Matcha Terms Explained: A Beginner’s Glossary

Matcha comes with a lot of Japanese words, and they can feel confusing at first. This quick guide covers the ones you’ll see most often, so you can read a tin label, order at a café or follow a recipe with confidence.

The tea itself

Shade-grown: Tea plants are covered for a few weeks before harvest. This gives matcha its deep green colour and rich, sweet flavour.

First flush: The first harvest of the year, picked in spring. The young leaves are considered the most tender and flavourful.

Stone-milled: Ground slowly between granite stones into an ultra-fine powder, which helps keep the flavour and aroma intact.

Ceremonial grade: The highest quality matcha, made from young, tender leaves and prized for its smooth, delicate taste. Ideal for whisking with water or for lattes.

Culinary grade: A more robust, slightly stronger-tasting matcha designed for baking, cooking and blending into recipes.

Single-origin: Matcha grown in one specific region, such as Uji or Yame, rather than blended from several places.

Taste

Umami: A savoury, rounded sweetness that good matcha is known for. It comes from the amino acids that build up in shaded leaves.

Astringency: A dry, slightly puckering feeling, like in black tea or red wine. A little is normal, but too much can mean old matcha or water that’s too hot.

Bitterness: Fresh, quality matcha is only gently bitter. Strong bitterness usually points to water that’s too hot or a lower quality powder.

Vegetal or grassy: Fresh, green notes similar to spinach or cut grass. Often present in matcha, and especially noticeable in lower grades.

Preparation

Usucha: “Thin tea.” A lighter, foamy style of matcha, usually 2g with 70-80ml water. This is the everyday way to drink it.

Koicha: “Thick tea.” Very concentrated and almost like warm syrup, made with much more matcha and less water. Traditionally served in tea ceremony.

Matcha latte: Matcha whisked with a little water, then combined with milk and optional sweetener, served hot or iced.

Sifting: Passing matcha through a sieve to break up clumps before whisking, which makes for a smoother cup.

FAQs

Is matcha the same as green tea?
Both come from the same plant, but matcha is shade-grown and ground into powder, so you drink the whole leaf instead of steeping and discarding it.

What’s the difference between usucha and koicha?
Usucha is thin and frothy, and koicha is thick and rich. Usucha is the style most people make at home.

Do I need to know these terms to enjoy matcha?
Not at all. But a few of them, like ceremonial, first flush and umami, will help you choose a better matcha.