Matcha Guide: Taste, Preparation & The Ceremony

The Tasting Table / Tea notes

Buttery umami, a fine green powder, and a cup you whisk yourself. Here is how to choose and prepare matcha—and what to know before treating it as a wellness promise.

What is matcha?

Matcha is green tea ground into powder. You whisk the powder into water and drink it with the liquid, rather than removing leaves after a steep. That difference explains both its fuller texture and why a little settling at the bottom of the cup is normal.

The Ceremony is our plain Japanese matcha, with buttery umami and gentle sweetness. Its ingredient is Japanese green tea. It is not a mushroom blend, an instant sweetened latte mix, or loose leaves for an infuser.

Start with the flavor you enjoy

Try your first cup with water before choosing milk or sweetener. Notice how much of the flavor feels savory, how the texture sits on your tongue, and whether you prefer it lighter or more concentrated. These are more useful buying signals than a promise that every matcha must taste the same.

The Ceremony is offered as ceremonial matcha. A grade name alone should not decide your purchase: the actual tea, its freshness, the dose, and your preferred preparation matter. A latte does not require one universal grade, and a powder intended for cooking is not automatically unsuitable for milk drinks.

How to prepare The Ceremony

1 g powder · 8 fl oz water · 175°F

1. Measure the powder with a small scale. Sift it into a bowl or wide cup if it has clumps.
2. Add a small portion of the measured warm water. Whisk until the powder is evenly dispersed and visible lumps are gone.
3. Add the remaining water, whisk again, and drink while the texture is even. Stir again if it settles.

For milk drinks, change the recipe deliberately

Milk softens the tea’s character. Begin with less milk than you think you need, taste, and add more. If the flavor disappears, adjust the next cup’s powder-to-milk ratio instead of adding several changes at once. Our iced matcha latte recipe gives you a measured starting point.

What about matcha benefits?

We present The Ceremony as tea, with a specific ingredient and preparation—not as a detox, a weight-loss product, or a guarantee of calm focus. We do not have a product-specific caffeine test to support an exact milligram number per cup. The amount of powder matters, and adding milk does not remove caffeine.

If your reason for choosing matcha is a particular health outcome, this flavor and brewing guide does not establish that outcome. Choose the cup for its taste and fit with your routine.

Three small fixes for a better cup

• Clumps: sift, then whisk with a little water before adding the rest.
• Too intense: keep the powder weight steady and add a little more water.
• Flat or stale aroma: reseal the pouch promptly and keep it dry, away from heat and strong kitchen smells.

For toasted rather than green-tea notes, compare it with The Ember hojicha powder.