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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

matcha

Cuzen Matcha Cruisin’ Through its Kickstarter Goal on its First Day

Part of the problem with this job is that I write about a lot of cool kitchen stuff. This, in turn, makes me want to buy a lot of the things I write about. Things like the Cuzen Matcha.

The Cuzen Matcha is a beautifully designed countertop machine out of Japan that grinds and mixes fresh matcha powder to create a delicious cup of matcha that you can drink straight or mix into another beverage like milk.

World Matcha, the company behind the Cuzen, launched it’s Kickstarter campaign today, and at the time of this writing had already raised more than $22,000 of its $50,000 goal. Early backers can get their own Cuzen Matcha machine, plus 40 cups’ worth of matcha leaves for $299, with a scheduled ship date of October of this year.

And therein lies the problem. I tasted the Cuzen’s matcha at our Food Tech Live event earlier this year (you can watch our video of the Cuzen in action to see for yourself how it works), and it was delicious. And the machine is more sculpture than appliance and now I want to buy one.

CES 2020: A Look at the Cuzen Matcha, a Home Matcha Making Appliance

But I don’t drink matcha with any regularity. But maybe I would if I paid $300 for a machine that makes it? I mean, colder months are coming and a hot mug of freshly ground matcha latté sounds pretty enticing. A matcha latté at Starbucks is around $3.00, and that’s for one that isn’t nearly as good. So I’d only need to drink a hundred homemade Cuzen matchas to break even? That’s not too bad…

Wait. Are we doing this? Am I buying a matcha machine?

Unlike a lot of Kickstarter hardware projects (Rite Press, we’re looking at you), having interviewed the World Matcha team and seen the product in action, I have more faith that this crowdfunded project will actually come to market.

Now the question is whether it will come to my kitchen counter.

Video: World Matcha’s Elegant Machine Grinds Fresh Matcha at Home

On our Food Tech Show podcast this week, The Spoon’s editorial gang talked about all the drink robots we saw this year at CES. One that definitely stood out for all of us was World Matcha’s Cuzen Matcha maker.

Yes, the Cuzen will grind matcha leaves and stir it for you. That in and of itself is cool. But the design of the machine is . . . stunning. Rather than a bulky black or silver box, the Cuzen is more like sculpture, with a slim footprint, bold shapes and use of negative space. It even has a whisk that mimics the traditional bamboo ones used to mix your matcha. It’s a device you’d want to make space for on your kitchen counter.

Oh. And the resulting matcha is tasty too.

The Cuzen Matcha isn’t cheap. Pre-orders are going for $290, which includes two sleeves of raw matcha leaves. But if you are a matcha fanatic. This might be worth the investment. World Matcha brought its matcha machine to our recent Food Tech Live show in Las Vegas, and I got the chance to speak with the company’s Founder and CEO, Eijiro Tsukada about the Cuzen and and to see it in action. Matcheck it out!

CES 2020: A Look at the Cuzen Matcha, a Home Matcha Making Appliance

If You Really Love Matcha, Cuzen Matcha Will Be Your Matcha Making Robot

If you’ve been to a Starbucks or pretty much any other any premium coffee or tea shop over the past couple years, you’ve probably either ordered a matcha drink or seen someone downing some variant of the vibrant green beverage.

That’s because matcha is everywhere. Driven in part by the health benefits and tastemakers who have fallen in love with its unique sweet and savory flavor profile, matcha has made its way into everything from ice cream to baked goods to energy bars.

If you’re a purist, you might want to consider making your own matcha at home. If you’re like most Americans, that likely means buying pre-ground powder to stir and mix like Tang. But if you really want to make matcha the old school way, you have to grind your leaves fresh into powder like a Japanese tea master.

But you’re not a Japanese tea master, which probably means you don’t have a stone mill on hand to do the grinding. Lucky for you, a new startup by the name of World Matcha has created what is essentially a matcha-making robot that both grinds and mixes matcha fresh from leaves called the Cuzen Matcha.

The Cuzen Matcha machine, which had its public debut last night at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, takes un-ground matcha leaves and then grinds them into the fine powder with a ceramic grinder. From there, the machine drops the powder into a cup where a magnetic stirrer replicates the traditional bamboo whisk to make your fresh ground matcha drink.

Once it’s mixed, you can drink it straight or use it to make your favorite matcha drink like a latte or cappuccino.

Now I realize most people will likely just choose to continue scooping matcha powder. You, like me, are lazy like that. But, if you are a matcha fanatic, the Cuzen Matcha might just be for you. If that’s the case, you can pre-order now off of the company’s website for $290, which includes the machine and a total of 100 grams of tea leaves to get you started on your matcha making journey.

I had a chance to watch the Cuzen Matcha make tea last night and tried a small sample of it. While I’m not a matcha expert by no means, it certainly tasted fresher from the times I’ve made drinks from matcha powder at home.

According to company CEO Eijiro Tsukada, World Matcha is already working with manufacturers and he expects Cuzen Matcha to ship sometime in 2020.

You can see the Cuzen Matcha in action below: