Shogun - Organic Premium Matcha Green Tea Powder - Natural Farming - 4oz Pack - Made in Taiwan (Premium Grade)

You can read my other reviews on real ceremonial and food grade matchas on this site for my breakdown of criteria to consider when purchasing matcha. It's important to keep in mind that if you buy a "matcha" that was produced anywhere outside of Japan, it will likely be inferior to the Japanese matcha. I use quotes because I've never had a true shade grown real matcha from anywhere other than Japan, much less a decent matcha. The tea I got from this producer is from Taiwan and just about everything reflects it. That said, I'd definitely use it for cooking or mixing into smoothies and lattes, but wouldn't drink it straight. Points of differentiation to keep in mind regarding this tea:~Color: it's grey-green, not a bright verdant green that you'd find in a ceremonial high-level food grade matcha. Maybe it wasn't shade grown (to increase chlorophyll content) or maybe it was exposed to light/air. Grinding using anything other than a granite stone might result in overheating the tea too which will dull the color.~Texture: it's coarser than your higher grade matchas, and as such won't whip up into a tight froth. Dump it in a latte or cupcakes, and you'll be fine~Fragrance: doesn't smell like much of anything, but again, consider the usage~Flavor: This is where this tea kind of surprised me: it's not as bad as I expected from the packaging and color of the tea. It works find in my soy matcha latte and smoothies. I'd bake with it too.~Value: I'd pay maybe $10 for this 30g bag of matcha.Other notes: The "Uji grade" label on the packaging is misleading. The tea isn't grown in Uji (the famous tea-growing region in Japan where tea was supposedly first brought to from China and subsequently cultivated), but Taiwan. That's fine, but leave the Uji out of it. In fact, if I'm buying tea from Taiwan, I'll stick to an oolong from now on. I received a discount on this matcha in exchange for my unbiased opinion.