
Your Guide Is
On Its Way!
I’ve emailed you your free guide on the Top 10 mistakes when using matcha green tea.
Don’t see the email? Please check your spam folder and move the email into your inbox.
Find out ways to identify the different qualities of matcha, and how to always find the perfect matcha grade for you.
Home / Matcha Tea Academy / Matcha Grades and buyer guide
The quality of matcha is what we call the matcha grade. As for buying matcha, whatever the matcha grade, every matcha farmer applies the same agricultural process for the harvest and production of matcha tea.
It’s therefore worth learning how to recognise the differences between a high-quality matcha and lower-quality matcha, and when each can be used.
From an agricultural point of view, a matcha farmer can create as much as grades available as they desire. It all depends on factors such as the types of tea blends, harvest dates, and origin of the tea leaves. To make this easier for the consumer, the market created a difference in label between high-quality (ceremonial), medium quality (traditional) and lower quality (culinary). How to buy high-quality matcha?
Flavour Profile:
Vegetal and creamy, delicate with a sweet umami flavour
USE:
Tea whisked in a bowl
Flavour Profile:
Grassy, bitter aftertaste, no sweet flavours
USE:
Cooking & baking only
Ceremonial matcha is the highest and most premium quality among the other available matcha grades. It has a solid-green colour with a combination of delicate test & fine texture. Ceremonial grade matcha is made up of the youngest tea leaves which are stone-ground to make it appropriate for green tea with a thicker consistency.
Made particularly for drinking, or raw consumption, mixing it up with warm water or milk to extract the optimum flavour.
An organic, sweet & mild taste, with umami flavour, and a lingering sweet aftertaste. No bitterness at all.
In its purest and original form, matcha powder has a highly fresh smell and smooth texture. The tone remains gloriously green throughout.
It has such fine quality that its natural aroma is felt best in its purest form only by adding water or milk. Definitely not for cooking or even baking.
Matcha For blending
Matcha For sipping
good
great
best
Traditional matcha is an ideal choice for the ones who are new to the taste and concept of matcha. Unlike Ceremonial & Culinary, the Traditional matcha has a balanced green appearance – not too sharp and not too faded.
This all-around quality is the right choice to begin with. Suitable for preparing tea.
It has soft taste, not so sour, has a suitably complex taste, sometimes bitter.
This matcha quality looks noticeably green. With a clean and fresh aroma.
Can be consumed in pure form with milk or water, or mixed with other ingredients such as sugar.
Culinary is used for baking and cooking, as you can probably tell by its name. It is prepared differently, yielding a robust flavour, while retaining a characteristic green shade.
Culinary grade fits beautifully alongside other ingredients in numerous drinks and foods, such as smoothies and baked items.
With a stronger flavour in comparison to Ceremonial quality matcha, Culinary is less sugary-sweet with more of a bitter essence.
Culinary matcha quality might not look as bright-green as Ceremonial grade Matcha. However, its colour retains a vibrant hue.
Compared to other grades, you might need to add an extra scoop of culinary grade matcha to the recipe.
Not all matcha teas are created equal. Even if a label mentions a ceremonial experience, this is subject to origin, location, production date, storage and much more. You're the best person to identify a good quality matcha, so here's what to look for.
Rub the matcha through your fingers. Make sure it has a consistent grind, feels fine and smooth to touch. A good test is to put a little bit on a white paper and stain it out. Good quality matcha should leave a long and clean line, without breaks.
Look for a vibrant and bright green colour. Low-quality matcha often has a dull and yellow colour.
High-quality matcha smells like fresh leaves, with a somewhat vegetal aroma, while lower qualities tend to have a stale smell.
A high-quality grade should create a very creamy experience in the mouth, umami flavour with a lingering sweet aftertaste. A lower-quality grade has some bitterness and a grassy flavour.
A high-quality grade creates a thick, frothy, foamy layer of bubbles when whisked. This should also stay for a while. Low-quality grades tend to generate few bubbles that don't last long.
High-quality grades are only sold in airtight tin or glass containers to preserve their freshness. A zip-lock bag, plastic bag or others are always an indication of low quality.
Want the latest and greatest matcha recipes and news straight to your inbox?
I’ve emailed you your free guide on the Top 10 mistakes when using matcha green tea.
Don’t see the email? Please check your spam folder and move the email into your inbox.
So You Can Make A Healthy Lifestyle Tasty and Easy!