Competition Grade Tasting Flight of Three by Whisk Matcha
I'm finally back to review my latest matcha purchase: The Competition Grade Testing Flight of Three by Whisk Matcha. This is a bundle you can buy that has three of their matcha: The Saemidori Kuri, the Goko Kikyo, and the Yamanoibuki Ume.
I thought about whether I should review them separately or as a bundle, and settled for bundle for now. All of them have a great quality and are worth it, so it was more fun to compare them with each other to taste the strengths of the different kinds instead of just saying good/bad over all, but of course I will rate the bundle at the end.
General Info
This one is great for when you want to have a more elevated matcha tasting experience and get three to try. It is expensive (111,95 Euro at the time of this writing) and the shipping was also intense, plus I even had to pay import fees, which usually I never have to. So be warned, this is definitely a treat, not a regular kind of thing.
The product info says that the only difference between all 3 are their cultivars, as they are mono cultivars instead of being blends, like most matcha are nowadays. The first two have triple-layered tana shading. The store says...
- ...the Seamidori Kuri is from the single cultivar γγγΏγ©γ, a cross between βYabukitaβ and βAsatsuyuβ, and good for koicha. The taste should be deep in umami, bold, silky, edamame, sweet finish.
- ...the Goko Kikyo is supposed to have a brothy, buttery, kale, spinach, oceanic flavour profile and suitable for both koicha and usucha.
- ... the Yamanoibuki Ume is said to have a baby vegetable, young bamboo, smooth, naturally balanced sweetness flavour profile and suitable for usucha. It doesn't have the special shading.
Notable is that the matcha tins are all in the same paper packaging, so nothing specific to the one in the tin is on it; they're all described like this:
Color and Smell
I think all of them have a great, deep, vibrant green; look:
(sorry for spilling a bit)
(The Kuri was really hard to blend and even after a while, still had clumps; I think I am not good enough at whisking for that one. The Ume was the easiest to blend, and the Kikyo was somewhere inbetween.)
Saemidori Kuri
The powder has a very algae smell. The tea itself, when made, smells like nori sheets, very nice!
Goko Kikyo
Had the most velvety, soft look of all when blended into the hot water. It was so noticeable, not just in direct comparison, but also on its own. The smell of the powder as well as the tea reminds me of a mix of hay and dark chocolate.
Yamanoibuki Ume
Has a very sweet hay smell both dry and when blended in hot water.
Taste
I didn't look up the flavour profiles of the matcha before writing this review, as to not influence my impression. I wrote it down in my notes over the last weeks whenever I had some, so let's see if my taste experiences lined up with what the store says. In general, all of them felt very soft, which I really liked.
Saemidori Kuri
Definitely stronger notes of umami, slightly sweet, aromatic. It was complex, a bit more bitter in taste, but not per se a bitter matcha. I think it is simply on the stronger side, without being gaggingly bitter like some cheap culinary ones. It's not grassy-bitter, like the the Ume is.
Goko Kikyo
Of all three, had the most umami taste to me, very nutty in a way that stood out from the rest. I think it might be my favorite. It's very similar to the past favorite matcha I reviewed.
Yamanoibuki Ume
This one tasted the grassiest of them all, had a mild bitterness with only a slight hint of umami.
I think for the most part, I am spot on, however I was surprised that the Kuri was supposed to be the one with the most umami, basically the most valuable one, so to say. For me, the Kikyo is better for this; but it might be that the Kuri's umami is so strong, it reminds me more of a more luxurious, complex bitterness than the umami I am used to in matcha. They called it deep in umami and bold, I called it strong, so this is maybe where we overlap. I can definitely recognize what they meant with each of their flavour profiles, especially with the Ume; you can taste that it didn't have extra shading and it makes sense that it's for usucha, since it is the most grassy-bitter. I still like it though and it doesn't taste cheap or bad.
Conclusion
Overall, I think this is an interesting experience and product to offer, especially if you as a customer can't decide yet what to order and you want to test your palate a bit and do a little comparison party like I did.
Due to winning prizes, being organic and unblended (from a single cultivar each), the price is higher, and you do taste the quality; however, I think the price-increasing reasons aren't necessarily reflected in better taste (at least not the fact that it's organic or solo). Blends of different powders and cultivars are usually created to make up for the ""deficits"", so you have a well-rounded powder in the end. As such, this is better for tasting the qualities of each cultivar specifically, instead of getting an optimized blend and overall great tasting matcha. So I think this is great for the little taste test and finding out the strengths of specific cultivars and what you personally like in matcha so you can look for the same qualities in others you want to buy, but due to the taste, price, etc. wouldn't say this like the polished, finished high end matcha you can buy as your staple. You buy it more for the experience than the drink, I'd say.
I don't want to give half-bowls, else this miiiight be a 4.5 out of 5, but like this, it is a π΅π΅π΅π΅ 4 out of 5 matcha bowls.