Several Moments of Matcha Madness

I’ve gone on record as saying that Mizuba Tea‘s matcha line is one of my favorites.

Both for their quality . . . and convenience. Convenient, how? Well, “they” are located in my neck of the woods. That’s right, I have a local matcha (read: crack) dealer. If I need a fix, I know who to call/text/e-mail/smoke signal.

Before planning one such jaunt to Mizuba HQ, though, a thought occurred to me. Most of my other blogger compatriots hadn’t experienced the wonders of my favorite local matcha-crack. So, I decided to play pointman and organize a group mailing. And, luckily, Mizuba Lauren was game for providing samples for such an endeavor.

She generously donated six samples of her Daily Matcha for bloggers who expressed interest.

I—of course—just went for a straight-up, full-on canister for my semi-monthly matcha fix.

I put the feelers out over Facebook to see who was interested in sampling said matcha. The roster filled up quickly. The reciplients were:

-Jo Johnson, of A Gift of Tea and The Scandalous Tea Blog.

-Rachel Carter of IHeartTeas – The Blog. (Her post on it can be found HERE.)

-Nicole Martin of Tea For Me Please.

-Sara Shacket of Tea Happiness. (Her post can be found HERE.)

-Amanda Wilson of “My Thoughts Are Like Butterflies” (Her post is HERE.)

And last, but certainly never least, Chris Giddings – the Tea-Guy himself.

In addition to the caveat of writing about the samples, Rachel Carter also took the reigns in organizing yet another one of our now-Internet-infamous Tandem Tea Tasting sessions. (I.e. Tea drunken ribaldry via Google Hangout.) We all agreed on a date that was at least a half a month out, so as to get certain life events out of the way. Some were getting engaged, some were having surgery, and others still had tea events with thirty-plus people to navigate.

Me? I had work . . . and naps. That’s about it.

In the interim, though, I did what I always did during the long wait before the group tasting. I cheated . . . a lot. I had a canister of the stuff, and—by golly—I was gonna use it.

The first cheat happened after a group chat session over Facebook. It was my day off, and I had plenty of time to play around online. The subject of matcha came up over the course of the conversation . . . which of course led me to tap into the canister.

A week after that, I felt my body weighing heavily. Then my nose got stuffy, and before I knew it, a cold-plague set in. During such times, I turned to two different teas to nip it in the bud: White tea . . . and matcha.

I think I did two bowls of the stuff in one sitting. To my credit, though, the cold-plague only lasted four days. No, I don’t buy into the health claims touted towards matcha . . . but there is anecdotal evidence pertaining to the efficacy of my stubborn refusal to admit being sick.

The next week, I was in the mood to do things a little differently. Not sure what prompted it; perhaps lack of sleep. I decided to brew matcha . . . in a gaiwan.

It was extremely difficult . . . but still delicious. And pretty. Can’t forget pretty.

The week after that came the day of the tandem tasting itself. I’d had an extremely difficult day at work. No, it wasn’t a hard day; actually, it was rather easy. But I was off-step and outta whack for most of the shift. Once I got home, this led me to brew/whisk my matcha for the meeting . . . rather angrily.

And I recorded it for posterity.

It turned out beautifully, and—for some reason—it tasted like drinking a warm velvet blanket. In liquid form. Odd description, I know. But it was an opinion that was echoed by the rest of the tea-nut gallery as well.

Two days after that—following a fitful night’s sleep—I concluded that matcha was going to be my fuel for the day. I took out my trusty Tea Bar mason jar/mug, put some powder in, filled it with warm water . . . and shook vigorously. Instant morning kick-in-the-pants.

But that wasn’t going to be enough, ooooooh no. I brought the canister with me to work, and refilled the jar-mug at least two more times throughout the day. I even converted my manager to the “Dark Green Side” and gave a quick tutorial.

(It still amuses me that people think I know what I’m doing.)

They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, all the while expecting different results. But what do you call doing the same thing different ways over and over again, all the while expecting the same results?

Answer: Matcha madness.

Just hand me my green straight jacket.

But make sure it feels like a velvet blanket, dammit.