Encha
Ceremonial Grade
Reviewed October 2020
About Encha: Encha, a San Jose based matcha company, was founded by Li Gong, a Stanford University graduate with a Ph.D. in Communications. Prior to Encha, Li was interested in the health benefits of tea, which led him to discover matcha. Following his passion, he traveled to tea farms in Japan and China. During this exploration, Li learned that organic practices not only benefit the consumers, but also the well being of farmers who are often over exposed to toxic chemicals through farming practices. The more Li learned, the more he felt a calling to share organic matcha with people in the West. So in 2014 he quit his Silicon Valley job and started the beloved Encha company. Encha is now a well reviewed and liked brand by matcha obsessives. When starting my matcha tasting journey, this was the first blend to show me the potential of ceremonial grade matcha.
About Blend: The Encha Ceremonial blend is from a farm in Uji, Kyoto, Japan and is certified USDA organic. The packaging includes nutritional content including 60mg of caffeine and 25 mg Theanine per serving. I was a bit surprised to see that these numbers stayed the same for the Enchas Latte Grade. Generally, ceremonial blends have higher amino acid content than latte or premium blends. Unfortunately there is not enough information on the nutrition label for us to use the zenergy formula discovered by Keiko Unno and company.
Zenergy formula: (Caffeine + EGCG) / (Theanine + Arginine) < 2 (if the number on the right is 2 or greater, the greater the calming effects of the blend.)
Price: $22.95 per 30 grams
Scent: Has a sweet and creamy aroma with fruity raspberry notes.
Encha Ceremonial Grade Review
Color: A mellow green with lighter hues toward white on the color spectrum. Points 3.
Foam: The blend is really quick to foam and creates a gorgeous fluffy cloud with uniform bubbles. This is the kind foam you see in advertisements. The matcha texture is a bit thin. This would have been a perfect score if the texture was silkier. Points 4
Taste: The taste of this blend varies with powder to water ratio. In lower doses the blend is naturally creamy, sweet, and astringent. The umami is light in oceanic seaweed flavors. When the powder to water ratio is high, the astringency is much stronger and bitter. Points 3
Final Score: 3.3 out of 5 points
Thoughts: Prior to Encha, I was having trouble finding good matcha on Amazon. At the time, I did not know the difference between ceremonial and premium blends, and therefore could not understand why all my premium blends tasted so bitter. I also tried the Matcha DNA Ceremonial blend, which was far from ceremonial with yellow hues and intense bitterness. Coming across Encha was super exciting as it tasted nice and ticked all the boxes for ceremonial matcha. The zenergy, umami, and sweetness are all there, but they are not over powering. This balance of flavors works well for new matcha pallets. I now think of Encha as an everyday blend, that is complemented by additions of milk and enjoy it for the caffeine kick during the work week.