testing the quality of matcha powders 🍵👩‍🔬🧪

A little overdue matcha post! Literally felt like I was back in the chem lab while doing this, and our results have to go somewhere… So here we go - a report of my findings to test the quality of matcha 👩‍🔬😂🧪

because my most asked question regarding matcha has to be what powder I use, i thought no better way to actually tell you, than to show you via an exciting experiment 🙈

SO!! HOW TO TEST FOR QUALITY (if you’re comparing across brands)

1️⃣ The type of powder you use is going to affect how your matcha tastes overall. If you want a rich and high quality one, start by looking at the color. Helps to compare between a few brands.

The higher quality ceremonial grade powders usually are

🌿 Brighter more vibrant green

🌿 Less clumpy, more fine

🌿 Thick and Smooth after whisking

They’re usually made from young green tea leaves (first harvest) and are very delicate and fine (which is why they’re often the most expensive even for just a small amount of powder)

The lower quality powders are usually “premium” or “culinary” grade and they usually are

🌿 duller in color, a “mossy” type green

🌿 more clumpy, less fine

🌿 harder to get a foamy surface after whisking

They’re usually cheaper and sold at larger quantities. Not saying that they can’t make great matcha lattes (personal preference!), but if we’re going for quality here, then this is to take into account

2️⃣ Draw the line on paper with the powder

This literally felt like a chemistry experiment and took me back to our lab days 👩‍🔬 !! Look for a thick, bold line that doesn’t fade off, while still maintaining color. The lower quality the matcha, the line won’t be long and it’ll show up coarse instead of smooth.

3️⃣ remember that this quality test isn’t the be all, end all!! It’s just a baseline test I was excited to try after researching, but to test true quality there are other questions to consider and it all boils down to personal preference…. What you’re using your matcha powder for, how your powder is stored and how it’s being prepared will also be factors that come into play. A paper swatch test can only tell a little bit of the full story 🫶

Now for my powder recos!!

🏅 marukyu-koyamaen — will never go back to what I was using before after trying this!! all sold out on their web, but shopee/lazada has some

🏅 ippodo-tea — mom brought some back for me from Tokyo a couple months ago, they were sooo good but also sold out on their web!

🏅 tao of tea — on iherb, not the best but also not the worst. i can tell the difference between higher quality ones, but not too bad!

🏅 crafti — on their web, also not the best but not the worst. Not too bad for those who want a milder matcha taste (it’s just that I love mine strong haha)

That’s all I’ve tried so far 🙈🍵 because I have it everyday, this was such a cool experiment to try and also so nice to learn about the different qualities and types of matcha through it.

yay yay okayy have fun!! 🤩