The Journal · Matcha

What is matcha, and how do you make it properly

What you are actually drinking, and how to make it in about ninety seconds.

A woman standing in a field holding a bowl of whisked matcha, a large bamboo whisk and three tins of Boteane matcha

Every other tea in this shop is an infusion. Hot water passes through leaves, takes what it can, and the leaves go on the compost. Matcha is the exception. There is nothing left behind, because the leaf is the drink.

That one difference explains the colour, the texture, the price, and why it is whisked instead of steeped.

The short answer

Matcha is green tea leaf grown in the shade for about three weeks, steamed, dried and stone ground into a powder fine enough to suspend in water, so you drink the whole leaf rather than an infusion of it. To make it: two grams into a bowl, 60ml of water at around 80 degrees rather than boiling, whisk in a W shape for fifteen seconds, then top up with water or milk.

How matcha is made, and why that matters

Matcha starts in the shade. The plants are covered for around three weeks before picking, which slows the leaf down and pushes the green deeper. Those shaded leaves, called tencha, are steamed, dried, and then stone ground into a powder so fine it is measured in microns. Ours is milled to 10 to 16 of them, which is roughly a fifth of the width of a human hair.

Grind that fine does two things. It suspends in water rather than sinking, which is what gives matcha its body. And it means you are swallowing the whole leaf, not an extraction of it.

Where our matcha comes from

Izu Green is the pure one. Shade grown Japanese tencha and gyokuro from Kagoshima, blended with high altitude Kenyan green tea from the Nandi Highlands. The Japanese leaf brings the smooth, umami depth people know matcha for. The Kenyan leaf brings intensity and a deeper green. No flavouring, nothing added.

It opens fresh and vegetal, with a soft sweetness, and finishes clean with a trace of umami that sits on the tongue. £7 for 15g, which is fifteen bowls.

Izu Green matcha powder, finely stone ground, photographed from above on a cream background

Izu Green. Stone ground to 10 to 16 micron, which is what makes it suspend rather than settle.

How to make matcha, with no ceremony at all

Two grams of matcha into a wide bowl or a mug. Sift it if it has been sitting a while, because clumps will not whisk out.
Let the kettle stand for three or four minutes after boiling. Water straight off the boil scalds matcha and turns it bitter. Around 80 degrees is right.
Add 60ml of that water and whisk briskly in a W, not a circle, for fifteen seconds. You want a fine foam across the top.
Drink it as it is, or top with another 100ml of water, or with hot milk for a latte.

Iced is easier still. Whisk the same two grams into a splash of cool water, then pour over a full glass of ice and top with milk or water. No heat, no bitterness, nothing to go wrong.

If plain matcha is not your thing

Not everyone wants the pure version, and there is nothing precious about this. The flavoured matchas are made the same way and drink the same, with the flavour milled in.

Where to start

Purist

Izu Green. Clean, green, nothing added.

Floral

Jasmine Matcha. Jasmine from Fujian, milled with Japanese technique. Best without milk.

Latte

Vanilla Matcha. Creamy and soft, the one that behaves like a coffee shop order.

Spiced

Chai-Izu Matcha. Izu Green with a chai spice profile. Warm, peppery, and the most autumnal of them.

Caffeine free

Berry Blush. Berries and hibiscus. Skip the milk, hibiscus and dairy do not get along.

Questions we get

What is matcha?

Shade grown green tea leaves, steamed, dried and stone ground into a fine powder. Unlike other teas it is whisked into water and drunk whole rather than steeped and strained.

What is the difference between matcha and green tea?

Green tea is an infusion of the leaf. Matcha is the leaf itself, ground fine enough to suspend in water, which is why it has body and a deeper colour.