Oct 17
Review: Maeda-en Kuki-Cha Twig Tea With Matcha
Green Tea, Kukicha Tea, Maeda-en, Matcha Tea, Sencha Tea Add commentsVanessa’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "When paired with my dessert, natural sweet notes came out and paired wonderfully with the mild grassiness of this tea. The sharp bitterness that I detected in my first sip was much reduced once I had a little sugar on my tongue. "
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Kuki-Cha with matcha is a tea offered by Maeda-en, a company that deals exclusively in Japanese teas. For those that don't know, Kuki-Cha (or kukicha) is a green tea made from twigs and branches rather than the leaves that comprise other teas. Maeda-en writes of this blend: "Our Blender's Kuki-cha is selected from fine quality Sen-cha, and then tossed with Matcha powder to give its mellow flavor and bright green liquor". This tea has a grassy yet sweet aroma. Appearance-wise, the tea looks dusty, but that is only because the matcha powder has coated the twigs of the tea. I did not observe the bright green liquor described by Maeda-en, but rather my brew was a yellowish-tan green that was a bit cloudy, as is to be expected from a matcha blend. After my first sip of this tea, I wasn't particularly impressed. The tea was mostly vegetal with a hint of sweetness. And while the tea wasn't awful, it just didn't connect with me. Because the experience thus far was just "blah", I decided to put the tea down and instead have a strawberry cupcake. After a particularly big mouthful of strawberry frosting, I took another sip of the tea. Wow, what a difference a little bit of sugar made. This tea came to life with the sweet aftertaste of the dessert. When paired with my dessert, natural sweet notes came out and paired wonderfully with the mild grassiness of this tea. The sharp bitterness that I detected in my first sip was much reduced once I had a little sugar on my tongue. I see this as an ideal afternoon tea when paired with a sweet snack, but I must reitierate that on its own, this tea is not too enjoyable. However, any tea that justifies (or necessitates) a piece of dessert is worth it in my book! After experiencing this tea, I viewed Maeda-en's website only to see that they too recommend taking this tea with sweets. All in all, this tea is reasonably priced ($8.75 for 3 ounces) and is worth giving a try.
— To purchase Maeda-en Kuki-Cha Twig Tea With Matcha, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
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Vanessa Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Vanessa's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Vanessa. |
October 18th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Vanessa, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I very much enjoy reading your tea reviews. Thank you so much for posting them, because they are always quite helpful and informative.
I reviewed this one, as well, and had basically the same experience. (The review was posted today, and will appear here when it’s gotten through the queue.) Nice tea, when drunk alongside something sweet. Typically, I would find that to be off-putting (because if you need to sweeten a tea, you’re probably drinking the wrong tea). But in this case, I think it’s the way the tea was meant to be drunk.
My Rating:
6/10