Matcha Up: Drinking And Eating Matcha
By Melissa McEwen in Food on Aug 20, 2014 8:30PM
“Matcha is the only tea where you consume the leaves” says Ryan Suzuka, assistant manager at TeaGschwendner’s State Street location as he uses a whisk to brew up a batch of the beautiful powdered green tea. The tea itself looks like a painter’s palette of green and TeaGschwendner carries a few different shades.
Ryan was generous enough whisk up some tastings of their new high-grade Super Premium Matcha Ten alongside their more standard option, Japan Matcha Organic. The Super Premium was a beautiful shade with more deep blue tones and brews up a cup that tastes absolutely pure, with notes of fresh cut grass and a lingering sweetness. The difference comes from careful shading of special shade-resistant tea plants for up to 24 days to develop the flavor and color. It’s available for $74.95 for 30 grams or if you just want to try a cup it’s $7.50. It’s available at both their locations— 1160 N. State St. and 557 W. Diversey Pkwy.
TeaGschwendner also sells a lower grade for cooking, Matcha Tsuki, which was on my mind after drinking those cups. Whether it’s the fact it’s powdered and thus absorbs like the tea version of cocaine or the fact you consume the whole leaf, matcha gives the drinker a very potent buzz. The solution? More matcha, but this time in some food at nearby Sumi Robata Bar (702 N. Wells St.), where after a meal of sticks of grilled meat and fish, it’s available in the form of a lusciously buoyant bright green semifreddo that’s paired with doughnuts filled with a rich chocolate. In food, matcha adds both a beautiful verdant color and a vegetal flavor that pairs unexpectedly well with sweetness.