Grades of Matcha
I’ve been researching the terminology of the different grades of tea and the terminology that is on the very knowledgeable sites doesn’t correspond to the terminology on retail sites, i.e. UptonTea.com For example, Matchasource.com has the below grades:
KAMA MATCHA THICK STYLE KOICHA
highest concentration of amino acids, adding to the complexity of the taste and aroma of the tea
MORNING MATCHA THIN STYLE USUCHA
certified organic by JAS, the Japanese Agricultural Standards, recommended it for those new to matcha
GOTCHA MATCHA INGREDIENT GRADE.
perfect for adding to blended drinks or for use in recipes try it in smoothies, lattes, savory sauces and desserts.
I purchase a lot of teas from UptonTea.com. But their grading is totally different, Grades D = Fine grade, Grade A = Superlative, Premium Grade.
How do you figure out which one equates to the KOICHA style that has the most antioxidants and amino acids? Seems like a lot of unstandardized terminology and hearsay so it’s difficult to know if you’re receiving a product with the highest health benefits.
Koicha (thick) and Usucha (thin) are just different styles of preparing it, not exactly grades of the matcha, although the thick style suposedly needs better quality matcha to taste good than the thin style does. Avoid culinary grades if you plan on actually drinking it straight, they’ll be pretty nasty. There Isn’t any formal or universal grading system for matcha, different sellers will all grade them differently, the only real grading system is the pricing, though generally the brighter green the color the higher the grade (and cost). You should probably read some reviews and then try a bunch of samples that sound good in your price bracket to see what ones you like best.
As for health benefits, who knows, there’s no way at all to measure relative benefits of exact specific teas, or even grades, the closest you’ll be able to find is research on tea in general or at best just matcha as a category. Individual products certainly aren’t tested, and being natural agricultural products their chemical contents can vary hugely from batch to batch, harvest to harvest, year to year, even within the same packaged product, there’s just too many variables at play. In the end just drink what you like, what tastes best to you and brings you the most enjoyment.
Ditto.
When whisked: Usucha is like a latte, koicha is the consistency of pancake batter.
I believe koicha has smaller particles, is from older plants, and that are grown and fertilized differently. unless it’s marked Koicha, it’s usucha.
But anyway, I don’t understand why people are all hyped about antioxidant this and that. Just eat your food. Real food (green leafy veg, fruit, etc. and drop the cheeseburgers and artificial packaged foods) and drink tea. Any kind. What ever makes you happy and tastes good. And you’ll be getting plenty of antioxidants.
And the amino acids they speak of are probably L-theanine which makes tea both umami and sweet, which is always higher in shade grown tea vs. sun grown tea.
Article on what flavor components in tea: http://teamasters.org/chemistry-leaf
A very good read to understand tea and its flavor better
Thank you for the clarification on the article I ready was really referring to styles, even though it was written in the context of grades. In defense about the antioxidants assumption. I eat organic, grow my own organic vegetables and eat whole foods and only get stuck eating processed when travelling and my own prepared snacks have run out and am not in a place I can eat whole foods.
My inquiry is to understand more about Matcha, gotta start somewhere. Glad this is an active blog and I’ll check out the link. Thank you.
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