Others say...

"Green Tea Powder"
I received my package of Green Tea with three days and it was exactly as decribed in the ad.

"four cups of tea a day!"
This tea is premium. Don't accept green tea in bags; it is less tasty and probably less healthy.

Here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

* cancer
* rheumatoid arthritis
* high cholesterol levels
* cariovascular disease
* infection
* impaired immune function
* acne, omg.

And drink four cups a day for the ultimate tea benefits!

"good stuff - just wish it wasn't so pricey"
I don't know why we can't get excellent quality green tea powder in this country without having to pay a fortune for it.

"Best Matcha in this price range!"
This is a good matcha for the price. The best matcha can be much more expensive but well worth it, espcially if you happen to study the Japanese tea ceremony or you are a tea connoseur. If you do get this type of tea, it is wise to buy a proper bamboo wisk and sift it first, otherwise it can get lumpy. Making matcha the traditional way is well worth the effort and there is a LOT to learn about it. Some say to master the tea ceremony can take years.

As far as the health benefits go, there is a lot of talk about green tea being good for you and I must say, I feel really good now that I am drinking it 1-3 days per week and I have even lost a few pounds. Matcha does have caffine and if I have more than two or three bowls I will definately feel it. It's probably a wise idea to not drink too much matcha before bed! Green and black tea both have caffine for the most part. Different teas have different amounts of caffine. It's a good idea to read labels carefully and do your research if you are sensitive to caffine or must avoid it. The type of caffine in a beverage also has a lot to do with how people respond to it. Caffine also has a different effect on everyone depending on your body. Some people get jittery, others don't and the more caffine you consume the less you will tend to feel the effects of it. I tend to feel jittery with coffee or soda but not with tea.

Matcha is also great for smoothies, baking, ice cream and much, much more. Another note; Fresh matcha is a very bright green color, old matcha gets a darker pine-gray color to it and can taste bitter or ashy with a clumpy consistancy. Always note the date on the can. To avoid stale green tea, I reccommend storing it in an airtight bag and keeping it in the fridge. Stale tea isn't noticable when you put it in a smoothie or cake but if you make a hot beverage you will notice a big difference in the quality.

Matcha is generally served with sweets and is good paired with fruity or vanilla desserts but it tends to clash with chocolate. Of course mochi (sweet rice cakes) go very well with matcha and are the traditional choice but unless you live near an Asian market, or you're a good cook, they can be hard to come by and have a short shelf life. The frozen Mochi ice cream nuggets are a good option too and sold in a lot of grocery stores.

I reccommend this tea if you are new to drinking matcha. If you love it, it's the tastiest matcha in it's price range and if you hate it, at least you didn't waste too much cash. If you are taking tea lessons it's a good 'practice' tea and won't break your pocketbook, especially when you find out the price of tea bowls, fukusa, natsume, furo and the other utensils used in a tea ceremony!

Regardless if you study Chado or if you are a casual tea drinker, I encourage all tea lovers to try matcha. The methods of making and preparing matcha are over 800 years old and when you taste it, you certainly understand why it's never gone out of style!

"The REAL skinny on Caffeine in Green Tea"
Two other reviewers have already spoken. The most recent one attempting to undermine what the first reviewer had said. Actually, the first reviewer DOES know what he is talking about. Green tea DOES contain caffeine. This from an expert source:

Caffeine

Although black tea is thought to have the highest caffeine content of all tea, this is actually untrue. Green tea has more caffeine. However it must be understood that because of other compounds, the caffeine in green tea functions in a special and balancing way. The caffeine in green tea is surrounding by tannic acid compounds, which inhibit it from surging all at once into our bloodstream. In a sense, the caffeine in green tea is time-released into our bloodstream. This time-release effect makes the stimulation gentle and quite pleasant. It also allows us to feel the effects of green tea for an extended period of time, and outlasts the effects experienced by our friends, who are drinking coffee or cola. The effect of green tea makes us free of agitation and nervousness, and its blissful stimulation feels good to the senses.

Enough said.........enjoy your tea.............