Do I have to use ceremonial grade matcha for traditional tea?

It is strongly worth it. Drunk plain with only water, the difference between grades is at its most obvious. Culinary matcha tastes noticeably more bitter served this way. If culinary grade is what you have, use slightly less powder and slightly cooler water.

Why is my matcha not foaming?

Usually the whisk or the wrist: use a proper chasen, whisk fast in a W pattern from the wrist rather than stirring in circles, and keep the prongs just off the base. Too much water for the powder also thins the foam.

Can I add milk or sugar to traditional matcha?

You can, but at that point you are making a matcha latte, which has its own method and suits culinary grade better. Usucha is designed to be drunk plain, and good matcha at the right temperature should not need sweetening.

Traditional matcha tea

Name: Traditional matcha tea
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 bowl (about 70 ml)
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 2 g ceremonial grade matcha (about 1 level teaspoon, or 2 chashaku scoops); 70 ml hot water at 75 to 80°C, plus extra for warming the bowl

Traditional matcha, called usucha or thin tea, is made by sifting 2 g (about 1 level teaspoon) of matcha into a warmed bowl, adding 70 ml of water at 75 to 80 degrees Celsius, and whisking briskly in a W motion for 15 to 30 seconds until a fine foam forms. Total time, about three minutes.

Prep 3 min

Total 3 min

Makes 1 bowl (about 70 ml)

Ingredients

2 g ceremonial grade matcha (about 1 level teaspoon, or 2 chashaku scoops)
70 ml hot water at 75 to 80°C, plus extra for warming the bowl

Method

Warm the bowl. Pour a little hot water into your chawan (or any wide bowl), swirl it, tip it out and wipe the bowl dry. A warm bowl keeps the tea at temperature and helps the foam form. If you soak your chasen's prongs in this water for a minute, they soften and whisk better too.
Sift in the matcha. Sift 2 g of matcha (about 1 level teaspoon or 2 chashaku scoops) through a fine sieve into the bowl. Sifting is the single biggest upgrade to texture; unsifted matcha whisks up lumpy no matter how fast your wrist is.
Add the water. Pour in 70 ml of water at about 75 to 80 degrees Celsius, boiled, then rested for three or four minutes. Boiling water scalds matcha and makes it bitter.
Whisk to a foam. Hold the bowl steady with one hand and whisk briskly from the wrist in a W or M pattern for 15 to 30 seconds, keeping the chasen's prongs just off the bottom of the bowl. As a fine foam forms, slow down and lift the whisk gently from the centre to leave an even surface.
Drink from the bowl. Drink the matcha straight from the bowl while warm, ideally within a few minutes. The powder slowly settles, and the foam is part of the texture. Rinse the bowl and whisk in warm water (no soap) and let the chasen dry on a stand.

What equipment do you need for traditional matcha

The full traditional kit is four small pieces, each with a practical job: a chasen (bamboo whisk) whose 80 to 120 fine prongs create the foam, a chawan (wide tea bowl) that gives the whisk room for the W stroke, a chashaku (bamboo scoop) that measures about a gram per scoop, and a small sifter. Only the whisk is genuinely hard to substitute: a wide cereal bowl, a teaspoon and any fine sieve cover the rest while you start out. A matcha set bundles all four for less than buying them separately.

Why does the water temperature matter so much

Matcha's sweetness and umami come from delicate amino acids, and its bitterness from catechins. Boiling water tips that balance hard toward bitterness, which is the single most common reason a first bowl of matcha disappoints. At 75 to 80 degrees Celsius the tea whisks up sweet, smooth and aromatic. No thermometer is needed: a boiled kettle left to sit for three to four minutes with the lid open lands in the right zone.

What is the difference between usucha and koicha

Usucha, thin tea, is this recipe: about 2 g of matcha to 70 ml of water, whisked to a foam, and it is how matcha is drunk day to day in Japan. Koicha, thick tea, is the ceremonial preparation: roughly double the matcha to half the water, kneaded slowly with the whisk rather than whipped, giving a glossy, espresso-thick liquid with no foam. Koicha is only worth making with very good ceremonial grade (its intensity is unforgiving of lesser powder), so master usucha first.

Common questions

Do I have to use ceremonial grade matcha for traditional tea?: It is strongly worth it. Drunk plain with only water, the difference between grades is at its most obvious. Culinary matcha tastes noticeably more bitter served this way. If culinary grade is what you have, use slightly less powder and slightly cooler water.
Why is my matcha not foaming?: Usually the whisk or the wrist: use a proper chasen, whisk fast in a W pattern from the wrist rather than stirring in circles, and keep the prongs just off the base. Too much water for the powder also thins the foam.
Can I add milk or sugar to traditional matcha?: You can, but at that point you are making a matcha latte, which has its own method and suits culinary grade better. Usucha is designed to be drunk plain, and good matcha at the right temperature should not need sweetening.