Review: Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea Culinary Grade vs. Ceremonial Grade

Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

In the past when I visited Japan, what I remembered the most when going to most places to eat was seeing a container with a green powder inside. Usually, the server would bring you a piping hot cup of water and then you scoop one spoonful of this green substance into your cup. With a quick whisk, the water turns green. It might look unappealing to some but once you taste it, you will change your mind about this drink. This was my first introduction to matcha green tea.

Since then I have spent a long time trying to find something similar in the states. It wasn’t until today that I can say that I have found a close match to the matcha tea in Japan from trying the tea from Kiss Me Organics. I was given the opportunity from Kiss Me Organics to sample both their Culinary Grade and Ceremonial Grade organic matcha green tea and to write a review about their product. In this post you will also find tips on how to prepare matcha green tea and tips for storing it.

If you are an avid tea drinker, you will notice that the way matcha green tea tastes is slightly different than traditional loose leaf green teas. The aroma is different and is more concentrated. When drinking a loose leaf green tea the after taste is light and sweet on the tongue. However, with matcha green tea, it’s a little bitter and strong because you are ingesting the whole tea leaf.

There is also a major color difference between the two. When you dissolve matcha green tea in water, it appears green while steeping loose leaf green tea gives off a golden yellow color.

According to the Kiss Me Organics website, some benefits of drinking matcha green tea are:

• It can prevent many age-related diseases because it is loaded with antioxidants (137 times the amount in brewed green tea).
• It can boost your metabolism and help with losing or controlling weight.
• It can give you increased energy and focus for 4 to 6 hours.
• Improved skin health through improvement in blood flow and oxygen levels

First Impressions:

When I received both products, the packaging is very different. The Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Organic Matcha comes in a vacuum sealed zip-lock plastic pouch that is 4 oz of pure matcha green tea powder. 

Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Matcha Green Tea (Front)
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Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Matcha Green Tea (Back)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

The Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Organic Matcha comes in a cute metal canister. There is a metal pull tab covering and once you remove it, you will see a vacuum sealed silver bag.

Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea (Front)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea (Back)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Metal Pull Tab on Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea (Inside)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Side Note: Go for vacuum sealed tea (especially for loose teas) when you can because the freshness is sealed inside and its expiration won’t start until you open it. 

Both powders for both the Culinary Grade and Ceremonial Grade are a light green color. It isn’t until you brew them that you will see a color difference.

How Both Matcha Green Tea Powders Look
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Review:

I couldn’t wait to try the Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea because I am a tea fanatic. I always start my mornings with a piping hot cup of tea and grew up drinking tea. I think it has greatly contributed to my youthfulness or it could be my Asian genetics. Overall, I think tea does play a role in helping ones skin so more reason to drink up and detoxify your body to improve skin health. Sometimes I use matcha green tea powder to make a green tea face mask to help calm skin redness or when I have a bad breakout.

How To Prepare This Tea
If you are preparing a cup to drink, the directions for both the Culinary Grade and Ceremonial Grade matcha says to scoop about 1/2 a teaspoon amount into a cup. You then add about 3 ounces of hot water and whisk in a zigzag motion until the tea becomes frothy (when bubbles start forming at the top). You can adjust how strong you want the tea based on the amount of powder you put.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Tea (Culinary Grade)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Green Tea (Ceremonial Grade)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

What Happened When I Prepared This Tea
With Matcha green tea, it will never fully dissolve in water because its ground up tea leaves. You will get bits of powder still in the tea cup not matter how long you mix. I found it better to use a small spoon to mix both the Culinary and Ceremonial Grade matcha and I got less powder clumps.

The Ceremonial Grade matcha green tea has a nicer color than the Culinary Grade matcha green tea. The Ceremonial Grade looks like a emerald green while the Culinary Grade comes out a sage green.

Comparison Photo of Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea
Ceremonial Grade vs. Culinary Grade
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

Comparing the Ceremonial Grade organic tea versus the Culinary Grade organic tea, I would say the Ceremonial Grade dissolves better in water. The second time I prepared both matcha teas, I poured a little bit of water first and mixed and then slowly added more water, which gave me less clumps.

If you let the tea sit for a minute, the powder that hasn't dissolved will sink to the bottom of the cup and this will help you avoid getting a scratchy throat if there’s too much powder floating around in the cup. What I do with the leftover on the bottom is add more water the mix again to finish the rest.


The Taste Test
For the Culinary Grade organic matcha tea, it is a bit bland and you don’t really taste green tea. To me I felt it tasted more like seaweed or the ocean. My dad felt the same way. My mom thought that the Culinary Grade tasted bitterer than the Ceremonial Grade organic green tea. If we had to pick one, we all preferred the Ceremonial Grade organic matcha tea more than the Culinary Grade organic matcha tea.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Green Tea (Culinary Grade)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

The Ceremonial Grade is more fragrant and has a “fresh tea leaf” taste than the Culinary Grade organic matcha green tea. If you like the Chinese teas like Dragon Well Tea or Gunpowder Green Tea then you will prefer Ceremonial Grade over the Culinary Grade organic tea powder. I think the Ceremonial Grade organic matcha tea tastes the most similar to the matcha green tea I had in Japan.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Green Tea (Ceremonial Grade)
Photo Credit: Intrice Blog

I most likely will use the Culinary Grade organic matcha green tea for baking green tea cookies, making smoothies, or lattes. I think it will work great in a face mask too. The taste of the Ceremonial Grade and Culinary Grade organic matcha green tea can last for up to 2 months after opening. I think this is adequate time for you to finish the tea.

If you keep tea past this length of time the distinct aroma will gradually fade. The best way to store tea, including this one, is in a cool dark place. Sunlight and humidity can ruin any tea and cause the aroma to change quickly.

Final Thoughts:
Out of all the matcha green teas that I have tried, I think Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea is the most authentic you can get in America. Apparently, all their tea comes from tea farms in Japan.

I think it is great that all teas are organic meaning their tea farms are free of pesticides and you don’t have to worry you are drinking something treated with chemicals. Their Ceremonial Grade organic matcha green tea is vegan-friendly and free of GMOs.

You can order the Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade organic matcha green tea or the Culinary Grade organic matcha green tea from Amazon. Upon ordering, Kiss Me Organics will also send you a link to a free recipe e-book on alternative ways to use your organic matcha green tea. There a lot of recipes that I cannot wait to try out like the one for green tea cookies. 

Here are the direct links to their product pages:

Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea (Retails $28)

Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Matcha Green Tea (Retails $25)

Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea (Ceremonial Grade)

Overall Rating: 5/5

Taste: 5 -- Appearance: 5 -- Aroma: 5 -- Affordability: 5

Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea (Culinary Grade)

Overall Rating: 4/5

Taste: 3 -- Appearance: 5 -- Aroma: 3 -- Affordability: 5

What are your experiences with matcha green tea? Do you like it or hate it?

Share your thoughts with me in the comments or tweet me @intriceblog.

x Carol

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This post is sponsored by Kiss Me Organics. I received a Kiss Me Organics Culinary Grade Matcha Green Tea to sample and was asked to write a review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and describe my personal experience when using this product. All photos in this post belong to Intrice Blog unless otherwise stated. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

This post is sponsored by Kiss Me Organics. I received a Kiss Me Organics Ceremonial Grade Matcha Green Tea to sample and was asked to write a review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and describe my personal experience when using this product. All photos in this post belong to Intrice Blog unless otherwise stated. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.