This process also produces higher levels of Theanine, an element of green tea’s sweet taste and mellow aroma. Theanine is said to relax the mind and restore mental balance. Gyokuro and Matcha are especially rich in Theanine, as well as caffeine. I find a bowl or two of matcha at the beginning of a work session really does help me focus. Just don’t drink it before bedtime, unless you plan to work all night, too.

I discovered Hibiki-an a few years ago when I was first exploring matcha tea. Based in Ujitiwara, Japan, near Kyoto, birthplace of Japanese green tea, they grow and process all their teas. “I’ve been working hard to harvest good tea leaves at our family tea farms. I hope our tea leaves will be enjoyed by as many people as possible all around the world,” said Tatsumi Yasui, the owner of the tea farms. By growing, processing, and direct shipping their tea, they strive to provide the freshest green teas, which often suffer with poor storage and shipping. They offer a wide selection of greens—sencha, gyokuro, karigane, and matcha—with five grades, as well as organic offerings. The Matcha Premium is a mid-level grade, second down from the Pinnacle.

My shipment came, as always, in less than a week, beautifully packaged. The matcha was packed in a proper metal canister with a screw top. When I first opened it, I found an inner lid with a pull tab. Now that’s sealed! I popped the top, releasing a mellow, creamy sweet vegetal aroma. The matcha powder was a promising bright spring green.

Matcha is traditionally made in a bowl called a chawan. The tea powder is measured with a curved bamboo scoop called a chashaku and whipped to a froth with a bamboo whisk called a chasen. My chawan also came from Hibiki-an, and although it is their least expensive, it is from the well-known Shigaraki kiln, hand-thrown and nicely glazed in light earth tones, very pleasant in the hand. Chawan prices range from $43 to artisan-made raku ware pieces that run as high as $875.

There are two styles of matcha: Usucha and Koicha. (The latter has nothing to do with fish, by the way.) Usucha is made with two chashaku measures (about 1 tsp) of matcha to 70ml of water, while Koicha, the tea of the Japanese tea ceremony, is made with four measures and 50ml of water. The temperature should be between 185F and boiling for either. The matcha powder is measured or sifted into the chawan and the hot water added. It is then briskly whisked until it is smooth and frothy. I didn’t find it necessary to sift the matcha; there were no lumps.

Since the Matcha Premium is suitable for Koicha, I began with that. After a vigorous whisking it foamed up very nicely. I poured the tea into a glass and saw that the bright green foam was at least half an inch thick, and firm like the head on a glass of Guinness. The tea itself was a much darker jade green and the aroma was sweet and vegetal, as well as a little kelpy. The first sip spread thickly over my tongue, tasting distinctly vegetal, a bit like raw asparagus though that’s only an approximation. It was sweet, too, but with a very slight undertone of bitterness that receded as it cooled. I have had much more expensive matchas that had no bitterness at all, but this was still very drinkable, much better than any other I’ve tested to date, and priced reasonably for the quality.

Risking a night’s sleep, I then whipped up a bowl of Usucha, just to see the difference and was glad I did. Although Usucha isn’t expected to foam as much, I managed to equal the head I’d gotten from the Koicha and it had very good staying power, too, lasting as long as it took me to leisurely finish the tea. This version proved to be free of bitterness. Thinner in consistency, of course, it flowed over the tongue faster, with a mellow vegetal, slightly kelpy flavor and a pleasingly mild finish. The flavor itself was equally complex as the Koicha, but not quite as intense. Of the two, I prefer the Usucha as a daily drink, and it makes a matcha stash last twice as long, too.

The Hibiki-an site is worth a visit. There’s a tremendous amount of information on green tea, from its history to how it’s grown and made, and detailed instructions on how to brew the various greens. Other links take you to their vast array of teaware and equipment, and even to recipes for all sorts of tea-based treats and drinks. I’ve made matcha ice cream with their House grade matcha and it’s fantastic.
For Koicha, I might hold out for one of their hand-picked Super Premium or Pinnacle grades, though the Pinnacle goes for $47/30g. But for everyday Usucha drinking, this one’s a winner. Goes very nicely with sweet snacks, too. Highly recommended.

I discovered Hibiki-an a few years ago when I was first exploring matcha tea. Based in Ujitiwara near Kyoto, birthplace of Japanese green tea, they grow and process all their own teas. “I’ve been working hard to harvest good tea leaves at our family tea farms. I hope our tea leaves will be enjoyed by as many people as possible all around the world,” said Tatsumi Yasui, the owner of the tea farms. By growing, processing, and direct shipping their tea, they strive to provide the freshest green teas, which often suffer with poor storage and shipping. I think they do a very good job. They have specials on the new teas as the season progresses, and currently have a page featuring updates on the progress of the first flush of this year’s spring growth, sincha.

Their selection is broad—sencha, gyokuro, karigane, and matcha—with five grades, as well as organic offerings. The lowest is House grade, the highest, Pinnacle. I recently ordered their Sencha Premium, second down from the Pinnacle, along with their Matcha Premium, to be reviewed separately. My shipment came, as always, in less than a week, beautifully packaged in colorful Japanese print paper that made it look like a gift.

The long, needle-like sencha leaves were a glossy deep forest green, with a very fresh, sweet aroma, made up of vegetal, grassy notes. I brewed a rounded teaspoon of leaves in 8 oz. of 170F water for one minute, adjusting the temperature in the traditional fashion by filling the small china pot (a proper tetsubin or kyusu is on the top of my tea equipment list these days), then pouring the water off into another cup. I placed the leaves in the warmed pot and poured the water back in. A one minute steep gave me a pale, slightly cloudy peridot green liquor, with a mellow, sweet, grassy fragrance that bordered on floral. The flavor was robust and vegetal, sliding in a mellow green flood across my tongue and leaving an equally vegetal finish that lingered nicely with a pleasantly mild astringent edge. I found myself wishing for a small bowl of those mixed Japanese rice crackers—the ones with the nori-wrapped crackers, those hot red boomerang shaped ones, and the puffy, salty sweet ones with the peanut in the center. It was altogether delicious and left me ready for a second cup.

The leaves were fully open in the pot and looked more like chopped spinach than needles now, still with that sweet vegetal aroma. I used slightly cooler water this time, about 160F, and steeped it again for one minute. This time the color was the same, with a wonderfully mellow aroma and tasty flavor somewhere between asparagus and steamed baby spinach. It was not quite as strong as the first cup, but certainly not weak, either. I took this cup out to the back patio and sipped it slowly, listening to the wind chimes and watching the sun set.

With a Premium grade this good, I’m going to start saving up for Pinnacle! Their teas are not cheap; my 100 g package was $28, but combined with the matcha order, I passed the $38 threshold and shipping was free, a real plus when ordering internationally. And did I mention that they have really fast delivery? Highly recommended.

Of special interest are their matchas. Hibiki-an carries five grades, from Pinnacle ($45/30gm) to House Grade ($27/80gm) Having previously enjoyed their Super Premium ($33/40gm), I decided to check out the least expensive grade so my matcha habit wouldn’t send me to the poor house.

Those who think that strong bitterness is a fact with matcha have probably only experienced poor quality matcha badly prepared, so I’d like to take a moment for a little Matcha 101.

It’s not hard to whip up a good chawan of matcha. The two most critical (and easiest to overlook) factors are water quality and temperature. As with any tea, poor-tasting water affects the flavor of the tea itself. As with greens in general, water that’s too hot brings out bitterness. That being said, start with the best tasting water you can get, bring it to a boil, and then let it settle to around 185F. A thermometer is worth the trouble.

The House grade does not lend itself to the thicker koicha and Hibiki-an is up front about that, so I made the thinner ususcha version. While I waited for the water to boil, I sifted two chashaku (about 1 tsp) of the matcha powder onto a sheet of parchment paper and set it aside. When the water was the correct temperature, I used some if it to warm the chawan (matcha bowl) and to wet the chasen (whisk). I then poured out the water, dried the bowl, put the matcha into the chawan and added 70 ml of the hot water and whisked it with a brisk back and forth motion until the surface was foamy. It only took a few seconds, a good sign.

The House grade matcha powder is a bright spring green and very finely ground, with a fresh aroma reminiscent of young green shoots with a touch of cocoa. It froths as quickly as the Premium, and the foam lasts through a leisurely sipping. The brew is a pleasant medium jade green. (Tea masters often recommend black or red chawan, which set off the green color the best.) Grainy, dull green matcha is a sign of inferior quality.

The aroma of the House grade is much like that of the powder; green shoots and a bit more cocoa, nicely sweet. While the flavor is not quite as smooth, intense, and thick on the tongue as the Premium grade, I didn’t expect it to be. But it is still robust, smooth, slightly astringent, with a touch of sweetness and just a hint of bitterness to add zing. Because matcha is made of the ground whole leaves, it is a suspension rather than a brew and this grade, surprisingly, left very little sediment in the bottom of the bowl, and no lumps. In short, it is a very satisfying matcha experience and great quality for the price. Highly recommended.

**Note: Hibiki-an sends the tea in two 40gm sealed packets. Be sure to store the unopened one in the fridge, and the opened one in a tightly closed canister at room temperature (Their higher grades come with a container; this one does not.) The refrigerated one will keep for a year, as long as it remains unopened.