Things I didn't try early on: matcha

Today, is Matcha Day in Japan. I have been reflecting on my personal journey with matcha. However, unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me remember when I first tried matcha. I know that I had green tea in Ireland, before I ever came to Japan, thanks to a project at university. But I can't remember my first experience with matcha. But what I distinctly remember is that I didn't like it. 

Because I didn't like it, I didn't try it again for many, many years! I went my first years in Japan without drinking it and / or rarely eating matcha flavored food. I wrote before how a trip to Shizuoka turned me into a green tea drinker, but green tea and matcha are two different beasts, so to speak. Although both come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis), green tea and matcha are processed, prepared, and consumed in completely different ways. So while I can drink green tea now, I have a way to go before I would choose to drink matcha over any other drink.

And to be perfectly honest, I still don't delight in matcha flavored foods. I have one matcha loving child, who will choose, for example, matcha flavored ice-cream over regular ice-cream. I would never choose matcha flavored ice-cream. In truth, if it was the only flavor of ice-cream available, I probably wouldn't indulge at all. Although, I have set a goal for myself this year, to try more matcha flavored food. We'll see how it goes!

Do you like matcha? Do you drink it? Do you eat matcha flavored food?