Matcha is green tea in its most complete form. The leaves are shaded before harvest, steamed, dried and ground, traditionally between stones, into a fine powder. Rather than steeping it, you whisk the powder into water and drink the whole leaf, which is why the colour is so vivid and the taste so full.
Making a bowl at home takes about three minutes and very little equipment. What separates a smooth, bright cup from a bitter, lumpy one is a handful of small details: the warmth of the water, a quick sifting of the powder, and the movement of the whisk. Two grams of matcha, sixty millilitres of water at about 80°C, and about fifteen seconds of whisking.
What you need. A matcha bowl, preferably a Raku chawan, though any wide bowl with room for a whisk to move will work too. A bamboo whisk (chasen), a small fine-mesh sieve, matcha, and hot water. A heaped bamboo scoop (chashaku) holds about 1 to 1.5 g, and 2 g is about a level teaspoon. If you have no whisk, a small handheld milk frother will do.
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Warming the bowl
Pour a little hot water into the empty bowl and stand the whisk in it, tines down, for a minute. The warmth readies the bowl, and the water softens the bamboo so the fine tines bend rather than break. Pour the water away and wipe the bowl dry.
Then sift about 2 g of matcha into the bowl, pressing it gently through the sieve with the scoop. Matcha draws moisture from the air and clumps easily. Sifting is the simplest way to a smooth bowl.
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Pouring
Pour in about 60 ml of water at about 80°C. Water straight from the boil scorches the tea and draws out its bitterness. A kettle with a temperature setting makes this easy. Otherwise, pour the boiled water into a cup, let it rest for a minute or two, then pour it over the matcha.
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Whisking
Steady the bowl with one hand. With the other, hold the whisk upright and move it quickly back and forth from the wrist, in a loose M or zigzag. Keep the tines off the bottom of the bowl and work through the upper part of the tea. Slow circles will mix it, but they will not make it foam.
After about fifteen seconds, the surface turns pale and fine bubbles cover it.
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Drinking
Slow the whisk for the last few strokes, passing it lightly over the surface to settle any larger bubbles. Lift it straight up from the centre, and drink while the foam holds.
A good bowl is bright green and smooth, with a fine, even foam, gently sweet and savoury with only a light bitterness.
Thin tea and thick tea
Usucha (薄茶), thin tea, is the bowl described above, and the lighter and more common of the two. About 2 g of matcha is whisked with about 60 ml of water into a light, frothy tea, and each guest is served a bowl of their own.
Koicha (濃茶), thick tea, uses about twice the matcha and less water: roughly 4 g to 30 or 40 ml. It is not whisked into foam. Instead, the whisk is moved slowly to knead the powder and water into a smooth, glossy tea. Koicha is served at formal tea gatherings, where a single bowl is passed from guest to guest, and it calls for the finest, sweetest matcha.
Lattes and iced matcha are modern ways to enjoy it, and both begin with a bowl of whisked matcha.
When it does not go to plan
If it tastes bitter, the water was most likely too hot. Let it cool to about 80°C. Too much powder, or matcha that has been open too long, adds bitterness too.
If there are lumps, the powder needs sifting. For lattes, stir the matcha into a spoonful of water to make a smooth paste before adding the rest.
If it will not foam, whisk faster and from the wrist rather than in circles. Lower-quality matcha also foams less readily.
If the bubbles are large, check the water temperature and the sifting, and finish with lighter strokes near the surface. A worn whisk can also be the cause.
These amounts are only a starting point. A little more water makes a lighter bowl; a little more matcha makes a deeper one.
With milk
A matcha latte is an easy way to enjoy matcha every day. Milk softens the bitterness and adds body, and whole milk or barista-style oat milk are both good places to start.
For a hot latte, whisk 3 g of matcha with 100 ml of water at about 80°C, pour it into a cup, and add 100 ml of warm or frothed milk. For an iced latte, fill a glass with ice and 100 ml of cold milk, then pour the freshly whisked matcha over the top.
Choosing and keeping matcha
Words like "ceremonial" and "culinary" are helpful hints, but they are not official grades. Colour says more. Good matcha is a vivid, bright green, from a named region of Japan such as Uji near Kyoto or Yame in Fukuoka. For drinking with water alone, choose a smooth, higher-quality matcha. For lattes, a sturdier everyday matcha holds its own against the milk.
Once opened, matcha fades quickly. Keep it sealed in an opaque tin, away from heat, light and moisture, and use it within about a month. A cool cupboard is fine; for longer storage, keep it in the fridge and let the tin come to room temperature before opening it.
The bowl
Any wide bowl will make good matcha, but a true matcha bowl, a chawan, changes the experience. It is shaped around the whisk, with a rounded well deep enough to move in and walls high enough to keep the tea in the bowl. It is held in both hands and raised to drink, so its weight, warmth and texture become part of the tea.
The shape changes with the seasons. Wide, shallow bowls let the tea cool quickly and are used in summer. Tall, narrow bowls hold the warmth and are used in winter.
Of all tea bowls, Raku is the one most closely tied to the Japanese tea ceremony. It was first made in sixteenth-century Kyoto by the potter Chōjirō for the tea master Sen no Rikyū. Each bowl is shaped entirely by hand, without a wheel, then fired briefly and taken from the kiln to cool in the open air. An early twentieth-century saying still ranks the bowls most treasured by tea masters: ichi Raku, ni Hagi, san Karatsu. First Raku, second Hagi, third Karatsu.
The thick, porous walls hold the warmth of the tea while staying comfortable in the hands, and the dark glaze sets off the green of the matcha. Rinse a Raku bowl in warm water before each use, so the clay takes up water rather than tea. Its full story is in What Is Raku Pottery?
Raku-Yaki Black Raku Chawan - Rakunyū - Kyoto
A few questions
Can matcha be made without a bamboo whisk?
Yes. A small handheld frother makes a good foam. For a cold drink, you can also shake 2 g of matcha with 200 to 350 ml of cool water in a sealed bottle. Never use hot water in a closed bottle.
Is matcha better with water or milk?
Both are good. With water, you taste the matcha itself, grassy, savoury and gently sweet. Milk softens it and makes it creamier.
Which should I start with, usucha or koicha?
Usucha. It is the everyday bowl and the easier of the two to make. Koicha needs very fine matcha and is usually kept for formal tea.
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