How to Choose a Matcha

The right matcha depends on the cup you have in mind.

• A thin, frothy bowl (usucha). Whisked with water alone, a high-grade matcha shows its sweetness, because nothing covers it.
• A thick, syrupy bowl (koicha). Only the higher grades have the depth for this style.
• A latte or iced matcha. Milk and sweetener soften the cup, so an everyday matcha holds its own and costs less per cup.
• Baking and cooking. Culinary matcha has a more muted flavor, made to stand up to other ingredients.
• No whisk at all. Matcha blends are steeped like other teas.

There is no official grading system for matcha. Tasters judge it by how young, soft, and fragrant the leaves are and how much umami they carry, and much of that judgment is a matter of taste. “Ceremonial” simply means tea suited to the tea ceremony, and many brands use the word to signal quality, so read past it to the details: the harvest, the region, and how the tea is meant to be prepared.

We describe our own ceremonial matchas by how they can be prepared: thin grade for usucha, thick grade for koicha, and extra thick grade, our own term for the leaf with the most umami and sweetness. Culinary matcha is made for the kitchen.

Matcha starts as tencha: tea leaves shaded for a few weeks before harvest, then steamed and air-dried rather than rolled. The first spring harvest gives the youngest leaves, with the most umami and sweetness and the least astringency. Later harvests make a lighter or brisker matcha that is easy to drink every day and pairs well with milk. Neither is better in every cup; they are made for different ones.

The regions known for the highest-quality matcha are in Japan, and a good label names one. Uji, just south of Kyoto, is considered the birthplace of matcha, with a cool, misty climate and mineral-rich soil; Wazuka Valley, south of Uji, has made matcha for centuries. Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu, has warm days, cool nights, and soil enriched by the volcano Sakurajima. A named region means someone knows exactly where the tea grew.

Matcha is the whole leaf ground to powder, so the mill shapes the cup. Granite stone mills turn slowly enough to keep the leaf cool, which keeps the powder fine and bright green, and the irregular particles they make whisk better than powder from industrial grinding. It is slow work: a single small tin of our Jobetsugi takes close to two hours to grind.

Matcha oxidizes and changes color easily, so freshness shows. Look for a bright, vivid green and a powder that feels very smooth between your fingers. Unopened, matcha keeps for about a year. Once opened, it is best within 8 to 12 weeks, so buy the size you will finish: a 30 g tin makes about 15 bowls, an 80 g tin about 40, and a one-pound bag more than 200. Store it sealed in the fridge, away from light and air.

Compare matchas by the cost of a bowl, not the price of a tin. Divide the price by the grams in the package and multiply by two, since a traditional bowl takes about 2 g (a latte often takes more). By that measure our Organic Everyday comes to about 27 cents a cup and our Supreme to about 50 cents. Ceremonial grades cost more per bowl because they use the most carefully grown leaves and take more care to make. They are worth it when you drink matcha whisked with water alone; for a latte with milk and sweetener, an everyday matcha is the better buy.

• A named region, such as Uji, Wazuka, Joyo, or Kagoshima, not only “Japan.”
• A harvest you can find: first spring for the richest bowls, later for everyday cups and lattes.
• Grade words that come with an explanation.
• Stone-milled.
• A bright, vivid green.
• USDA Organic certification, if organic matters to you.
• A size you will finish within two or three months of opening.
• A price per cup that fits how you will drink it.

We built our matcha line as a ladder, so there is a place to start and somewhere to go next. Here is each one, by the facts above.

• Organic Everyday Matcha: Kagoshima, USDA Organic, summer harvest, stone-milled. A one-pound bag of more than 200 servings at about 27 cents a cup, and our best-selling matcha. Naturally sweet and soft.
• Supreme Matcha: from the same Uji-area gardens as our Jobetsugi, picked in the second harvest, stone-milled. An 80 g tin at about 50 cents a cup. Light and approachable, a natural first bowl and an easy latte.
• Culinary Matcha: Japanese matcha in a one-pound bag, made for baking, cooking, and lattes.

• Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha: Kagoshima, USDA Organic, early spring harvest, stone-milled, in a 30 g tin. Casaba melon and spring lettuce, and our organic step into ceremonial matcha.
• Jobetsugi Ceremonial Matcha (Thin Grade): Wazuka Valley, south of Uji, first spring harvest, stone-milled, in a 30 g or 80 g tin. Honeydew melon and garden greens, whisked thin.

• Senjunomukashi Ceremonial Matcha (Thick Grade): Joyo, just south of Uji, stone-milled, in a 30 g tin. Deep umami with spinach and Swiss chard, made for koicha.
• Unjonotomo Ceremonial Matcha (Extra Thick Grade): grown along the banks of the Uji River, hand-picked young and harvested once a season, stone-milled, in a 30 g tin. Our highest ceremonial grade, and the sweetest and creamiest of our thick matchas.

• White Peach Matcha, Very Berry Matcha, Earl Grey Matcha, and Matcha iri Genmaicha: each built on bancha green tea with matcha, and steeped like other teas.
• Dragon Matcha (jasmine pearls and matcha) and Matcha Sen (Shizuoka sencha and matcha): no whisk needed either.

Harney & Sons is a family tea company in Millerton, New York, founded by John Harney in 1983 and now in its third generation. Mike Harney selects our matchas, and our tasting team cups every new lot before it reaches the shelf. Our Uji matchas are chosen with Tsuyoshi Sugimoto, whose family blends Uji tea. We have spent decades buying and tasting Japanese tea, and every matcha is whisked and tasted at our table, then tasted again, before it earns a place in our line.