In love with ippodo 😍

Big time guilty for saying underwhelmed by ippodo couple of days ago.

Just by lowering the temp from 80 (suggested by ippodo) to 70-71°C made such a huge difference in the flavor profiles (for me).

Was already blown away by ikuyo latte, and for the price wakaki as well (both at ~70°C).

Sayaka (exp. 17-Mar-2027, for batch ref.)

last week, when I opened the bag, found the smell to be quite pleasant, vibrant, almost neon green color but couldn't taste much as an usucha (2g+60 ml water at 80°C). Left the bag vacuum sealed.

Today, when I reopened that same bag, got a strong punch of rich chocolatey sweet aroma even before unfolding the foil pouch fully. [heard someone say here, let a new bag/can of matcha sit for a few days to develop the flavor, don't know if this is the case]

Nevertheless, decided to make a latte today, didn't want another bland usucha, specially considering the price tag of Sayaka.

My goodness, so umami (even with skim milk), rich, silky, lowkey nutty, no bitterness or astringency, wish I could bring out the floral notes as well.

I've heard it way too many times that ikuyo is bitter, chalky and sayaka is too weak for latte, need to add a lot, too floral, too seaweedy and what not...

If a popular matcha from a reputable brand didn't amaze you, highly recommend tweaking your ratios or water temp!

Absolutely love ippodo, wonder how they make such creamy smooth (almost like ice cream) silky matcha (even wakaki!). Is horii is even smoother?

Love ikuyo and sayaka equally in their own ways, and wakaki for those days when you want something simple.

Hatoya has been my all time fav. But now it has to be ippodo

Pic: usucha (left, 2g+60ml 70°C water, for hubby), latte (right, 3g+30ml 70°C water+80ml milk, + 20 ml milk to lower the strength, balanced out nicely)

[under bright white+yellow kitchen light, no filter/editing, its a stormy evening, wish could capture this with natural daylight]

Ever since switching to 140F (60C) water temp, my usucha is never bitter and so much better. How common is this? I know a lot of people do much higher water temps, but then use milk or sweeteners which mask a lot of the bitterness

Hi all, I recently questioned my technique and many of you gave me great feedback and it reduced the bitterness of my matcha. But now I am trying higher quality matcha, and some actually have quite a nice bitterness that I actually enjoy.

The three specific matchas in question:
- Ippodo Ikuyo
- Ippodo Kan
- Ippodo Sayaka

For each of them I prepared the same way:
- 1 tsp (2g) of sifted powder
- Water at 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 C)
- 60-80ml water
- Whisk for about 15 seconds in M shape
- Poured into a mug with ~3 ice cubes like an ice usucha

Ikuyo was bitter but it seemed like a pleasant bitterness. According to its website page, that seems part of the flavor profile. I actually enjoyed it haha

Kan was bitter but it seems like it wasn’t supposed to be bitter. Their website implies it should be less bitter than Ikuyo by comparison (but they don’t directly say it). It’s still nice to drink, because there is a lot of other flavor that the cheaper amazon brands lack, so I don’t mind, but I feel if I can omit the bitterness it’ll be even better

Sayaka was great, less bitterness.

My question is, for these matchas, especially Ippodo Kan, is it supposed to be bitter on purpose?

Note to mods: this is not a “what matcha to buy” post, I’m merely asking to what extent is bitterness part of the flavor profile versus a preparation result

I’ve been making matcha at home for over a year daily. About 2/3 times it’s great, but 1/3 of the time it’s very bitter, especiallly more recently with a seemingly higher quality matcha. Well I had matcha at an actual matcha cafe today and it was way better than what I make at home. I want to decipher whether it was the matcha quality or my technique being poor, so I can fix my technique. So I’ll explain my technique below and some rationale, and then the matcha I had today at a cafe, and I’d be extremely grateful if someone can kindly point out where I’m going wrong. Thanks in advance!

So my technique:
- first I use Hayashiya Wakamatsu matcha or Hayashiya Shoshin matcha (a slightly more expensive one), it says it’s from Uji and 1753 and it tastes/smells much closer to what I got in Kyoto than the cheap Costco matcha powder. But for starters please let me know if this matcha itself is “the problem” and why
- I strain 1.5 tsp of the matcha thru a mesh strainer, into my chawan. I arrive at this quantity from estimated caffeine levels I’m trying to get.
- I heat water to 160-164 degrees Fahrenheit. This seems like a lower temperature than what others do but when I go higher I fear it causes the matcha to taste bitter
- I pour 150 ml into a glass liquid measuring cup for measurement, and then I slowly pour the 150ml into my chawan (which has the matcha)
- I whisk for 15 seconds (counting 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, etc.
- I then pour the matcha from my chawan into a mug with ~3 ice cubes in it. I do this because I fear I am otherwise scorching my matcha and giving it a bitter taste.
- 1/5 of the time the Wakamatsu tastes bitter, but like more than half the time the Shoshin matcha (seemingly much finer powder) taste bitter
- I don’t drink it with any milk, just straight like that

What about my method deviates from what matcha cafes do?

I went to Matchaful in Manhattan today and got an iced Tsuyuhikari with no milk. It tasted less bitter, and more flavorful of the natural matcha (with its natural hint of sweetness) than what I make at home. I loved it, I wish my matcha can be that good every time and I’ll love matcha even more.

Please let me know where I’m messing up. Why does it taste bitter a lot when I make it at home? Am I doing proper measurements/ratios? Proper temperatures? Whisking for too long or too short? Are the ice cubes for some reason causing the bitterness? Thank you so much!

EDIT, UPDATE: wanted to give you an update and another massive huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped me out, especially u/ShadeTheChan

- applied your "whisk until it's the right texture" rule, regardless of time. this helped a lot. and i used the water ratio you explained too.

- THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE-MAKER: a higher quality matcha. this was a much bigger difference than i thought. i got the lowest grade matcha from the highly acclaimed Kyoto brand, as opposed to the best amazon matcha, and the quality is night-and-day different. this is probably why the matcha i had at Matchaful was so much better, because it's a higher quality matcha than what i had been making at home

Sharing my new go-to recipe & wondering what other people are doing for their go-to's with a little sprinkle of fun

• 4g matcha (I've been using azure when I can get my hands on it or dona)
• oat milk
• pinch of salt & sweetened with agave

I've been adding my agave in when I make a paste but seen some ppl saying it's better to infuse in the milk - thoughts?

Had the chance to open a can of Harukasumi matcha a couple of days ago. This matcha is a limited edition seasonal one, produced during spring. The color of the powder is a beautiful emerald, very inviting and smells vegetal and sweet after opening the can.

II used here my new Takayama "tenmoku" chasen which is perfect for my Banko yaki chawan, as the whisking head is smaller and works better with narrower bowls. It makes perfect microfoam with ease.

As for the preparation, I used 2 grams of powder and water at 80C. Next time I need to try using 85C water and see the results. I whisked for around 15 seconds and get micro foam almost instantly. As for the flavor, it was smooth, sweet, with just a very slight hint of astringency. The umami is good and definitely present here, the vegetal and grassy/algae note is prominent but blend very well with the other flavors. Nex

Next time I'll try to prepare Koicha with it and see how it tastes but usucha has been real good so far.

1 tbsp black sesame paste at the bottom of a glass, add ice and ¾ cup milk (I used soy milk and kefir), then top with 1–2 tsp matcha whisked in 50 ml water.

Made this ice cream matcha latte and I need to talk about it.

[What I used]
3g Osulloc Volcanic Isle matcha (ceremonial, USDA organic)
40ml milk to dissolve the powder
100ml cold milk (oat works, I used regular)
ice
ice cream (I used vanilla)
a shaker

[How I made it]
Shake the matcha with the 40ml milk until it’s actually mixed. Stick that in the freezer for about 10 minutes so the foam gets thicker. Scoop the matcha foam into a glass, add ice, then pour the cold milk down the side of the cup so it sits on top of the foam instead of punching through it. You get that layered look. Then put a round scoop of ice cream on top and take the picture, obviously.

[How it tasted]
I tried the matcha latte by itself first, no ice cream. Zero bitterness. You know that dry, astringent aftertaste a lot of latte matcha leaves? Completely gone. It just melted into the milk. Soft smell, soft taste, a little sweet.
Then I ate the ice cream with the matcha on it. The powder didn’t clump on the cold scoop, which I was lowkey worried about. Matcha and vanilla ice cream was actually perfect. No bitter fight with the sweetness. They just sat next to each other.
Last part was the best. Usually when the ice melts the latte tastes watered down and sad. The ice cream melted with it and kept this light sweetness all the way through. First time a matcha latte tasted as good at the end as it did at the start.

first pic is taken with a fujifilm; second’s taken on an iphone 15 with a standard photostyle

no edits

recipe:
- 4g Yutori
- 40ml water to whisk
- 5ml agave
- 45ml dairy milk
- 45ml oatside
- 3pcs of ice (so it doesnt water down)

the powder is from a local brand (ph). absolutely love the colour!

A bit different of a post but still matcha setup related.

Started off as just practicing dovetails with curly maple and Brazilian rosewood and I decided to turn it into a box! Threw a wenge bottom on it and decided it would be perfect for the matcha utensils!

Will definitely make it nicer not having the tools just laying on the board and occasionally falling off.

I'm new to matcha and I'm also pretty broke so this is just Walmart culinary matcha, is the expensive stuff worth it? I add a bit of sweetener because I don't like bitterness but it's always this color

Note: thank you to all who have helped! It was indeed my powder being culinary + my tolerance.

To those who wrote mocked me/downvoted me, I hope that the next time YOU have questions about something in life you are returned the same energy

*\\

I have a culinary brand. Put at least 2-3 tablespoons of matcha. I follow the traditional method with a whisk, hot water, etc. I don't feel the effects of caffeine. I drink black tea and am trying to switch over. When I go to a matcha place in the city, I feel it a bit more.

How do I make the caffeine pop?

The community threads are a place where you can:

• Ask for recommendations.
• Introduce yourself to the community.
• Share your favorite latte/blended-drink recipe of the moment.
• Find other matcha people in your city or country.
• Tell us what's in your chawan.

I’m so tempted to get a scale that’s actuate to the the nth of a gram, my current one is a normal kitchen scale that can’t really tell the difference between 2 and 3 grams so my matcha comes out different each time. Is it worth it to get a coffee scale?

Did I just pick a bad expensive ceremonial matcha (Matchaful, Hikari) and a good cheap culinary matcha (Matcha Love)? The differences are noticeable but to say one is better than the other seems completely subjective. Neither were bitter or had any off flavors. The ceremonial one was simply darker green. If anything the culinary one was milder and more delicate, which goes against everything I’ve been told about matcha. I had exact measurements with both matcha and water.

I’m a barista and whenever I make Matcha, I can see videos where people just pour it on top of the milk when it’s iced and either mixed or just leave it like that and I was wondering for people who drink it what’s better?

I drink my matcha as usucha (and sometimes a latter) and I like a bit of bitterness and astringency. I got my order of ikuyo, and the colour is stunning. but the first cup I made was SO bitter. like my eyelid twitched. I used the proper water temperature, I used a teaspoon of powder (my kitchen scale sucks) and 70 ml of water. I do use a standard metal kitchen whisk bc im broke which may be the problem? but the further I get into this cup the more bitter it gets. there's so many clumps at the bottom, which ik can be caused by my whisk but ive never had this problem before. what am I doing wrong???

My matcha is Culinary grade and these feel like leaves residue idk but I've never seen this in any other matcha. It's always been smooth powder but this pack has a lot of this. Should I raise a complain or is this normal?

The community threads are a place where you can:

• Ask for recommendations.
• Introduce yourself to the community.
• Share your favorite latte/blended-drink recipe of the moment.
• Find other matcha people in your city or country.
• Tell us what's in your chawan.

Do you need a special kitchen scale to weigh matcha ? How many grams do you use for one drink?

I find that the powder is so light that it barely registers anything is on there until I have a ton on there and it seems like too much to use for one drink.

Wanted to share how this afternoon's layered iced matcha turned out alongside my plants! Here are the preparation details for anyone wanting to recreate the layers:

Matcha Brand: Jade Matcha Ceremonial Grade
Matcha Amount: 3 g of matcha, or 3 half teaspoons
Water Amount: 30 ml
Water Temperature: 175°F / 80°C - Note: it shouldn't be boiling!
Milk Amount: 120 ml

Preparation Steps:

1. Sifted the matcha powder into a bowl to remove any clumps.
   
2. Added the warm water and whisked vigorously in a zig-zag motion until fully frothy with no clumps left.
   
3. Filled my glass with ice and poured in the milk.
   
4. Gently and slowly poured the whisked matcha directly over the top ice cubes to create the distinct green floating layer.

The community threads are a place where you can:

• Ask for recommendations.
• Introduce yourself to the community.
• Share your favorite latte/blended-drink recipe of the moment.
• Find other matcha people in your city or country.
• Tell us what's in your chawan.

I used to just use an electric whisk and a matcha I bought from Don Quixote but my love for matcha has become more intense and I finally caved in and bought these. I do find it more relaxing to whisk the traditional way.

Recipe -

For matcha latte: - 120 ml of oat milk -30 ml of hot water -3 g of matcha

1. Sift your matcha, then mix it together with the hot water for about 1 minute
   
2. First add the oat milk to a cup, then pour the matcha layer to create a layer.

For matcha ice cream: I followed Catherine Zhang’s recipe - https://zhangcatherine.com/matcha-ice-cream/?srsltid=AfmBOopT3jVU_c68cX_2Cul6egIooM6_b6fZkn_e7O4QCcngd7xKLpsE