A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - The Matcha Apocalypse

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Today, Josh & Nicole are talking all things matcha and the growing demand! Is there a matcha apocalypse on our hands?! Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this is mythical. Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you, no matter the size. Whether you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus, IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. It's time to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.

Searchlight Pictures presents The Roses, only in theaters August 29th. From the director of Meet the Parents and the writer of Poor Things, comes The Roses, starring Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman, Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Sandberg, Kate McKinnon, and Allison Janney. A hilarious new comedy filled with drama, excitement, and a little bit of hatred, proving that marriage isn't always a bed of roses. See The Roses, only in theaters August 29th. Get tickets now.

Look out! It's the... It's the... It's the... It's the machapocalypse! This is a hot dog as a sandwich. Cetchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense.

A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. The show where we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Hare. And I'm your host, Nicole, and I. And my voice has been gone for roughly, what, two months?

What do you mean by gone? It's not gone. It's just gotten a little bit raspier. I feel like maybe I'm just sort of aging into myself, like a jazz singer with a history of opium and cigarettes addiction. I've never really clocked the fact that your voice has changed. Really? Sorry.

Maybe I'm just not like that receptive anymore. No, it's perfectly fine. But every time you change your hair and I don't notice, you get all mad. Yeah, that's because it's like, you can tell. It's like instead of like you're going through, like, a decline, your voice is going through. are like steady short to climb, a gradual degradation, exactly, it's becoming worse and worse. How am I supposed to recognize until one day I open the door and you can barely talk. Exactly.

I said by Robert Kennedy. So today we are talking about the matcha shortage, or should I say, the supposed matcha shortage? What do you mean? Because. Is there fake news going around? It's not necessarily fake news, but we've been hearing about a matcha shortage for the last, I mean. kind of year or so. Sure.

What's happened is these little bad boys right here, this is called it, what's it called a macha latte? Yes. I never had one. You've never had a macho, an iced macha latte before. I've taken sips off of peoples,

and I've always enjoyed it. I have never gone to a place and ordered a macha latte. Why? Because if I go to a place that sells a magealati, they probably also sell something called black coffee.

And this isn't me being like a contrarian 90s comedian, being like, back in my day, a small was a small, not a tall Starbucks. Every word there actually means large. I'm Paul Rudd in the movie, role models, fantastic movie. But I'm not talking about that. I just, if I'm going to a coffee shop, I love drinking black coffee. You're really falling apart of the seams here, and I need you to get it together.

Okay, how do you feel about the macho? This is from three. Yeah, I also had a viscerab. My machas also, like, not. Well, I did get it unsweetened, to be fair. This is very non-sweet. Which I kind of like sometimes. Do you even pat your back?

I don't know what happened, man. Come here. I don't think I need to pat you back. Come here. I can't move there. Turn your chair. Just hit me. Is that better?

Yeah. What were we talking about? Macha Lates. how the ones that we have aren't very sweet. But that's not a bad thing. No, you can really taste the macha. Vegetal. It's a vegetal wacha. It sure is, which is what people want in macha generally.

But there's been a massive explosion of macho lattes and coffee shops that are devoting themselves to macha. There's been a massive surge on social media of all macha-based content. But as the global Japanese tea association came out and said in a blog post, they're like, there's no shortage. We're producing, like, way more than ever. We kind of just can't produce that much. And people are just trying to drink way too much of it.

So does that even constitute, like, a shortage? Well, I think that the macha business is going to have to evolve and change a little bit. I think we're going to have to start seeing macha farms in rural Kentucky. I also... Other places like that. So as of now, one, that's a great little conduit to the point of, like, how much do we lose out on culture and like quality because matcha can only be grown in Japan.

Why? Because that is literally the protections on the term macha. It's how scotch can only be produced in Scotland. It's how tequila can only be produced in the in the tea of tequila. Yeah. You know, it's why champagne can only be produced in champagne.

Yeah, but like you have champagne and Prosecco in the same glass. If you're not someone who knows the difference between champagne and Prosecco, the same thing. 100% agree. 100% agree. You're saying we need like a truffle oil,

like a synthetic truffle oil for macho. We need a fake macha business and you and I should start it. I don't want to move to rural Kentucky. I mean, I'm sure it's

beautiful and there's like a bunch of kudzu root everywhere, just like growing and growing. But I don't, let me tell you. Well, the fact that people are so obsessed with matcha right now

means that the industry is going to have to evolve, right? I mean, the protections on it are fine. And I'm totally fine with there being productions on it.

But if there's a very high demand, which it seems like there is, and it's not a manufactured demand, I see people literally having a macha latte every single day. Yeah, that's crazy. People are obsessed with their machas, so much so that they're willing to spend top dollar on their machas, which I don't think a lot of people are willing to do that with their coffee anymore. Because of the, like, how do you say, like the fetishization of ceremonial grade macha and all that stuff. Yes, correct. But for something like this, if we want to see the matcha apocalypse dwindle, we are going to have to see places

start producing their own macha, whatever you want to, maybe it's not macha. I don't think you can just grow it. Do that, though, especially a product. What about tobacco? What about something like tobacco? I don't know. I don't really know how tobacco is grown. I've seen thank you for smoking. Yeah, did they start

growing tobacco and other? No. So the interesting thing, though, right, is like what is matcha? Right. And why is it so hard to grow in other areas and why can't Japan just plant more? Is it limited land, resources, whatever. So macha is, it's just, it's camellia senances, right? Which is, we've talked about this. It's the tea plant. This is the green variety of the tea plant. But there are tons of

different kinds of green tea in Japan, right? So there's like Sencha is the, I think the most common green tea in Japan. There's other really cool ones. Hojicha is my favorite. It's a roasted green tea leaf. And then there's Genmaicha, which is green tea that's been mixed with like roasted barley powder. Macha is so unique because, one, if it wants to be considered ceremonial grade, which is not a real thing in Japan. It's just a sort of Western marketing ploy, which I think is really funny because we tend to have this

I don't know, almost like Japanophilic kind of... Like the fetishization of whenever sushi first came, the same thing's happening with macha. 100%. So we're like, oh my God, this is used in real ceremonies and now I can get it flooded with milk and sugar and drink it. I'm just like a Japanese monk.

Kind of, a little bit. That relationship happens. But the term ceremonial grade is only a Western marketing term, but it does typically refer to what's called a first flush harvest, which is just the spring harvest, right? And also, matcha, the reason it's so bright, green and beautiful and has a unique flavor is that it's, like, grown partially shaded. Yes, while the other kind is grown straight up in the sun. Yeah, so it's like a tremendous, like, specialty products to grow, and they've been growing it in Japan for the last, like, 800 years, roughly. And so I don't

know that I've ever seen such a, like, unique specialty product. explode on the global scale like this and then demands in coffee shops in Omaha, Nebraska being like, damn it, Japanese farmers grow it faster. Like, that's crazy to me. Because we've seen this in other,

like Greek yogurt was a good example of an explosion in demand, but that is just a process that you use to treat dairy milk of which we have an absolute abundance, right? We have too much dairy milk in America. Right. So everyone was happy to be like,

oh, you want us to just like, add slightly more cultures and strain this for longer? Great, we can do that. Seems doable. But this is such a fixed amount. But you don't think that there's a world in which it could be cultivated more? I'm sure Japan is trying because they'd love to. There's also only one harvest a year because it's just a spring harvest. But like it's like whenever you make wine, right? It's like whenever you make Normandy wine. Is that a thing? Probably. There's probably wine in Normandy. I'm sure there is. And then you find places. places that have similar soil and similar weather, and then that's how you get something like California and apple wine, right? Because there's a similar enough ecosystem where the fruit can exist. I'm sure they can find something in God knows where in another part of the world, where they can find a plot of land, and they can start farming it, and then the Americans can shut up about it.

So I almost don't even know if that's the issue. Because I think Japan grows enough green tea. It's just the amount that has gone into processing macha. So it's like, I think it's only like 6%. Because the processing is then, which is... But no, the wine analogy is good. Yeah, so we have to open more processing plants? We need to do like what's called Sideways.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Was Alan Rickman the other dude insideways? No, no, no. I don't know. He's a beautiful blonde-haired man with a very, like, lion-like face. Yeah, yeah. Can you Google him? Sideways Actor.

It's about the burgeoning California wine industry. We need to do that with Maja. Thomas Hayden Church. Am I not right? Lion-like face. He has a lion-like face. I love that. I've never seen it. If you're planning a trip this summer, imagine how much more meaningful

your experience could be if you could speak the local language. Ordering a coffee, asking for directions, or just having a friendly chat. It all hits different when you can connect in someone else's native tongue. That's where Rosetta Stone comes in. Rosetta Stone has been the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Their immersive, intuitive method helps you naturally absorb and retain your new language, on desktop or mobile, whenever and wherever it fits your summer schedule. What really stands out to me is how Rosetta Stone

teaches without relying on English translations. You start thinking in the new language, not just translating in your own head. And their true accent technology, gives real-time feedback on your pronunciation. It's like having a personal coach right there with you. If you know me, you know I'm always on my phone. So using the interface on my personal device like my cell phone was so simple and made the whole process super, super seamless. Whether you're learning for a trip or just challenging yourself this summer,

it actually feels fun and effective. Don't wait, unlock your language learning potential now. A hot dog is a sandwich listeners can grab Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. That's unlimited access to 25 language courses for life. Visit rosettastone.com slash hot dog to get started and claim your 50% off today. Don't miss out. Go to rosettastone.com slash hot dog and start learning today. Hello, it's Lena Dunham.

I host a podcast called The Sea Word with my dearest friend and historian of bad behavior, Alyssa Bennett. What is up? It's a chat show about women whose society is called Crazy. We're going to be rediscovering the story. of women's society dismissed by calling them mad, sad, or just plain bad. Listen to and follow the C-word with Lena Dunham and Alyssa Bennett. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

If we can't. So the manufacturing is a problem. Yeah, and even down to like the grinding, right? So the thing that makes Mata really neat, what gives it the green color is part of that is the growing the shade process. And the other part... Picking it in spring too. picking it and spring, first-slash harvest, but also it's fully ground. The entire leaf is ground into a very fine powder, and they still use stone grinding mills for it.

Incredible. So it's the best way to do it. And also, the reason people love machas, in part because it is such a high-quality, delicious product, right? And such a, like, that green color, you know, unless you just food died some garbage product. But yeah, it's like, it's a very artisanal product that we now want on a mass scale. And so you grind the whole leaf Using these stone grinding mills And then you typically would use like a brush

To like whisk the water in slowly To almost kind of emulsify it So I get this creamy, the light in it And so it's like how much can you mass produce What is by definition in artisanal product? Well, what people are doing is they're starting to batch it out So a lot of places they don't even do that process anymore That beautiful...

Oh yeah, no, no, that's not how the coffee shops are making No, no, that's not. Well, some coffee shops will do that to maintain the integrity of the product, so much so to even temperature check the water, make sure that they're not burning the matcha, make sure they're not like steeping the match on lukewarm water. They'll make sure to whisk it properly. They'll change out their whisk since... Are you having a good time with your macho latte? I really like macha. Do you really?

Like, they even strain it through like a fine mesh sieve. Like, there's people and places that do that. But on a mat, like, if you think Starbucks is doing that, like, get out of your head. They have a pre-portion powder that has sugar. and probably some like milk enzymes in there too just to make life easier. Yeah, but like places like some coffee shops that I know that are local to me, they batch it out like almost to a point where it's a concentrate

and then they give you like 90% milk and 10% actual batched out matcha that they whisked with those like little, those little aerator whiskers, you know what I mean? Exactly. So I mean the artisanal and the dedication that is a job. originally associated with maches already dying for the sake of convenience. No, it's true. And also just like the kind of name value. Listen, okay.

Macha, like, one, is, it's not new. It goes back. It was actually originally invented in China. And then production of Macha was banned in China in the 1300s. Really? And I went to Japan. It's like a whole long Chinese dynastic storyline that we don't have time to get into. But we do have time to get into is me being at the Onami sushi buffet in the Laguna Hills Mall in like

2004, and they have just, they just give you a scoop of green tea of matcha ice cream at the end of your meal. So I remember, like, the first taste I ever had of macha, at least the flavor, was literally green tea ice cream at like a $19 lunch special sushi buffet in Orange County. And I remember just being like floored by it. I was like, what a delightful flavor. Even drinking this latte, like, sends me back to that time of eating green tea ice cream. But as far as like the actual drink blowing up in America, we've had. we'd known about it for a long time. Yeah, we've had matcha for a minute.

Right? But kind of like how Goop spread the gospel of quinoa, you know, 15 years ago. Right. Like, what is spreading the gospel of macha? TikTok. It's the TikTokers. It's always the TikTok. My feed is inundated with people, beautiful girls, just saying, I'm going to try a $15

match latte. And then they try it. And then their eyes get all big and like, that's the best match I've ever had. That's literally all my feed is. It's that and cute little duck videos. Lots of duck videos. But I don't know. Have you ever purchased matcha and tried to make it at home yourself?

I've not. No, have you? What about Julia? No. You guys are not much of matching people? We're not, I don't know. I think she, like, actively doesn't enjoy the flavor of matcha. I do, but again, for caffeinated bevy, the only beverage that I have a sort of ritual is either pre-workout or black coffee.

Right, right, right. Protein powder as well. Well, yes. I have a lot of various powders. that I have to mix in with liquids already With the creatine You're just a powder man The BCAAs

I don't have time for macha In my life Yeah Well I did I did buy a few different kinds Of quote Ceremonial grade matcha And there was about a month and a half

Where I was actively making it At home all the time You're the one causing the shortage No I was the one Being late to work sometimes Because I had to make my macho lattes That's why you were late to work That already came up in your mid-year review

It's not the only reason But it was like that one month where I was like three minutes late. Yeah, that's why. That's crazy. I had to make my machalachi's good. Had to is an interesting phrasing for that. What do you mean? What do you mean?

What do you mean? Building habits? Building habits take six to work. What if your habit was getting into work on that? Well, that's not really viable for me right now. And I would like it if you could not just like completely. Cause to me out in front of all of my viewers and friends right now, especially Maggie. It's not that funny.

It's kind of really funny that you just admit this to me. I've admitted worse to you. Yeah, it's a fair point. It's literally not the worst thing I've said to you like today. And it's only 1230. But yeah, like I was dedicated to the match thing. And the first time I made it, it was so nasty. Like it was all lumpy and bumpy.

And it was like a light, it was like almost like a like a seafone green color. I'm like, ah, I didn't do this right, but I still drank it all. And then I did it again the next. day and the next day and the next day and the next day and I use different tools like I use one of those whirlers I use my milk frother I got the bowl with the whisk and all that stuff I didn't do the whisk properly I didn't let the whisk hang out in water so it was just it was such a mess that I just decided to completely absolve myself of all macha making skills at that point so I never did it again so it's just rod it tried it I tried it for a month that well that's funny

because there is this kind of weird two pronged explosion of macha right where you have the this. And this isn't like, this is just a delightful macho latte from Three Sisters Coffee Shop and Burbank. Great family-owned business. Right. But there's you know the cream top. The Ainspanters? There's Ainspanter. That's a coffee place that makes

matcha. Oh my God. No, no. It's doing all the... It's a type. So an Ainspanter, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing this right. I'm a type. It's a type of coffee drink and it's literally like cold foam that's been whisked to like soft peaks and then you put like a shot of

match in it and then you sprinkle some match on the top and you charge someone like $10. It is so delicious. So there's that right in these very highly aesthetic coffee shops and then there are also people just buying ceremonial match at home. Right. To either make lattes or two to actually like do the damn thing.

That's an ein spiner. Because as oh iron spanners are delightful. So beautiful. Because like you know the ritual of making matcha is something that like grounds a lot of people in the morning and I feel like this two pronged explosion this two pronged explosion Nicole it mimics exactly what we saw in like third wave coffee

10 years ago, where you had the coffee nerds. You had me going to Blue Bottle getting a first cupping of the Yemeni coffee beans and Mokkar Alkan Shali smuggling them out the Yemeni Civil War. You know, you had all these people drinking these V60

max pourovers of like these single origin beans simultaneously while Starbucks was just blowing up with like, you want butterscotch toffee chips in your Frappuccino, you know? And so you had like these two extremes of one being kind of this form of like purity and ritual and then uh you know the other extreme of this kind of like aesthetic and excess and i feel like macha's just following that i think you're right i think you're right i remember whenever i was

working at a at a coffee shop there was like a bunch of other coffee and i'm sorry it was like a coffee and chocolate shop and there were a bunch of other ones opening around not the same brand it was just like a bunch of other like artisanal chocolate houses that had like a barista in the back and all of these places would do ceremonial cacao drinking events once a month. Oh my God, really? People would just come and sit down in a circle. Oh, sick.

And the lights would be dimmed down low. Then you would have almost like a shaman-like person talking about cacao rituals like in the Aztec and mine empires and stuff like that. So I think that we are just, we're two steps away from doing ceremonial grade macha tea

tastings in these crazy niche like macha houses. We're this close. I think you're probably correct. If the demand can actually, if the supply can actually keep up with the demand. Can you imagine Justin Bieber going to like a ceremonial matcha tea tasting at community goods? Yes, I could. Does he go to community goods?

He's the one that unfortunate, for those of you that are listening that don't know what community goods is, it is the longest line that you will see in Los Angeles. Really? I've never been It'll literally circle around Melrose to the point where you get to the high school almost. It's like four streets straight from the high school. You're literally, the line goes so dummy long.

It's so ridiculous. It's all for like an $8 coffee drink. I don't get it. There's another place called Maru that people like. Maru. Maru? They do. They do macho. I haven't been, I got dragged. Why don't you go anywhere anymore? What I do go places?

You used to be so cool. You used to go I would never go to coffee shops. I would never go to cool coffee shops. I would go to coffee shops to work. You know? I would go work at Cafe Benet on Wilshire. But they have like, but they have like foods there too, like pastries. Yeah.

I guess do I not go anywhere anymore? I don't know. Yeah, you sound like you don't go anywhere anymore. You got dragged to Maru. Maru's a great coffee shop. No, I got dragged to a different coffee shop. I got dragged to a place called La La Land Kind. Yes.

And I felt... I went to high school with their creator, Francois. He's great. I yeah it's lovely I felt though like I was in it's like if a Luboo opened an apple store You know it was weirdly

Kind of like Tweed and bright But but also very sterile But also there were like 50 different drinks On the menu And some of them had stuff called things like banana cream And I didn't know what it might It would be like banana topped

And I'd be like you're telling me I'm getting topped by a banana right now But it was very confusing It was a very confusing experience for me And I tried to order a thing And they were like, we're out And I was like, oh, I didn't want it Even now I got to say different words But I got it and ultimately it was pretty nice

Did have machin in it? No Oh, okay Julia got a matcha thing And she didn't like it Because she's like macho Yeah, but you got it to take a picture of it Everyone loves taking the pictures

Because you get the drink And then you take the picture of it And then that is the experience My computer decided to restart by itself. I don't have any autonomy anymore in the world. It's okay. You get the drink, and by taking the picture of the drink, then it not only sort of becomes real in the world,

but you've already had the experience. It was like when you told me that you watched that video and you confuse that with actually eating the food, it's like once the mancha shows up on the picture, then that means that you drink it. So why would you even drink it? I remember when I was walking by a trendy frozen yogurt shop called Little Damage downtown,

They did a charcoal frozen yogurt. I will actually watch an influencer take a frozen yogurt, take a picture of it, and then just throw it right into the trash can without even trying a single bite of it. And it all kind of bums me out because there's like actual temples in Japan that now can't drink their matcha because it's Justin Bieber at Community Goods drinking his matcha. And where are the Japanese temples? It's called ceremonial grade because it actually corresponds to ceremonies. There's no ceremony in Justin Bieber taking a picture of the matcha.

I think you and François were on the Forbes 30 under 30 at the same time actually Oh really? Oh my God, that's really cool. Yeah. He's a nice guy. He actually just did a collab with Keith Lee, and he's actually making matcha that I believe is, can you Google Meggy for me, Keith Lee Lala Kind Cafe? Can I tell you what I love about Lollokine Cafe?

Yeah. The servers or like the people taking order to do, he's like, love you, have a good day. Did you know that? They were very friendly. A lot of them had piercings and pearsings and stuff. places on their faces that when I was growing up people didn't tend to have those piercings like kind of dermals oh yeah they had a lot of dermals what kind were you at they were all very alternative really in a way that I like okay you know I want alternative people to to one alternative people

can do anything you can be bankers if you want you could be podcast so you can make coffee but I think especially in coffee shops they thrive you know what I mean I'm trying to find this for you Hold on. There's a really great What spurred this. There's a really great article that was from BBC News where it was a reporter

who went to a town in Kyoto, I believe, called Uji that makes the best matcha in the world. It was literally the matchmaker that used to make tea for the emperor is in Uji and they painted such a vivid picture

of Western tourists like physically grabbing matcha out of like a matcha tea shop owner's hands to wrestle it away from her because there's some such a shortage, and it's people effectively like hoarding matcha. That's crazy.

And then this tea shop owner talking about how they're afraid that they actually won't be able to supply the temples in Japan because of how fast it is going off shelves. So Keith Lee is doing a Keith Lee latte, which is a double, this is a double ceremonial matcha, secret sauce, matcha cloud, whole strawberry, and flaky salt, and 100% of all the proceeds are to go to the Texas flood relief for Kirk County. We love that. Which is great. The floods were horrific, and I love that this is the special sauce, the macho foam is going to the floods. But you know what I love about this?

That's a really good thing. Do you know what I love about this? I just get sometimes frightened by new technologies and new culture. The point of humanity is to suffer sometimes. Right now you're suffering by being a little B word about people posting stuff on the internet. And you're just being a little B word. But look over here, look what it says here. It says extreme matcha, 6 to 8 grams per serving.

That's a lot of macho. That's an extreme amount of matcha. This is double matcha. Do you know what double matcha means? That means it's twice the amount of matcha that needs to be in there. Who's making these categories? Like, if you go to a bar and you ask for a double shot, that means, thank you so much. I'd like to add some sugar to it.

Mine's with soy milk. Do you think soy milk is just milk saying? I'm Spanish. Anyways, no, I, sorry for the mini spiral and crash out there. It's fine. But no, like, culture evolves. We've seen these trends in the past, right? We saw the quinoa boom.

We saw the Greek yogurt boom. Sure. We saw a third wave coffee boom. We've, like, seen all this happen. I think culture moves very quickly. And one, Japan right now, there's some stats coming out. Japan's tourism industry saw a peak in 2024 with a high of all time, 37 million tourists. Okay.

Right? And so right now, you know, how many friends did you have go to Iceland like seven or eight years ago? Oh, my God. Everyone wants Iceland. It's just like there are successful PR campaigns. So many. How did you know? Because I was also there.

Everyone went to Iceland. Did you go to Iceland? No, I never went to Iceland. But everybody else? Why didn't we go to Iceland? What's wrong with us? There are $89 flights to Iceland. And it's all just a PR campaign from tourism ministries.

Japan obviously has like a lot of awesome cultural exports. Yeah. People are watching anime, you know, doing all that stuff. Kids love anime. I don't know, one piece is a thing. The adults love anime. I have the Japanese hat on. I don't know.

This has been in my office for like two years, and I don't know where it came from. But the point is, like, I think this match apocalypse, it's not actually something that's going to be a long-term problem. Your hair's so big today. Thank you. I think matcha is generally going to stabilize on some sort of demand. I think people are going to find a new drink to fetishize. I don't think so. You don't think so?

You don't think Yerba Mata can come in in 2020. We tried with Yerba Mata. What do you mean we tried with Yerba Mante? The U.S. tried with those cans of Yerba Mante. Oh, Guayaki? I love Yerba Mata. No, but like a hot Mante won. You think people are going to start packing.

You think people are going to start packing the gourd, baby. Give me the Mote gourd. And then moving it to the side of putting their straw. You think people, you know what? Maybe you're right. I think maybe, yeah, I think we have to, but you know what has to happen. The Brazilians have to hyper fetishize it and be like, this is what sexy Brazilians. like to drink. Asaii is another great

example of a Brazilian product that we fetishize. I think Mata tends to be more Argentinian. Oh, was it? Why did I think it was Brazilian? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But yeah, assay used to be a big deal. It'll stabilize. It'll stabilize. It always stabilizes. It always stabilizes. It all stabilizes. Right? There's like a natural

evan flow to these things. Macha has seen an unprecedented rise. So 2010 to 2023, Japan literally tripled their production of it. And so like, that's the way if you're from the Japanese like tea association's perspective you're like

there's no shortage we're like really making a lot of it you get the demand is just increased so much it's not like the surracha shortage was a real thing

because like there was a drought and then the dude like killed his farm connections and so there was an actual shortage of Saracha where you stopped production

go down production's never gone down in matcha they keep making it it's just we live now in a more globalized culture and you don't like that

it's not that I don't like it it's um no I guess I don't don't like it. Okay. You sound like my dad. No, I think there's, I think there's something really important about the idea of like context and to war, right? The idea of like, preservation of some things. Yeah, of, um, if every single food sort of gets commodified and ran through, right? I think you lose a fair amount of like specialness in that food, right? When macha just becomes like the flavor de jour that you're leaving behind for the next big, you know, milky coffee drink, you know, it, to me,

it's a little bit of a spit in the face in the last, like, 800 years of matcha production that really means something to people. You know, I think, like, the perfection of an artisanal craft is something. And I understand the irony of somebody who, every YouTube video we make where we cook food, that's the only time we're ever cooking that food, right? I'm not somebody who sits here and I try and perfect one dish, but I think I have fantasies. Well, you did have a video where you did that with, uh. Yeah, I did that with Omu Rice, a Japanese dish.

And a soup dumpling. And soup dumplings, dishes that take years and years and years to master. So I understand that I am also part of the problem. We live in a society that moves so, so, so fast because everything around us demands it. But I am just urging everybody to, like, slow down, man. Toronto, there's another great city that starts with a tea. Tampa, Florida Fly to Tampa on Porter Airlines to see why it's so terrific.

On your way there, relax with free beer, wine, and snacks, free fast-streaming Wi-Fi, and no middle seats. You've never flown to Florida like this before, so you'll land in Tampa ready to explore. Visit flyporter.com and actually, enjoy economy. All right, Nicole, we've heard what you and I have to say. Now it's not to find out of the way that we're wack. It's right out there in the universe.

It's time for a little segment we call. Opinions are like casserole. Meggy shut. I'm just kidding. I'm not abusive to the staff here. That's f***ed up if I was, though. Did you just call Meggy the staff? That's crazy.

That's worse than a big. Wait, wait. That's worse than if you were to just, like, abused Meggy. She just called her the staff. She knows I'm kidding. Maggie is my friend. Right, Maggie? Yes, we're friends.

Meggy is friend, not food. Food. Is that? That's not from Shark Tale. No. Finding Neymar. Finding Nemar. Bruce the Shack.

All right. Let's get this ball roll. Bruce. Hey, Josh and Nicole. It's Dane from Louisville, Kentucky. I have been subbing, plain Greek yogurt for pretty much every use

of sour cream or like three years. I mean, I think it's better for you protein and dish. Welcome to the club. But every time I tell people that I use Greek yogurt in like a baked potato or I use it as a base of a sauce,

they look at me like I'm insane. Yeah, yeah. But I feel like this is a good, healthy, common practice that I've heard other people do. I'd love your opinion on this. The opinion is it's a good, it's a Good job, man. I barely, I barely consume sour cream anymore.

I only have Greek yogurt in my house. It's a dying industry, sour cream, the sour cream industry. Here's what you got to do. You got to lie to them. You got to lie to your friends and loved ones. They're going to come over, and you're going to make them, you're going to make them a baked potato. You're going to make them, what else do people put sour cream on? You're going to make them like enchiladas, nachos.

And you're going to put sour cream out, and they go, is this Greek yogurt? And you go, no, no, no, it's sour cream. And then you just lie to them until you suddenly believe. your own lie, because that's what I've been doing to myself. I say, Josh, Josh, Greek yogurt, it tastes the same as sour cream, it's healthier. And then I actually try full-fat sour cream, and I go, oh, oh, God,

that's good. And then I go back to eating my Greek yogurt. So, I think that's what you have to do. It's good. No, no, it's okay. I was going to go on a tangy-tange. Go on a tangy-tange. No, I don't want to. Okay, well, I have a tangy-tangs that you might agree with. Go ahead. It's like

when all them influencers on the Pinterest boards was making, like, They're like, it's brownies, except it's just dates blended with black beans and cocoa powder. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And to them, that's brownies. To them. To you, that Creek yogurt is sour cream. I would argue Creek yogurt is probably closer to sour cream than this bean date mashes to a brownie.

But it really is the same logic. My tangent was going to be, that was great. Thank you so much for your candor. We, no, when I was little, there was an ad for Daisy. sour cream and I remember someone dipping a strawberry into it and to this day I'm like who the hell

dips a beautiful summer strawberry into a daisy sour cream disgusting what do you put a little honey on that sour cream is there honey being drizzled on the ad no there's no honey in the ad no there's no implied honey

but like if you but you would dip a strawberry into yogurt and here we are talking about how yogurt and sour cream are interchangeable. But, Josh. They're not equal. They're not equal, but why, I would argue, sour cream would taste better on a strawberry than yogurt.

No, no. Why? No. How are they even? No. Julia once, my wife, my wife, Julia, once just sent me a text, just saying like, what's the difference between, it was like, yogurt, sour cream, crema, mehican, just all of these things.

She's like, what's the actual difference? there. And I was like at work and I didn't respond for a couple hours. And she was just like, I don't understand in all caps. And so maybe you should do a whole podcast about that. Because I couldn't tell you how yogurt and sour cream are actually different. I think yogurt and sour cream are different because of the lactofermentation process. What's making the sour cream sour then? I think, well, I think there is lacto fermentation that's happening, but not as much. It's not live cultures? I don't, maybe. And I also think there's more, well, full fat Greek yogurt. We need to research this later.

But I'm just mad about the Daisy ad. Like that Daisy ad pissed me off. To this day, I'm sorry, I spit. To this day, there has never been an ad that has viscerally angered me the way that this Daisy sour cream dipping strawberry ad did. And you know exactly the one I'm talking about. And I always thought it looked so good. I was like, this is what rich, happy families are doing.

Is they're dipping their strawberries in sour cream? Daisy, you got me on that one. And you know what to this day? I still do-do a dollop, a do-do, do-do. a dollop of daisy. No, you don't. It's sour cream. Well, when Susan comes over, because that's

Greek yogurt. That's why there's still Daisy in my pantry. For your mother-in-law? My mother, yeah, she came over and I made her a loaded baked potato. That's a boomer food. Sour cream is a food for boomers. You're correct. Next.

Greek yogurt occupied 0% of total yogurt market share in 2000. By 2010, it was up to 44% of total market share of yogurt, now peaking at 51%. Wow. What kind of neurodivergence is that called? It's a really good kind. The one that helps The one that helps push us all forward

Even though sometimes we don't want to We just want to sit and just I love yogurt Yogurt loves you too Thanks Hey Josh Nicole Love the podcast I've just discovered something

That I'm eating right now That is basically getting the flavor Of crappy American sushi That you get at regular American sushi restaurants But for almost no money Pause it for a second I'm gonna guess I'm gonna guess

I'm gonna guess that it's cream cheese serimi sticks canned tuna and saracha continue for almost no money stevee snacks just take the what I have at least in my place it's just called crab salad it's the fake

crab sticks mixed up with spicy mayo and other things it's exactly what is in crappy American sushi you put that just with rice with soy sauce on it you have the exact same flavor palette pretty close that's it more people should eat this okay great this is one of those mind reader I'm a mind reader I read patterns this is one of those beautiful things where where if you're knowledgeable enough you can kind of like what's his name doctor strange I'm kind of like doctor strange you're way you can rain man your way rain man your way was my favorite Marvel superhero you can sort of like Dustin Hoffman underrated you can kind of like rain man your way into different worlds where where you've taken you're like okay sushi expensive cool elegant food you got even a California roll at a sushi bar is still like kind of

kind of really cool thing, and delicious, objectively. And then you have the crab salad that my boomer dad grew up eating. We would go to the Ralph's Kroger store deli. You got a scoop a crab salad. That's the same thing that's inside the California roll. Put it on rice. You're correct. You've won.

You've like solved the- You've cracked the code. You've cracked the Enigma Code. Now you can find all the U-boats. Josh is referencing that one movie with Benedict Cumberbatch and Kira Knightley. What? What? which one

what about the German U-boats yeah about cracking the code the imitation game oh I was referencing well that was that about Alan Turing um can you go back to the

I never saw it it's a true story if that's what you're wondering Is that about Alan Turing go go down Meggy go down I was I was

I'm press no thanks I'm in the middle of reading the staff here. I'm trying. Ficky, I'm kidding. How hard does it get good help around here? I'm crying. What is this website?

Are you on the web? It's Netflix. It says during World War II, a mathematician leaves a team of crypto analysts as they work feverishly to break the German's notorious enigma codes. Yeah, the mathematician is probably Alan Turing. I've never seen the movie, but I'm reading Cryptonomicon by Neil Stevenson. Oh, so you're reading the book about

the movie about the thing that happened? That's a weird way to do stuff, honestly. Why would you do it in that order? The book didn't know the movie existed. The book was merely a book. And it's a fiction book, but he's a character. He was... Turing test.

Turing test, that's correct. Also, really big in that movie X Machina. Yes. Also, a gay man who was treated very unfairly. Yes, that's part of the movie. They include that in the movie? They include that in the movie. Well, that's good.

What are we talking about? Crab salad? It's great. I have some crab salad in my fridge right now. Meggy, sorry to make you pause it. That was the end of that sentence. I made it. Okay, I've got to click play now.

I put shrimp in it. Hey, Josh Nicole and Maggie. This is Charity from Virginia. I love the name Charity. My hot take is that pagle butts and green bean stems. Okay. are not gross to eat. My husband will not eat the end of a pickle if it has the tiniest bit of stem or even a hint of it,

even if it's cut off. So what do you think? Stems and pickle butts, gross or not gross? I was always raised in a house where my mom would cut the green beans to make Persian food very specifically, so much so that it was also my job to like snap the ends and cut them also they're the same size. She literally trained me, my mom, even though she doesn't. I didn't like it when I was cooking with her.

She kind of taught me some really, like, important skills. Like, she'd be like, you trim this on, but you leave the tails on this side because it looks better. You know what I'm talking about for green beans? Right, here you go there. Do you know what I'm talking about? Why are you so quiet? You trim what? Green beans!

But you're saying, like, oh, yeah, I got pictures pulled up. You're saying you trim off the hard part of the stem, but then you leave the pointies? Sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes. I would always trim them, but I've never eaten the pointies of the green beans. I've never eaten the pointy. Out of habit, but charity, I believe charity.

But I believe Charity's talking about the stems being edible, not the green pointy bit. Yeah. I don't agree with you. Because sometimes a pickle butt, if it's a clean pickle butt. I love pickle butt. Arguably better. You get more crunch because of the skin. But then sometimes there's a little stem hanging off of it.

I'll eat the full stem. I'll just twist off the stem. I'll eat it. I don't care. I'll eat the butt. How many courgetts do you prep? What's a corgette? A corset.

You Americans call it a zucchini. Oh, I, I, I cook. zucchini like once every two weeks? Yeah? I'm probably cooking it like twice a week. Oh. I don't know why. It's one of the vegetables that Julia really enjoys. What does that have to do with anything? I'll tell you why. So you can picture a corset, right? Zucchini, as you Americans call it. And there's a butt. You are also American.

Yes, so are you. So you call it a zucchini. And I called a corset. So the corset, right, it's got a little butt. And it has a little top hat. It has a little top hat. I used to trim both of those off. And then I realized why, Josh. why can't you be more like charity and just eat the butt in the top hat of the corset and now I do and my life is better for it you know what the butt and the top hat tastes like more cordgette more corset

I think I subconsciously remove the top and the bottom too I think it might be just like a cooking kitchen thing yeah it's like you're like all square off the cut I think that's where it comes from no way man eat the butt that's a mythical kitchen it's a mythical kitchen motto

Eat the butt. It's not even a podcast motto. It's just a mythical kitchen. That's the ethos of our channel. Eat the butt. Sorry, children listen to this. Hello, Josh. You beautiful chiseled man.

And Nicole, you wonderful mother to be. I've only got a few moments to dabble you with my food take. So pitter, patter, let's get at her. What is the sock that goes beautifully with a hot dog when ketchup, mustard, and the like just aren't cutting it? And you want to shake things up. That's right. Apple socks. Oh, hell yeah.

It's got texture. It's got that little whisper of acidity. And most of all, it's got convenience, baby. That's right. Why try to ketchup and mustard out of a bottle when you can bust open a cup of applesau and be ready for dipping in no time. The applesauce cup is the ideal vessel for dipping foods. Why be relegated to those small paper and metal condiment cups

that can only take a few fries at a time at most? Get a cup of applesauce and dip free them. Oh. And like I said, it's fantastic with hot dogs, but it's also great with its cousin, the corn dog, and much more. I get that. I'm talking French fries, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, chicken fries, chicken wings, chicken thighs, pork chops, you name it.

If it has an ounce of, hmm, this would be good with a sauce. Applesauce can fit that roll 100%. And a little bonus before I go. Fried catfish is right up there next to the sauce. pizza on the chart of tasty foods that are still tasty, straight out of the fridge the next day. Love y'all. Be blessed. Love that. What a great voice you have. Incredible. My favorite part of that was that he said, I only have a short time to dazzle you.

One, we were dazzled from three seconds in. 97 seconds. That was the short time. But I think he made his point very, very clear, and I think it's an incredible point. I have never been a lot can applesauce girl. so I'm going to and I don't like Applesauce in general I don't think I've eaten applesauce more than five times On my own volition I once drank a quart of

Applesauce I just drank it They sold it 32 ounces at Rite Aid I bought it I drank it I then I then held the world record Yes I then held the world record For most baby food but if it's really Mostly applesauce I ate 3 pounds 10 ounces in one minute I'm not a big apple sauce person

I'm not a big like pure rate Sweet purees are almost too vomiting for me In a way But ketchup is okay because it has enough salt I think equal parts Applesauce and mustard I think that would be a great That's a chutney

I like chutney But apples sauce is most of the way to a chutney No it's not savory enough to be a chutney Well I agree with that most of the way You just get a little sprinkle of salt A little hit of acid But I think I agree I think the hot dog is like salty and savory enough

For it to really work With the applesau What did they say? something sazzle, let's get a... Pitter, patter, let's get at her. We're stealing that. I'm stealing that. I'm approved for stealing. I thought maybe a little

too much pathos, a little too much logos, not enough ethos behind it. When we start talking about the dipability of the cups, I think what you're looking for is just maybe a wider mouth bowl for your ketchup. It seems like a pretty easy salt. Yeah. Yeah. But again, I do think it's incredible. Corn dog, applesau, perfect bearing.

I'm down with corn dog. I love it. Because corn bread batter is, like, cornbread batter is sweeter and there's like honey in it. Yeah. So I understand why the, the, how do I, the channel. Channel? The channel. The channel.

The river is, it's closer to the bend. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, the, the bridge is more, a bridge in the gap. Yeah. Bridge in the gap with corn dog make more sense than hot dog and bun. Yeah. But really pretty well, well, reasoned, very well, very well presented.

Like it. I applaud you. It feels very German. And on that, no. Say the thing you say. You know, like the, you go like a German. Did your computer restart again? Probably.

Well, on that note, thank you so much. Stop My Hot Dog is a sandwich. We got new audio-only episodes every Wednesday. New videos out on Sundays, wherever you get your videos, the blockbuster. If you want to be featured on opinions like past rolls, hit us up at 833 Dog Pod 1, but only if they're as good as the last opinion, all right? Don't hold yourself up to his standards. You're never going to compare.

But, you know, what you can't compare is the video quality. of this podcast versus our other videos, which is to say, please go watch our other videos over at McQuil Kitchen. They're really good, watch them. I promise. Bye. Bye.