Ceremonial Grade Organic Matcha from Kyoto, 30 g

100% organic ceremonial grade matcha from selected plantations in Kyoto. Nothing added — no dyes, preservatives or sugar. 30 g.

Three claims you will not find here

Matcha is routinely sold as "a powerful antioxidant food that provides energy, accelerates metabolism and controls the levels of blood sugar". None of that appears here, and it is worth explaining why rather than simply leaving it out.

"Antioxidant" is not an authorised health claim in the EU. The European Commission rejected general antioxidant claims for foods, because nobody could demonstrate what the supposed benefit actually was in a person.

"Accelerates metabolism" is a health claim and it is not authorised for green tea. Applications were made and rejected.

"Controls the levels of blood sugar" is the serious one. That is effectively a medical claim, and a food may not make it — not least because someone managing diabetes could reasonably read it as meaning something it does not.

"Provides energy" has a plainer answer that does not need a claim: it contains caffeine, and quite a lot of it.

What ceremonial grade actually means — and does not

An honest note: "ceremonial grade" is not a regulated or certified term. There is no body that awards it and no threshold to meet. Any producer may use the words.

What it conventionally describes is real, though: the youngest leaves of the first spring harvest, shade-grown, stone-ground, with stems and veins removed. That produces a bright green, fine, sweet powder intended to be whisked with water and drunk alone. Culinary grade is later-harvest leaf — duller, more bitter, coarser — and made for lattes and baking where sugar and milk cover it.

Judge it by colour and smell rather than by the words. Good matcha is vivid, almost fluorescent green and smells sweet and marine. Dull, yellowish or khaki powder is either older leaf, oxidised, or badly stored — and it will taste bitter and hay-like whatever the label says.

Why it is so green: the shading

This is the interesting part and it explains everything else. For about three weeks before harvest, the tea plants are covered.

Deprived of light, the plant produces more chlorophyll — hence the colour — and more L-theanine, an amino acid found almost exclusively in tea, while producing fewer bitter catechins. That is why matcha is sweeter, more savoury and more umami than sun-grown green tea, and why it is so vividly coloured.

Kyoto — particularly Uji, just south of the city — is where this method was developed, and it remains the reference.

Two honest notes

Caffeine. You drink the whole leaf, so matcha carries far more caffeine than brewed green tea — often comparable to a weak coffee. EFSA advises staying under 200 mg a day in total during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Lead. Tea plants take up small amounts of lead from soil and air. With brewed tea most stays in the discarded leaf; with matcha you consume it. Levels in tested products are low and occasional use is not a concern — it is a reason to buy certified matcha from a known origin, which this is, and not to drink several bowls daily.

WATER AT 70 TO 80 DEGREES - NEVER BOILING

The single thing that decides whether matcha tastes sweet or bitter, and the mistake nearly everyone makes.

Boiling water scalds the powder and extracts the catechins fast and harshly. Boil the kettle and let it stand three or four minutes, or add a splash of cold water first.

Most people who say they dislike matcha have only ever had it scalded.

HOW TO MAKE IT

Sift the powder. Matcha clumps in the tin and the clumps will not break up in liquid - a small tea strainer is enough, and it makes a visible difference.

About 1 to 2 g (half to one teaspoon) per bowl.

Add a small amount of water first and work it to a smooth paste, then add the rest. Powder into a full cup is how you get lumps.

Whisk briskly in a W or M motion, not a circle - you are aerating it, not stirring it. A bamboo chasen is best; a small electric frother works well. A spoon does not.

Drink it within a few minutes. Matcha is a suspension, not an infusion, so it settles.

JUDGE IT BY COLOUR

Good matcha is vivid, almost fluorescent green and smells sweet and marine. Dull, yellowish or khaki powder is older leaf, oxidised or badly stored, and will taste bitter and hay-like whatever the label says.

The words "ceremonial grade" are not regulated - no body awards the term, and any producer may use it. Your eyes are better evidence.

STORAGE - MATCHA IS THE FUSSIEST TEA THERE IS

Airtight, cool, DARK, and refrigerated once opened.

Matcha loses colour and flavour faster than any other tea: light and air turn it from bright green to dull khaki within weeks. Buy small tins, not large ones, and use it within a month or two of opening.

Let a refrigerated tin come to room temperature before opening it, or condensation will get into the powder and clump it.

Away from coffee and spices - powdered tea absorbs odours very readily.

CAFFEINE

Substantial, because you drink the whole leaf - often comparable to a weak coffee. Morning or early afternoon rather than evening. EFSA advises keeping total caffeine below 200 mg a day in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

DO NOT DRINK SEVERAL BOWLS A DAY

Tea plants take up small amounts of lead from soil and air, and with matcha you consume the whole leaf rather than discarding it. Levels in tested products are low and occasional use is not a concern - it is a reason to buy certified matcha of known origin and to keep it to a bowl or two.

EFSA has also concluded that EGCG at 800 mg a day or more from concentrated supplements may harm the liver. That concerns extracts rather than tea, but matcha is the most concentrated everyday form.