Matcha, a Japanese green tea leaf that’s stone-ground into a very fine powder and often used as a meditative practice, has gained international popularity. Variations of the trendy drink have made their way into cafes, restaurants and even personal kitchens, especially in the US. 

Traditionally, matcha is mixed with warm water, making it fairly simple to prepare. The practice dates back hundreds of years in Chinese and Japanese culture, and there are a few tricks of the trade that will help you make the perfect drink. 

We spoke with Japanese tea master Yoshitsugu Nagano to learn everything you need to know. We also got his views on Americanizing the drink by adding milk, sweeteners and additional mix-ins.

What do you need to make matcha?

The primary requirement is a high-quality matcha powder (see our testing in the link above). There are also a handful of items you’ll need to enjoy matcha in your morning routine. 

Matcha essentials

A bamboo whisk and bowl: To make matcha the traditional way, you’ll want to start with a bamboo whisk, also known as a chasen, and a small bowl that fits comfortably in your hands (I use this one).  

“Reserve [the bowl] for matcha only,” said Nagano, who hosts traditional tea rituals in New York City. “As you drink daily from the same bowl, you’ll feel your body, the bowl and the tea becoming one.” 

You will also want to make sure you don’t use a bowl made from a material that emits too much heat, such as metal or porcelain. 

A sifter and an electric kettle: You’ll also need a sifter and an electric kettle. You can use a stovetop kettle instead if you already have one on hand, but we recommend an electric kettle so that you can control the water temperature, which is crucial when making matcha (more on this below). 

There are also full matcha kits available for those who prefer to purchase everything together. 

What you need for a matcha latte

A milk frother: If you want to make lattes, a milk frother will be your friend. You can also use a handheld milk frother to whisk your matcha if you don’t plan on purchasing a bamboo whisk. 

A sweetener and milk: You can also add any sweeteners or milks you’d like to use. Some popular options are simple syrup, honey and agave.  

How to make matcha traditionally

Nagano said that although “there isn’t a single right or wrong way to whisk matcha,” there are certain steps you can take to enhance “its meditative effect.”

As you may have already assumed, the best time to make matcha is typically in the mornings.

“Historically, matcha rituals developed as samurai meditation, and records show many samurai hosted early-morning tea gatherings,” Nagano said. “Since matcha contains caffeine, it’s well-suited to starting the day.”

Before beginning the tea ritual, you’ll want to find an area in your home where you feel calm or “any place that lets you step a little outside daily life,” Nagano said. Align your posture and take deep breaths to help you relax. Then you can begin.

Step 1: Prepare your bowl and whisk 

Pour a small amount of warm water from your kettle into the bowl and soak your whisk for about 30 seconds. Soaking your whisk will help soften it and prevent it from breaking. When you’re done, discard that water and dry your bowl.

Step 2: Sift your matcha

Sift half a teaspoon of matcha powder into your bowl and add about four tablespoons of water to the bowl

“Add water along the side of the bowl rather than pouring directly onto the powder to avoid splashing and clumping,” Nagano said.   

For matcha, your water should be right around 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit). Any temperature above 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) could cause your matcha to become bitter or diminish the foam.

“Foam matters because it greatly affects flavor perception,” Nagano said. “Drinks with foam — champagne, beer, lattes and matcha — release aromatic compounds when bubbles burst in the mouth.”

Step 3: Whisk the matcha and water together 

The correct way to hold your whisk is with your thumb, index and middle fingers in an upright position. 

“Move in straight lines and be sure your path passes through the center of the bowl,” Nagano said. “This creates complex currents whose collisions generate fine foam. Avoid tracing the bowl’s inner wall in circles; that method won’t produce satisfying foam.” 

Aim to go back and forth with your wrist about 50 times.

Step 4: Remove the whisk and enjoy

After the powder is fully dissolved and you have a thick, deep green liquid, it’s ready.

“Before drinking, settle your posture and your breathing and clear your mind,” Nagano said. “Lift the bowl gently with both hands and bow in gratitude and respect to the matcha and to nature. Then sip slowly.” 

As you slowly drink your matcha, pay attention to the warmth of the drink as it goes through your body, and your attention will turn “inward to body and mind,” he said. 

Is it OK to add milk to matcha to make lattes? 

If you want to make matcha lattes instead of drinking it in the traditional sense, you can add extra ingredients. Nagano supports drinking it however you please. Although he practices the traditional matcha ritual detailed above, he believes the  “classics and modern styles elevate each other’s existence and value.” 

Nagano explained that matcha originated in China during the Northern Song Dynasty about 1,000 years ago. It then arrived in Japan roughly 800 years ago, where it quickly gained popularity. 

“The United States today is in a similar moment to Japan’s first encounter 800 years ago,” he said. “It’s conceivable that over the next few centuries, a uniquely American style of matcha ritual will take shape.”

After all, matcha isn’t the first item to spread internationally and develop in different ways. Nagano compared the continual reinvention of the historic drink to the California roll, which was invented post World War II, after sushi was introduced to the US. Later, traditional sushi styles also gained popularity. Nagano calls this “a superb example of creativity and tradition connecting without contradiction.” 

Today, you’ll see matcha lattes served over ice, with flavors like strawberry and mango added in. Matcha desserts, such as my newfound favorite cookies, are also gaining popularity, and matcha cocktails are emerging on the scene. 

Nagano sees the ongoing diversification of the tea-based drink as positive. “It’s wonderful when different cultures meet and something new emerges,” he said. 

Iron deficiency is globally widespread. Women are particularly affected, with one in five in Europe suffering from iron deficiency. The consequences are anemia, constant fatigue, chronic headaches and a weakened immune system. Researchers led by ETH professor Raffaele Mezzenga have now developed a new dietary supplement that could efficiently treat iron deficiency and anemia. This development is being co-led by Michael B. Zimmermann, professor emeritus at ETH Zurich. The preparation consists of edible oat protein nanofibrils coated with iron nanoparticles. The corresponding study has just been published in the journal Nature Food.  

The new iron compound is not only easy to produce but also extremely effective: the iron it contains is absorbed by the body almost twice as well as iron administered from iron sulphate – the currently most widely used standard for iron supplementation. This is shown by a rigorous clinical study conducted by Mezzenga’s project partners in Thailand. They administered the compound to 52 women aged 18 to 45 who were suffering from anemia due to iron deficiency. 

Vegans and vegetarians could benefit 

The novel preparation has several advantages. Being based on plant proteins means that it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. “This is important because they are more likely to suffer from iron deficiency than meat-eaters: the body absorbs iron from animal foods better than iron from plant-based foods,” says ETH professor Mezzenga. 

The new compound has further advantages: it is tasteless and colourless, meaning it does not substantially alter a food’s taste or appearance. Iron sulphate, in contrast, gives food a metallic aftertaste. 

“Sensory properties play a major role in consumer acceptance of food additives,” says Jiangtao Zhou, the first author of the study and Mezzenga’s former postdoctoral researcher and currently an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore. The oat protein iron supplement is also very easy to take: it can either be dissolved in water or juice, or added to food in powder form – muesli, for instance.

“However, the clinical study shows that the supplement is best absorbed when it is dissolved in water,” says Mezzenga. 

Those with an iron deficiency often take iron in the wrong form 

Iron occurs naturally in red meat, lentils and whole grains. Premenopausal women have a particularly high iron requirement of 18 milligrams per day. The daily requirement for men is lower, at 11 milligrams. Nevertheless, around 15 percent of men also suffer from iron deficiency. To combat this, people resort to iron supplements that the body is often unable to absorb sufficiently and require iron infusions in the case of severe iron deficiency. 

Patented technology and potential for further products 

The researchers originally used animal proteins to develop their iron supplement process a few years ago; however, the same patent covers all food protein sources, including those that are plant based. It has by now been granted in Europe and the USA. 

Mezzenga and his colleagues now hope that the iron-enriched oat protein fibres will soon be able to be used in a variety of ways. “The hurdles for launching a dietary supplement are lower than those for a pharmacological product,” explains the ETH professor, who aims to further develop the technology to combat other deficiencies, such as zinc and selenium.

Japan must assert its cultural claims to matcha to avoid it being buried in a landslide of Chinese tea powder

• By David Fickling / Bloomberg Opinion

If you think it is hard work selling coal to Newcastle or ice to an Inuit, how about selling matcha to Japan?

That is what China is hoping to achieve, as the biggest tea producer spots an opportunity in the worldwide craze for putting Japan’s richly flavored green tea powder into everything from lattes and cookies to cheesecake and KitKats.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK last month visited a factory in China’s Guizhou Province that is producing 2,000 tonnes of matcha a year, almost half of Japan’s annual output. China is already by some measures the bigger grower: About 3,966 tonnes were processed in 2020, accounting for more than half of the tea sold in a market valued at US$4.53 billion.

With China dominating electric vehicles, smartphones, furniture and solar panels, it might feel inevitable that matcha would go the same way. Still, Japan could do more to defend itself against the onslaught. Adopting the more aggressive techniques used in Europe would be a good place to start.

In terms of mass-market production, the game has surely already been lost. China has 30 times as much farmland as Japan and produces about 50 times more green tea.

Matcha production can be labor-intensive: It has to be grown in the shade, and in Japan is often harvested with handheld machine cutters and processed in small-scale facilities that are struggling to keep up with the explosion in demand.

Judging by current trends, the vast majority of matcha is going to end up in soft-serve ice-cream, chiffon cakes, mochi and macarons. It would be a waste if Japan tried to chase that low-end business, when the opportunities at the top of the market are so much more alluring.

To take advantage, Japan’s tea industry needs to be far more assertive about what makes it special. Geographical indications (GI), the trademark-style laws that prevent Californian wine producers from calling their sparkling cuvees “champagne,” are still a relative novelty there. Europe has been protecting its unique agricultural products for more than a century, with early regulations even turning up in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. Japan did not pass its first GI law until 2015, and still seems to be of two minds about it.

Kobe beef, the super-expensive, marbled meat farmed exclusively from the Tajima strain of cattle in Hyogo Prefecture northwest of Osaka, was one of the first products to be registered under the rules. Every kilogram exported is tracked by a local marketing association, but it is still common to find locally raised “Kobe beef” and “Kobe-style beef” on the shelves of US supermarkets, because the trademark is not recognized there.

You cannot sign a major trade agreement with the EU without recognizing its GI system, but Japan has progressively lowered its tariffs on US beef imports in the past few years, without winning any concessions on this point. The estate of basketballer Kobe Bryant enjoys better intellectual property protection in the US than the meat he was named after.

Matcha, to be sure, has a fundamental problem here. The term — “ground tea,” as opposed to the infused sencha — just describes a routine processing method, like the “cheddaring” of dairy curds which gives cheddar cheese its un-trademark-able name.

That is not insurmountable: There are numerous local varieties, such as Uji matcha and Fukuoka matcha, that could trade on their reputations, the way Bordeaux wine estates do.

It is not clear that Japan has an appetite for the fight. The EU has nearly 2,000 protected wines and spirits, according to its eAmbrosia register. Japan has designated just two types of tea, both of them sencha.

In Nishio, one of the most renowned matcha growing regions, the local growers’ cooperative got itself removed from the register in 2020, after finding that domestic drinkers were not prepared to pay prices to compensate for the laborious methods required by the geographical indication.

That is a defeatist approach. Matcha is a global craze and need not be limited by local appetites. Champagne is a case in point: It owes its origins as much to English glassblowers, chemists and consumers as to French farmers.

Japan has as much cultural capital now as it has had for decades. The stellar reputation of its food products is not being matched by commensurate efforts to protect and market them to international buyers.

Taking advantage of this is not an easy process, especially as a warming climate alters the unique local conditions that GI designations depend on (a record heat wave is one reason that matcha supplies are struggling to keep up with demand this year). However, in a world that would soon be buried under a drift of Chinese tea powder, it would be necessary. Some of the world’s great fortunes were built on the decades of efforts that turned champagne from a local oddity into a worldwide luxury good. In the matcha game, Japan has to be in it to win it.

David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change and energy. Previously, he worked for Bloomberg News, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.