang for the buck. The first impression you get when you open the pouch is how vibrant green the powder is and how wonderful it smells. There are no visible lumps in the powder and it is extremely fine. A little bit of powder always escapes when I squeeze the air out of the packet before I reseal it and it is so light and fine that it floats for a while in the air. I do sift the Ceremonial grade through a fine mesh strainer although I suspect this is overkill. I do not sift the latte grade and thus far I have not had any issues so long as a whisk it for an appropriate amount of time. As for preparation I follow the instructions on the packet and the videos that Encha provides and I have been very pleased with the end result although I tend to make 1.5 to 2x the serving. The fresh, grassy, slightly earthy fragrance is very apparent in the Ceremonial grade. The flavor is very smooth and feels wonderful on the tongue with just a tiny hint of bitterness at the finish, just enough to enhance the experience rather than detract from it. The matcha foams very well and it is not difficult to create a very fine foam with a traditional bamboo matcha whisk (I do not own an electric frother). The Latte grade aroma is very similar to the Ceremonial although the flavor is bolder and the bitterness at the end more apparent. Add some soy mild or regular cow milk and the bitterness diminishes greatly or goes away altogether if you add enough while retaining the fresh grassy/earthy taste. Thus far for storage, after I scoop out the powder I squeeze out any extra air before resealing it and then put it back in the fridge. I have compared the matcha from the last few scoops of a pouch of Ceremonial grade to matcha from a fresh pouch and have not noticed any significant differences in appearance or taste. Up front the pouches seem expensive but they really are not for the quality you get. When I was the only one drinking, I drink matcha about 5 days a week as an alternative to coffee. The 60g packet lasts me about a month. So for the Ceremonial grade I can have a large mug full (~7-9oz) of top quality matcha with all the unique health benefits for for about $1.70 each time. Compared to $2 or more for a medium coffee from a coffee shop it is absolutely worth it. Initially I was the only one drinking but the rest of the family enjoyed the taste so much that they asked me to prepare them portions whenever I drink as well. I am very glad to have found this fantastic product and if you are looking for a high quality matcha you will not regret your purchase.

If you’re looking for a lovely matcha, encha is great. If you’re looking for lavender flavor, encha did not get it right this time. It’s so faint. The first time I drank it I couldn’t detect it, the second time it was faint. I really appreciate that they used only lavender flowers and no sweeteners or artificial flavors in this but it just wasn’t enough to flavor it. It still had good color too which means there probably wasn’t enough lavender added. Encha and the industry as a whole looks like it’s facing some matcha shortages, I hope they figure out how to continue their core matcha offerings before leaning into these because they are not worth it to me.