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Matcha FAQs
General
What are matcha teas?
What are matcha leaves?
What does matcha taste like?
What matcha would you recommend as a good starter option?
How can I get the water temperature for matcha right?
Is your organic matcha certified?
Who can order from the wholesale section?
Health
What’s the best way to take matcha?
Is there a certain amount of matcha that I should be taking?
Can I drink matcha whilst pregnant / trying to conceive?
Is there caffeine in matcha?
Can matcha go bad / expire?
Are there more nutrients in the higher grades of matcha?
How much EGCg is there in matcha?
What's the total catechins in matcha?
Food
What are matcha pancakes?
What are matcha cookies?
What can matcha be mixed with?
What does matcha go well with?
What matcha can I use in food?
What do matcha lattes taste like?
What are matcha lattes and what do they taste like?
Logistics
How does your product come packaged?
How long will delivery take?
What happens if my order doesn’t arrive?
What are matcha lattes and what do they taste like?
A matcha latte is matcha green tea with steamed milk. Matcha lattes are often sweetened with sugar, honey or vanilla syrup. Matcha lattes are frequently made with non-dairy milk. This is often done because casein found in dairy milk may reduce your body’s ability to absorb the polyphenol content of food and drinks, which is one of the key nutritional attributes of matcha tea.
To make a simple matcha latte Put 1 tsp matcha (to taste) into bowl or cup, add a small amount of hot water
(75C or less), mix into a paste. Add sugar or honey (to taste) if desired. Pour matcha mix into a cup & top with 3/4 of a cup of warm milk. Stir and serve.
You can see an image of a matcha latte we made at the link below.
Matcha Latte
What do matcha lattes taste like?
Matcha Lattes, have a green tea taste with a natural sweetness, and it will leave a lingering vegetal savoury aftertaste. This flavour is called umami. These flavours vary depending on the type of milk
or sweeteners used.
What are matcha pancakes?
Matcha pancakes are just like normal pancakes, except they have matcha in them! The great news is
that they are easy to make. Just whisk up some matcha with water into a thick paste and add it to your favourite pancake recipe and proceed as normal. Matcha pancakes taste great with ice-cream, chocolate, banana, and much more. We recommend the use of food grade or drinking matcha when mixing other ingredients, but if you want a more vibrant green colour, want to dust or dress your food, or will also use it by itself, try our premium or ceremonial matchas.
What are matcha cookies?
Matcha cookies are simply cookies with matcha in. Matcha cookies are easy to make. We recommend that you just take your favourite cookie recipe and try adding a couple of teaspoons of matcha. Matcha works well with vanilla, white chocolate, ginger and coconut. Check out our matcha cookie recipe. If you are not sure which matcha to use try a basic or mid-range grade of matcha and experiment. The flavour profile of these grades of matcha should be strong enough to punch through the butter and sugars. If you are looking for a lighter, subtler taste and/or a more vibrant green colour, then try our ceremonial matcha.
Check out our matcha cookie recipe.
What are matcha teas?
Matcha tea is ground, steamed shade grown tea leaves. The preparation for making matcha starts weeks before the tea harvest. The tea leaves are covered to prevent direct sunlight reaching them. The shading process turns tea leaves darker and causes changes in the chemical composition of the leaves. These changes increase the formation of amino acids and caffeine levels than found in other teas. Leaves are then dried, de-veined, de-stemmed and ground into matcha. We pack it onsite and fly it over to the UK direct from the farm to ensure maximum freshness.
You can read a little more about matcha on the wikipedia matcha page.
What are matcha leaves?
Matcha tea is ground tencha tea leaves. Matcha leaves have been shade grown for at least four weeks before harvest. The leaves are handpicked, steamed, deveined and dried. The leaves are then ground in a stone mill.
You can read a little more about matcha on the wikipedia matcha page.
How do I cool water for matcha?
The traditional method of water cooling for Japanese tea is to pour water from cup to cup. This method was taught to us by a Japanese tea master. It is supposed to cool the water to around between 80⁰C- 60⁰C and can be done with cups.
Pour 200ml of boiling water into a cup. From here pour the water into another cup this will cool the water to around 80⁰C. If you want cooler water, add a step. Pour the water from the second cup back into the first cup. This not only reduces the water temperature by 10⁰C each time but will also warm your teacups.
Alternatively, you can put a little cool water into a cup and then pour boiling water on top.
What can matcha be mixed with?
You can mix matcha with anything. It really depends on what you are hoping to achieve. If you are making a smoothie, matcha tastes great with citrus fruit juices. If it’s ice-cream you are after we recommend simply letting some vanilla ice-cream melt a little then adding a couple of tablespoons of matcha, mixing it all in then returning it to the freezer. When baking, matcha works particularly well with recipes that contain bananas, white chocolate, vanilla and/or coconut. However, people have added it to many weird and wonderful creations such as glazed salmon and pasta sauces, so let your imagination run wild.
Can matcha go bad /expire?
Matcha is a dried product so unless it has been exposed to moisture it is unlikely to go off. Age does
affect matcha though. Exposure to light, air or heat will start to age matcha. This exposure will result in a yellowing or dulling of matcha’s colour and a loss of flavour. It is for this reason matcha has a best before date. Deterioration of matcha is accelerated with poor storage.
You can learn more about used v best before dates here.
What does matcha taste like?
Matcha tastes like strong green tea. Matcha has a complex flavour profile and is sweeter than a standard green tea. The highest grades of matcha have very little bitterness in their profile. Matcha
is highly versatile and can be used in a wide range of ways. People use matcha in drinks, lattes, smoothies, cakes and much more. However, it is used matcha retain its underlying green tea flavour which may not be to everybody’s liking.
What does matcha go well with?
Matcha goes well with citrus fruits and bananas in smoothies. Matcha tea tastes great with chocolates (especially white), vanilla, ginger and much more when used in cooking. The one thing that we found matcha didn’t go well with was Guinness, if you are looking for a way to make Guinness green on St Patricks day we wouldn’t recommend matcha!
What does matcha smell like?
Matcha is a green tea and that’s what it smells like; strong green tea with a distinctive character. The highest quality matchas will have a sweet scent to them. Due to the complex flavour and scent profile of matcha, some people would consider the smell or taste of even the highest quality of matcha to be bitter, whereas others would perceive sweetness.
What matcha would you recommend as a good starter option?
We recommend all our matchas. All of our matchas are priced according to quality and we recommend that you chose the matcha that best suits your budget.
What matcha can I use in food?
You can use all our matchas in food or for drinking. There is no difference in any of the products except the grade, which is reflected in the price. Our cooking grade matcha is simply our lowest grade, it is a grade that we feel is best suited to cooking with.
What’s the best way to take matcha?
If you are drinking matcha for health reasons. Mix matcha with orange juice or other citrus fruit juice to maximise your body’s ability to absorb matcha’s nutrients. Citric acid found in citrus fruit, such as oranges or lemons, can increase your body's ability to absorb the antioxidants in matcha by as much as 13 fold.
Is there a certain amount of matcha that I should be taking?
This really depends on what you are drinking matcha for. We typically recommend that you drink matcha three times a day. However, matcha does have caffeine in it so it’s probably best not to drink it too late at night. The good news though is that nobody has ever overdosed on matcha and there are no known side effects to over consumption.
Can I drink matcha whilst pregnant / trying to conceive?
When looking to learn more about the affects of matcha, we'd suggest researching the effects of green tea.
There is around 34mg of caffeine in a 1 gram serving of matcha. The recommend daily limit during pregnancy is 200mg.
The following is the caffeine found in a 7oz/207 ml cup of coffee
Drip 115-175
Brewed 80-135
Instant 65-100
There was a study in the 1997 American Journal of Epidemiology study. Caffeine intake and delayed conception: a European multicentrer study on infertility and subfecundity, which found that the associations are weak and or nonsignificant even for women drinking more than the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee per day. However, there are other articles which argue otherwise.
Is there caffeine in matcha?
Matcha is a type of green tea and contain caffeine. There is around 34mg of caffeine in a 1 gram serving of matcha. The caffeine in matcha unlike coffee is released gradually in harmony with the amino acids found in matcha. In theory matcha should give you 4-6 hours of focus without the jitters associate with the caffeine in coffee.
Is your organic matcha certified?
Our organic matcha is certified and regulated by The Soil Association in UK and meets EU, USDA and JAS standards.
How does your product come packaged?
All of our matcha comes in 1.75 oz / 50g resealable standup pouches. So if you order 200 grams of matcha it will come in 4 x 50g packets. Our wholesale matcha is packaged in differently.
How long will delivery take?
All goods are dispatched from the UK. We aim to dispatch all goods within two working days. Orders with a total weight of 2kg or less are shipped using Royal Mail. The free service is the Royal Mail Standard class. This service typically takes two working days although it can take up to five. Order of 2 kg or greater are sent via courier, this service typically takes at least 48 hours and does not have a Saturday service.
What happens if my order doesn’t arrive?
If after 7 working days you still haven’t received your order please notify us and we’ll offer you the choice of a replacement or a refund.
Who can order from the wholesale section?
Anyone who wants to order matcha in large quantities can order from the wholesale section.
Are there more nutrients in the higher grades of matcha?
There are slightly more amino acids and antioxidants in the more expensive matchas.
How much EGCg is in a 1 gram serving of matcha?
Matcha contains 61 mg of EGCg and a total of 105 mg of catechins per 1 gram serving.
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