Gyokuro

This is only my second or third product review on Amazon. I wanted to write this review because this ceremonial matcha from Leopard is just some of the best Matcha I have ever had. If you don’t have the time to read my full review (it’s a little long) just know that this matcha won’t disappoint, and if you want a high-quality matcha at a reasonable price then look no further. That being said… here is the long version. I work alot, like I mean a lot. I have tried just about every kind of energy supplement on the market and I drink coffee like it’s water. Physically I didn’t feel great, and I decided to make a change. About 6 months ago I started trying to get into shape and live a healthier life. As a part of this new effort I cut out the energy drinks and started looking for a healthier alternative. During my Google research green tea kept popping up as a healthy way to maintain energy levels, so I decided to give it a try. At first I just bought the generic kind of green tea from the grocery store, it definitely helped with me not feeling as tired, but I didn’t really like the taste. The stuff that I got was bitter so I started mixing in honey and it was tolerable, I actually started to like it. A few weeks later I decided to start cutting down on the sugar in my diet so that meant that the honey had to go, but I didn’t want to give up my green tea. I did some more searching for “sweet” and “non-bitter” green-tea and that’s where I found out about matcha. If what I was reading online was true it meant that I could get a “ceremonial grade” matcha tea and it wouldn’t be bitter at all, meaning I wouldn’t need to add anything to enjoy it. I went back to the grocery store to look for some, but I couldn’t find any, so I headed over to Amazon. I from my research I knew that getting a low-quality matcha was basically a waste of money, that being said, I didn’t want to break the bank either. I ended up giving the Leopard ceremonial grade matcha a try because I really connected with the story behind it. I thought it was really cool that this tea comes from a family owned tea estate in Japan that has over 250 years of experience in tea, and it was in my price range! My matcha came 2 days after I ordered it (I got it on Prime). The first thing I will say is that the tin that the tea comes in is really cool. After I finished my first batch of matcha I started using the tin to keep small items like paper clips and pens organized on my desk at work, so don’t throw it out when you’re done! The next thing I’ll say is that this tea smells great! It has sweet and rich earthy smell that I have to say I have fallen in love with it. Two factors speak to the quality of this tea more than anything else, the color and the texture. This matcha has a vibrant green color and the texture is so fine that the powder will fill in the grooves of your fingerprints if you touch it! When you whisk it in water it froths nicely without clumping up. Making matcha has become my little ritual that I do about 2 times per day now and I have to say that in many ways it has changed my life. I don’t even drink coffee anymore! If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me till the end! I know this was probably a little more in depth than I needed to go with this review, but it’s too late now. All I can tell you is that if you are looking for an awesome matcha at a great price, then this is the tea you have been looking for. So, if you decide to order some... Enjoy ;)

Great taste, vibrant green, frothy smooth matcha. I prefer a sweeter less bitter 1st harvest ceremonial grade with umami earth tones. It comes in a sealed silver pouch (so no spillage) inside an adorable reusable tin which helps with freshness and less oxidation to keep its vibrant green color. This will be my new favorite! It’s reasonably priced compared to what I was spending at Starbucks for my daily barista matcha latte’s and Frappuccinos.

ok. so first off i have been drinking matcha for many many moons + i go for ceremonial grade, organic matcha always ... i read somewhere about this being a really good one + my go tin of doMatcha - which i really enjoy - was almost empty so i took a chance + ordered + i am SO glad i did ! here we go ... 1. that can !! it's kind of the cutest thing ever, can't wait to reuse it for something 2. ok ... opened the tin, pulled out the package of matcha ... opened super mindfully + carefully so i wouldn't spill any of it's preciousness ... the SMELL !! o yummy. i knew it would taste good when the aroma hit my sniffer - not at all bitter like so many matchas, just a clean almost sweet smell yipppeeee !! 3. i get my chashaku + measure two scoops ... it's SO green !! the sign of quality matcha is it's vivid green hue, + this one is a brilliant emerald green color ... score !! 4. i blend it up by itself the first time to really taste it. my go to is blended with homemade cashew milk, a pinch of pearl powder + some brain dust , but i just wanted to taste it unadorned the first time ... my verdict ? 5. o mah gosh it it delicious. no bitterness. no fishy aroma ( it happens ) not overly acidic. just smooth + creamy flavor that gave me great focus. blends easily, no clumping ... what is this witchcraft ??!!! can't wait to add things to it ! bottom line ... buy this matcha. if you know matcha this is a total score at a fantastic price point i will definitely be ordering more of this, sorry doMatcha ): xx

I like the flavor of this tea. I saw some reviews where people really did not like the taste of this but I did not have that issue. I think it's a good color, dissolves well in hot water, has a nice mild flavor with no bitterness. I did read the insert which suggested starting with only a 1/3 tsp, which is how I am using it and adding about 5 oz of water. I'm wondering if perhaps some folks are adding too much of the matcha powder and that is why they are experiencing the unpleasant and bitter taste. I would buy it again, my only issue is that I don't think the tin, while very cute, is the best way to store the Matcha. Keep it in the fridge.

This tea is delicious. I like that it’s organic and made with simple ingredients. The chamomile is calming, and the ginger adds just enough warmth without being overpowering. It brews well as a loose-leaf tea and has a clean, smooth taste — no bitterness. I usually drink it in the evening and find it very relaxing. If you like herbal teas and want something soothing that still has a little depth of flavor, this is a great option.

One of the most seemingly trustable online rating comparisons picked this tea as one of their top culinary matcha tea choices. But this was several years ago, when it was possibly better. We only have a limited amount of really good matcha available, and this one may have been a victim of its own success. If you sell large amounts of matcha, it can be hard to maintain quality. This powder had some good type of bitter flavor, and some good vegetal flavors, and is not as boringly meh as one of the best- selling, most promoted matchas. Overall, I was not impressed. (Some matchas have some very good bitter flavors that are part of their complexity of flavor, like good chocolate or good coffee bitter.) I had expected and hoped for better, given it's relatively high price for culinary grade and its high reviews outside of Amazon. Keep the foil pouch that is in inside the tin tightly bound with a rubber band to keep the air out, and flavor in. Having been trained in Urasenke style tea ceremony, I have tasted some very good ceremonial quality tea, and I was not expecting that, but they can do better. Some folks will drink anything if they are told it is good for them, and this is probably good for us! if mixed with milks or into smoothies or in recipes, this may be passable, but there are better culinary grade matchas out there at better price points, that can make a good plain, everyday matcha beverage.

I have been subscribed for this tea for a long time now and I go through a tin of this a month because of howmuch I love this matcha tea. This is hands down the best matcha I have used for a latte ever and I have tried various teas. Keep in mind that this is a culinary tea meaning that my preferred use of this tea is for cooking, baking, or in my case, making a bomb latte. Culinary teas are also beneficial as they tend to be a bit cheaper and offer a bit more of those special nutrients that many matcha lovers seek. Ceremonial teas will have a more smooth flavor that is unoffending, making it better for consumption in the traditional way (with just water). You can use either in a latte, I however, I prefer the flavor of this culinary tea as it gives you a very complex, earthy, savory umami flavor with your lattes. I find that ceremonial teas in lattes lose their complexity of flavor when mixed with milk and sweetner. There are a few ceremonial teas that can hold up to a latte, but culinary teas win in lattes and this one beats the rest of the competition in my opinion while at a very reasonable price point considering the quality. The tin that they give you even screams quality. Time and time again at any local tea store, whenever I am tempted to try a matcha latte anywhere to see if I can maybe discover something even tastier, I am always disappointed that I have yet to find a place that can make a latte that competes with the one I conveniently make at home. Word of advice, you will need to tinker with the proportions of ingredients when making this tea into a latte. A small bit of powder is very flavorful and can throw your latte into being bitter or too bland if you don't get it right. So if you do find it to be too bitter, play with it a bit next time. Honestly this tea even holds up to the traditional way of drinking matcha if you don't mind a much more earthy taste, but perhaps most would not prefer drinking this tea that way and should stick to ceremonial tea in that regards.

Final review: I received the new batch of gyokuro from the vendor, and I must admit it has the same lack of flavor and nose as the last. There's really no umami at all. It tastes as though I'm basically drinking warm water with a vague hint of of a grassy finish. Unfortunately I can no longer vouch for this brand, which I had once considered the best variety of gyokuro on Amazon. I don't know what happened to the production quality over the last few batches, but what I can say is that I've been fond of gyokuro for over a decade and the last two batches have had such a lack of nose and flavor that I wondered if they were even gyokuro at all. That's not to say I doubt the integrity of the vendor, but I do wonder what's going on at the farm where two batches from what I was told were different fields have absolutely no flavor, brew to a very faint green, and where there's much more dust and broken down tea particles than prior batches. After the last go-around I won't be buying from this vendor any longer as I am concerned that the farm(s) they are sourcing from have undergone changes that seem to preclude them from producing the same level of quality they had before. It's quite a disappointment, as this was a fantastic product at one point. ----- Prior updated review (to be updated): I reached out to the seller and they offered to send me a new batch. They said the batch I wasn't satisfied with was from a different field, and that the current batch is from the same field that the batches were from. I will update this review as I have more info, but I am happy to get the reply I did and the resolution offered. They said it would take about two weeks. Second review: Was the best I've had on here, but the latest batch tastes like stale sencha, with very small bits of leaves that are more dry. The umami is completely missing. I can't believe the contrast between this and the last batch. Different cultivar? Different harvest? Mislabeled sencha? I've been informed by Amazon that this item isn't eligible for return so I've reached out to the seller in hopes of some help. ----- First review: Very pleased with this tea. It's fresh, flavorable, has a nice umami finish and it's quite green, with the sort of light grassy tones that suggest it really is first flush. The tea itself is quite beautifully preserved, and the container it comes in can easily be reused for other teas or other storage. It's quite nice.