The matcha gift guide
Every year someone asks me what to get their sister, or their partner, or the person at work who brings their own whisk to the office. So here's the honest version, sorted by who you're buying for rather than by price.
If they've never tried it properly
Ceremonial Matcha 30g, $35.
Most people who think they don't like matcha have only had it as a café latte, which is usually culinary grade, over-sweetened and served at a temperature that brings out every bitter note in the leaf. It's not really the same drink.
The 30g tin is enough to find out whether the real thing suits them without committing to a tin that might sit in a cupboard. About fifteen to thirty cups depending on how strong they take it.
If they already drink matcha
Ceremonial Matcha Uji 100g, $65.
This is the one people don't buy for themselves often enough. First harvest, single origin from a small family-run field in Uji, stone ground on granite mills. Roughly fifty to a hundred cups.
If they're already buying matcha somewhere, they'll taste the difference in the first cup. That's the whole reason this works as a gift: it's an upgrade on something they already do every morning, not a new habit you're asking them to start.
If they're starting from nothing
Matcha & Whisk Combo, $58.
You can't make matcha properly without a whisk. A traditional bamboo chasen has around a hundred tines, and it's what suspends the powder in the water rather than letting it clump and sink. A spoon won't do it. A milk frother sort of does, badly.
This pairs the tin with the chasen, which saves the recipient working out that they need one after their first gritty cup.
If they drink tea all day
Soph's Sunrise & Sunset Duo, $62.
Ceremonial matcha for the morning, ceremonial hojicha for the afternoon. Hojicha is green tea that's been roasted, which changes it completely: toasty, nutty, naturally much lower in caffeine. It's what I drink after about 3pm.
Good for the person who wants something in their hands at four o'clock but doesn't want to be awake at midnight.
If you want to add something small
Japanese Bamboo Chashaku, $12. The traditional scoop. Two scoops is roughly one gram, which makes it the easiest way to get consistent without weighing.
Ceremonial Hojicha 50g, $32. On its own, for someone who already has their matcha sorted.
If you have no idea
A gift card, from $10.
No guessing, and they choose their own. Which by mid-December is most of us.
A note on shipping
Shipping is $9.99 Australia wide and free over $80.
If you're ordering for Christmas, get it in by Friday 18 December.
Not sure? The Duo is the safest gift on this list. It suits people who already drink matcha and people who don't, and the hojicha is usually the part that surprises them.