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Matcha is one of the few teas where technique directly determines the result. The most common complaint we hear from customers is that their matcha tastes too bitter — and in most cases it is not the powder. It is using too much matcha, water that is too hot, or not whisking long enough.
Fix those three things and the same bag tastes entirely different. Prepare matcha wrong and you get a bitter, clumpy mess with no froth and an unpleasant texture. The difference between good matcha and bad matcha is almost always preparation, not the powder itself.
This guide covers exactly how to prepare matcha at home — traditional style, with specific temperatures, ratios, and timings. Whether you are making thin tea (usucha) for daily drinking or thick tea (koicha) for a more concentrated experience, the fundamentals are here.
Matcha preparation requires a few specific tools. You can improvise some of them, but the results will differ.
Bamboo whisk (chasen). This is the single most important tool. A chasen has 80 to 100 fine tines designed to break up matcha particles and incorporate air. A regular kitchen whisk does not work — the tines are too thick and too far apart.
An electric milk frother is a workable substitute for usucha but produces a different foam texture and cannot handle koicha at all. In my experience there is no real substitute for the fine tines of a proper chasen. If you buy one matcha tool, make it the chasen.
Matcha bowl (chawan). A wide, shallow bowl that gives you room to whisk. The width matters — a narrow mug restricts your wrist movement and makes it nearly impossible to build froth. A cereal bowl is a functional alternative if you do not have a chawan.
Fine-mesh sieve. Non-negotiable. Matcha powder clumps during storage, and those clumps will not dissolve no matter how hard you whisk. Sifting takes 15 seconds and eliminates this problem entirely.
Bamboo scoop (chashaku). One scoop equals roughly 1 gram. Useful for measuring, though a kitchen scale is more accurate. Two scoops for usucha, three to four for koicha.
Kitchen scale. Optional but recommended. Matcha is potent — a half-gram difference changes the flavour noticeably. Weighing removes the guesswork.
Thermometer or variable-temperature kettle. Water temperature is critical. A thermometer costs a few euros and saves you from the most common matcha mistake.
The core method has three steps. Get these right and everything else is refinement.
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Place your fine-mesh sieve over the chawan. Measure 2 grams of matcha powder (two chashaku scoops or one level teaspoon) and push it through the sieve with the back of a spoon. This breaks up every clump and gives you a fine, fluffy layer of powder in the bowl.
Do not skip this step. Unsifted matcha always leaves small lumps in the finished tea, regardless of whisking effort. It takes 15 seconds and makes the difference between a smooth cup and a gritty one.
Add 70 to 80 ml of water at 70 to 80 degrees Celsius. Not boiling. This is the most common mistake people make with matcha — pouring boiling water directly onto the powder.
If you do not have a thermometer, boil your kettle and let it sit with the lid open for three to four minutes. Alternatively, pour the boiled water into a room-temperature cup first, wait 30 seconds, then pour into the bowl. Each vessel transfer drops the temperature by roughly 5 to 10 degrees Celsius.
Pour the water in one go, directly onto the sifted powder.
Hold the chasen vertically, with the tips of the tines touching the bottom of the bowl. Whisk rapidly in a W or M motion — not circular. Use your wrist, not your arm. The movement should be quick, light, and mostly back and forth.
Whisk vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds. You will see the liquid go from a dark, slightly murky green to a brighter green with a layer of fine, uniform foam on top. Once the foam covers the surface and the bubbles are small and even, lift the whisk slowly from the centre to finish with a smooth top.
The entire process from sifting to drinking takes under two minutes.
These two variables control everything about how your matcha tastes.
Temperature: 70 to 80 degrees Celsius. At this range, you extract the amino acids (L-theanine) responsible for matcha's characteristic umami while limiting the release of catechins that cause bitterness. At 90 to 100 degrees Celsius, catechins extract rapidly and overwhelm the flavour. The tea becomes harsh, astringent, and one-dimensional.
Research published in Nutrients confirms that matcha's shade-growing process preserves high concentrations of L-theanine precisely because sunlight converts L-theanine into catechins — keeping water temperature below 80°C protects those amino acids in the cup. (Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea, PMC 2021)
For premium ceremonial grade matcha, stay closer to 70 degrees Celsius. I use 70 degrees for our Uji ceremonial matcha — anything higher and the sweetness drops off noticeably. For culinary grade or stronger-flavoured matcha, 80 degrees Celsius brings out more body without excessive bitterness.
Ratio for usucha (thin tea): 2 grams of matcha to 70 to 80 ml of water. This produces a light, drinkable tea with good froth — the standard daily preparation.
Ratio for koicha (thick tea): 3 to 4 grams of matcha to 30 to 40 ml of water. This creates a dense, paste-like consistency with no froth. Only use high-quality ceremonial matcha for koicha — lesser grades will taste unbearably bitter at this concentration.
Froth is the hallmark of well-prepared usucha. A thick, uniform layer of microfoam indicates that the matcha is fully dispersed and aerated. Here is what matters.
Whisk speed. Fast, short strokes. The tines need to move quickly enough to break the surface tension and incorporate air. Slow, gentle whisking produces flat tea with no foam.
Whisk motion. W or M shaped, not circular. Circular motion pushes the liquid around the bowl but does not aerate it effectively. The back-and-forth motion creates turbulence that traps air in the liquid.
Whisk angle. Keep the chasen nearly vertical, with the tines just touching the bottom initially, then lift slightly to whisk in the top centimetre of liquid. This is where the foam forms.
Water volume. Too much water and the matcha is too dilute to hold a foam. Too little and there is not enough liquid to work with. Seventy to eighty millilitres is the target for usucha.
Finishing. After the foam has formed, slow your whisking and bring the chasen to the centre of the bowl. Lift it out gently. This smooths the surface and eliminates the larger bubbles, leaving a fine, even layer.
If your foam has large, soapy bubbles instead of a fine, creamy layer, you are whisking too slowly or your chasen tines are damaged. A new chasen with intact, flexible tines makes a noticeable difference.
These are the two traditional styles of matcha preparation, and they differ in more than just concentration. The distinction comes from Japan's formal tea ceremony tradition — koicha is the centrepiece of a full chaji gathering, while usucha is the everyday preparation that follows. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's essay on the Japanese Tea Ceremony provides excellent background on how these two styles developed within the broader tradition of chanoyu.
Usucha (thin tea) is the everyday preparation. Two grams of matcha, 70 to 80 ml of water, whisked to a froth. It is light, slightly bitter, and refreshing. Any decent matcha works for usucha.
Koicha (thick tea) is the ceremonial preparation. Three to four grams of matcha, 30 to 40 ml of water, kneaded — not whisked — into a thick, smooth paste. There is no froth. The texture is similar to warm, liquid honey. Koicha is intensely flavourful: deeply sweet, rich in umami, with almost no bitterness when made with high-grade matcha.
The key difference in technique is that koicha is kneaded slowly with the chasen using gentle, circular motions to blend the paste without introducing air. Whisking koicha vigorously would create an unpleasant, bubbly texture.
Koicha demands top-tier ceremonial matcha. The concentration is so high that any bitterness, astringency, or off-flavours in the powder are magnified. This is not the place for culinary grade.
If you enjoy the umami depth of shade-grown teas, our premium gyokuro shares that same sweet, low-bitterness profile — grown under the same shading conditions that give matcha its character.
| Parameter | Usucha (Thin Tea) | Koicha (Thick Tea) |
|---|---|---|
| Matcha | 2 g | 3–4 g |
| Water | 70–80 ml | 30–40 ml |
| Temperature | 70–80 degrees C | 70–80 degrees C |
| Technique | Whisk (W motion) | Knead (slow circles) |
| Froth | Yes, fine foam | No froth |
| Time | 15–20 seconds | 30–45 seconds |
| Matcha grade | Ceremonial or culinary | Ceremonial only |
Water too hot. Boiling water is the fastest way to ruin matcha. It scorches the powder, destroys delicate amino acids, and extracts maximum bitterness. Always cool your water to 70 to 80 degrees Celsius before pouring.
Skipping the sift. Matcha clumps are stubborn. They do not dissolve with whisking alone. Sift every time, without exception.
Whisking in circles. Circular motion moves the liquid but does not aerate it. Use a rapid back-and-forth W or M motion for proper froth.
Using too little matcha. Weak matcha tastes thin and grassy in a bad way. Two grams is the minimum for usucha. If the flavour is flat, add more powder rather than more water.
Old or poorly stored matcha. Matcha oxidises quickly once opened. It should be bright, vivid green. If your powder looks yellow-green or olive, it has degraded. Store matcha in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use it within four to six weeks of opening.
Wrong bowl shape. A narrow mug restricts your whisking motion and makes good froth nearly impossible. Use a wide bowl — at least 12 centimetres across — to give the chasen room to move.
Leaving matcha to sit. Matcha does not improve with time. The powder settles, the froth collapses, and the flavour dulls within minutes. Drink it immediately after whisking.
If you are looking to explore other Japanese green teas with similar care in preparation, our premium gyokuro and genmaicha are both worth trying alongside matcha.
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