Customer Reviews

Kirkland Signature Ito En Matcha Blend (Green Tea), 100% Japanese Green Tea Leaves, 100 Tea Bags

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I lived in Japan years ago. This is Japanese green tea. It might say "Kirkland" on the box, but it is really Ito En tea (which is printed on each pack), as well-known Japanese tea company. The best thing about this tea is that it does not get bitter after a long steep -- unlike just about any other Japanese tea. In fact, I have left the bag in my tea holder all afternoon on occasion, and the tea still tastes great. Buy this if you want the real Japanese green tea taste.

I never liked green tea. I always found the taste terrible and bitter when compared to black tea. And even though I have tried to acquire the taste for green tea by trying many different varieties, I have always been unsuccessful until,... I was introduced to this Japanese tea. It is truly wonderful! It is mildly slightly sweet and aromatic. The nylon tea bag and individually sealed packages are great as well. A truly great green tea!

Definetely the highest quality green tea I have ever had, love the bags. Was surprised at how good this "Costco" tea was and have been drinking it now for a couple of years - LOVE it.

If you've turned your up nose at store brands before, don't do it for this one. Despite its humble Costco labeling, this is a very good and tasty Japanese green tea. That's because it is made by Ito En, Japan's leading tea distributor and one of the country's largest beverage manufacturers. I was surprised to hear of staff members at the Japanese Embassy in DC drinking this tea. It comes highly recommended from a Japanese friend working there.

Made from 100% Japan-grown tea, this product also contains "matcha", a finely powdered high grade green tea. It's responsible for the lively green color. The pyramidal nylon bag lets water pass through better, so you get more flavor out of each serving than with traditional flat tea bags.

Brewing temperatures for different kinds of tea vary, but to make green tea, the water should be between 70-80°C, not boiling. With half the caffeine, green tea is better for you than black tea because of the higher concentration of water-soluble antioxidants (cathechins and flavinoids) and vitamin C, which are destroyed by the roasting process. One cup will give you 100%+ of your daily USRDA requirement. Green tea is also great chilled or over ice.

I grew up with green tea (I'm from Japan)- I was always searching for good alternative to the loose green tea (wanted something quick, single serving, easy to clean, and yet tastes good). Well, my search is over, finally!

Pros

-Tastes very fresh, the color is very green,
not that yellow-ish green

-Added Maccha to enhance the flavor


Cons

-The naming is bit confusing. I can see why some people order this product, thinking that they are getting the Maccha powder (the one for the tea ceremony). This is NOT a 100% Maccha poder. It is a delicious, fresh green tea blended with maccha powder.



Quick Tip

If your green tea tastes too bitter, the water might be too hot. The best temperature is around 80C (176F- NOT boiling hot). After pouring the hot water, steep about 30-45 sec, then take the bag out. You never want to "cook" the green tea.


Hope this helps :)

I've been ordering this tea from Amazon and think it tastes fantastic - and I hope it is doing good things for my insides. If you have a Costco membership, you can get it for just under $13 in the store. I was there yesterday and decided to check - and couldn't believe the price difference! I thought maybe it wasn't the identical item but I confirmed it when I got home. Now I feel like a fool for paying so much on Amazon. Oh well, live and learn.

A lot of reviewers are calling this 'green tea' only, and it's not just green tea. Green tea and matcha green tea are very different teas, so the terms are not interchangeable. Matcha is generally a very expensive form of powdered tea used in tea ceremonies. This Kirkland brand is obviously not expensive, but it tastes pretty close to the really good stuff. I have had all kinds of matcha, because it is my favorite kind of tea, and I definitely recommend this tea. It's really quick to steep, less expensive, and doesn't require the whisking needed for real, high end matcha. I definitely still love the good matcha more, but this works for me as well!

My family buys one of these boxes at Costco every month or two. Kirkland is the Costco house brand, so people selling it here are just buying it at Costco and reselling the boxes at profit. Costco charges $12 per box.

This tea has a much stronger flavor that cheap green tea like Lipton. I really like it, but I guess flavor is a personal thing (else no one would buy limp Lipton).

Flavor doesn't compare to what you get at a good Japanese restaurant or tea house, but you can only expect so much from 12 cent tea bags.

"Matcha blend" means you get a small amount of matcha powder in each tea bag. Make sure you pour that into your cup. Don't throw it out!

I'm only giving this 4 stars out of 5 because the price here is so much more expensive than Costco.

I've tried many different green teas in the States & abroad. When I lived in Philadelphia, I had many Japanese friends there who made terrific green tea--but until now I couldn't find one to rival theirs. This one does. It's tasty & flavorful, certainly not bitter--even if you steep it overlong. The bags are interesting too. My only problem is that the string is attached to the middle of each bag vs. the end--which can be annoying--easier for it to slip into the cup while brewing (esp. if you're using a microwave to heat it) & also if you use a squeezing device to get the brewed tea out of the bag itself before disposing of it. Still, this minor inconvenience hardly affects the value of this tasteful product. I'm about to purchase some more.

Try this and you'll never go back to the regular old crappy tea. This tea boast the best of both worlds; with the bag being nylon and the tea is real fine chopped Japanese green tea leaves.