This past Christmas I received a tea gift I had been wanting for quite some time: a small and perfectly simple matcha set. Over the last weeks I’ve been enjoying learning how to prepare the delicious brew. After a few hiccups, I think I’ve managed to get it right.

The first time I made the matcha I made a few important mistakes. The first thing I did was make a total mess of the kitchen. Upon opening the bag of matcha I was greeted by a cloud of green powder that proceeded to cover a vast area of the counter. As I continued, every step I took to prepare my tea made even more of a mess!

Another I made was that I forgot to add a bit of water to the bowl, and whisking the match into a kind of paste.  I was living in blissful ignorance of the clumps of powdered tea I was about to swallow. My last mistake of that cup of tea was the amount of water; I filled my bowl to the top with water. This left me drinking a watered down, clumpy cup of matcha …but was it ever good! I was hooked to say the least.

Over the course of the holidays I proceeded to become addicted to the delicious tea and learned from all my mistakes.  I can now proudly say that I make a half decent cup of traditional Japanese matcha!

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