You know the green latte drinks that you see in almost every cafe, boba cafe, coffee shop and more? Sometimes it can taste earthy and sometimes it tastes like heaven? We think you know what we’re talking about… matcha!
If you didn’t know already, matcha has become the craze ever since 5 years ago and maybe more! Here’s a tip, if you were to look at trends, you’ll realize that people have been starting to search ‘matcha’ online exponentially over the past 5+ years. Isn’t that amazing?
What’s jaw dropping actually is that some people might not know what matcha actually is, even today.
The team at Talk Boba really enjoy this drink. With it being over 60% of the team’s favorite drink, it only made sense to have an article written about it! We’ll dive into exactly what you need to know for matcha, let’s begin!
Actually before we start, we just want to mention that being an Audible sponsor, we’re able to offer all of our readers a chance to listen to 2 FREE audio books. (We wonder if there’s audiobooks about boba?) If you haven’t had the chance to read a book that you always wanted to read, simply head over here and sign up for Audible to get your 2 FREE audiobooks. Just like our team, you can listen to an audiobook and make some home made boba with our in-depth recipe guides!
Okay now it’s time for some matcha!
What is Matcha?
Matcha is a very well known powdered tea that has become a household name in many cafes and coffee shops around the world. Originating from Japan, where the best matcha can be found, matcha can be used in thick matcha lattes or made into light delicate teas delicious to many. The great versatility, delicious flavor profile, aesthetic appeal and premium nature of matcha is the perfect formula that allowed itself to blossom as a favorite go-to beverage to many. This matcha brand is what we’ve been using a lot with the team and we must say, it helps us get through the day more often than not!
A lot of people mistake themselves thinking that matcha and green tea are different, in its physical form and how it’s processed, yes it’s different. But the thing that keeps both concepts similar is that matcha and green tea is made from the same plant, camellia sinensis.
What makes camellia sinensis plants become matcha, that powdery green delicious dust, starts with the way it’s processed. Matcha is usually perceived as a premium processed tea, making the price higher compared to other teas like black tea. The very labor intensive and detail considered when processing matcha is nothing short of hard work.
How is Matcha Processed?
Generally before harvesting the camellia sinensis plant, farmers and matcha care takers go through a process known as shading. Depending on the farm you’re sourcing matcha from, the farmers and caretakers of matcha may shade the matcha plants from direct sunlight somewhere between 18-25 days before harvest. Why is this the case?
It’s important to shade the camellia sinensis plant so that it alters the chemical makeup of the camellia sinensis plant and encourages the production of an increased amount of chlorophyll levels. The increased amount of chlorophyll levels is what ultimately helps to bring out the vibrant green color you see most often in matcha powder, like this.
During harvest, the matcha farmers will carefully choose which buds to pick out, paying crucial attention to the details of the buds itself. Usually matcha farmers will decide what buds to pick depending on how they want to dry out the plucked buds. There are generally 2 methods of drying the camellia sinensis plant out, either rolling it up then drying or skipping the rolling step and letting the loose leafs to dry without any prior preparation.
Once the matcha leaves are dried they will be deveined, stemmed and eventually grounded up into its very fine powder like form. Typically the matcha is stone ground, which helps to bring out its natural flavors a lot more than modern grinding techniques. It may be slower, but it’s well worth the taste!
Are you beginning to understand why this becomes a premium tea now? The labor intensive process is what makes matcha teas so wonderful tasting, but it also is the reason why it’s more of a premium tea.
What Does Matcha Taste Like?
You haven’t tried matcha yet?
You’re missing out! Depending on how you drink your matcha, whether it’s in a thick milky latte or thin tea, you’ll experience different textures and tastes. Typically matcha as its own in a thin tea, will taste very earthy or vegetal as some would say. Now don’t shy away from this though, this is the beauty behind matcha.
The aromatics paired with the vegetal taste lingers in the mouth almost tasting like a rich dark chocolate some would say. Thin matcha teas will start with a vegetal punch and end with a very smooth and sweet mouthful, it’s quite an experience for your taste buds.
Now, though the flavor typically stays the same when drinking a milky matcha latte, it’s not quite as overwhelming. With added creamers or milks and sweeteners, matcha lattes have less an earthy taste and more of the rich hint of chocolatey notes.
If you’re interested in taking a step further into the different levels of taste in matcha, be sure to check out the different grades of matcha. Yes, there are even different grades of matcha that let you know exactly how the matcha will taste based on its profile.
3 Best Matcha Brands to Try
Jade Leaf Matcha
Believing in an organic and healthy lifestyle with matcha, Jade Leaf company practices what they preach. They source only the best organic Japanese matcha straight from the source right on Japan’s matcha farms. With their developed relationships with farmers and tenacity to bring only the best matcha for a healthier lifestyle, they’re one of the few high grade matcha companies that offer this type of quality at an affordable price.
Want to make your matcha bubble tea with this at home? Be sure grab yourself a bag here, we might just do the same.
Encha Ceremonial Matcha
Encha, meaning ‘enjoy organic matcha’ is founded by a Ph.D. who studied from Stanford. Within the founder’s story, Li Gong mentions he had left his well paying job in Silicon Valley immediately after he had a taste of premium matcha.
He boasts that his experience with a high quality grade matcha has changed how he has felt ever since the first sip. Eager to learn more about how we can captivate this feeling and pleasant experience again, he decided to start his own matcha company. Sourcing from the best matcha farms in Japan, you’ll get nothing short of high quality premium matcha powder from Encha.
See it for yourself here! What do you think, should we get this too?
Zen Spirit Premium Grade Matcha
Nothing speaks matcha better than “Zen Spirit.”
Browsing through the elegant collection of different matcha grades from Zen Spirit you’ll get all the information you need in one page. Offering not only the highest quality of matcha from the best matcha farms, they’re straight to the point and educate all those interested.
Learn from the best matcha growers and caretakers from their website. If you really want to dive into the world of matcha, all you have to do is take a look at one product listing and they lay it all out for you. Full transparency from the health benefits of matcha, the caffeine release of matcha and more! Nothing’s better than uplifting your spirit with a warm matcha tea!
That’s it for this one, we hope you’ve learned a little bit about what matcha is. If you still have questions dying to be answered, don’t forget to let us know. We will have any topic written for you so long as you suggest it!
Thanks for reading with us at Talk Boba, if you haven’t checked out some of our most popular blog articles, check them out here. You won’t regret it! You might even learn how to create a great matcha bubble tea at home.
We’ll catch you on the next article, remember, just talk about boba, duh!
