I find that among all teas, matcha gives the highest caffeine rush. Yes, I sound like a true addict, but I’m being serious here — most of the time, when I drink a tea I don’t notice the caffeine, not immediately anyway. With matcha, however, I KNOW I just had some caffeine injected into my system — it shows up right away in more measure than one. Yesterday I had some matcha, partly because I only had half an hour to my next appointment, which meant that it was impossible to drink a full sitting of tea, but partly because I wanted to play with my new toy and matcha seems the most appropriate
And I noticed, after drinking one bowl of that stuff, that my heart started pumping a little faster, my mind got a little clearer, and I was having a bit of a caffeine buzz. Of course, it probably was more obvious than usual because it was late in the day for my first dose of the stuff (5pm) so it might have accentuated the effects, but regardless, it made me wonder if that’s why so many people like drinking matcha. A friend recently told me that although she is a die-hard coca-cola drinker, she recently took a liking to a new kind of Pepsi. She couldn’t figure out why, until she noticed that Pepsi Max includes, among other things, a double dose of caffeine compared to regular Pepsi. Small wonder that she likes it more.
So, if in need of a caffeine kick, drink lots of matcha.
11 responses so far ↓
MANDARINstea // August 14, 2008 at 5:30 pm |
What a beauty! How are you heating this, charcoal or gas?
Jealous – Tok
Wesli // August 14, 2008 at 6:55 pm |
Matcha: the expresso of green tea.
Phyllo // August 15, 2008 at 1:21 am |
That’s a nice kettle. Is that technically a tetsubin?
MarshalN // August 15, 2008 at 1:43 am |
Nope, it’s silver, just a bit tarnished
Anonymous // August 15, 2008 at 5:06 am |
Are you sure that it’s a caffeine rush? I have this happening to me with matcha and high end senchas and gyokuro. Funny thing is that no other tea has such an immediate effect.
Although it took me a long time to accept these concepts (my mind is too conditioned by my science training to easily accept somewhat more esoteric concepts like chi), I think it is a different sort of rush than a caffeine rush. For me, it usually goes along with something like a very light, but rather pleasant “headache” (I have no better word for it), a certain kind of dull pressure towards the top of my head. Nothing I usually get from caffeine…
BTW, that kettle is gorgeous. Have fun with your new toy.
Jo
Anonymous // August 15, 2008 at 12:09 pm |
Nice Pot.
You should remove the tarnish. Silver sulfide… doesn’t sound tasty.
Try the Aluminum foil trick.
http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/TARNISH.html
It worked great for some antique silver and silver plate stuff.
Doesn’t harm any delicate details or etchings. Just removes the sulfur.
Phyllo // August 15, 2008 at 5:14 pm |
A wedding present? Congratulations on the new silver toy!
MarshalN // August 15, 2008 at 5:19 pm |
Yeah, sort of a wedding present.
The interior actually isn’t tarnished at all — just the outside. I might keep it this way, because I think it might actually look nicer this way.
mulcahyfeldman // August 16, 2008 at 4:48 am |
Some consider the patina of age more valuable and beautiful in silver jewelry. That might also apply to those rare silver pots. Do you think the silver affected the matcha in any way? Did you get any photos? Eileen
MarshalN // August 17, 2008 at 10:55 am |
I think silver, in general, imparts a cleaner and fresher taste to water. It should help things like matcha. My matcha making is poor — so I can’t say with authority that it helps….
Resurrection | A Tea Addict's Journal // March 29, 2011 at 7:24 pm |
[…] few years ago, I bought a silver kettle. Only problem is, it leaked. The part where the spout connects to the body was falling apart, […]