Gong-Fu Matcha

Hello hello!

Since the post, I’ve been writing away at my first draft for the upcoming novel I’m writing. The first draft is about 40% of the way complete. In the meantime, the exploration of tea continues. Speaking of tea, matcha is a tea that’s never made it to my cup. However, we’re going to flip the script today and drink matcha gong-fu style! Yes ma’am, we’re going to try something completely and revolutionize how we all drink matcha! Let’s dive right in!

Parameters: 2 tablespoons of sifted matcha for an 80ml shibo

Temperature: 150ºf/65ºc

Infusions: 8

Price: $15.00 for a tin of matcha from The Republic of Tea

Infusion 1:

Before my first infusion, I sifted several tablespoons worth of matcha right into the shibo. And on the first infusion, the tea turned dark-green and had a fresh spinach-like aroma rising into the air. With the first sip, the famous matcha bitterness almost numbed the entire tongue. Once bitterness went away, a faint sweetness lingered hid behind a seaweed-like base that mixed with a note of freshly-cut grass.

Upon another sip, I discovered that this matcha had that velvet-like grittiness to it that — the velvet-lied grittiness that matcha is famous for.

Infusions 2 - 8:

With my second infusion, the matcha residue (from the first infusion) seemed to disappear into the shibo and further into my cup. The gong-fu matcha appeared to be clear in color, and very faint in taste. The taste was so minimal you almost couldn’t make it out. With another infusion, the liqueur was completely clear and all odor and smell completely vanished.

When sipping the last infusions, the far distant notes of city-tap infused chloride, choline, and calcium started to appear. It almost tasted identical to the tap water I’d normally pour myself when grabbing a cold glass of water. As the infusions went on, I started to question why the matcha thinned out so quickly. It was almost as if all of the matcha completely washed away with the first infusion….

Conclusion:

With the first infusion of matcha, the bitter was so concentrated and strong that it numbed the tastebuds on the base of the tongue. After the following infusions, the tea was clear and held no flavor whatsoever. Unlike other teas where the leaves would open up over gradual progression, this matcha seems to expel whatever it was holding on to at the very beginning and left absolutely nothing to the imagination— like a hot guy shows you ‘everything’ upon subscribing to his private OnlyFans account.

Overall, this was a pointless experience. I haven’t made matcha gong-fu style outside of this session. However, the matcha industry as a whole needs to work on how matcha is made, and come up with a way to process it so it’ll continue to last for the duration of a full session and not give us instant gratification within the first infusion. Until then, I’ll go back to working on my book and will be drink sheng puer instead....