Tea Culture Club & Tea House Moychay — Restaurant in Amsterdam

A unique space with a traditional feel, but their matcha was substandard.

☆beautiful ambient tea house with an attractive aquarium in the middle of the space and the subtle smell of incence wafting. ☆slow (disorganised?) service ☆courteous and friendly staff (but I can see how others could see them as apathetic). ☆terrible, highly astringent matcha

Read on for a detailed review:

I came here one year ago and enjoyed the individual tea ceremony where my host explained a range of teas to help with my selection. After this first experience, I left excited to search for more tea houses. Alas, Amsterdam isn't big on tea which is a shame.

Here was my experience today:

I was waiting for what seemed like forever due to one staff member taking far too long weighing and fussing about with two other customers, while the two other staff felt it more important to walk around checking on other things instead of attending to the three of us remaining customers. When I was finally served, I asked about the types of matcha they have. I was presented with two options; ceremonial and culinary. The server was courteous and appeared to appreciate the importance of the grades of matcha. She explained that using milk with a ceremonial grade would spoil it or be deemed unnecessary. I agree partly (but that is for another time!).

I sat down and waited for her to prepare my matcha. The time I waited seemed on the edge of reasonable. It was certainly not efficient or speedy. [As I write this, the only other customer sitting down in the space had to ask if their tea was coming after placing his order some time ago.]

My matcha came out in a small plain bowl with absolutely nothing of the lovely light foam one should expect from ceremonial grade matcha. There were no bubbles save for the incidental pale green edge to the liquid. Straight away I was fearful of the upcoming taste and sadly, my fears were confirmed. The harsh astringency of the tea proved the grade was certainly not one should ever accept as ceremonial grade. As there is no regulation as to labelling these products in Japan, growers and distributors end up passing off lower grade tea as something it is not.

This also confirms that their matcha isn't specially sourced from tastings of product. It is simply bought from their supplier on face value. Now, this does beg another question: Does anyone who work here actually drink their matcha or drank proper HIGH grade matcha from other tea houses or elsewhere (suppliers, growers, trade shows etc)?

I came here for good matcha. That, I did not have. My suggestion for the proprietor and staff is to learn where the best matcha is found through purchasing samples from various vendors and upskilling their tea prep and knowledge (you know you have bad matcha when it doesn't foam with a bamboo whisk).

What I find even more astounding based on this experience, is that Moychay offer private matcha workshops for 55€ for an hour. As I peruse the menu, I find the mission speaking words of "best" and embracing tea as a "way of life." I think I've made it point enough, that either training of staff in preparing matcha or those reponsible for tea procurement need to widen their horizons.

As for everything else on the menu, I'll leave that up to the individual. Here's the important stuff:

☆beautiful ambient tea house with an attractive aquarium in the middle of the space and the gentle smell of incence. ☆slow (disorganised?) service ☆courteous and friendly staff ☆terrible matcha

Advice for the business: get your matcha tasting and selection back on track so you're actually buying the best matcha and selling the best matcha.

Advice for customers: if you're buying a bastardised version of matcha (usucha or koicha) such as either a latte or one of their cocktails, then you've probably got nothing to worry about.

If you're looking for traditional matcha as either (koicha) thick or (usucha) thin tea ask a few questions:

● Do you taste and specifically source your matcha? ● Should I expect a nice thick foam on top...

Came here with a friend a while back and our experience left a lot to be desired.

Upon entering we were greeted kindly and handed menus. My friend fancied having a Matcha Latte, which as a Matcha enthusiast I would never say no to. As an enthusiasts with plenty of Japanese Matcha brands at home, I decided to order the same. (No koisha or ususha this time)

I asked the girl what milk they use and/or have available and the only one they had was: Oat milk. I then asked her how many grams of Matcha she was using in a big (300+ml) glass, she replied: 2 grams. To make the matcha she used 70° (degree celcius) water temperature, which if you know your matcha, will probably be too low and make the matcha bitter.

When requested some more information about why she used such low water temperature she said: I have received feedback in the past that the drink was too bitter. I tried to explain that this might be because of the temperature she is using, not the amount of grams.

Upon receiving our matcha's I was quite disgusted by the looks of it and then sadly the left a lot to be desired too. The drink only tasted of oatmilk with a very slight green-gray colour. (See photo)

One of the other staff joined our table and asked how the matcha was and I let him try the latte. He also said that it only tasted of oat milk, apologized for the quality and said that the lady was quite new.

I am all for educating people, especially with the experience of proper Japanese (Chinese) tea's, but you should not serve such horrible quality to customers. Especially if you are claiming and advertising online to be quite the connoisseur in it.

The gentleman did try to make up for the lattes by having us try some tea's, but to be honest, it was quite the show, not in a good way.

Having been to proper tea ceremonies, tea stores and actual tea plantations, this place felt like a joke. They look good while advertising online on social media, but I would not recommend a proper tea enthousiast coming here.

Furthermore, the menus that were handed to us were extremely dirty and did not match the "vibe" of the place.

We paid €8.50 per drink that wasn't par to quality nor flavour. For that money I'll keep making my own matcha's at home.

Lastly: the store itself had a beautiful essense to it and was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. There were some furniture things that should be put away in the back, but in terms of looks they have a solid concept.

The place has loads of potential, yet might need an actual professional to educate the staff...

There are many speciality stores in Amsterdam selling tea and coffee. However,  Moychay.nl tea culture club and tea house, on Rozengracht, is the only one solely dedicated to tea and related products.

This place should definitely be on every tea aficionado's bucket list. Super friendy staff will explain everything you ever wanted to know about tea.

The entrance belies what lays beyond. There's a shop with tea paraphernalia beautifully displayed on shelving lining the walls. There's a generous selection of tea pots, some of which are really spectacular,  cups and saucers, mugs, glass kettles, pitchers and jugs. Add a fun assortment of teapets - animal figurines,  supposedly enhancing your mood while enjoying your favourite cuppa.

Try a great tasting matchaccino or puerccino at the gleaming stainless steel tea bar.

There's a separate area where you can purchase tea in all weights,  shapes and forms. More than 250 varieties from 13 countries are on offer. There are teas beneficial for a multitude of conditions, as well as energy and mood boosting varieties, enabling you to completely personalise your choice according to taste, benefits and effects. The potential health benefits are well documented.

Going past the side wall, with built in spectacular circular fish aquarium, the interior opens into a generous space, full of individually themed areas, where your choice of beverage is enhanced by the unique surroundings and traditional Asian tea culture.

Upstairs are further rooms for private tea ceremonies. Chinese versions date back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907); Japanase from Kamakura period (1192-1333). These ceremonies often symbolise the welcoming of a bride or groom to their new family.

You are likely to be offered a complimentary tea, prepared to perfection.  One sip and you'll want to know more.

The Moychay Tea school provides an introduction to the universally  loved beverage.There are regular tasting sessions and special events. Further details and reservations in house or online.

The tea club is the perfect spot to meditate, impress guests and meet with friends. Highly...