How to recognize good matcha?

How to recognize good matcha?

Good matcha is mainly recognized by its color . It must be intensely green, because the higher and the younger the leaves were, the more chlorophyll they have, which is responsible for the intense green color. Leaves growing lower are more yellow, because they have less light. Therefore, the more intensely green the matcha is, the better the leaves were used to produce it, and the more yellow, the older and from the lower parts of the plant.

The second quality indicator is consistency. The more silky the powder, the better. We can check this by grinding the matcha, for example, on a white sheet of paper. The best matcha is usually ground the longest to the finest powder. We grind both types on a traditional stone matcha mill, but you can still see the differences in the photo below between our ceremonial and regular matcha. A bad matcha will be completely brown and we will not be able to make a continuous line.

Bitter notes do not always mean poor quality because whether matcha has them depends on the region and cultivation method. Of course, if matcha is undrinkable or if the matcha has a fishy aftertaste, it is an indicator of poor quality and late harvest.

The following scale can be used to check any type of matcha, which I encourage. Matcha classes such as: everyday matcha, traditional matcha, premium matcha, luxury matcha, etc. are invented for marketing purposes and do not tell us much about the quality of the product. In reality, the quality is determined by the features I have described.