Matcha Guide: Grades, How It's Made & How to Choose

Written by Christian Mauerer, Founder of One with Tea. We source directly from named Japanese organic farms.

Matcha is powdered Japanese green tea made from shade-grown leaf called tencha, which is steamed, dried, destemmed, and then stone-milled into a fine bright-green powder. Unlike loose-leaf tea that you steep and strain out, matcha is whisked whole into hot water, so you drink the entire leaf rather than an infusion of it. That single difference, whole leaf instead of steeped leaf, is why matcha is more concentrated in color, flavor, and caffeine than any tea you brew and pour off.

What makes matcha different from other green tea?

Two things set matcha apart, and both change what ends up in your cup. The first is that you drink the whole leaf. Loose-leaf sencha or gyokuro is steeped and the leaf is discarded, so you only taste what dissolved into the water. Matcha is milled into powder and suspended in the liquid, so nothing is poured off. You consume the leaf entirely, which makes the flavor, the color, and the caffeine more concentrated.

The second is shade. Matcha is made from leaf that grew under cloth in the weeks before harvest, the same growing method behind gyokuro. Starved of direct sun, the plant produces more chlorophyll and more L-theanine, an amino acid that reads on the palate as sweetness and savory umami rather than briskness. That is why good matcha tastes smooth and full rather than sharp and grassy, and why its green is so vivid. For where this method sits in the wider family, see our Japanese green tea guide.

How is matcha made?

Matcha begins in the field, not the mill. Two to four weeks before harvest, the tea plants are covered with shade cloth or reed screens. The shade is what turns ordinary leaf into matcha leaf, building the sweetness, the umami, and the deep color that define it. After harvest, the leaf is steamed within hours to lock in its fresh-green character, then dried.

At this stage it is called tencha. The dried leaf is sorted, and the stems and veins are removed so that only the soft leaf flesh remains. That deveined, destemmed leaf is then ground slowly between two granite stones into the fine powder you whisk into water. Stone-milling is gentle and slow on purpose, because heat and speed dull both the color and the flavor. A single mill turns out only a small amount of finished matcha per hour, which is part of why real matcha is never cheap.

Each step is a place where quality is won or lost. Skimp on shading and the leaf stays grassy and thin. Rush the steaming and the color fades. Leave the stems in and the powder turns dull and a little bitter. Mill too fast and the friction heat flattens the aroma. When you taste a matcha that is smooth, sweet, and vividly green, you are tasting a farm that did each of those steps slowly and well. That is why origin and the name behind the leaf matter so much, and why a vague label with no region tells you almost nothing.

Shading is the idea that ties the whole Japanese green tea family together. Sencha is grown in full sun, so it is bright and grassy. Gyokuro is shade-grown loose leaf, so it is sweet, deep, and rich. Matcha takes that same shade-grown leaf, removes the stems and veins, and mills it into powder. Move along the shading axis and you move from everyday and brisk toward sweet, savory, and ceremonial. Once you feel that one variable, the rest of the menu stops looking like a wall of unfamiliar words.

What do matcha grades actually mean?

You will see matcha sold as ceremonial, latte, or culinary grade. These words describe intended use and leaf quality, and they are genuinely useful, but here is the honest part: none of them is a regulated or legally defined term. No Japanese or international body certifies "ceremonial grade." Any seller can print it on any tin. So treat the words as a starting point and judge the powder itself by color, aroma, texture, origin, and lab testing.

In practice, the labels map to real differences. Ceremonial grade is made from the youngest, most tender first-harvest leaf, milled finest, smooth enough to drink on its own with just water. Latte grade is a slightly bolder, more affordable everyday matcha built to hold its flavor against milk and a little sweetness. Culinary grade is robust and intended for baking, smoothies, and cooking, where it is mixed with other ingredients rather than tasted neat. We cover the term in depth in our explainer on what "ceremonial grade" matcha really means, and we walk through spotting a fake in our guide to telling real Japanese matcha from counterfeit.

How do you choose your matcha?

Start with how you plan to drink it. If you are new to matcha and want to make it with milk, sweetener, or in a smoothie, begin with a latte grade. It is forgiving, affordable, and built to taste good when it is not on its own, so you can practice whisking without spending on the finest leaf. If you find pure matcha too intense at first, this is the gentlest place to start.

If matcha is becoming a daily habit and you want to drink it straight with just water, step up to an organic ceremonial grade. It is smoother, sweeter, and made for tasting on its own, and it rewards a careful whisk. When you are ready to taste the ceiling, a royal or superior ceremonial grade is the most refined leaf we carry, the cup that shows what shade-grown first-harvest matcha can be. For a beginner-first walkthrough, our guide to the best matcha for beginners talks you through the first purchase. There is no wrong door here. Taste honestly and follow what you like.

How do you prepare matcha?

Start by sifting one to two small scoops, about one to two grams, through a fine strainer into your bowl. Sifting breaks up the clumps that powder naturally forms, which is what gives you a smooth cup instead of a lumpy one. Add a little water that has cooled below the boil, roughly 158 to 176°F (70 to 80°C), because water near boiling scorches the fine leaf and pulls out bitterness.

Whisk briskly in a light W or zigzag motion until a fine foam rises on top, then add the rest of your water. That is usucha, or thin matcha, the everyday way most people drink it: light, frothy, easy. Koicha, or thick matcha, uses more powder and less water, kneaded with the whisk into a glossy, paint-thick liquid. Koicha is the formal tea-ceremony style and asks for the finest ceremonial leaf, since there is nowhere for a lesser powder to hide.

A bamboo whisk, a chasen, makes the smoothest foam, but a small electric frother works too when you are starting out. The two things that matter most are sifting and water that is not too hot, since those are the usual reasons a cup comes out lumpy or bitter. For an iced matcha, whisk it the same way with a little hot water first, then pour it over ice and cold milk or water. Either way, take the moment. The sifting, the whisking, the pause before the first sip is part of the practice, not a delay before it.

Our matcha, by grade

Here is the full range. Each grade links to the tea itself, and you can browse them all in our matcha collection.

Grade	What it is	Best for	Shop
Royal Ceremonial	Our most refined first-harvest leaf, stone-milled finest. Sweet, deep, full of umami.	Drinking straight, the finest cup	Shop
Superior Ceremonial	Tender shade-grown leaf, smooth and rounded, just under the royal tier.	Daily ceremonial, drinking with water	Shop
USDA Organic Ceremonial	Certified-organic ceremonial grade, smooth enough to drink neat. In a 30g tin or 60g pouch.	Everyday ceremonial, organic-first drinkers	30g · 60g
Latte Grade	A bolder, more affordable organic matcha that holds its flavor against milk.	Lattes, smoothies, learning to whisk	Shop
Strawberry Matcha	Organic ceremonial matcha blended with real strawberry. Bright, fruity, soft.	Iced lattes, a sweeter daily cup	Shop
Genmaicha-Matcha	Matcha-dusted green tea with toasted brown rice. Nutty, toasty, comforting.	Everyday sipping, gentle on caffeine	Shop

For how matcha prices have moved and why, see our living Japanese matcha price tracker.

How we source, and why it shows up in the cup

We hold direct relationships with named Japanese organic-certified farms rather than buying through a re-packer, which means we know the prefecture, the cultivar, and the harvest behind each matcha we sell. Every lot is third-party tested for heavy metals and pesticides, and we publish those panels on our Lab Results page. We mention this not as a sales line but because it is the honest answer to the question we hear most: how do you know what you are actually drinking? With matcha, where you consume the whole leaf, that answer should always be a named region, a harvest, and a test you can read.

Frequently asked questions

What is matcha?

Matcha is powdered Japanese green tea made from shade-grown leaf called tencha. The leaf is steamed, dried, destemmed, and stone-milled into a fine bright-green powder. Instead of steeping and straining it like loose-leaf tea, you whisk matcha whole into hot water and drink the entire leaf, which makes it richer in flavor, color, and caffeine.

What is the difference between ceremonial and culinary matcha?

Ceremonial grade is made from the youngest, most tender first-harvest leaf and milled finest, smooth enough to drink straight with just water. Culinary grade is a bolder, more affordable matcha meant for baking, smoothies, and cooking, where it is mixed with other ingredients. Neither term is regulated, so judge by color, aroma, and origin too.

Is matcha high in caffeine?

Matcha carries more caffeine than most steeped green teas because you drink the whole leaf rather than an infusion, and because shade-grown leaf concentrates caffeine. A typical cup sits below a cup of coffee but above ordinary brewed green tea. Our guide to matcha and caffeine breaks the numbers down in detail.

How much matcha do you use per cup?

For everyday thin matcha, or usucha, use about one to two grams of powder, roughly one to two small scoops, with two to three ounces of water below the boil. Sift it first, whisk to a fine foam, then top up. Thick matcha, or koicha, uses more powder and less water for a glossy, concentrated cup.

Is matcha better than coffee?

Neither is better, they are just different. Matcha delivers caffeine alongside L-theanine, an amino acid that many drinkers describe as a calmer, steadier kind of alertness than coffee gives. Matcha also carries less caffeine per cup than most coffee. If you want a smoother lift and a ritual to slow down with, matcha is worth trying. We avoid health claims; this is about the experience.

How do you store matcha?

Keep matcha sealed, away from air, light, heat, and moisture, since all four dull its color and flavor. An airtight tin in a cool, dark cupboard works well, and the fridge or freezer helps for longer storage if the container is fully sealed. Let chilled matcha return to room temperature before opening to avoid condensation. Once open, drink it within a few weeks for the brightest cup.