Make Me Matcha · Journal · Beginner
Where it comes from, why it feels different, and how to make a quiet cup at home.
Start here.
If you’ve been curious about swapping your coffee, slowing your morning, or simply understanding what’s the hype all about — this is the considered guide.
So, what is matcha exactly?
Matcha is finely ground green tea — but not the kind you steep and discard. Where regular green tea is brewed and the leaves thrown out, matcha is the leaf itself, milled into a fine powder and whisked into water. You drink the whole leaf, which is why the cup is brighter, fuller, and richer in everything the leaf has to offer.
The leaves come from Camellia sinensis, the same plant that gives us black, oolong and white tea. What makes matcha different is how it’s grown, processed, and prepared.
A quiet history.
Powdered tea was first ground and whisked in China during the Song dynasty. The practice travelled to Japan around 1191, brought back by a Zen Buddhist monk named Eisai, and quietly took root in temple ritual and tea ceremony.1 Centuries later — somewhere in the early 15th century, on the tea plantations around Uji — Japanese growers began shading their tea bushes before harvest.2 That single change is what gave matcha its colour, its flavour, and most of its character.
Today, the best matcha still comes from Uji and a handful of other Japanese growing regions. The ritual that was once reserved for tea masters now fits inside a Tuesday morning at home.
How it’s made.
For roughly three to four weeks before harvest, tea bushes are covered with shade cloth or reed mats. Starved of full sunlight, the leaves slow their photosynthesis, develop more chlorophyll, and hold onto more of an amino acid called L-theanine — which gives matcha its soft umami flavour and its calm, sustained energy.3
After picking, the leaves are steamed to lock in colour, dried, then de-stemmed and de-veined. What’s left is called tencha — the leaf material that gets stone-ground, slowly, into the bright green powder you eventually whisk. Traditional granite mills can take an hour to produce just 30 grams. There’s no shortcut for matcha; the slow grind is part of what makes it itself.
Why it feels different to coffee.
A typical serving of matcha — about a teaspoon, or two grams of powder — contains roughly 60 to 70 mg of caffeine. A cup of drip coffee sits closer to 95 to 200 mg.4 On paper, less. In practice, the experience is what changes.
Matcha’s caffeine arrives alongside L-theanine, the amino acid the shade growing protects. L-theanine slows the absorption of caffeine and softens its edges. Research suggests the combination may support sustained attention, reaction time and a calmer alertness — without the spike-and-crash pattern coffee can produce.5
Ceremonial, culinary — what’s the difference?
Ceremonial grade is the youngest, smoothest leaf, ground from first-harvest tencha. It’s bright green, soft on the palate, and made to be whisked with hot water and sipped on its own. This is the bowl for your morning ritual.
Culinary grade comes from later harvests, has a bolder, more astringent flavour, and stands up well to milk, honey or heat. It’s the matcha you reach for when you’re making a latte, baking, or stirring through oats.
It’s also worth knowing that “ceremonial grade” and “culinary grade” aren’t officially regulated terms in Japan or internationally. They’re largely used as marketing language to help describe intended use and flavour profile, rather than strict quality standards. A matcha labelled ceremonial isn’t automatically superior — origin, harvest, cultivar, freshness and processing all play a role in quality.
Neither is “better.” They’re built for different moments.
How to make it at home.
You only need four things: a bowl, a fine sieve, a bamboo whisk (a chasen), and a small scoop. The ritual:
- — Sift one to two grams of matcha into a warm bowl — about half a teaspoon for a soft cup, a full teaspoon for a stronger one.
- — Pour in 60 to 80 ml of water at around 75–80°C — never boiling. Hot kettle water that has rested for a minute does the job.
- — Whisk briskly in a W or M shape, wrist loose, until a fine foam rises on the surface.
- — Top with more water, plant milk, or pour into a glass over ice.
That’s it. Two minutes, total. The whole thing is the point.
If you’re ready to begin
A slower start, your way.
All you need is a bowl, a whisk, five quiet minutes, and the willingness to start your morning before the morning starts you. Full matcha kits are available to make matcha at home, your way.
elevate your daily ritual.
Sources
- “Matcha,” Wikipedia — origins via Zen monk Eisai (Song dynasty / c. 1191). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha ↩
- Soil and historical analyses of Uji tea plantations indicate shade-growing began as early as the 15th century. ujimatchatea.com/pages/history-of-matcha ↩
- Jakubczyk K. et al., “Health Benefits and Chemical Composition of Matcha Green Tea: A Review,” Molecules / PMC. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7796401 ↩
- Healthline, “Does Matcha Have Caffeine?” — typical serving (1 tsp / 2 g) ~60–70 mg; drip coffee 95–200 mg per 8 oz. healthline.com/nutrition/does-matcha-have-caffeine ↩
- Sohail A. et al., “The Cognitive-Enhancing Outcomes of Caffeine and L-theanine: A Systematic Review,” Cureus / PMC, 2022. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8794723 ↩