You Are Boiling Your Matcha To Death
Vellmora — Matcha, technique
You are boiling your matcha to death.
Water off the boil is about 100 °C. Matcha starts to scorch above 85. That one fact explains most of the bitter, ashy, faintly metallic cups made in home kitchens — and fixing it costs nothing.
Boil the kettle, then leave it two minutes. That's it — that's the whole intervention.
≈ 50 servings · ships from Canada
Four faults, diagnosed by taste
Nearly every bad cup of matcha traces back to one of these. Find your symptom.
Tastes ashy, harsh, burnt
The water was too hot
Matcha is a whole leaf ground to powder, and it goes into the water rather than steeping in it. There's nowhere for it to hide from heat. Above 85 °C the amino acids that carry its sweetness break down and the tannins take over. Two minutes off the boil, or a splash of cold in the cup.
Grit at the bottom of the cup
You didn't sift it
Matcha is milled to roughly ten microns, which is fine enough that it clings to itself in the pouch. Those clumps do not whisk out — you chase them around the cup and then swallow them. Ten seconds through a tea strainer and the problem is gone for good.
Powder stuck around the rim
You stirred in circles
A circular stir uses centrifugal force to push powder outward and pin it to the wall. The motion you want is a brisk W or M, wrist only, about fifteen seconds — which is precisely what a bamboo whisk is shaped to do. An electric frother works too and is easier to wash.
Fine on its own, flat under milk
You bought the wrong grade
This is the one almost nobody gets told about, and it's the reason most home lattes disappoint. Keep reading.
The grade nobody explains
Ceremonial grade is milled to be drunk alone — no milk, no sugar, nothing. Its whole value is subtlety. Pour milk over it and the milk simply wins: you have paid a premium for delicacy and then covered it up.
Culinary grade is blended in the opposite direction. Stronger, more assertive, built to keep its flavour through milk, ice, sugar and heat.
So if you drink matcha as a latte — and almost everyone does — culinary grade isn't the cheap compromise. It's the correct tool, and the expensive tin is the wrong one.
What we sell
A 100 g resealable pouch of culinary grade matcha. Finely milled, grassy and full-bodied, with a clean vegetal edge and enough bitterness to cut through milk instead of vanishing into it. It froths properly, and it holds its colour in a cold glass — which is more than most of what turns up on a supermarket shelf manages.
Caffeine sits around 60–70 mg per 2 g serving — roughly a small cup of coffee.
See the tin — $34.99Free shipping over $50 · 30-day returns
The method, in ninety seconds
Sift
One to two teaspoons through a small strainer into your cup or bowl. Non-negotiable.
Cool the water
Boil, then wait two minutes — or top the kettle with a splash of cold. You're aiming for about 80 °C.
Whisk in a W
Add 60 ml of the water. Fifteen seconds, wrist only, until the surface is even and lightly foamed.
Top up
200 ml of milk, hot or cold. Over ice, pour the whisked base first — matcha will not dissolve in cold liquid.
Questions
Do I need a bamboo whisk?
No. A handheld electric frother does the same job and washes more easily. The bamboo whisk is nicer if you like the ritual — a real reason, just not a functional one.
How long does it keep?
Best within about two months of opening. Keep it sealed, cool and dark, away from the stove and out of sunlight. You'll watch it dull from bright green toward olive as it oxidises — that colour shift is your cue.
Can I drink it straight?
You can, and some people prefer the intensity. But it's blended for milk, so straight it'll read bolder and more bitter than a ceremonial grade would.
How much should I use?
Start at one teaspoon, about 2 g. Most people settle at one and a half for a latte once they've found their preference.
Ingredients: 100% green tea powder. Net weight 100 g (3.52 oz).