One of the first things you learn when you Google matcha in English is that there’s quality matcha titled ceremonial grade, and there’s cooking matcha of the culinary grade.
Turns out, this division is not used in Japan, the actual place that produces matcha. It’s far from being a standard, there are no official grading guidelines, so I suspect it’s just a way to draw money from unassuming tea lovers.
I admit, I’ve fallen for it before too. Well, no more.
Instead of the Culinary vs Ceremonial debate that you clicked for, let’s talk about more useful ways to choose quality matcha. Hope it empowers you to find the best-tasting matcha without spending the extra money on an arbitrary marketing gimmick!
Jump to:
Why do we even have this Culinary vs Ceremonial matcha debate?
If you’re interested in green tea, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Japanese tea ceremony. Matcha is a big part of the practice.
So, yes, matcha is traditionally used in ceremonial settings – and since that’s a formal event, it’s usually high-quality tea. But there’s no special matcha for ceremonies. That’s just good matcha.
All matcha is good for drinking, but some simply taste better. You can also cook with any matcha out there, but that can quickly prove too expensive!
So, in most cases, cooking matcha is simply the cheaper stuff, often lighter in color and more astringent. In some cases, however, cooking matcha comes enriched, to stabilize its properties. Usually, it's changed in one of these ways:
- colored with chlorella (a type of seaweed) to help it retain its bright green color when heat-processed,
- made into paste to make it easier to stir into dough,
- with added oils to prevent “weeping” when sprinkled.
So, it seems that the culinary and ceremonial matcha grades do have some basis in reality, but it’s a misinterpretation of the fact: there’s no official grading system, just tasty and tastier matcha.
So, can you drink culinary matcha?
Truth is, you may enjoy drinking “cooking grade” matcha as long as camellia sinensis (green tea) is the only ingredient. Granted, some are tastier than others, and particularly bitter matcha often comes labeled as “cooking grade” – but there’s no harm in drinking it, if that’s your jam!
Arguably, it’s even healthier – the bitterness comes from catechins, which are antioxidants.
Can you cook with “ceremonial” matcha?
Absolutely! Especially if you’re making matcha ice cream or lattes – or anything, really, without using heat.
If you’re heat processing your matcha treat, however, keeping the flavor and color of the tea becomes tricky. That’s where the enriched culinary matcha comes to shine!
The Actual Factors That Determine Matcha Quality
Now that you know not to fall for that ceremonial-grade label, here’s some advice to help you pick matcha for that perfect cup of tea.
Koicha vs Usucha
With matcha, you get to choose if you want to drink koicha or usucha.
Koicha (濃茶) is thick matcha, and usucha (薄茶) is thin matcha. Both use the same type of tea and both are used in the tea ceremony, but they use different water-to-tea ratios.
- Thin usucha is made with plenty of hot water (about 70 ml), and it’s the stuff daily matcha drinkers (like Matt) adore. Most commercial matcha is good to drink as thin tea, but as an experienced drinker, Matt recommends the sweet-tasting organic tea by Matcha Tokyo or Suisouen.
- When made into thick koicha, with about 35 ml or less water and twice as much tea, the flavor gets intense. This is where it’s super important if your matcha is bitter – in koicha it’s so concentrated you’ll feel it with every bit of your being. In daily life, people don’t drink koicha all that often, it’s rather reserved for very formal occasions.
While it’s really about how you make it, you’ll find usucha only, and koicha/usucha grade matcha teas on the market. Truth is, most people are happy with usucha.
A third option – okeiko yō – (お稽古用, meaning “for training”) is a type of low-grade matcha tea ceremony students would use to learn how to properly make matcha – or chefs use to cook with! Fairly bitter, it’s usually not tasty.
Almost all matcha is good to drink as thin tea, but when it's good enough to drink as thick tea – you know you have a quality product.
Place of Origin
Good matcha may come from any place in Japan, but there are a few places famous for matcha production that simply produce wonderful tea – thanks to their perfect climate, soil, or long-kept trade secrets.
From the very introduction of tea in Japan, a region near Kyoto, Uji rose to fame for its precious tea plantations and matcha processing techniques. Continuing a long tradition of tea growers, Uji tea is grown, shaded, and processed with utmost care. Notably, Uji is one of the few places where tea leaves are picked by hand, ensuring an incredible quality – as each tea leaf is carefully chosen and gently handled. The quality, of course, comes at a price.
Along with Uji, other famous matcha-producing regions in Japan are Shizuoka, Nishio, Yame in Fukuoka, and Kagoshima.
That’s not to say you should only buy matcha from these regions – other places in Japan produce good tea too. However, matcha from these regions is often a safe bet!
Green Tea Cultivars – Single-Origin Matcha or Blends?
People who love coffee may be inclined to think that single-origin matcha must be better – but that’s not the case.
Matcha is usually made in blends, combining tea leaves of different origins and harvest times to achieve the optimal balance of flavor and color. If producers used single-origin tea (from the same cultivar, farm, and harvest), the quality would be unpredictable. Blends are created to consistently achieve the right balance of sweetness, astringency, aroma, and color.
In short – unlike with coffee, blends in matcha are a good thing. It means a person manually tested and balanced the tea for that perfect flavor.
Japanese green tea comes in a few (registered and standardized) cultivars, which are often mixed in your tasty matcha blends:
Most green tea in Japan (over 70%) comes from a cultivar called Yabukita. It has a high yield and a strong flavor, and since it’s the most common, it’s kind of your basic green tea (both sencha and matcha).
Matcha made of Okumidori cultivar is sweeter and vibrant green, while Samidori (a cultivar only used for matcha) gives a creamy tea with a mellow flavor.
Uji Hikari is the most famous cultivar grown in Uji, Kyoto, and it’s used for premium-grade matcha. Gokou cultivar matcha is also native to Uji, and it has a fruity umami but somewhat astringent flavor.
Growing and Processing Conditions
It’s not just the cultivar. It’s hard to believe that a single plant – camellia sinensis – gives us such a huge variety of teas. From white and black to matcha, growing and processing makes a world of difference with the tea plant.
Different growing conditions result in a completely different chemical makeup of your tea. It’s a complex process with many subtle factors – here are the broad strokes…
Growing in Shade
Tea used for matcha (called tencha before grinding) is grown in shade for about a month before harvest. This stresses the plant, making it create more chlorophyll and amino acids (like L-theanine), and less catechins. The longer it’s shaded, the sweeter the tea: chlorophyll gives it its bright green color, amino acids its mellow, umami flavor, and the lower catechin content – less astringency.
Less sunlight also means slower growth and lower yield, making matcha more expensive.
Harvest
The older the plant, the better. A tea plant grows enough for harvest after 5 years, but farmers typically wait until the 8th year to start selling the tea. That's because, as the plant grows, its flavor tends to be inconsistent from harvest to harvest. The highest quality tea (like the leaves used for koicha, thick matcha) is often 30+ years old! Talk about tradition and devotion!
Tea plants can be harvested up to three times a year – but the plant doesn't produce the same quality of leaves each time.
The first harvest (shincha, or first flush) of the year, typically around May, is the best because it contains the nutrients accumulated over the winter. Premium-grade matcha is all first flush. Second and third-harvest leaves are usually blended for lower-grade teas.
Tea Picking
When it comes to tea picking, it’s not only the question of when, but also how. Smaller leaves, picked without bruising result in the tastiest tea. Hand-picked matcha is a premium product – at a premium price, of course.
Processing into Matcha
Before it’s ready to become matcha, raw tea goes through a lot of processing.
First, tea is washed and steamed to stop oxidation (this step is unique to Japanese green teas and it ensures the tea’s vibrant green color).
Then, it’s dried, after which veins and stems are removed – only the leaf is used for matcha, while stems are used for kukicha. In this state, tea can be stored in a cold room, to be milled later on. Storing in the cold preserves tea leaf quality, and allows producers to create fresh powder tea per order.
Finally, the leaves are ground into a fine powder. Good matcha should be about the consistency of talcum powder, helping the tea mix with water without clumping.
Slower stone mills are used for the highest quality matcha. Big factories often use the faster ball mills or jet mills, which are faster, but the friction creates a lot of heat, slightly burning the tea, and lowering its quality.
Vibrant Green, Fine Powder
I wish that picking out the best of matcha was as simple as looking for “ceremonial” or “culinary” on the label! In reality, finding matcha that’s objectively amazing requires a lot of knowledge and insight into the production process, which is not always transparently described on the product.
However, don’t let this discourage you. Now that you know that the grading systems are arbitrary, you can go out and explore the wonderful world of matcha. Try a few brands (most offer single-serve packets and samples, anyway!) and see what you like – it's the only sure way you'll know you'll love your daily cup of matcha tea, culinary OR ceremonial!
Learn More
How to Whisk Matcha (with bamboo whisk)
Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremonies
Health Benefits of Drinking Matcha (besides the nutrition)
Higher Quality Japanese Tea Cups
Best Way to Use Matcha (30 + Healthy Drink, Breakfast, and Dessert Recipes)
The best matcha from Japan – enjoy the sweet taste and delicate flavor of high quality matcha
If you are looking to buy high-quality matcha, Matt recommends organic matcha from The Matcha Tokyo. They sell different grades of matcha online, for enjoying the traditional way or to make delicious matcha lattes. All their matcha has a natural sweetness. They have three types of matcha, including Goko premium grade matcha. You can also find regular green tea.
Serve your matcha in beautiful made-in-Japan tea ware. Find the best quality teacups, teapots, and matcha accessories used in traditional tea ceremonies from Musubi Kiln.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dunja Djuragic Dugandzic
Dunja believes simple, straightforward, a little cheeky, and very informative writing can change the world. From teenage years, her fascination with the Japanese way of life continues to grow - and so does her research. Since 2015, she writes content about Japan, travel, world cultures and heritage, crafts and art, printing technologies, and a variety of digital products.
Leave a Reply