Matcha
How to make matcha at home (and the Japanese words for it)
A simple, step-by-step guide to whisking a bowl of matcha at home, the tools you need, how to choose good matcha, and the Japanese words that go with it.
Matcha is green tea ground into a fine powder. Instead of steeping leaves and throwing them away, you whisk the powder into hot water and drink the whole leaf. It's quick, calming, and easier to get right than it looks.
Here's how to make a bowl of everyday matcha, usucha (thin tea), at home.
What you need
A chasen (bamboo whisk) makes the biggest difference: it's carved from a single piece of bamboo split into dozens of fine tines, and nothing else makes the same light foam. A wide chawan gives the whisk room to move; any wide, deep bowl will do to start. You also need a small sieve.
If you don't have a chashaku, use about one level teaspoon.
How to whisk a bowl, step by step
- Warm the bowl. Pour hot water into the bowl, dip the whisk tines in to soften them, then tip the water out and dry the bowl.
- Sift the matcha. Sift about 2 g (two scoops with a chashaku, or about a teaspoon) into the bowl. Sifting stops lumps, and lumps are the main reason matcha turns out gritty.
- Add hot, not boiling, water. Pour in about 60 ml of water at around 80°C. Boiling water makes matcha bitter. If you don't have a thermometer, let a just-boiled kettle stand for a few minutes, or pour the water into another cup first to cool it.
- Whisk. Hold the bowl with one hand and whisk quickly from the wrist in an M or W zigzag, not in circles, for about 15 seconds, until fine foam covers the top.
- Finish gently. Slow down, smooth the bigger bubbles at the surface, and lift the whisk out from the centre.
Drink it straight away, while the foam is fresh.
Thin tea and thick tea
What you've just made is usucha (薄茶, "thin tea"): the everyday kind, light and foamy. There's also koicha (濃茶, "thick tea"), with about twice the matcha and half the water. Koicha is mixed slowly into a glossy, syrupy tea with no foam, and at formal tea gatherings guests share one bowl.
Choosing good matcha
You'll often see matcha sold as "ceremonial grade". Japan has no official grade by that name; the term was invented abroad for marketing, so it can mean very different things. Look instead for:
- A bright, vivid jade green. Dull, yellowish or brownish matcha is older or lower quality.
- Where it was grown. Uji near Kyoto is the most famous name, and Nishio in Aichi is another historic matcha town.
- A sweet, fresh smell, not a hay-like or dusty one.
- The harvest. First-flush tea, ichibancha (一番茶), is the finest.
Once it's open, keep matcha sealed in a cool, dark place away from strong smells, and use it up within a few weeks. If you keep a sealed tin in the fridge, let it reach room temperature before opening it, so no moisture forms inside.
Look after your whisk
Rinse the chasen in warm water straight after use (no soap) and let it dry standing upright, ideally on a whisk holder, so it keeps its shape. A well-kept whisk lasts for months.
The Japanese to go with it
In Japan, お茶 (ocha) on its own usually means everyday green tea such as sencha. Matcha is more of a treat, often served with a small seasonal sweet, eaten before the tea, so its sweetness balances the matcha's gentle bitterness.
In Hitokuchi's tea house lesson you learn to order matcha and sweets in Japanese, with audio for every phrase.
Keep reading
MatchaMatcha grades explained: what “ceremonial grade” really meansWhy "ceremonial grade" isn't an official Japanese matcha grade, what actually decides matcha quality, and how to choose a good one, with the Japanese words on the label.
MatchaThe Japanese tea ceremony: a simple guide for guestsWhat happens at a Japanese tea ceremony, how to receive and drink a bowl of matcha, and the few phrases a guest says, explained simply for first-timers.
BasicsJapanese greetings for every time of dayHow to say hello, good morning, goodnight and goodbye in Japanese, when to use each one, and the everyday set phrases Japanese people say at home and work.