There are two main grades of matcha: culinary and ceremonial. The former is best for cooking purposes, the latter for general drinking purposes. You can whisk ceremonial matcha with hot water for traditional tea or mix it with milk for a matcha latte. Each 1/2 teaspoon of PureChimp matcha green tea will contain approximately 59 mg of EGCG. This is the catechin in green tea that has been investigated all over the world for its health-promoting properties. Each cup will also contain 32 mg of caffeine. If you have the chance to see a matcha's color, even looking up pictures online, you can get a better sense of its taste and quality. Brighter usually means better. Striking green hues indicate more flavor and less bitterness, while duller colors or yellowish tints are signs that matcha is either lower quality or better used for cooking purposes. Our favorite mushroom-boosted matcha is Renude's Chaga Matcha, which combines ceremonial grade matcha sourced from Japan with chaga mushrooms. Cacao, Ceylon cinnamon, and monk fruit sweetener are also added to create a delicious flavor. We tried the matcha ourselves and were impressed by how much sweeter it is than typical matcha, yet it doesn't contain any sugar. This makes it especially suitable for iced matcha too. I also haven’t found it to make me queasy when I drink it on an empty stomach as can happen occasionally with sencha green tea.

PureChimp matcha green tea has a very pleasant and savory taste while being mildly sweet and gentle on the taste buds. Despite how detailed these processes seem, good matcha can be made by simple, even crude, means. Puyane told us: "I get a lot of questions like, 'How do I make matcha at home?' 'Do I need special tools—a bowl, a whisk?' When it comes down to it, you can make matcha in a protein shaker if you wanted to." We considered several factors in selecting our top ceremonial matcha. Taste weighs heavily, of course, but price, variety of sizes, and sourcing region are components as well, which is why Matcha Konomi’s Akira Organic Ceremonial Matcha is a terrific all-around option, suitable for newbies to longtime fanatics. Just keep in mind that this is not the flat-out tastiest matcha powder you can buy; for that, look at higher-priced products (some of which are included on this list). Having a cup of green tea in the morning has become somewhat of a ritual for me over the years but I started to use products that had flavoring in them such as lemon, ginger, or jasmine. However, with the matcha tea, I prefer it natural and untainted with any other flavors.I’m enjoying the product so much and they have a great policy to give 5% of the profits to charity to help chimps. It’s best not to pour boiling water into the cup, so let it cool down for a minute or two first. I’ve found that this helps a lot and improves the taste. Getting the right temperature is important for the perfect brew! But maybe you’re new to the world of green tea and you’re saying to yourself: “matcha, sencha? I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, I just drink green tea…”

The most common style of matcha tea is usucha, or "thin tea." To make usucha, scoop 1 teaspoon of matcha powder into a bowl. Next, heat water to 176 degrees and pour 2 to 4 ounces over the matcha powder. Use a matcha whisk, also called a Chasen, to blend the water and matcha powder; briskly whisk in a "W" or "M" pattern for around 20 seconds until the matcha has evenly dissolved. From there the tea is ready to drink. You can add a creamer or more water as well as sweeteners like honey and sugar to suit your taste. This is my first foray into matcha tea and I am very impressed! The tea is a nice colour green and mixed well using the supplied whisk.

Conclusion

Culinary grade matcha can be enjoyed in traditional tea form, but it's best for mixing into recipes: smoothies, baked goods, salt—you name it. Since the tencha leaves are harvested later in season and ground with more heat, the resulting powder has a darker color and more bitter taste. This helps it "stand up to the strong flavors in milk, butter, and sugar," explains Puyane. Matcha naturally contains caffeine, so the vast majority of matcha powders are caffeinated. Some brands sell decaf matcha, but it's uncommon. A serving of matcha contains 40 to 70 milligrams of caffeine on average.