Green Tea Forum

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

I am new to matcha, I recently ordered the necesery equipment, I have a matcha bowl, a chasen, kuneaoshi, susudake chasaku, and I have ordered two types of matcha from Horaido teashop, both enter the koicha category, but one is more recomended for mild usucha, I am interested in the preparation of koicha, I have seen a lot of tutorials, a lot of ways, so if somebody has actually made one please tell me how you did it, I have glass electric boiler that has 200cc minimum amount to function with, I am interested in the amount of tea used, to the amount of water, and the temperature and how to achieve it, and finally the taste, what should a great koicha taste like ( I will have Miyako-no-shiro HG as the best tea I can use).

olivierco · Brown Belt Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: France

4g 60-80ml water about 75°C is a good starting point. You will have to experiment anyway.

Preheated chawan, sifted matcha.
Just adding the water and slowly whisking with the chasen. Unless you want to perform a tea ceremony it is quite easy.

sleepyredmoo · Posted: Aug 30, 2008 5:26 am Post subject:

maybe this will help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7083h_5qSLk

okimasa · Posted: Aug 30, 2008 8:17 am Post subject:

britt · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 179

olivierco · Brown Belt Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: France

For me koicha looks like this, so no foam.

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

Thank you guys for the info, my package was delivered yesterday, and I will post pictures with my first koicha soon, I`m a bit confused with the bubbles and right and wrong pictures but only practice makes perfect, I hope I didn`t do anything wrong chosing high grade matcha at first, maybe I should have emptyed a few usucha cans to know exactly what I am doing, PS these guys on youtube are not using the right quality equipment, I have invested in auhtentic and expencieve original handmade japanese teaware.

olivierco · Brown Belt Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: France

sleepyredmoo · Posted: Aug 31, 2008 11:12 am Post subject:

[quote="Oni"PS these guys on youtube are not using the right quality equipment, I have invested in auhtentic and expencieve original handmade japanese teaware.[/quote] what exactly was used that wasn't the right quality?

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

For gyokuro either mame kyusu or houhin is used, as exeption they use tokoname kyusu and they call it casual way of brewing with less leaf and more water, for more check osagawaryu sencha school they show tea brewing with traditional method and serving it as well. I don`t say it is not possible to brew any japanese tea in whatever equipment, but it is a lot harder, and each type of equipment results diffrent taste, for example sencha seiryu from horaido has algae (seaweed) taste, but this taste is only accented when brewed in my houhin, when I brew it in tokoname kyusu that aroma is weaker, they clay changes the taste.

sleepyredmoo · Posted: Sep 01, 2008 8:40 am Post subject:

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

* wrong video, I think I saw Jon Bon Jovi and Axel Rose brewing japanese tea together in their latest video.

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

I got my teaset and I have tried.... well it is not so easy as you guys made it look like, I prewarmed the raku and put my whisk in it, and it opened up in the middle, is this normal? I dryed the raku and measured out 4 chasaku worth of matcha, I have whisked it but it didn`t have those uniform bubbles, although it had bubbles, it had lumps in it, but the taste was intesive and surprisingly sweet, like chocklate, I sensed that the tea was bright green and very high quality, but I feel like I ruined it, the lack of experience was obvious, and I have no silk cloth to wipe the raku, the main concern was that the 30 $ worth 120 pon whisk opened up in the middle without me whisking anything, I should have tried something cheaper to exercise on. Later I`ll post pictures.

olivierco · Brown Belt Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: France

Did you sift the matcha?
I always sift it and never got any lumps.

If it tasted good you don't have to "feel that you ruined it".

Matcha Sifter

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

I tried it again, I have sifted it with an ordinary sifter, I`ve read and watched all the instructions, it came out better I think, now I feel like a tea vampire (hehe I`m from Transylvania, and yes I have visited many times the Bran castle, but still no sign of Dracula), so anyway it is an intensive experience, my ears feel warm, I am experiencing an alertness a kind of high after two koichas, this was the most intensive tea experience in my life.