11 Tips to Make Your Matcha Taste Good!

have you ever made a bowl of matcha that didn't taste so great even though you were following the brewing guidelines whether you don't like the taste or the quality of the matcha you're drinking there are ways to make the next bowl better because there are so many different strategies you can use to make a better tasting bowl of matcha we decided we would put them all together into one big list get ready to channel your inner tea master with this guide on how to make matcha taste good before we get started it would really mean a lot to us if you could subscribe to our youtube channel and stay tuned for future tea videos we've hundreds of videos on all sorts of topics related to japanese green tea but for this episode we're gonna focus on matcha specifically without further ado let's get started first tip is to start with ceremonial grade matcha not cooking grade matcha the most important thing when it comes to making matcha taste good is to go for the first harvest ceremonial grade matcha latte grade matcha can really be great if you're combining the tea with oat milk but if you're drinking it plain with water you really want to go for the good stuff for first time matcha drinkers we recommend to go for an okumidori matcha like the noike matcha while most matcha teas are made from the yabukita cultivar this tea can be a little bit bitter for first-time cheese drinkers that's why we recommend to go for the much smoother okumidori cultivar the okamidori cultivar tends to be more difficult to produce so it's really reserved for premium matcha and kyopuro while most okumidori matches are quite expensive we found a small farmer outside of kyoto that produces a really great one for an affordable price which is perfect for beginners the noike matcha is smoother and less bitter than most matches while still maintaining a reasonable price tag this is a great one to start with if you plan on drinking the matcha plain let's talk a little bit about the different types of matcha teas so you don't get confused and end up with the wrong one first ceremonial grade matcha ceremonial grade matcha is intended to be consumed plain without any sweetener if you're wondering how to make matcha taste good the most important thing to do is to choose a matcha like this this matcha has a natural sweetness to it which is perfected during a long and careful production process it is possible to turn good powder into bad matcha tea but it's not possible to turn bad powder into good matcha tea so make sure you start out with the good stuff next we have latte grade matcha latte grade mash is the next step after ceremonial grade matcha during the production of this matcha tea certain steps from the ceremonial grade matcha production process are skipped as an example the later harvest of the tea leaves might be used so the flavor is slightly more bitter and the nutrient content is slightly lower this is no problem if you're planning on preparing matcha lattes as you will be adding milk and sugar to the tea even though this is seen as a lower quality matcha it's still important to get a matcha grown without the use of pesticides this is why all the matchas we offer are organically grown even the ones intended for lattes if you're trying to figure out how to make a matcha taste good plain you will have to go for a ceremonial matcha if you plan on adding milk and sugar to the tea the latte grade matcha is fine finally we have cooking great matcha cooking grade matcha or culinary match as it's also called is the lowest tier on the matcha totem pole this matcha will be made from the later harvests older leaves and it may include stems as well the tea will be extremely bitter if you drink it plain so it's really only acceptable if you're adding a lot of other ingredients this is exactly what you end up doing when you bake things like matcha brownies or matcha cookies so this culinary matcha is suitable for things like that when you're baking you're also going to end up using a lot of matcha powder so you want to choose an inexpensive one the second tip when it comes to how to make matcha taste good is to sift the powder this may seem like a small detail but can actually make a big difference matcha powder is very sensitive to humidity so as soon as it's opened up it will begin to form these clumps while these clumps don't impact the integrity of the matcha they don't mix well into the water and it can make the drinking experience less enjoyable if you want the powder to be mixed evenly into the water so each sip has the same consistency the easy way to fix this is just run the powder through the sifter right before you prepare the bowl of tea this will give you a nice fine powder at the bottom of the bowl and allow you to mix the tea much more easily the third tip on our guide of how to make matcha taste good is to use a higher ratio of matcha powder to water just like when you're preparing a leaf tea you want the bowl of matcha to be very concentrated in its flavor we typically recommend going for 2 grams of powder and 100 milliliters of water but you can always add more water later if the taste is too strong this high ratio of powder to water is also important when it comes to creating the foam on top but that's something we'll discuss a bit later the important thing for now is that you use two grams of powder 100 milliliters of water and a temperature of between 160 to 175 degrees fahrenheit this will ensure that you have a great tasting matcha that doesn't get too watered down the next tip is to use lower water temperature although matcha is less sensitive to water temperature compared to a loose leaf tea it still works best in a range between 160 to 175 degrees fahrenheit if the water temperature is too high the matcha will become very bitter this is one of the reasons why many people find matcha to be too bitter for them if you use boiling water you will extract more of the catechins from the matcha particles and create a more bitter tea because of all this the key to how to make matcha taste good is to use a lower temperature water the next way how to make matcha taste good is to use a bamboo tea whisk or cha scent this is the tool used during the japanese tea ceremony and although it's hundreds of years old it still is the best tool for making these beautiful foamy bowls of matcha the whisk is made out of a single piece of bamboo and the 100 small bristles move through the water to aerate the tea creating a nice foam on top this foam not only makes the matcha look nice it also creates a smoother and creamier taste if you don't have one of these at home the next best thing to use is the milk frother if you don't have either a milk frother or a chaw sand the last resort is to shake the tea up in a jar to mix it this does a good job of creating the foam but the downside is the matcha doesn't mix as evenly and it can form clumps that may throw off your drinking experience it's best to just get the bamboo t-whisk and start practicing your whisking technique once you get good enough you can invite friends over to host your own tea ceremony another tip is to make sure you prepare your matcha in a matcha bowl we sometimes see people whisking up matcha in a glass but this can be quite difficult because the glass doesn't allow as much space the best solution is to whisk your tea in a bowl so you have plenty of room to whisk the tea in these broader zigzag motions if you really want to get serious about your major tea you can go for the chawan or tea bowl this is the clay bowl used during the japanese tea ceremony and has a few different benefits first off the sides of the bowl are higher so there's less of a chance to spill the tea as you're mixing it also the heavy clay retains heat better so you can keep your matcha warmer for longer in the tea ceremony they will preheat this clay bowl beforehand so it doesn't take any heat away from the matcha on a cold day it can be nice to hold something warm like this while you sip your tea which is another benefit of the chawan the next tip is to whisk the matcha tea using the proper technique proper technique is very important when it comes to making matcha taste good when you see a matcha prepared by an expert you will notice a beautiful light cream foam on top which gives the tea a smoother and creamier texture this is perfected during the proper whisking technique and if you want to make your own foam you will have to move the whisk in rapid zigzag motions using your wrist the next tip is to be careful when you're flavoring your matcha in general it's recommended that you don't add any sort of flavor to your matcha matcha has a very strong flavor to it and it can clash with many additives if you want to use something like cocoa powder on your matcha for example the flavors will really not work well together because the chocolatey flavor of the cocoa powder will clash with the more vegetal flavors of the matcha tea if you really have to add something to your matcha tea which we recommend you don't use something sweet and neutral like white chocolate and eat it on the side this will help to smooth out the bitterness without conflicting with the natural flavor of the tea the next tip is to be careful when you're sweetening your matcha as well some people will give up on making matcha taste good and just load it up with sugar this defeats the point of drinking the matcha tea and you will really miss out on a lot of the unique flavors matcha has a very subtle natural sweetness to it and a fresh vegetal astringency a lot of this nuance is lost as soon as you add the sugar even if you're drinking much for the health benefits and not the taste a lot of these health benefits are cancelled out by adding sugar so it's best to simply avoid it finally it comes down to practice a guide of how to make matcha taste good would not be complete without a mention of practice this not only pertains to the whisking of the tea but also everything else as well after much experimentation you will start to learn what works and what doesn't of course you will fail a lot along the way but this is part of the tea journey given enough time you should be able to make your own matcha bowls like a pro and you won't have to put much thought into it either so let's go through what we learned and make two different bowls of matcha tea there are really two different styles of matcha preparation both of which can be used in the japanese tea ceremony the first is more common and that is usucha or thin tea the second is used in specialty ceremonies and has koicho or thick matcha once you master these two styles of preparation you can start to add in some of the tips you learned in our guide to make usucha first you place the sifter on top of the bowl add in one teaspoon of matcha push the powder through the sifter to get rid of the clumps add in just enough water to the bowl to form a paste which will make it easier to make sure that there are no clumps then you can add two ounces of water to the bowl at 85 degrees celsius now you're ready to whisk the tea start off by clearing off the sides in the bottom of the bowl and then whisk it to create the foam to prepare koicha you can start by placing the sifter on top of the bowl add two teaspoons of matcha powder to the sifter and then push the matcha powder through the sifter to get rid of the clumps now you're ready to add two ounces of water to the bowl at 85 degrees celsius but this time we won't be adding any additional water afterwards mix the powder and water together in the bowl until a thick paste is created make sure you completely scrape off the sides of the bowl to not waste any matcha now you're ready to drink the matcha paste and pass it from guest to guest which matcha powder should you choose after traveling around japan for the past few years we've met with dozens of different tea farmers and sampled hundreds of different majites we came up with a list of our 21 favorite majites and put them all together in our matcha tea sampler these teas are made in different regions by different farmers and from different tea plant varietals if you really want to take a deep dive and expand your palate from matcha this is the place to do it i hope you've all enjoyed this video on how to make matcha taste good if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments below until then we'll see you next time

Channel: Nioteas TV

Views: 25,809

Keywords: matcha, matcha latte, matcha tea, matcha tea recipe, matcha tea benefits, matcha tea ceremony, matcha tea preparation, matcha tea how to make, matcha tea set, making matcha, making matcha at home, making matcha without whisk, making matcha tea without whisk, making matcha tea with whisk, making matcha green tea, making matcha powder, making matcha powder at home, how to make matcha, how to make matcha tea, how to make matcha green tea, how to make matcha at home, green tea

Id: hwtEcjo2Nlg

Length: 9min 31sec (571 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 26 2022