How to Brew a Cup of Japanese Matcha Green Tea…

My first recommendation is to always use traditional Japanese utensils when making your favorite cup of matcha green tea. If you've spent money buying some of the best matcha green tea powder around why not dive right in to the full matcha experience?

For Proper Preparation of Japanese Matcha Powder You Will Need:

1. Chawan (Tea Bowl) - This is a special kind of tea bowl with adequate room for whisking. Any bowl will do.
2. Chasen (Tea Wisk) - This is a special kind of whisk you will require when working with matcha powder. Most other whisks do not have enough tines and so this is highly recommended.
3. Furui (Sifter) - To be honest you can use any fine mesh sifter for making matcha green tea, but if you want you can get a specially designef sifter called a Furui. A Furui is not absolutely required (from a functionality standpoint) but you will need a fine sifter of some sort.
   
4. Chashaku (Tea Scoop) - There is a special kind of tea scoop called a Chashaku, but again it's not necessary from a functionality standpoint. A standard set of measuring spoons will do if you don't have a Chashaku!

Now, there are two kinds of matcha that you can make: Thin matcha or Usucha and thick matcha or Koicha. It's a matter of preference really as both types are both made from matcha powder and so you'll reap the numerous health benefits matcha provides you with both types.

Let’s Have a Look at the Step by Step Instructions on How to Make Each of These Types of Matcha:

Step 1: Fill a matcha bowl with 1/3 parts with hot water and preheat it. Face the whisk down into the bowl and dip the prongs into the water just to wet the tips, not the entire whisk. When the bowl is nicely preheated, remove the hot water and clean the bowl with a cloth, preferably chakin. Keep the whisk away and add 70 ml/2.3 oz for Usucha and 40 ml/ 1.4 oz for Koicha of heated water into a pan and leave it to cool.

Step 2: Use a bamboo stick or measuring spoon to measure the amount of matcha powder. You will need about 2 scoops of Ususcha and 3 scoops of Koicha and place everything in the bowl. Make sure you sift the matcha a little before measuring it to avoid clumping of the powder.

Step 3: Once the water that was set out to cool drops to 70-degree celsius, take it out and pour it into the matcha bowl you kept aside in step 2.

Step 4: Hold the rim of the bowl containing the matcha in one hand and the whisk in the other hand. Whisk the matcha quickly in a W motion using your wrist only (not arms) until the matcha turns into a green liquid with thick froth with tiny bubbles. You have your Usucha green tea. For Koicha, the method is different. We do not want the frothy consistency, hence, use a slower kneading pattern from left to right with a gentle 360-degree movement of your wrists. Keep rotating the mixture until you get a thick consistency. You have your Koicha, thick, consistent and non-frothy.

There you have it - a delicious cup of authentic Japanese matcha.

The following blog post How to Brew a Cup of Japanese Matcha Green Tea… is republished from: HealthyWild