The Most Hated Matcha Brand in America - Poda
I watched a video by Edvasian today called "The Most Hated Matcha Brand in America". It was truly appalling.
It's about the brand Poda that's currently seeking funding on Kickstarter - and sadly they got it. Their product is a tube with matcha paste in it, promising to save you the supposed hassle with the matcha powder and whisking.
In the advertising, the creator of Poda, Mujtaba, is extremely insensitive, downright racist and specifically sinophobic. He calls the usual, traditional ritual equipment needed for a good matcha experience "crap" and swipes it off the table. He insinuates that matcha is only stored in tins because it's easier, but a tube would be more fresh. It's just factually wrong! He acts like preparing matcha powder is too hard and just spills everywhere, like a clumsy infomercial person. He complains that there's Japanese writing on the packaging of many matcha brands, even though there are other matcha brands that have your preferred language or at least put a label on the packaging in your local language(s). He claims that matcha made in China is a significantly inferior product, drawing on the associations people have around "Made in China" that make it seem like a scam or unsafe.
What you're getting here, even shown in his marketing videos, is a discolored, disgusting looking matcha sludge with additives. When he stirs it and makes a matcha latte, it's almost completely milk and no bright green in sight. He knows the color would be offputting and the taste is so bad he needs to dilute it with milk. After the backlash, he did a fake apology and said he had learned so much. Well, that is stuff you as someone building a matcha brand should have already known! Do not trust this man with food.
Please never fall for stuff like this. Yes, choosing matcha can be overwhelming when there are so many brands; but that's what creators on YouTube or TikTok are for, or this blog is for, or the people in your life who love matcha. Try it out at different cafes first, watch matcha content online, read reviews before buying a product. Look for price, color, and if it says anything on the label about what type of taste you might expect. Know that "cooking grade" is usually more low quality and bitter (good for baking and cooking, for the color), while "ceremonial grade" is usually better and more nutty tasting - but is an unprotected marketing term, too. Honestly, most matcha will be fine for the average consumer! You don't have to become super sophisticated in it.
Your matcha should smell fresh, grassy, aromatic, intense. The color should be a bright, deep, intense and lush green. The more fine the powder, the better. The clumping is normal, but easy to work with if you first add only a little bit of water and whisk it then until it is properly mixed, then add the rest of the liquid. If you have trouble whisking due to bad wrists, feel free to use an electric milk frother. You also don't need to buy a special bowl, use any bowl or cup you like. If you think you might want a matcha on the go, prepare a hot or iced version beforehand in a thermos and shake it before drinking. There are even products like granulated matcha, pre-sweetened matcha and matcha latte powders that are there to make it even easier.
There, I solved all of the problems his supposedly better product is there to solve!
If you are unfamiliar with matcha, but drink coffee regularly: This is as if someone acted like making coffee with a grinder and Aeropress is too hard, omitting the fact that you can also just have filter coffee from a machine, and he's trying to sell you weird coffee paste while being disrespectful and coming across as really stupid.
As someone who drinks matcha daily, his product looks really, really disgusting. Please do not let this be your first matcha experience, or any matcha experience, really. I'm no matcha elitist that insists on bowls or is too cool for a syrup-y Starbucks matcha, so it's not that - he simply seems like a complete tool and his product is nasty.