I was pleasantly surprised. Beautiful color, sweet smell. Both are impressive, featuring delicate, mellow flavors- smooth and well-balanced with floral, sweet notes. Mellow but richer than Shinokaze. Lovely taste - umami and seaweedy, minimal bitterness and astringency, slightly floral, savory, quite smooth- melts in the mouth! Good everyday balanced matcha! Sweet, slight bitterness and astringency, and slightly floral. Tastes like a flower garden in my mouth in the best way! There is a slight but not unpleasant bitterness as an usucha. Smooth, creamy, mellow. Flavor disappears easily so I enjoy it best in more concentrated ratios. I find this to be a very reasonable price for the quality of matcha powder. I recommend both Kouun no Shiro and Shinokaze no Shiro to beginners or anyone seeking everyday “bang-for-your-buck” matcha powders!