Matcha is shade-grown green tea that has been stone-ground into a fine powder. The powder can be mixed with a small amount of hot water in the traditional style, or used as a culinary ingredient.
High grade matcha has a deep, malty aroma with a subtle underlying sweetness, a vivid green colour and when prepared in the traditional style has a rich and velvety texture.
As well as the traditionally prepared beverage, Matcha is popular as a flavouring in Matcha Lattes, Iced-Teas and desserts. If you’ve ever tried Green Tea Ice Cream, then you’ve tried Matcha. There’s really nothing new about using matcha as a confectionary flavouring though. In Japan people have been using tea to flavour pounded rice sweets known as Mochi for hundreds of years. These sweets often serve as accompaniments to a traditionally prepared matcha.
There are host of traditional practices around the way matcha is grown, processed and consumed. Powdered green tea and its associated drinking ceremony go back almost a thousand years in Japan, when it was first brought over from China by Buddhist Monks.
Shade-growing increases levels of chlorophyl, caffeine and the amino acid L-theanine and when the leaves are ground into powder and consumed whole we get a far greater amount of nutrients from the tea than when simply steeping the leaves. That means much more caffeine as well and we find a teaspoon of Matcha equivalent to about a half shot of coffee.
People describe the way the caffeine is released in your system as different from coffee though, and many say they don’t get the come-down jitters with matcha. This is partly because high levels of antioxidants slow the absorption of caffeine, making for a much gentler ride.
L-theanine is an amino acid that increases alpha-frequency brain activity, calming the mind while increasing alertness. The combination of L-theanine and caffeine is often used in Nootropics intended to increase alertness. Ground teas like matcha provide this combination in it’s natural, most bio-available state.
Harvesting
Because of the way it’s consumed and the importance of its clean, smooth flavour, there are a number of factors in the growing, harvesting and processing that are specific to matcha:
- It’s grown under shade for the last few weeks before harvesting, which increases levels of chlorophyl, caffeine and the amino acid L-theanine, while reducing levels of catechins, which are the source of the bitter flavour of green tea.
- Each tea growing district has a number of farms, each of whom auction their finest harvests to the factories in the area.
- Most green tea leaves are rolled out before drying like with sencha. When making matcha, however, the leaves are laid out flat to dry. Once dried they become known as tencha – a name that basically describes dried tea leaves that are ready to be ground into matcha.
- The bitter stems and veins are removed from the flat-dried leaves which are then ground down in stone mills to create the fine powder. This must be done incredibly slowly to avoid heating the leaves, as heat would change the aroma and flavour. It takes around 30 minutes to grind just 30 grams of matcha!
Our Matcha
Several factors contribute to the quality of the Matcha including harvest season and the age of the leaves when picked. This means most producers will end up with a variety of grades.
Higher grades have a smooth, malty aroma and flavour, are vibrant shades of green and are mainly used for preparation in the traditional way, where subtle aspects of the flavour become more apparent. Lower grades are more often used in combination with other flavours in desserts or beverages.
We have three grades of matcha available: A premium ceremonial grade from Uji, an organic ceremonial grade and an organic culinary grade.
Uji Ceremonial Grade
This is just about as good as matcha can get. With it’s rich maltiness and deeply sweet undertones, it’s suitable for both koicha and usucha style ceremonial preparation (more about that here), though we know you’ll love it even without the formalities of the tea ceremony.
With it’s moderate riverside climate perfect for tea cultivation, Uji has been the centre of production of high quality green tea in Japan for over 500 years. Some of today’s farms, factories and tea-houses have existed there for just as long, with cultivation and production practices being passed down through generations. Growing tea under shade is said to have originated in Uji.
Organic Ceremonial Grade
High-grade organic matcha can be extremely hard to come across as gaining organic certification requires harvesting from different areas to those traditionally used. This is the highest grade organic matcha we could find and is totally appropriate for preparing in the ceremonial style. You’ll notice it has a slight hint of astringency, but still has the rich, malty sweetness of high grade matcha. It is grown in Kagoshima, where nutrient-dense, volcanic ash-laden soil does some of the heavy lifting for it’s organic farmers.
Organic Culinary Grade
Our organic culinary grade matcha – also from Kagoshima – is great for use in anything other than ceremonial preparation. Free from the bitter grassiness of cheaper culinary matchas, ours has a deep, nutty sweetness and is totally appropriate for use in lattes, iced teas, sweets or even savoury recipes like tea-flavoured soba noodles or tempura.
Preparation
The traditional method for preparing matcha may seem complicated at first but it’s actually very straight-forward once you’ve done it a couple of times. It’s also fairly adaptable to your own taste.
It basically involves sifting any lumps out of the powder, then whisking with a small amount of warm water (water that is too hot releases tannins that will produce bitterness) until a creamy froth appears.
The ratio of powder to water can vary. Traditionally there are two ways: The first is very strong and thick – like the consistency of honey – and is made by mixing 1tsp of matcha with 1.5 shots (40ml) of hot water. This is known as koicha.
Koicha Style Preparation:
Sift 1tsp of matcha into the bowl
Add 40ml of water at 70°C
Whisk untill froth appears.
Enjoy!
The second way is much thinner and weaker, with a 1/2tsp of matcha being mixed with around 2.5 shots (75ml) hot water – basically doubling the liquid and halving the powder of the first method. This is known as usucha.
Everyone has their own taste though and you’ll quickly determine what works for you without the need for precise measurements.
Matcha Latte
A great way to use culinary matcha is in a matcha latte: warm a cup of your preferred milk in a pot and sift in a tablespoon of matcha along with a teaspoon of your favourite sweetener. Whisk or use a frother to aerate your beverage.
Sift 1tsp of matcha into the bowl
Add 40ml of water at 70°C
Whisk untill froth appears.
Froth the remaining milk.
Add to bowl.
Enjoy!
Alternatively, add to a smoothie with your milk of choice and some frozen fruit for a chilled treat.
