Alright, so the other day I was thinking about getting something special for my friend who’s crazy about matcha. I mean, this person lives and breathes that green stuff. So I thought, why not put together a matcha green tea gift set? It sounded like a good idea at the time, and let me tell you, it turned into quite the little project.

First things first, I needed to find some decent matcha. This wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I hit up a bunch of local stores, but the selection was pretty slim. And the prices? Don’t even get me started. It was all over the place! I decided to do some digging online to see what I could find.

After a few hours of comparing brands and reading reviews, I stumbled upon a supplier that seemed legit. They had a good range of matcha, from ceremonial grade to culinary grade. I figured I’d go with something in the middle, not too fancy but still good quality. And they even had some sweets to go with it.

The Hunt for Accessories

But a gift set isn’t just about the tea, right? I wanted to include some cool accessories too. So I started looking for a matcha bowl, or what they call a “chawan.” Again, lots of options online, and a few in some specialty stores. I ended up ordering a simple, elegant bowl that I thought my friend would like, it was kind of the basic stuff, but that’s okay. It looked pretty good actually.

Next up, the whisk, also known as a “chasen.” This one was a bit tricky. I read that the number of prongs can make a difference in how frothy the matcha gets. I spent way too much time debating between an 80-prong and a 100-prong whisk. In the end, I just flipped a coin and went with the 100-prong. It is a gift set after all. I need to at least make it look like I know what I am doing. Hope my friend likes it though.

And of course, I needed a scoop, the “chashaku.” I found a nice bamboo one that matched the aesthetic I was going for. This is actually pretty easy. It looks like all the chashaku in different stores look the same.

Putting It All Together

Once I had all the pieces, it was time to assemble the gift set. I found a nice box and some pretty tissue paper, I am getting pretty good at this. Arranging everything just right took a bit of fiddling, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I even added a little handwritten card explaining how to make matcha. It is not hard to make a card like that. I can’t wait to see my friend open it.

This whole experience taught me a lot about matcha, and gift-giving for that matter. It’s not just about buying stuff, but about putting thought and effort into it. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll start drinking more matcha myself. Or maybe not, who knows. I’m still not sure if I like the taste, but the process of finding all this stuff was kinda fun.

• The main thing is: find good-quality matcha.
• Second: get the right tools – bowl, whisk, scoop.
• And lastly: put some effort into the presentation.

If you are looking for a gift for a friend, maybe you can also try this. Making a gift set by yourself is fun! You don’t even need to know too much about that product. Just do some research online. The internet is really a magical place. You will see.