Under $100

Crazy umami. Make it thick and enjoy the lustrous whorls and creamy -- yet light! -- texture, mouthfeel, and drawn-out finish. Taste reminds one of just-picked asparagus, though the aroma of the powder is of hyperfresh cacao. Loaded with l-theanine that helps keep you focused and alert for hours. Why do people like our matcha so much? Another winner from our favorite matcha coop in Ujitawara, Kyoto.

This spectacular matcha is our staff favorite. We like it thin, but we especially like it thick. Froths to a stunning texture that's light and full bodied at the same time. Notes of raw cacao nibs. Inhaling its aromas is like passing out in a tea garden. The delights continue long after it's swallowed. Why do people like our matcha so much? Origin: Ujitawara, Kyoto. From our very favorite fastidious growers. Name origin: From the historic and beautiful city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan's ancient capital and home of Japanese zen buddhism.

This tea, whipped up thick, seems to send memory into overdrive; into a contemplative state. We think Sen No Rikyu, the most masterful and original matcha connoisseur in Japan's very long history of tea, would have marveled at its rich, umami-laden flavor, brilliant color, and ridiculously long finish. This is dreamy tea that tastes beautiful in any concentration, thick or thin, and sates like nothing else. From Ujitawara, Kyoto. Why do people like our matcha so much? And we can't help but love Rikyu even more after a comment from one of California's most distinguished tea teachers, Douglas Huskins, who said: "If Rikyu were alive today, I suspect his modernist approach to tea would look a lot like Breakaway Matcha's."