Around the time that I started thinking about this blog, I had just started looking into (and drinking!) matcha green tea. It seemed wildly complicated, but I wanted to know more. And so begins the first blog post, in which I attempt to write about what awesome knowledge I've gained researching about matcha. Keep in mind, there's a lot I still don't know, so I'm sure there will be a follow-up post in the future.
For anyone who's ever done a quick Google search of matcha green tea, you know that it's different from conventional green tea because you ingest the entire tea leaf (in powder form). So since it doesn't come in loose-leaf form, it takes more effort to make. You have to use a bamboo whisk to incorporate matcha powder into hot (but not boiling) water. This is a process that makes people hesitant to try it at first, but frankly, it's fun.
Now let's get into the nitty gritty: what makes Matcha different? The surface answer is simply that matcha is the only tea that requires the drinker to consume the whole leaf. Let's dive deeper. Before matcha is the ground product that you drink, it's covered in shade for anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months prior to harvesting. More shade equals higher quality. The harvested leaves are steamed, but not rolled. They're dried, the twigs and stems are removed, and the result at that point is called tencha. Grind tencha, and you get the final product: matcha!
After scouring the internet, I saw that there was some controversy regarding thin and thick matcha. Internet-dwellers are so fierce about this subject, I'm not sure if I've got it right. Some argue that the difference between thin and thick, or Usucha and Koicha, is a matter of preparation, and some say it's about quality.
Usucha is thin matcha tea with bubbles; it's more common. On the other hand, Koicha is thick and bubble-free. The former comes from buds and leaves of the fine young tea plants, and are usually machine harvested. The thicker koicha, which has a more complex taste, is made from buds and leaves of older tea plants. They're usually hand-picked, are considered a higher grade, and...of course, are more expensive.
I'm just going to quickly conclude for now that usucha is a lower grade matcha, and is thus prepared with less powder and more water, whereas koicha is higher grade, and begs a thicker consistency. I mean, you wouldn't want to drink a concentrated form of a lower-grade tea, right? People don't usually say outright if there's a relationship between tea grade and preparation style. Nonetheless, in my opinion, I would say that the grade dictates the preparation method. I could be wrong, but I hope not.
