What Is Ceremonial Grade Matcha?
Ceremonial grade matcha is powder fine enough to whisk with water alone and drink straight — made from first-harvest, shade-grown tea leaves that are stone-ground slowly to keep their color and flavor intact. It's a different tier from culinary grade matcha, which is coarser and meant to be cut with milk, sugar, or baking.
Ceremonial vs. culinary
Ceremonial grade is judged on how it tastes whisked with nothing but hot water — smooth, a little sweet, umami-forward instead of bitter. Culinary grade is judged on how it performs mixed into something else, so it's ground coarser and picked later, and it leans bitter on its own. Neither is "fake" matcha; they're built for different bowls.
How it's grown
Weeks before harvest, the tea bushes get shaded from direct sun. That slows photosynthesis and pushes the leaves toward more chlorophyll and amino acids — the source of matcha's vivid green and umami-forward flavor rather than bitterness. The earliest spring picking, ichibancha or first harvest, takes the most tender of those shaded leaves, hand-picked rather than machine-cut.
How Lạc sources ours
Our Yama no Asakiri matcha is a single-origin cultivar, Okumidori, shaded and hand-picked by Kurihara-san specifically for Lạc. It's first-harvest matcha, which gives it a deep, vibrant hue and a creamy texture once whisked — with tasting notes of toasted almonds, nori, and a fresh summer tea garden.
It's stone-ground the traditional way, slowly, to keep the leaf from overheating during grinding — heat is one of the fastest ways to flatten matcha's color and flavor before it ever reaches a bowl.
How to whisk it at home
Sift a scoop of matcha into a chawan, or any wide bowl, to break up clumps before water touches it. Heat water just off the boil — around 175°F is close enough — and pour in a small amount first.
Work the chasen in a brisk W or zigzag motion, wrist loose, until the surface turns pale and frothy. It's the same ninety seconds of quiet we build into every cup behind the counter, just in your own kitchen.
Curious how ceremonial matcha compares to hojicha, the roasted green tea we also carry? See matcha vs. hojicha →.
Try it or take it home
Preorder the Yama no Asakiri to whisk in your own kitchen, or come drink it whisked to order at our shop in Newark, CA.
Preorder the matchaFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between ceremonial grade and culinary grade matcha?
Ceremonial grade is ground fine enough and grown clean enough to whisk with water alone and drink straight — no milk, no sweetener needed. Culinary grade is a coarser, more bitter powder meant to be cut with milk or baked into something, where other flavors can cover for it. The two aren't interchangeable in a bowl; a culinary-grade powder whisked plain usually comes out flat and bitter.
How should I store matcha at home?
Keep it airtight, cool, and out of direct light — matcha's color and flavor fade fast once it's exposed to air, heat, or sunlight. A sealed container in the fridge or a dark pantry shelf both work; just let it come back to room temperature before you open it, so condensation doesn't get into the powder.
Does matcha have more caffeine than coffee?
Matcha generally carries less caffeine per serving than a cup of drip coffee, but because you're consuming the whole tea leaf rather than steeping and discarding it, that caffeine tends to release more slowly and sit alongside L-theanine — which is part of why matcha's lift feels steadier than coffee's.
Do I need a bamboo whisk to make matcha at home?
A chasen (bamboo whisk) makes it easier to break up clumps and work air into the bowl, but it's not the only way. A small milk frother or even a fork in a pinch will get you a drinkable bowl — the chasen just gets you there with a finer, longer-lasting foam.
Where can I buy ceremonial grade matcha from Lạc Coffee?
Our Yama no Asakiri ceremonial matcha is open for preorder at lac-coffee.com/shop. You can also drink it whisked to order at our shop in Newark, CA.